Nem said:
Negotiating with a Japanese company requires certain knowledge of the Japanese culture. Its not the same as the US/Europe. Spoken promises are highly valued there and its usually a very complex procedure. I am 100% convinced that this was EA trying to fool Nintendo and a translation/cultural issue. The Japanese dont exactly say NO in a convincing way, they are too polite. You have to be able to read it in them (for example they may bow alot giving you the impression they are agreeing with you when in fact they are apologising). It sucks, but its that way for every company dealing with japanese companies. |
I know japanese business culture is different from ours and even among the general public this is common knowledge - I'm sure EA could handle that situation 
Still it was Iwata's job to prevent something like this from happening. I don't like EA but I doubt it was *just* them being evil.
(On a related note: Even if it was because of cultural differences why should the western company adapt to the practices of the japanese one and not vice versa?)
