Last year, an enthusiastic and pleading Nintendo fan spent millions of yen to purchase shares and ask the company’s heads about sequels for F-Zero and other titles during the annual shareholder meeting, receiving a mild reply and some warm buzz from outlets. It was a cute, innocuous tale that channeled several fans’ wishes and hopes. A similar tale has rhymed this year, only a lot less charming this time, as one Japanese fan purchased ¥512,000 (~$3,570) worth of shares just to ramble loudly about Splatoon 3 gendered customization. Wait, what?
質問：
(大声で)Splatoon3でボーイが冷遇されている。(あきらかにやばい人の質問なので、詳細は省略)
— あれっくす (@NStyles) June 23, 2023
According to meeting attendant NStyles (who reported the F-Zero incident last year), the Q&A included someone loudly ranting about female customization options getting preferential treatment over male ones in Splatoon 3 (I’m gonna hit that claim with a big ol’ “citation needed”). Twitter user @haruikatako identified themself as the questioner, having previously sent numerous letters to the company without response, and buying the shares (against their parents’ advice/wishes) to ask the company directly about the issue. Their full written question complaining about the “cold treatment of Splatoon boys” reads as immensely long:
任天堂の株主総会で今のスプラトゥーンのボーイの冷遇(司令とかハイカラシティのエモートとか)について訴えてきたよ！
途中で「他に質問したい人もいますので…」って言われちゃったから後半は予定より大分はしょっちゃったけど、なんとか伝えてきたよ！
1,2枚目は伝えたこと、3枚目は見せたこと。 pic.twitter.com/UuMXkASePV
— haru (@haruikatako) June 23, 2023
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa interrupted the fan in the middle of the rant, stating the question was too long. When said fan ignored this and kept going, Furukawa replied to the eventual stoppage with “Thank you for your interest in playing our game. We appreciate your valuable opinion.” That’s the polite businessman equivalent of slamming the door in your face. We’ll have to see if such shareholder shenanigans continue into the future, though we certainly hope that if they do, they’re more like last year’s example.
Leave a Comment
Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
