Trolling Miyamoto IRL for the lulz
[Update: Here’s a transcript of the full shareholders presentation.]
One of the first things you learn when you start creating content on the internet is that a lot internet commenters are also aspiring content creators. They might spend minutes, even hours, crafting a comment that they hope will touch and inspire the developers, publishers, and players of the videogames community. Or they’ll take the quick and easy route by making the most inflammatory, evocative statements they can, hoping to dear God that someone will pay attention to them. Or some combination of the two.
It’s interesting to see that Nintendo shareholder meetings often go down the same way. Shareholders rightfully want to have an impact on how the company is run, but sadly, sometimes all they can come up with stuff like “I don’t know about games, and don’t care about game-related questions, but your shareholders haven’t said anything about the stock price dropping. What kind of a shareholder meeting is this? Tell me about the business administration.” The effect of that comment? Audience applause.
Under Miyamoto and Iwata’s direction, the Wii and DS went on to become Nintendo’s most successful products to date, helping them to bank billions. They achieved that by following their instincts, leading the market where others would follow, taking big risks, and expressing a geniune love of videogames. Few people in the world have succeed more at combining art and business than these two. To witness them being heckled and barraged with non sequitur questions about casinos, Zangeki No Regenleiv, and medical device manufacturing is equal parts amusing and confusing. I wonder if Miyamoto and Iwata lose sleep at night, dreaming of ways to make these people happy?
Nintendo’s 74th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders [NeoGAF, via The Cheesemeister]