Nintendo's Fischer Apologizes For Geeks And Otaku Comment

[Shrygue]

via Kotaku


It almost goes without saying, but Nintendo of Europe's managing director Laurent Fischer deeply regrets stating that "geeks and otaku" were the only people concerned about running out of space on their Nintendo Wii due to WiiWare and Virtual Console titles, comments that ticked off gamers and developers alike. Speaking to videogaming247, Fischer offered the following by way of apology.

“I have huge respect for those who, like me, share a common passion for Nintendo and want to make it clear that I would never use and I didn’t use this terminology in such a context or way to cause offense,” he said.

“I regret that this misunderstanding has created such offense and disappointment within the community.”

You know, in all honesty "geek" and "otaku" are way low in the list of things I've been called that cause me offense, but I can certainly see how some people would get upset. As for Laurent, all I can say is always talk as if what you say is going to end up on the front page of a major gaming blog, because it generally is.

[mcdougall57]

well it is true

[Jay6]

Well, do they plan to do anything about the storage issue? Saying that it was a misunderstanding doesn't give us any more storage.

[____anders____]

yeah, the geeks (us) need more storage, cus alot of us are out of it and you wanna make more money of out of the geeks don't you?

the best thing to do is add USB Mass Storage compatibility in the next update and you will magically get more money..

[AndrewArsonn]

Now apologize with more space.

[heathen_gray]

Ummm... that's not really an apology.

He said he didn't use the terms to cause offense, and that he regrets we misunderstood. So... It's our fault, apparently.

I know it's the defacto corporate apology, to blame the events that happened after the fact, but it still hollow :|

Personally, I'm proud to be a Geek, it was the utter dismissal of the storage problem that annoyed me. "It's not Nintendo's fault you want all our games". For a company that has survived since the N64 on its family appeal, I shudder to think it might one day reach epic levels of arrogance as shown by Sony before its "promotion" of Crazy Ken, and for a while after launch.

[acg12xu]

I had just sent an email yesterday to Nintendo America regarding this. I'm glad I did too because this is a halfassed apology.

i basically asked, are the concerns of geeks and otoku illegitimate? Because that's what the comment sounds like.

[Auriono]

Ummm... that's not really an apology.

He said he didn't use the terms to cause offense, and that he regrets we misunderstood. So... It's our fault, apparently.

Read the statement again and tell me he wasn't using those terms in a negative way.