Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime mentioned that Nintendo focuses on fun while other companies focus on politics. However, the Nintendo of America troupe seems intent on getting political… but only in support of certain politics.
Sankaku Complex spotted the news from the Twitter account of Bill Trinen, the senior product marketing manager at Nintendo of America, who was proud to post his pride photos on social media while attending the Pride Parade in Seattle, Washington.
#PlayItProud#SeattlePride2019 pic.twitter.com/GJynKr8q5n
— Bill Trinen (@trintran) June 30, 2019
It wasn’t just Bill Trinen who posted up Pride photos, though.
Nintendo Treehouse member and Puerto Rican, Jose Otero, also posted up photos on his Twitter account.
We’re finally about to start moving. Watch out for us if you’re here for Pride in Seattle. Also, someone brought the cutest dog. #PlayitProud pic.twitter.com/suuHsShB2D
— Jose Otero (@jose_otero) June 30, 2019
Deisgner Jeremy Canceko was also posting photos, along with Nintendo’s Latin American PR representative, Pilar Peublita, and Brian Watson.
Second year in the parade! So proud of our community at Nintendo of America! #seattlepride #playitproud pic.twitter.com/bZgtRXzRod
— Jeremy Canceko (@sparebot) June 30, 2019
Nintendo Love #PlayitProud #SeattlePride #loveislove pic.twitter.com/RnD8jyPiZ9
— Pilar Pueblita (@PilarPueblita) June 30, 2019
And remember boys and girls: when you see us marching down that Seattle street tomorrow, I want to hear you shout: play it proud! #playitproud pic.twitter.com/a3mSFLKpvN
— Brian Watson (@momotaro) June 29, 2019
Most shocking of all? There were even furries on hand.
Warning: Viewer Discretion Advised
Well, we thought we weren’t going to make it but we made it to the parade!🏳️🌈🐾 #furryfandom #PrideParade #SeattlePride #seattlepride2019 #Nintendo #nintendoprideparade #germanshepherd #popufur #kemono #kawaiigirl #kawaii #playitproud pic.twitter.com/AcjXV1M7ku
— 🐾Honey🐾 (@Smol_Shepherd) June 30, 2019
This is actually the second year that members of Nintendo publicly posted their support of a political movement. Last year the NOA team also attended pride.
I had reached out to Nintendo to get a clarification on their attendance and whether it was something official or just something the individual employees engaged in, but I never received a reply.
Apparently this is something that’s becoming more common in the corporate ecosystem of Nintendo, which is not a good thing if the company is attempting to stay apolitical.
We can already see that Sony is becoming hated amongst gamers for their ideological politics ruining the creative art of games due to the censorship policies they instituted.
Microsoft is also on the fast-track down the exact same route. Not only are they censoring Christian themes out of their games, but they’re also going all-in on censoring their community because Phil Spencer doesn’t believe in free speech.
Nintendo has reiterated that they won’t be getting political, nor will they be censoring third-party games, but usually once companies start getting political online by supporting political causes, it’s just a matter of time before it becomes policy.
We’ll see how long Nintendo can hold out on the current censorship spree ruining our society, and whether or not it will eventually trickle down into software policies.
(Thanks for the news tip Hot Katsuragi)
