Rumor: Nintendo of America moving; SF and NYC are options
This town ain't big enough for the both of them!
Redmond, WA that is. Home to Microsoft, Nintendo of America, and 46K innocent bystanders, the sleepy burg just outside Seattle is also home to a showdown. Well, not so much a showdown -- we don't think Microsoft has any intention of packing up -- but Nintendo's American operation is considering just that, according to Game Informer Online. Reportedly, the sales and marketing teams currently coordinated in Redmond were told yesterday that they had until June 1st to decide whether to relocate or accept a severance package. Possible locations for the new offices -- which could be open as soon as this Fall -- include Lincoln, Nebraska and Juneau, Alaska ...
... this just in: they're now considering San Francisco or New York City. Sorry Lincoln and Juneau. But what of the rest of Nintendo's Remond work force, which includes the Treehouse localization team, Nintendo Power, customer service, HR, and more?
[Via GameDaily BIZ]
Redmond, WA that is. Home to Microsoft, Nintendo of America, and 46K innocent bystanders, the sleepy burg just outside Seattle is also home to a showdown. Well, not so much a showdown -- we don't think Microsoft has any intention of packing up -- but Nintendo's American operation is considering just that, according to Game Informer Online. Reportedly, the sales and marketing teams currently coordinated in Redmond were told yesterday that they had until June 1st to decide whether to relocate or accept a severance package. Possible locations for the new offices -- which could be open as soon as this Fall -- include Lincoln, Nebraska and Juneau, Alaska ...
... this just in: they're now considering San Francisco or New York City. Sorry Lincoln and Juneau. But what of the rest of Nintendo's Remond work force, which includes the Treehouse localization team, Nintendo Power, customer service, HR, and more?
[Via GameDaily BIZ]




















(Page 1) Reader Comments
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This has "Bad Idea" written all over it.
San Francisco and New York are two of the 10 most expensive places in the nation.
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They'll probably go with SF... Because it's closer.
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But now that I've posted this here, it'll be a snowball's chance in hell they'd move to Lincoln.
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http://eat-sleep-game.com/news
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Yep. That's the only reason I wanted to go to Digipen. Well that and it's in a good area.
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First off you have the human factor. If you move the company you're going to guarantee that some employees will not want to leave because many people find their personal lives more important than their professional lives. And these people who do quit, I wonder where they might find employment... Microsoft perhaps?
Second, the locations are a bad idea. The timezone difference between New York and Japan will increase the difficulty in communication between the two offices. New York's tax system is punishing, and I once heard that it's especially brutal to telecommuters (I don't know if that's true though). San Francisco, on the other hand, has a business climate that's about as friendly as that in North Korea. A perfect example is how the people of that city, and the surrounding area, impose so many laws against development and also have numerous rent controls laws. Then they sit around scratching their head trying to figure out why housing is so expensive. Moving NoA to a place like San Francisco is utterly foolish unless Nintendo's actively looking for a challenge. Companies are currently fleeing cities due to these reasons, why would anyone want to move in?
Nintendo is a high-tech company and they seem to be looking at this situation with an old fashioned point of view. They should keep the main office where it is to ease communication with Japan and have satellite offices and telecommuters as needed. The benefits of packing people and businesses together into cities is an old-fashioned concept that thankfully died last century.
P.S. I hope Nintendo's not moving because Microsoft is also located in Redmond because that's a very childish attitude to take.
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me wanna new job.
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I'd certainly apply for a job, haha.
Maybe they need more legal counsel.
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Man, I would be so pissed if anything happened to the Mariners as a result of all this. Seriously. I would be forced to train a moose to kill and then let 'em loose on NOA.
The Sonics, on the other hand, I won't miss 'em.
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Many game companies are centered around here and going to SF makes a lot of sense LA would also make sense. when I worked at Visual Concepts I used to have to goto SCEA quite abit by car. Proximity helps to schmooze.
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Frankly, a 12 hr difference is not really a bigger problem than 9 hr. Many Japanese businesses have offices in NY. It's actually easier for Japanese to "get" NY because it's the only US metropolis that has a functioning Mass transit system
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Moving away from Microsoft might be part of that "philosophy" change, but i think that's stretching it. Think about them moving to a city with a more recognizable name, though, it would make more sense.
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Nintendo's the only reason I'm about to go to Digipen. Plus, some of the workers there won't move. But more importantly, I want to go to Digipen to get connections with Nintendo! Like hell if Microsoft comes up and offers me a job instead...
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