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Working for nintendo (contract for 3+ years) was one of the most stressful and awful experiences of my life. Coworkers were great, but I was constantly under pressure of being let go for little things like going to the bathroom or being stuck in traffic an extra 2 min b4 work.

Quote Tweet

Stephen Totilo

@stephentotilo

· Apr 19

NEWS: A worker says Nintendo of America violated their right to organize and has filed a National Labor Relations Board complaint against them and a hiring firm Nintendo had largely avoided the industry's labor scandals, but an investigation will follow axios.com/nintendo-nlrb-

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6:19 PM · Apr 19, 2022Twitter Web App

Replying to

CW - Suicide There were days I was driving into work where I thought I'd be better off closing my eyes and running into the car in front of me than being put through the stresses they put me through.

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Anyways, they approved my time off for GDQ excitedly back in 2015. Stoked in fact that I was going to a charity event for gaming. And then the day before I was leaving they told me to clean out my desk and my work was done.

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Was also there when they killed the Nintendo Power helpline. They separated all of the contract workers while they gave the news. Lots of FTEs who were there for years left crying on the floor being told to go contract or pack up. They weren't wanted anymore.

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I struggled for a year after being let go. Almost moved back in with my folks. Got lucky and found a good job bc of a friend and have been there since. Would not suggest NoA to literally anyone as a place to work. Especially if you like games.

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Additionally, they have an awful practice of "dangling the carrot" of full time employee to contracts who they almost universally never hire on just to keep exploiting them and keep them quiet. I spoke up to try and better things for coworkers. Main reason I was let go tbh.

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Technically it was worse than "clean out your desk" as I left that day and got into my car they called me in the parking lot to tell me I was let go and to come back tomorrow (the day I was flying out) to pick up my shit.

Quote Tweet

Boyks

@the_boyks

· Apr 19

Anyways, they approved my time off for GDQ excitedly back in 2015. Stoked in fact that I was going to a charity event for gaming. And then the day before I was leaving they told me to clean out my desk and my work was done.

Show this thread

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One thing I forgot, you could get fired for posting on social media and I quote "I had a bad day at work" with no other context.

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I should also point out that the hiring company they're using mentioned in this article is different than the two I worked with while at NOA. This would imply that it's NOA making these decisions since it's still ongoing 8 years later.

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Oh I guess I should point out I have literally nothing to gain with talking about this. I'm not in the games industry anymore and was not the one to file the complaint. If the folks there can manage to unionize though I see that as only a good thing.

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Replying to

Not the first time I've mentioned this fwiw.

Quote Tweet

Boyks

@the_boyks

· Apr 23, 2019

For the record Nintendo also does "disposable" contract labor and it was the most miserable I've ever been while at a job. twitter.com/austin_walker/…

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@Aegis_and_Pred

Replying to

and

@Succinct_Punchy

We're you working in Cali? I worked for their East Coast repair facility and could tell stories of the joys of training cheap labor to repair joycons...

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NoA in Redmond. This was right about when the 3ds released to the Wii U release.

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Show replies

Matthew Dobbins

@KingofPrinnies

Replying to

and

They said never meet your heroes. In today's world, it's "never meet the people behind your favorite media"... I can't believe they'd be this nasty despite AC literally being delayed to avoid hurting the devs.

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Replying to

and

we may have know each other — I worked in the ptd for ~5 years before quitting towards the tail end of the wii u era. it’s all true. shoutouts to mandatory two months unpaid time off every year, presumably to maintain contractor status and avoid giving us any benefits whatsoever

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Easiest way to exploit the workers and cut costs for sure.

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Thank you for talking about this. Im wanting to go into the games industry but all of these horrible stories arent making me too confident.

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This experience turned me away from it altogether. Before all of the big scandals came out too. Find a company who treats you like a human being and hold on imo.

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TommoTheCabbit is still waiting for July 8

@TommoTheCabbit

Replying to

All these horror stories are just devastating and there's a lot wrong with society. Capitalism and greed the reason why I'm becoming disconnecting with a lot of companies in recent years. Every company especially with US branches are guilty of doing horrible things.

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TommoTheCabbit is still waiting for July 8

@TommoTheCabbit

Even Nintendo would be guilty of this and I'm very concerned about the state of the video game industry. I feel like most video game companies are being greedy and selfish by releasing unfinished games, having abusive workplaces, not wanting to unionize and other reasons.

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Replying to

Holy shit. And I thought Nintendo was "Konami without the worker abuse." I was wrong: It's exactly the same as Konami.

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This is literally about contractors, not even employees, in a overseas branch. The konami comparison make zero sense when that article was about employees in Japan

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🏳️‍⚧️

🏳️‍⚧️

Replying to

Hope this opens space for unionization

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Same! The employees need one.

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Thank you so much for speaking up about this. I want better for everyone in gaming and in the work force in general, and I really hope people listen and that actual change can happen. I'm so sorry for what you went through there. I hope things are MUCH better for you now!!

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molly!! @ i’m trying

Replying to

i’ve always wondered why i never see folks talk about their experiences working for nintendo like they do with other devs. i never see folks talk about it even if they currently work there, and i guess the constant intimidation to keep up appearances is why.

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Really similar experience contracting for M*cros0ft re min3cr4ft. It’s basically abuse as a business model. The stress killed my best friend in the middle of his shift even. Whole industry needs to be held accountable, but the media focuses its outrage at FTE’s and board members.

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Did... did you just censor microsoft and minecraft??? What the fuck??

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@H_a_k_i_m_c_h_i

Replying to

Difference in nintendo america and nintendo japan is astounding its almost like as if america is the problem

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Actually it's because Nintendo of Japan doesn't care about the other divisions of the company. They just view everyone else as localization monkeys.

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Replying to

Your tweet was quoted in an article by nme

Nintendo accused of "coercive actions" in labour complaint

An anonymous employee has accused the company of coercive actions and statements.

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Boy, you don't wanna work in Germany then

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@competitively12

Replying to

You should file a complaint as well then. We can’t just be talking about because we aren’t going to get very far with that.

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Light Lord Lucas

@LightLordLucas

Replying to

I’m so sorry you went through that. The Gaming Industry is so messed up. Is there anything we can do to help ensure labor rights for every employee?

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Replying to

Japanese know they need to go to office earlier in case of traffic jam. It probably influences NA side.

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Hector Melgar-Jones

Yeah I kinda feel like its Japan's strict work ethics that influence America's company business ideals that make it harder to work for a Japanese based company like nintendo. Idk the way I see it is its a cultural thing because the Japanese value work and contribution so much.

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@sonyPlaytation

Replying to

Thank you for being public about your time there. People need to realize that Miyamoto isn't the one making the games, that there are people who work there, and people who have to deal with Nintendo's bullshit from the inside.

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Replying to

I don’t get how this is a horror story? Lmao every job requires you to be on time and if you’re constantly late at any job they threaten to let you go¿?

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Replying to

#Nintendo really hasn’t been the same since Reggie left.

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Hate to break it to you, but Reggie was still there while I was working.

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