Wow, they're not laying off the people at the bottom while giving themselves bonuses?  Don't these guys know how to run a corporation?

...

GS says that Iwata's salary was 2.1mil between base and bonus last year.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6267531/nintendo-ceos-salary-ranks-low-among-game-execs

Is this the modern day version of seppuku? Iwata isn't a samurai... as far as we know.

Don't they still have swimming pools filled with money left over from the Wii and DS?

Which makes this all odd.  Its like there reacting from 10 Years in the Future.

What makes it interesting is that the guy was making only about $2mil or so (INCLUDING bonuses), for such a huge company. Shows how much many American CEOs and executives are leeches on their corporations.

Yeah, that's a pretty incredibly low number for a major CEO. I wonder what Sony's CEO makes...

Iwata's just doing this because everyone will respect him as the most brilliant game designer in the world when Balloon Fight is free on 3DS.

Oh, I forgot they got a Westerner as CEO. So he's probably making $50 mil or something.

I don't recall Sony executives taking paycuts when the PSP and PS3 were struggling so bad, kind of shows Nintendo is a pretty unique company compared to its competitors. It will remain to be seen if this massive price cut works in 3DS's favor or if it was an additional factor in Nintendo stock plummeting and potentially further plummet. Hopefully all this does is make Nintendo be a bit more careful with future launches and improve various things people have been harping on them about, basically a reality check. I am really interested to see how this affects (if there is any) on how Wii U is handled, in both hardware (specifically power), software (especially going after 3rd parties) and how it is marketed along with its retail price.

Blatantly ripping off Joust is brilliant game design? ;)

Now there's a reason to feel good about Nintendo again.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer makes $4.3 million in salary and bonuses, down from the previous years $5 million (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/06/sony-knocks-stringer-pay-by-16-percent-approves-hirai-promotion.html).

That was a joke. I always forget sarcasm doesn't translate clearly.

He should give me some of that money.

Air Fortress better be one of the free games ;)

I wonder how this pay-cut idea came about? Hmmm...

(phone rings) **ring ring**

Iwata: Konichiwa. Who is calling, please?

Caller: It is I, Hiroshi Yamauchi.* Konichiwa, Iwata-San.

Iwata: Many happy greetings, Yamauchi-San. How may I serve you this day?

Yamauchi: Iwata-San, I have learned of this quarter’s losses and revised earning projections for our company. Most unfortunate.

Iwata: Most unfortunate indeed, Yamauchi-San.

Yamauchi: Stock prices have fallen sharply. Thus, I have cut in pay. Now you take cut in pay too.

Iwata: Of course, Yamauchi-San. I will announce tomorrow.

Yamauchi: Sayonara.

Iwata: Sayonara.


*Nintendo’s largest shareholder and former President

Most honorable.

$18bn in cash and virtually no debt. Of course, they'd like to maintain that.

Every company/government on the planet should take note.

Well done, Nintendo.

Repercussions of not making money.

Stock options are one thing they don't mention though. It is another 5-6 million on top of that.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110628-701554.html

my respect for Iwata just skyrocketed!
Most CEOs would fire their employees, but this guy takes it out on himself (and other employees. heard miyamoto got a 30 percent pay cut).

Iwata-san is wise and noble. I feel happy that Nintendo is in his hands.


Strange that they picked a showman like Reggie to head up NoA - quite the opposite. I guess they thought that is what Westerners like, and sadly, it seems they are right.

To judge people on such trivial things as you seem to be is shallow IMHO. No offense, but what matters is how they're shown in their actions and I think there were a lot of "unsavory" decisions Nintendo as a whole has made as of late.

Also, why do you say "I guess they thought that is what Westerners like, and sadly, it seems they are right."? I mean I guess you could have heard a lot of fans say they like Reggie (personally I've heard mostly the opposite) but really who cares about how the figureheads appear? I don't know, maybe I'm just a little touchy because I am a Westerner and it seemed like you basically just insulted all Westerners, but as I said I probably just thought that because I'm touchy about the subject of being belittled for being a Westerner.

Anyways I do like Iwata, but it seems like between various things that I personally really don't like about the Wii U and the failing sales of the overpriced 3DS (which is now very nicely priced, IMO), it's a little hard not to look at one of the biggest decision-makers in the company as a sort of embodiment of a lot of the issues that the company has, too. As far as I know NOA and NOE both really don't have that much to do with the actual decision-making in Nintendo's big plans, just in the localization products and distribution in those regions. So unless I'm wrong and NOA and NOE really do play a bigger roll in Nintendo's decisions, Reggie is basically just an unimportant business man(?)

And this is why "Westerners" get belittled. XD


As far as Iwata is concerned, who cares? This is better PR than firing grunts, but the guy is still a millionaire with tons of hidden salaries byway of stock options and such. Fuck him and all the bourgeois assholes like him.

Yikes.

The launch of the 3DS was completely bungled -- they rushed it to market without a killer app and without all of its features, hoping to cash in on their then-current fiscal year -- and now they are paying for it.

This is a symbolic gesture to appease pissed-off stockholders. I wouldn't start lauding Iwata as a martyr.  His 8-digit bank account balance will have a lead digit that's one number lower than it would have been.

Iwata will gain whatever back in stocks, by holidays sales will be kicking, everyone will buy a 3ds and Resident Evil: Revelations. The fanbase will increase, his stocks will triple by 2013. He was talking in his stock q&a that and if i remember correctly he had 51,000 shares or something. On a good day thats worth 10 million, on a bad day its worth 1.6. They've been down because this is a dead year, nothing new the last year before a new system launches is always a slow year and stocks are usually down. However, after Wii and DS luanched their stocks went way up, hopefully its repeatable and not some bubble. 3DS and Wii U look like solid products so I figure in the next 3 years they should be profitable. I'm thinking the next stock price raise will start at e3.

Uh, why?

Martyr? No.

Rare displays of good-faith from executives that shouldn't be ignored? Yes.

Iwata: (cries)