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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Nintendo fires editor for appearing in a podcast, Cliff Bleszinski buts in

Completely justified, he knew the rules. Many companies these days have social media policies which prohibit you speaking publicly about, or as a representative of, your employer without permission.

With my employer it's not automatic termination but they make it clear that if you appear in social media and identify as an employee of the organisation, without permission, you are taking your 'life' in your hands. It hasn't happened often but people have been fired as a consequence.

No surprise with respect to Cliffy B, he wouldn't understand professional standards if he was beat around the head with them on a daily basis.



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JRPGfan said:
Dgc1808 said:
What exactly did he say that was so bad?

Nothing really, I listened to most of it and it didnt in anyway paint nintendo in a bad light.

Some of it had to do with him trying to explain nintendos point of view, when talking about translations of japanese games to other regions.

How sometimes with how small a market could be for a game, and the work and cost of translations/voiceacting/new marketing ect, sometimes couldnt justify the work/cost of doing so.'

He talked about marketing for Smash brother too, I loved that part.

I think Nintendo over reacted fireing him, something like this, wouldnt warrent more than a warning Id think.

He broke an nda, if you just warn him what will the next guy that breaks an nda say?



Having listened to the podcast, Nintendo was justified in their actions.

The dude divulged way too much information about past projects, current projects and internal operations, not to mention the unprofessional manner that he spoke in.

Once they talked about Smash and Sakurai, you know he fucked up big time. With that said, it's rather unfortunate that he lost his dream job



Zkuq said:
If he knew what he was doing was against rule, he deserved this. That said, Nintendo seems to have too strict a rule here.

I reckon 80% of copanies out there would have a no speak to media policy or your fired. Every company I worked for has one. They like to control what is said is consistant with what the company wants the public to know.



 

 

Nuvendil said:

As someone who actually listened to that podcast, Cliff needs to do some more research before acting like this guy is a martyr and the patron saint of the "downtrodden developer."

The guy's tone and comments were way out of line for an unapproved podcast appearance. His conduct ranged from unprofessional to outright disrespectful and some of the stuff he said was just plain dumb; I swear, I thought he might be a just a bit drunk. Stuff like talking smack about other departments, talking smack about other companies, and mocking the fanbase is always going to get you in trouble; that's not a Nintendo thing it's a common business sense/practice thing. And on top of that, we are only ever going to get this guy's version of the story. There is always - always - two sides to every story. And Nintendo is essentially prohibited from giving us their side. They aren't allowed, as a company, to just air his dirty laundry. So this guy isn't going to say he's an ass - even if he is - because that kinda hurts his future prospects. And Nintendo isn't going to say he's an ass - again, even if it is true - because that would be the fast track to a lawsuit. The drama some of these sites are trying to drum up is just silly.

I can feel for the guy, he got fired.  That sucks.  But feeling sorry for a guy and being on his side are two unrelated things.  There are a lot of people I feel sorry for who I would nevee take their side.  In fact, I feel sorry for this guy more because he did it to himself then anything else.  But again, the usual disclaimer:  his sob story post may very well be a blatant misrepresentation of himself.  If he is a bad employee, he isn't going to come out and say it.  No bad employee will admit he's a bad employee; that's an inherent characteristic of a bad employee.    

I just want to quote this because some members, that posted after this, seem to have skipped your post and its many important points/facts.



I am a Nintendo fanatic.

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Mr.Playstation said:
No, he didn't deserve to be sacked. Also for those saying that he broke the rule and hence deserved to be sacked, you should all realise that this forum also has rules but I'm sure everyone has broken them ounce or twice.

It's also a very stupid rule...


The differences are

1. This forum needs people to survive so if they ban everyone the site dies. i.e. site makes money from people being here not we make money from us being here.

2. Nintendo has about 99% of employees who are replaceable.

3 Nintendo PAY people to do their job and keep quiet and out of the media.



 

 

SubiyaCryolite said:

Yeah, he totally "deserved" that. *rolls eyes* I know Nintendo has a large following on this site, but some of y'all need to step back and take a good look at the situation. They could have suspended him (without pay) but they decided to fire him, that says a lot about NoA which I already consider to be complete crap. What sucks is that he was explaining their (NoAs) reasoning behind localisations, or lack thereof.

"Hello friends and family. As many of you have probably seen, I am no longer at Nintendo. I was terminated this week due to a podcast appearance I made last Monday. It was a stupid judgment call on my part and ultimately it cost me far more than I could have imagined.
"I've lost the only job I really knew or ever intended to know. Since leaving high school, I've had a singular goal in terms of a career. It got me through college and pushed me through the difficult time immediately after college where I learned just how crippling it was to have an English degree in the job market. I applied for 6 years straight for my job. Even before that, I'd made my entire identity around my hope to one day have this perfect job. I was mocked here and there as "Nintendo Boy" from maybe middle school on, but I thought that if I succeeded, it'd all be worth it.
"And now it's gone and I honestly don't know how to handle myself. A central part of my personality revolves around Nintendo. Anything that I've decorated with around my house has a very clear Nintendo theme. My shirts and jackets overwhelmingly show that as well. Being able to finally feel at home at a job is a feeling I can't easily quantify. I was the guy who'd see a hastily-discarded paper towel in the men's room and pick it up, saying to myself, "This is my home, and I will keep it clean."
"If we're being honest, I'm scared. Very scared. I haven't been without a job for over 4 years, and even then it was during the weird "just exiting college" part of life that everyone goes through. And back then, I was still down in Oregon near family. Living in Washington has struggled to feel normal, but I was grounded in my job. It was where I happily spent my time and saw all of my friends. With that unstuck, Washington suddenly feels alien and empty all over again.
"I look around my house and see images of my son and feel such intense shame and crippling sadness. How do I share this part of my life with him? How do I cope knowing that I've failed him? Even before this I'd been struggling to want to provide better for him and my wife, knowing that due to my student loans, I wouldn't be entirely debt-free until I turned 40. That's not a hyperbole either. I'm just now barely under $100,000 in student debt and my last payment is scheduled for the same year that I turn 40. "That student debt is intimidating, but it's worth it for the end result." I've undone my end result.
"I spent the last week in a miserable place once the podcast began getting coverage. I was instantly scared when a coworker poked me and said, "Hey, you're on GoNintendo." Suddenly article after article began appearing in game sites of all languages. Comments sections painted me as an idiot and the like. My Twitter started giving me hourly reminders from people meaning well and otherwise. It seemed unthinkable that I'd be let go for a single moment of poor judgment and my own misunderstandings, but here we are.
"Obviously, as I'm writing this at 4 am, I don't think I have a clear goal. All I can think of is that there's so much I've put at risk. I know that if I can't find a job at least as good as this one, I won't be able to provide for my family. I've lost them their health coverage and their security. I also know that I've probably lost a good deal of my friends, just because I know how hard it can be to stay in touch with someone when the convenience of proximity is lost.
"I'm so sorry to everyone. I've failed you. You believed in me and supported me and trusted me and I've failed you. I've failed me.
"

It's a sad situation completely of his own making. Anyone that has worked in the corporate world, could tell what he did would result in temination. If I did what he did, I would be fired. The difference is I would not have ignorant forum goers and agenda driven games media making a story out of a standard business practice.



Basically this thread is

+Nintendo
-Cliff

The rule reminds me of Nazi Germany.



Currently own:

 

  • Ps4

 

Currently playing: Witcher 3, Walking Dead S1/2, GTA5, Dying Light, Tomb Raider Remaster, MGS Ground Zeros

Depends how clear Nintendo made this sort of thing beforehand. If they just never said anything but expected everyone to know everything about the smallprint on their contract, it's a bit harsh and they should've just docked him a month's pay as a warning.
If they'd been clear in explaining this expectation, then it's on him.



ps3-sales! said:
Basically this thread is

+Nintendo
-Cliff

The rule reminds me of Nazi Germany.


Your history class sucked.