Iwata on misleading media reports – official comments
As we mentioned last week, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata recently discussed misleading reports by the media. We now have the official translation. For Iwata’s full comments, head past the break.
Let me first say that I would like to refrain from commenting on individual cases. On the other hand, it is true that there are some Internet sites and certain media who have written stories about Nintendo as if they were official when, in reality, they did not come from any official sources such as interviews or announcements, nor were they confirmed by the company. My words are sometimes taken out of context, rephrased in a way that sounds offensive, and then reported as if those were my exact words. We look at the influence and the content of any article and media, and when we feel that it could potentially spread misleading information (on a wide scale), then, as other companies do, we sometimes decide to communicate on our official website and Twitter account that what the article in question claims is nothing that the company has officially announced. In this sense, we are proactive with regard to information that, if left unattended, could affect us in an extremely negative way.
On the other hand, what people say on the Internet is simply beyond our control. There have certainly been instances where we felt very sad or frustrated, but reacting to every single piece of information could in fact contribute to spreading it further. We take action when we feel that a certain piece of information could affect us or our shareholders in a negative way.
We have Nintendo Direct, our official Twitter account and our official website to communicate our messages to our consumers directly. An increasing number of people are watching videos on the Nintendo eShop, which is a virtual shop where people can purchase new games and find new information. In fact, the most popular way to watch Nintendo Direct is through the Nintendo eShop as opposed to watching it live on computers. As you can see, we now have more ways to directly reach out to consumers, and by communicating our messages in a genuine manner, I think that we can make sure that inaccurate and ill-intentioned reports will not become too serious an issue.
