Inside Nintendo: BBC Feature

[Plumberboy]

I came across this BBC Feature, Inside Nintendo (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2687866789001698114&q=nintendo), while reading though the Wikipedia Discussions. The piece examines Nintendo beginning with the reign of Hiroshi Yamauchi. In an attempt to find out more about Nintendo and Yamauchi, Libby Potter interviews Howard Lincoln, Minoru Arakawa, Henk Rogers, and of course Shigeru Miyamoto. Although the feature appears to be a few years old, it does offer some interesting info for those who may not have read David Sheff's Game Over or Chris Kohler's Power Up. The feature runs about an hour.

Google Video: Inside Nintendo (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2687866789001698114&q=nintendo)

[SMMM]

This was posted here a while ago, I think. I don't like it so much, due to the fact that it seems to neglect the good side of that era and focus on all the bad, making the company look 100% EVIIIL

[Plumberboy]

This was posted here a while ago, I think. I don't like it so much, due to the fact that it seems to neglect the good side of that era and focus on all the bad, making the company look 100% EVIIIL

Yeah, I did a search prior to posting to see if it had been posted yet, but I didn't see it, at least not by the title, "Inside Nintendo." A google search only turned up one post that actually had "Inside Nintendo" listed and it wasn't related. Either way, it's probably not bad to revisit it even if it was posted a while back.

You are correct though, it is a somewhat dark and critical look at Nintendo. However, it was interesting for me to see and actually hear from some of the people I have read about over the years.

[Scobie]

News Flash: Nintendo quickly became an evil corporation after the NES resurrected and dominated the video game market.

Nintendo's been a very special part of my life for about twenty years now, but let's be honest with ourselves about their past. They screwed developers, consumers, their employees, retailers, and competitors every chance they could get. And Yamauchi generally seems like a pretty rotten human being.

The company appears to be in more humane hands these days with Iwata and Miyamoto mostly running the show, so that's a good thing. I wonder, though, if the concern for consumer satisfaction, environmental consciousness, and other nice things about Nintendo today would exist if it weren't for all the lawsuits and getting their butt whipped by Sony with the PS1.

[Blind the Thief]

I heard that there was an expression among developers about Nintendo during the 8-bit era..."You don't fuck with an 800-pound gorilla." Seriously.

[Plumberboy]

News Flash: Nintendo quickly became an evil corporation after the NES resurrected and dominated the video game market.

Nintendo's been a very special part of my life for about twenty years now, but let's be honest with ourselves about their past. They screwed developers, consumers, their employees, retailers, and competitors every chance they could get. And Yamauchi generally seems like a pretty rotten human being.

The company appears to be in more humane hands these days with Iwata and Miyamoto mostly running the show, so that's a good thing. I wonder, though, if the concern for consumer satisfaction, environmental consciousness, and other nice things about Nintendo today would exist if it weren't for all the lawsuits and getting their butt whipped by Sony with the PS1.

Nintendo did have a pretty poor reputation within the industry back in the days of the NES and SNES. However, they have always been about customer satisfaction, even during the reign of Yamauchi. The Nintendo customer service reps are by far the friendliest, most helpful reps I have ever dealt with. This dates back to the days of the NES when my copy of RC Pro-Am was glitching out, the screen would go black in the middle of a race and only the car would be visible. I sent in the "game pak" and they FedEx'ed another copy to me overnight. More recently I purchased two classic arcade machines, Donkey Kong and Donkey Jr. I called Nintendo customer service and they put me in touch with someone in their Arcade division (I imagine that's one person at this point). In less than a week, I had copies of the original manuals and schematics for both machines, free of charge. They have yet to disappoint me.