Sad to see George Harrison leave. Though you have to wonder what the benefits, working conditions, and the relocation Nintendo was offering were like for 90% of the Sales and Marketing Staff and three to executives, who probably had a hand in the decision, decide to not relocate.

GOOD RIDDANCE, KAPLAN!

Nintendo wanted them gone. If they had actually wanted to keep them, they could have sweetened the deal for them to move to the point where it would have been a better career move to stay.

However, the fact that they opted for the severance package indicates that it was intentionally made out to be the better choice so they'd opt to resign.

Something tells me this is Nintendo's way of "sweeping out the barn". Current Wii success is probably 70-80% due to word of mouth and has very little to do with advertising.

I agree with the Kaplan Statement.

This is going to change most of the public face of Nintendo. I wonder if it will cause a big difference in the way Nintendo comes across to us, or will the source of Nintendo's PR tendencies be revealed to be NCL when the new faces say the same old things?

The Harrison interview link is borken.

Well, I blame Kaplan for most of the advertising campaigns that were terrible. Even though I have no proof, I still blame her.

Every time Kaplan opened up her mouth she was shooting Nintendo in the foot. It's seems she's been doing nothing but spewing misinformation since E3 2004. I'm sure Reggie got tired of making up excuses for comments she obviously made up (Wii would feature a new type of "High Def" gaming experience, Wii games would be region free, etc.)...I'll miss her since she was usually some well needed comic relief, but other than that she was basically worthless.

You guys are totally off base. I can tell you for an absolute fact that Perrin wanted to change a lot of the ways Nintendo was marketed in the US, and the decisions were largely taken out of her hands by NCL.

That said, I'm absolutely stunned by this development. It's definitely a changing of the guard, that's for sure. But I'm not surprised ... you were asking people to move to two of the most expensive places to live in the country, and Seattle wasn't really cheap to begin with. I can't blame them for not wanting to uproot their families. Still, it's going to be a massive change for the company.

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Originally posted by: Rhoq
Every time Kaplan opened up her mouth she was shooting Nintendo in the foot. It's seems she's been doing nothing but spewing misinformation since E3 2004. I'm sure Reggie got tired of making up excuses for comments she obviously made up (Wii would feature a new type of "High Def" gaming experience, Wii games would be region free, etc.)...I'll miss her since she was usually some well needed comic relief, but other than that she was basically worthless.

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I said wow.

I don't really understand the hate towards Kaplan.. she might have made some mistakes but overall, she wasn't too bad. And with Harrison leaving too, this is a major shakeup.

Thank you Rick. It's like a freakin' witch-burning in here.

Big change indeed. I personally think the marketing for Wii has been great, but there's no doubt that the product is so good that it practically sells itself. I don't think this will have a huge impact.

Yeah... I hate moving to expensive places.

wow, that bit of news took me off guard. Well, if this shakeup brings a better marketing team, then I say hooray. I never disliked either of those people, I hope they got a good severance package. I've been in situations where all employees lost there job, and I have to say it isn't a very positive thing.

Best wishes to those guys.

ahahahahhaa YES

About the PR hate, you have to realize we don't really get any real information out of them, especially crap we can hold them to down the road. It's always been that way. But their job as a public face for Nintendo, especially on the internet, IS TO ENTERTAIN ME. Reggie's the only westerner so far to consistently manage that. The others, no. IGN tried their hardest over the years with Kaplan & Co, but they were unsuccessful. And Billy really let the cat out the bag with that last Kaplan/freak interview. Reggie? He doesn't need an interview to kick public relational ass.

BUT YES, WE CAN NOW REPLACE THE EMPTY SEATS WITH CLONES OF REGGIE, EACH ONE WITH THE POWER TO MANIPULATE A MANA ELEMENTAL OF THE EARTH.

I think Kaplan is ok.

I think Reggie just took their names and kicked their asses.

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Originally posted by: RickPowers
You guys are totally off base. I can tell you for an absolute fact that Perrin wanted to change a lot of the ways Nintendo was marketed in the US, and the decisions were largely taken out of her hands by NCL.

That said, I'm absolutely stunned by this development. It's definitely a changing of the guard, that's for sure. But I'm not surprised ... you were asking people to move to two of the most expensive places to live in the country, and Seattle wasn't really cheap to begin with. I can't blame them for not wanting to uproot their families. Still, it's going to be a massive change for the company.

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"It's fun to do that. Or something"

Fun is what it's all about, right?

Sometimes, it's all about making sure the murder simulators get in the hands of the children.

Now that all has been said and done, we know that Ken Kutaragi is indeed coming to work for Nintendo, it's a 3 and 90% for 1 deal.

That's a pity, though I highly doubt this would have any sort of impact on Nintendo's current success. I think they simply decided to put family first and not to put their families through a cross-country move, as it should be.

It's just like Billy Donovan heading back to Gainesville and not going to Orlando. Except I have no idea if Nintendo will be better or worse off for this decision. And the analogy doesn't make sense. But it is exactly like whatever I've said.

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Originally posted by: RickPowers
You guys are totally off base. I can tell you for an absolute fact that Perrin wanted to change a lot of the ways Nintendo was marketed in the US, and the decisions were largely taken out of her hands by NCL.

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Damn... I wish I could talk my wife into making such a big move... Marketing is where I belong...

Clearly, they have to replace the 3 executives with a new Reggie-approved exec board:
Chuck Norris: Senior VP of Kicking
Vin Diesel: VP of Names
Jack Bauer: Executive VP of killing people who know too much

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

... NINETY PERCENT OF THE STAFF ARE NOT STAYING WITH NINTENDO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

STAY IN WASHINGTON NINTENDO! CANCEL THE MOVE! PLEASEEEEEE!!!!!

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Originally posted by: Kairon
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

... NINETY PERCENT OF THE STAFF ARE NOT STAYING WITH NINTENDO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

STAY IN WASHINGTON NINTENDO! CANCEL THE MOVE! PLEASEEEEEE!!!!!

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I think those hating Kaplan need to grow up, if you were honestly insulted by anything she said it is your problem not hers and taken out of context by the highly sensitive whiners.

In Nintendo's case losing 90% of Sales and Marketing staff might actually be a positive thing. It's not like NOA's marketing has been, you know, good in any way for like the six years or so. And if Nintendo's marketing ineptitude is a result of NCL nailing their dick to the floor then it doesn't really matter who's working in marketing anyway. Still bummer for any of them that liked their job.

Why is Nintendo moving anyway? What's the benefit?

My reaction to this? A big shrug of the shoulders. I had no issue with any of these three, but the longer you work in corporate America the more you realize that these executives really are infinitely replaceable. NOA gets the resignation letter(s), HR calls up the Executive Recruiting firm, and the circle of life begins again. The resigned executives call up the network of buddies that they've made along the way, do a couple of interviews, and they're back to making $250,000 a year+Stock Options in no time. End Scene.

Cynicism aside, I'll be interested to see who they fill these positions with. I figured Reggie would be good when he was hired because of all the work he did with VH1. Hopefully they don't hire a bunch of corporate stiffs.

So I think the real question is rather they'll go to Starbucks, Boeing, or Microsoft. Anyone? Anyone?

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Originally posted by: Ian Sane
In Nintendo's case losing 90% of Sales and Marketing staff might actually be a positive thing. It's not like NOA's marketing has been, you know, good in any way for like the six years or so. And if Nintendo's marketing ineptitude is a result of NCL nailing their dick to the floor then it doesn't really matter who's working in marketing anyway. Still bummer for any of them that liked their job.

Why is Nintendo moving anyway? What's the benefit?

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I said Wow. Iwata is probably having security escort them off campus at gunpoint, what with his new hardline stance towards NOA. I'll miss George and Perrin.

I bet that at least one of these people will end up at Microsoft.

I just hope there can be more Wii ad's on TV to draw in a larger audience without them there.

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Originally posted by: Patchkid15
I just hope there can be more Wii ad's on TV to draw in a larger audience without them there.

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Well I see plenty of Wii adds especially for Mario Party 8, Super paper mario and now Big Brain Academy. I for one think while they seem a little tacky the commercials are pretty good, it demonstrates how people play it, how the game looks like and shows that the game is presented to new people. The only commercials I'm actually bored of are PS3 commercials, and the dude get your own motto for PSP is corny bad.

I think GoldenPhoenix is right thought, while Perrin made her mistakes, who doesn't she is just human after all. So the good riddance Kaplan thing is a little immature because if you read in a interview she said that she loved her job and she loved the Seattle area.

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Originally posted by: Lord_die_seis
The only commercials I'm actually bored of are PS3 commercials, and the dude get your own motto for PSP is corny bad.

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Chuck Norris wouldn't work for Nintendo, because Reggie would show the world how much of a fraud Mr. Norris really is.

I'm sad to see them go, but I'm even more sad that this pretty much confirms the death of Nintendo Power magazine. IGN predicted it a few weeks ago, but I didn't believe it.

At least Reggie is still at NOA.

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Originally posted by: Kairon
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

... PERRIN KAPLAN IS LEAVING?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

STAY IN WASHINGTON NINTENDO! CANCEL THE MOVE! PLEASEEEEEE!!!!!

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Holy sh!t. That's a lot of people. They're gonna need to go on a hiring spree.

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Originally posted by: Spak-Spang
Chuck Norris wouldn't work for Nintendo, because Reggie would show the world how much of a fraud Mr. Norris really is.

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Oh god... you people are making it sound like people are cogs in a machine, replacable and with no innate value!!!

/cries

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Originally posted by: Kairon
Oh god... you people are making it sound like people are cogs in a machine, replacable and with no innate value!!!

/cries

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Originally posted by: Mikemn
I'm sad to see them go, but I'm even more sad that this pretty much confirms the death of Nintendo Power magazine. IGN predicted it a few weeks ago, but I didn't believe it.

At least Reggie is still at NOA.

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Originally posted by: Strell

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Originally posted by: Mikemn
I'm sad to see them go, but I'm even more sad that this pretty much confirms the death of Nintendo Power magazine. IGN predicted it a few weeks ago, but I didn't believe it.

At least Reggie is still at NOA.

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I can assure you 100% NP isn't dying. But it's about to change.

As for this news, I've said I'd like to get Kaplan out of the public eye and behind the scenes, but I didn't expect this or really want her to lose her job.

The person I've talked to about this is just as annoyed about everything and thinks he won't stick around much longer either. I've asked him who in the world thought moving was such a good idea. He has theories but I'm not going to repeat them here. Suffice to say it is pretty major, and seems like an ill-thought out move considering what is happening.

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I'm telling you, people just love to hate Kaplan. Sure, she did everything very well, and she was also good at interviewing, but they still love to hate her. Sure, it may be An Inconvenient Truth, but I like it. Partly because I feel like she can take that kind of response pretty well.

NOA gives GREAT benefits as far as I've heard, so I'm thinking maybe their severance packages are top tier, too.

maybe they'll go work with their friend Ken Lobb at Microsoft, lol.

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Originally posted by: thatguy
I'm telling you, people just love to hate Kaplan. Sure, she did everything very well, and she was also good at interviewing, but they still love to hate her. Sure, it may be An Inconvenient Truth, but I like it. Partly because I feel like she can take that kind of response pretty well.

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I couldn't care less about Kaplan's cheeky little comments like "you are a freak if you've beaten SPM by now" or her take on "WTF YOU DRINK COFFEE AND BITCH ABOUT DOWNLOAD PRICES" schtick.

It was the constant - constant - misinformation coming out of her mouth, rapidfire, with little to no downtime in between. Granted, this information pretty much only affects the hardcore audience (since no casual gamer gives a crap about region-free), but it was still incredibly annoying.

That's not spin, that's not a technique, that's not anything, and all it really served to do was inject a very strong "NoA doesn't know wtf they are doing" note into discussion.

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Originally posted by: Strell
I couldn't care less about Kaplan's cheeky little comments like "you are a freak if you've beaten SPM by now" or her take on "WTF YOU DRINK COFFEE AND BITCH ABOUT DOWNLOAD PRICES" schtick.

It was the constant - constant - misinformation coming out of her mouth, rapidfire, with little to no downtime in between. Granted, this information pretty much only affects the hardcore audience (since no casual gamer gives a crap about region-free), but it was still incredibly annoying.

That's not spin, that's not a technique, that's not anything, and all it really served to do was inject a very strong "NoA doesn't know wtf they are doing" note into discussion.

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Again I never called for her to be fired. Ever.

I would have been perfectly happy if she just explained herself. She might be considered bad, but she is amazing compared to the crap that MS and Sony put out. With her, even if she dd make a mistake it was still a 2 way dialouge. With the others, they will happyly BS anything and everything without taking a breath. It is far more insulting to be told that there is nothing wrong with the hardware and it is within "Industry norms" and its our fault than to be called a freak.

"Because it is so obvious that marketing has been terrible for NDS and Wii right?"

I haven't seen any improvement over the Cube and GBA marketing. The DS and Wii have succeeded despite the marketing, not because of it.

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Originally posted by: Strell It was the constant - constant - misinformation coming out of her mouth, rapidfire, with little to no downtime in between. Granted, this information pretty much only affects the hardcore audience (since no casual gamer gives a crap about region-free), but it was still incredibly annoying.

That's not spin, that's not a technique, that's not anything, and all it really served to do was inject a very strong "NoA doesn't know wtf they are doing" note into discussion.

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Originally posted by: Ian Sane I haven't seen any improvement over the Cube and GBA marketing. The DS and Wii have succeeded despite the marketing, not because of it.

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
Perrin was better at instilling FUD about Nintendo than most Sony/MS reps are.

So again, I don't like Perrin because SHE WAS BAD AT HER JOB, and thankfully, Nintendo understands this and offered her a generous severance package but probably a piss poor salary, their own way of saying, "Hey, this boat's leaving, and you won't be on it."

Good riddance.

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I'd laugh myself into a hernia if MS hires her.

Then she can go about making 360 owners ashamed and afraid of owning the console.

The DS advertising I agree can be better (the EBA commercials were so vague I am surprised it sold very well in the US), but the Wii has been very solid and an improvement over the GC commercials.

But I agree that it was the systems' appeal and games that made them successful, not the advertising.

Kaplan interviews never made me feel bad about Nintendo, I don't know what the hell smash_brother is talking about, and she wasn't fired either, stop making up things, and it also appears the whole thing is still speculation for now according to Nintendo.

Besides, this isn't a Kaplan issue since George Harrison and apparently 90% of the staff is leaving as well, so don't turn it into one, its not about Kaplan is about Nintendo moving.

So are we back to that part of the cycle where word-of-mouth is much more prominent than big-budget advertising?

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Originally posted by: mantidor
Kaplan interviews never made me feel bad about Nintendo, I don't know what the hell smash_brother is talking about, and she wasn't fired either, stop making up things, and it also appears the whole thing is still speculation for now according to Nintendo.

Besides, this isn't a Kaplan issue since George Harrison and apparently 90% of the staff is leaving as well, so don't turn it into one, its not about Kaplan is about Nintendo moving.

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
The point is not that the move made keeping the job unappealing to these executives. The point is that Nintendo didn't make any effort to keep them on payroll via a salary increase, paying for relocation costs, etc.

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I think it's a good opportunity to hire JACK THOMPSON in place of Perrin.

That man KNOWS how to TALK.

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Originally posted by: pap64
The DS advertising I agree can be better (the EBA commercials were so vague I am surprised it sold very well in the US), but the Wii has been very solid and an improvement over the GC commercials.

But I agree that it was the systems' appeal and games that made them successful, not the advertising.

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother

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Originally posted by: mantidor
Kaplan interviews never made me feel bad about Nintendo, I don't know what the hell smash_brother is talking about, and she wasn't fired either, stop making up things, and it also appears the whole thing is still speculation for now according to Nintendo.

Besides, this isn't a Kaplan issue since George Harrison and apparently 90% of the staff is leaving as well, so don't turn it into one, its not about Kaplan is about Nintendo moving.

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Let's ask a hypothetical business question, shall we?

Say you're a business who wants to get rid of some dead-weight employees who are doing squat for you.

Do you:

A) Fire them all, thus resulting in a massive amount of media backlash and casting shadows upon the future of your company due to "layoffs".

or

B) Move the headquarters they're located in across the country with no offer of a salary increase, basically forcing 90% of them to resign on their own to pursue other opportunities and making the severance packages look very generous.

The point is not that the move made keeping the job unappealing to these executives. The point is that Nintendo didn't make any effort to keep them on payroll via a salary increase, paying for relocation costs, etc.

It's a win-win for Nintendo: they get to relieve the company of unnecessary salary expenditures while not getting even a whiff of bad press for firing people as a result.

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I TOLD YOU HE'S CLONING HIMSELF

Nintendo of America will be reorganized into the FIRST. GALACTIC. EMPIRE!

So this is how freedom dies. With thunderous forum posts.

This is definitely a Reggie move, including the outsourcing of NP. It'll be interesting to see how he repositions the pieces going forward.

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Fire them all, thus resulting in a massive amount of media backlash and casting shadows upon the future of your company due to "layoffs".

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My problem with Kaplan is that she didn't do anything at her job, it may not have been her fault, but what we all knew was that all she was just supposed to do was reroute information to us. The real people doing the work are in NCL. Basically, She is sort of like a translator. She's given a script to remember and all the information that NCL wants us to know. A puppet exec. By eliminating this staff, all they are doing is eliminating the middle-person.

I think NOA should be massively reworked. Currently, most of all the content is being made in japan, and all NOA does ist translate the content. There is NTS and Retro, but what really should happen is there needs to be more internal development stateside.

"I told you already, I deal with the gaud-damn customers so the engineers don't have to.

I HAVE PEOPLE SKILLS!

I AM GOOD. AT DEALING. WITH PEOPLE! CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!"

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There is no basis for that assumption.

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Originally posted by: Kairon How in the world is 90% of your marketing and sales force deadweight?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

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... more and more I'm suspecting that this is Reggie making a move at consolidating power and drastically overhauling NOA's marketting in his own image.

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Any analyst can look at the company's performance and know they're in no crisis.

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They've cut component, HD, and DVD capability, why would employees be any diff

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother

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There is no basis for that assumption.

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The fact that Kaplan and co were not offered more incentive to relocate to the point where they stayed on board transcends all assumption.

If Nintendo wanted Kaplan and co to stay, they could have simply said, "What will it take to convince you to come with us?"

Furthermore, why was the move done in the first place? What was the official reason?

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Originally posted by: PartyBear
To me, it sounds more like the move was a vastly unpopular and probably unwise decision, perhaps made by someone with pointy hair. That is infinitely more believable than all these conspiracy theories.

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Well, I have to agree with SB to an extent, except that for the big three, they could always be demoted to a worse position that has a better title. Businesses do that all the time. I don't think it was Nintendo's intention to move just to lose those three, or else that would have happened. In fact, I'm not too sure about Nintendo wanting to lose those three at all. The Seattle area has so many big businesses there, that the three of them could have talked to a buddy at say, Starbucks or something, and may have a job for them where they don't have to move. It's hard to say.

That's why I strongly believe Nintendo wanted to lose them...or just didn't care.

If an employee is truly adding value to a company, that company will bend over backwards to keep them on board.

Like I said, the whole purpose of moving the marketing department was to get closer to people who are better than the people they currently had employed.

I don't believe Nintendo said, "Let's get rid of Kaplan." but they realized that they wanted a new marketing department and these executives, they felt, weren't worth going through hoops to keep.

gamasutra says reggie says its more like 60%

I really don't understand all of the Kaplan hate. I mean, I can't say I've followed all of her interviews, but the only time I can think of where she gave really uninformed information was the Region Free thing. And, well, there was a huge mess over her saying that the Wii was only 2-3 times as pawerful as the Gamecube...but come to find out she was dead right about that. Other than that, I can't recall her giving out a steady stream misinformation. And honestly, if you guys want to string her up for getting 1 or 2 things wrong, you're going to have to give the same treatment to...well, just about everyone who has spoken on behalf of Nintendo, including Reggie. They're all guilty of blowing smoke up our asses at some point.

Anyway, whether or not replacing the entire staff will eventually prove to be a good thing, part of me doubts that NOA was prepared to have to replace 60-90% of their marketing staff, including three top execs representing decades of experience with the company. I just hope this doesn't affect their E3 showing.

You know, there is such a thing as people simply not wanting to leave the city where they're living. Moving a family is a lot different than being a single college student and picking up and moving to the next town. There are things to consider like:

1) Finding a new house
2) Setting up the move into the new house
3) Actually moving into the new house
4) Finding a new school for your children
5) Getting your kids enrolled in said school
6) Finding a new local church, if you attend church
7) Will your kids like the new school? Will they make friends?
8) Will you and your spouse make new friends?
9) Will your family like the new city?

It's a major pain in the butt. It's a big deal and I can see why people wouldn't want to do it, especially if they're a high-paid executive with tons of experience. Harrison, Kaplan, and Llewelyn may or may not want to leave Nintendo, but if they do you can be assured that they will find another job in a heartbeat (especially in Seattle).

Typically, people will do what is least disruptive to their family, no matter what kind of job they have (as it should be). I'm sure Nintendo would attempt to retain all of these people because it's less disruptive to their business operation to keep them on staff during this transition. If they ever wanted to get rid of them, they could force their resignation (fire them and then announce that they "resigned to pursue other opportunities").

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Originally posted by: Ceric

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Originally posted by: pap64
The DS advertising I agree can be better (the EBA commercials were so vague I am surprised it sold very well in the US), but the Wii has been very solid and an improvement over the GC commercials.

But I agree that it was the systems' appeal and games that made them successful, not the advertising.

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Any commercial without a customed character is an improvement of the Gamecube.

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LOL--that Smash Bros. commercial is the only one where the costumed characters thing actually worked for the game. Still funny.

Yeah, the original SSB commercial rocked hard.

Also, if this is the division responsible for this abomination, then I would have fired them AND the idiot who let that air, immediately.