I think it's a shame that he got fired for what seemed to be benign comments, but that's just big business. The candid get canned.

He should have known better. He was on there yapping away like he's Reggie or some other high level executive and... he wasn't really that big of a deal.

Firing is pretty harsh, as he ultimately didn't say anything too extreme or controversial, but I guess Nintendo handled the situation how they felt it should be handled. We don't know what sort of NDA's he signed and violated. We probably won't be seeing any of the other Treehouse staff behave similarly anytime soon.

I haven't heard the podcast myself so I wouldn't side with Nintendo for sure, but I'd guess that they're probably in the right here. I've heard that the guy said some kinda disrespectful stuff towards fans. With the gaming media the way that it is, a headline like "NINTENDO SPOKESPERSON LASHES OUT AT GAMERS" isn't hard to imagine in response to his comments. And if the guy's contract said he can't appear on podcast, then a contract's a contract.

Also the first four times I read this headline on other sites, I was totally confused as to why Chris Pronger, of the NHL, would be fired for talking about Nintendo...

I always get annoyed when politicians and corporations sugar coat everything they say. I really like a guy who spoke his mind, he didn't revel any Nintendo secrets and was just saying what he was struggling with at the company. I feel firing is harsh.

I'd be willing to be it wasn't what he said, but the fact that he said it. With how secretive everyone at Nintendo seems to be I would think they have some kind of clause in their contract saying they can't talk to media about their work.

@Sormon
In general, it seems that the larger a company is, the less open they are about behind-the-scenes stuff like this. Indie developers, for instance, are usually pretty transparent about decisions to do such-and-such.

Breaking NDA is a big deal, it sucks for sure but it doesn't surprise me at all that Nintendo would fire him. This basically sounds like a lose lose for everyone involved.

Apparently just like a week ago he posted on Twitter about Nintendo easing up their rules for this kind of thing? Sounds like he maybe just misunderstood what was allowed. Really, really sucks that they would fire him over that if this was the case.

I don't think people should lose their jobs over something like this, but at the same time, with the world being the way it is, he should have been prepared for the possibility that it would get the attention of gaming media and Nintendo ninjas. Even if Nintendo's letting employees speak more freely at the moment, he should have been able to tell what he can and can't talk about, and they're obviously not going to like someone talking about localizations the way he did, essentially making it sound as if fans only matter if they have enough money to spend. It may or may not be the way they look at things, but that particular way of putting it doesn't do them any services.

I feel for the guy, he clearly loved his job and feels miserable and embarrassed now. But man, terrible decision. He should have known better than anyone that Nintendo presents itself in a very careful way to avoid negative press and misunderstandings and yet he goes on a podcast, says whatever he likes, mocks fans and puts down the fanbases for some franchises as being too small to matter. Being on Treehouse Live probably made him feel a little bit like a celebrity and that's how the podcast knew his name and reached out to him, but he didn't make a smart choice.

I think there is a fine line between being candid, and venting. Chris clearly crossed it.

Yeah, talking about how depressed Sakurai gets when he reads criticism or saying NOA lets staff voice characters just to save money. None of that seems like he was thinking before talking.

Watch the way Reggie often has to deflect issues and talk in circles to stay in line with NCL's rules when he's being interviewed. And that's a president. You can't just blurt out everything on your mind in a public forum, I don't know how the guy thought it would be okay.

I don't know much about this, but it seemed like some of what he said was overblown and/or misunderstood by the media and commenters, so it sort of feels like this guy was fired for things he didn't actually say. Then again, I s'pose some of what he said probably does violate some sort of NDA, so it may not matter anyway. It seems harsh, but rules are rules and this isn't the first time something like this happened, so speaking anything like this is more risk than it's worth.

His recent statements do make me feel really bad for him, but he is holding himself responsible. Working for Nintendo was his dream job. I believe that. It would be mine as well.

Even if something is legal it doesn't make it right, if that were the case slavery would still be legal in the United States. I know that that is an extreme case but even if Nintendo had legal grounds to fire the person, they shouldn't have. In fact, I wish more companies were this transparent about their products instead of just giving people the cold shoulder and treating us like we don't know any better.

I also wish Sony would just come out and say that the reason they don't let us change regions or our IDs is because they didn't hire programmers who knew what they were doing when they created the PSN ID database. I know that for most people moving to another country permanently or even for a few years for work, study or what have you probably won't happen as often but seriously if Microsoft (not to mention any other PC digital distributor who is worth their weight) can do it I don't see a reason as to why Sony can't, other than their alleged ineptitude that they won't accept of course. That is even not mentioning the simple ability to change your name which, again, most other companies allow you to do. At least your display name...

Infinitywave said:

Watch the way Reggie often has to deflect issues and talk in circles to stay in line with NCL's rules when he's being interviewed. And that's a president.

I doubt it's NCL forcing Reggie to be so snide and dismissive and never give straight answers, I think that's just his personality. Iwata was a good example of someone who spoke earnestly and candidly even if he couldn't always give the answers everyone wanted, I think he had real respect for his customers which is why he seemed so humble and amazing. That's kind of a side issue though, it's impossible for us to know if it's NCL or NOA who made the call to fire Pranger. I'm sure the rules in Japan about this kind of thing are much more strict though, for most companies not just Nintendo.

Regardless of which side made the decision to fire him, I think they both feel it's what they had to do. I'm not defending the decision, but his statements regarding Xenoblade's localization can make Nintendo seem irresponsible to shareholders and investors, and that's not something Nintendo will take lightly.

@r_hjort

Nintendo's own actions make them seem irresponsible, or inept, imo. But then again I don't really care it's not as if I have Nintendo stock.

@r_hjort
Yeah I think it's a crappy situation but I'm sure Nintendo just did what most corporations would do if an employee is in violation of their contract and company guidelines/rules. I'm personally under at least two NDAs right now, if I went on social media and started talking about some of the stuff I know I'd probably get sued, I just don't talk about the companies I work for, unless it's way way in the past.