
Video game companies have to deal with a lot of things behind the scenes, and one story that's recently come to light isn't pleasant at all.
According to a translation by Nintendo Everything, Japanese media outlet Kyoto Shimbun reports the arrest of a "36-year-old female permatemp on suspicion of intimidation" on 9th February 2023 for allegedly sending death threats to a Nintendo executive in June last year.
It's unclear who exactly was targeted at the Kyoto-based headquarters, but a package sent by the suspect supposedly contained a bag of incense and some alarming documents.
One of the messages attached reportedly included notes like "I'll kill you" and "Die Nintendo!", and made reference to a specific date. According to local police, the suspect has apparently never met the Nintendo executive and there's believed to be "no personal hatred".
Nintendo hasn't publicly commented on the incident at this point in time, but if we hear any developments, we'll update you.
[source kyoto-np.co.jp, via nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 61
GEEZ! I know some people hate nintendo for “reasons” (being way too overprotective of their property’s) but this is crossing the line!
I know people want a new F-Zero but god damn
And all that because there was no next gen switch 2 in the direct.
I wonder if she worked for Nintendo, and had bad relations with this exec. The above poster is asking the same thing that I have on my mind, so I echo those sentiments. Japan still treats women like second-class citizens in some aspects of their culture, so I would be interested to hear the other side of the story.
"the other side of the story". — um, there's no justification for sending death threats ever. That person has revoked their right to be heard.
I guess they took the $70 Zelda price pretty hard.
Must've been a Sony fangirl.
@AngelSlayer I'm not looking for justification. I'm seeking better understanding. There's always at least two sides to every story. Put away your pitchfork. Anger is a cry for help.
Why can’t people express themselves in a grown-up manner? In America we don’t do unacceptable things like send fragrant letters to people. Instead, we convey feelings of resentment and betrayal using civilized methods like readily available military-grade firearms.
What is wrong with people man, No one deserves that.
What is wrong with people?!
Agree that there could be more to this story. Perhaps this executive did do something to upset this employee in the past?
I've toned it down a bit because this is a family site, but some people are getting ideas.
Wild. The woman clearly needs some sort of help though, that’s not the actions of a sane person, especially if she’s never actually met this executive and holds no personal malice against them.
@Maxz Your level of sarcasm is unwarranted, misplaced, misguided, mis-everything. Holy *****.
The feeling you get when you're winning Tower Control and the connection fails.
No, that's German for 'The Nintendo, The'.
maybe nintendo was abusing her in some way. japan has a different culture and what is natural in western societies may not necessary be accepted there and vice versa.
@AlexOlney ok Sideshow Alex 😉 This lady is clearly VERY upset about those doors in Metroid Prime.
It was German. He just meant "the Nintendo".
This news article is giving me some flashbacks to the KyoAni arson.
I hope that will never happen again, to anyone.
@SonOfDracula I agree. It’s vitally important that we don’t mention this issue and even more important that we make absolutely no efforts to address it.
I know that several people hate Nintendo for their DMCAs and not making their music available online officially, but this went TOO far!
@Itachi2099 aw man, you beat me to it!
This is not alright
@EliJapan Probably, permatemp is someone who work for a temp agency or another company but are sent to do assignments somewhere else where they are not employees of that other place. So imagine if you're a truck driver hired by a trucking company and they sent you to shipped cargo from one store to the next. You're not employ by the store you get the cargo from, just the company that gave you the shipping assignment over there. The only difference here is that you can't be hired by the store as you are already permantly an employee of the trucking company.
@SonOfDracula
Imho, @Maxz comment was spot on. Sarcasm can be an effective tool in making a point, especially an unpleasant one.
This seems...odd. Disturbing really. Hopefully all angles of this matter are investigated and the guilty party gets the help needed. Death threats are never okay despite anyone's sins, either real, alleged, or even if they're guiltless.
I'd like to know more about the incense she sent them. What scent does one choose to augment a death threat?
No, that is German and just means: "Die Nintendo". A person that speaks German can not be evil.
Too many unknown and plus this is translated from Japan reporting so unless some is well versed in Japanese this is taken with grain of salt.
Maybe they were writing in German. "Die" simply means "The", so Die Nintendo literally just means "The Nintendo".
@Coalescence it isn’t so much the scent as the fact that incense is burned for a dead person. It’s pretty much a promise that the person will die soon and is really cruel/sick/morbid. I guess something western would be if you sent papers for a will and said “you better fill this out while you can”.
Came here for Sideshow Bob references; wasn't disappointed.
She's probably angry we didn't get Metroid Prime 2 and 3 Remastered.
In all seriousness, I haven't received them (not that I want to) but I can only imagine how one might feel if he/she receives death threats. Those are no joke.
Has anyone on here actually seen this letter? Other then what's reported? If so please identify oneself and source link.
I want a new F-ZERO, Waverace and 1080 as well, but death threats aren't the way to get a new entry. 😋
Wow wtf... why send death threats to Nintendo when there are companies like EA and Activision on the go? Dumb villain needs to learn to prioritise XD
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@Maxz Disapproval and tone-policing from a death threat apologist is probably the highest praise you could have received here, so congratulations!
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Man, that college kid who told his professor to cancel class for "the good of humanity" before the Nintendo Direct has really gone off the deep end this time. I told y'all this would happen if they didn't show Smash. /s
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@SonOfDracula
You are entitled to your opinion. As is everyone else.
@k8sMum It's not my opinion that the post is off topic, as is yours.
Back on topic: Again, I'm very interested in hearing more to this story, since it will shine light on WHY the threat was made, which is an immensely important detail.
@HammerGalladeBro Especially after the arson incident at Kyoto Animation. If she were a child I could understand some of the sympathy being shown to her but a 36 year old sending death threats to a specific person should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Sheesh, some people have no patience for release dates! Especially for a particular upcoming Zelda game! 😉 In all seriousness, death threats are no laughing matter, but unfortunately I have a feeling this is more common than it should be for Nintendo.
Glad the Japanese Police are taking things like this seriously now. After the tragedy at Kyoto Ani (look it up, it was terrible) people like this should be arrested on the spot for even threatening such a thing.
@SonOfDracula
Whether a comment is off topic is up to the mods, not you. NL is a site that encourages give and take as long as it's relatively courteous..
Perhaps you haven't been here long enough to know that.
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@FirstEmperor I must say, it’s quite telling when “levels of sarcasm” are deemed more problematic than the actual issues they touch upon. What “veils the truth” is not ‘stating it in reverse’ but refusing to state it at all and seeking to silence those who do.
The ‘problem’ with sarcasm isn’t that it contains brazen falsehoods, but that it bypasses the defence mechanisms we have for blocking out blatant truths.
Making an evidently true statement is largely ineffectual if someone has perfected the art of ignoring the obvious. Making an evidently false statement, on the other hand, solicits the question, “why is this false?” and by the same token, “what is true?”. This is generally much more uncomfortable (or “unwarranted, misplaced, misguided, mis-everything”) to think about.
Anyway, I’m just glad that this threat was
intercepted and dealt with before it progressed beyond letters and incense. As the 2019 arson attack at Kyoto Animation (less than 10km from Nintendo’s HQ) demonstrates, you don’t need military-grade weaponry to commit a massacre — though it certainly makes things easier.
@k8sMum Off topic or not is up to the site, and they set it up pretty easily by writing articles that are easy enough to follow to be able to stay on topic. Go argue with someone else, please, I'm enjoying my Sunday
To all the people saying the executive should be investigated because there has to be more to the story and people don't just lash out like this without reason, I do not disagree but I wonder if you'd keep the same energy if it were not an executive and just two random people.
The question is, do you truly believe both stories should always be heard, or are you just hoping for the chance to prove how evil a company is you don't like? Hopefully it's the former, but I have a feeling some people are just hoping for a "Nintendo bad" story.
@SonOfDracula
Ah, got you. You are replying but I am arguing. Bit hypocritical, but whatever floats your boat.
Byeeeeeeeee
Sometimes I think my neck of the woods is the only place that has crazy people committing crazy crimes but whenever I see the news I see crazy people all over the world lol
@tkdboy1889 I'm always interested in hearing more details, because from my perspective, this IS just two random people. I have no idea who they are.
@tkdboy1889 Or even better, what if instead of two random people the situation was completely reversed and it was the executive sending death threats to an employee? I wonder how many people would be talking about how "immensely important" it is to know what the executive's motivation was.
@SonOfDracula When the perp is a woman, people start making excuses for her behavior.
@Crono1973 Nope. Bad bait.
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