Brace yourself, because this is (unfortunately) not a drill. Nintendo released the English transcript to its annual investor’s Q&A this morning, and the following is an actual, real-life snippet from an investor.
I do not understand video games and I even feel angry because, at Nintendo’s shareholders’ meetings, the shareholders always discuss things relating to video games or such childish topics as “what the future of video games should be,” while I, for one, was flabbergasted that Mr. Iwata continues to hold his position although he had said that he would resign if the company’s performance were bad.
I hope that Nintendo’s shareholders’ meeting will become an opportunity where the shareholders discuss the company’s business operations from the viewpoints of capital gain and dividends.
Sheesh. This guy has a say in Nintendo’s future? Now, to be fair, it’s possible that the translation to English made this sound a bit more ignorant than it actually was, and the same may very well be true about the disrespectful tone taken toward company president Satoru Iwata. Still, the sentiment stands — this fellow finds Iwata, Nintendo, and the “future of video games” childish in their current form.
Related: Iwata Re-elected as Nintendo President
Luckily, Nintendo bigwigs Genyo Takeda and Tatsumi Kimishima (seen above) stood up for Mr. Iwata in his absence, replying swiftly and appropriately. Not to mention hilariously (you could cut the tension with a knife).
Takeda: I appreciate your tough comment. We, the directors of this company, believe that we should take responsibility by recovering our business’s momentum. I would like to ask Mr. Kimishima to comment on this valuable opinion from one of the Nintendo shareholders.
Kimishima: The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders is an important opportunity for communication between Nintendo shareholders and the company’s management team. It is a place where we respond to the views expressed by shareholders, in order to discuss how we should develop the company from now on. From that perspective, talking about the company’s business operations is very important and, at the same time, as an entertainment company, it is also very important for us to inform our shareholders about the kinds of entertainment Nintendo offers, including video game content. Therefore, as the shareholder has just commented, we are and will continue trying to thoroughly discuss our business operations, and we will continue to respond to questions from other shareholders regarding the kinds of entertainment we are challenging ourselves to offer. We will try to further enhance the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders from now on. We appreciate your continued support of the company.
Takeda: Once again, we appreciate these valuable comments from the shareholder.
Deep breaths. Though Takeda and Kimishima did a nice job keeping things professional, it’s slightly disconcerting that an actual Nintendo investor would take such a stance. That said, there were quite a few insightful and interesting questions at the Q&A too — you can take a look here and see for yourself.
With Iwata’s recent re-election and boosted approval rating, here’s hoping stooges like the asker above will be kept in check for years to come. I shudder to think what might happen if not.
