Rumor: Nintendo of America moving; SF and NYC are options
by Christopher Grant 
{ May 4th 2007 at 1:24PM }
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]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Viridium @ May 4th 2007 1:30PM
WTF? I'm Canadian, and even I know it's Juneau.
OhJustSomeRandomGuy @ May 4th 2007 1:30PM
Wow.
This has "Bad Idea" written all over it.
San Francisco and New York are two of the 10 most expensive places in the nation.
Lita @ May 4th 2007 1:31PM
I'm American and even I know its Juneau.
C. Grant @ May 4th 2007 1:31PM
Precisely! You're closer to *Juneau* than I am! Corrected, thanks. =)
Kyle @ May 4th 2007 1:33PM
Isn't Juno an ISP? Juneau, I've been there is really nice in May.
Zertoss @ May 4th 2007 1:33PM
That picture is too funny.
Ken @ May 4th 2007 1:34PM
I'm hoping for NY, but only because I'm in OH. Which is a short drive to NY; If they have like a tour or something.
They'll probably go with SF... Because it's closer.
Tweak @ May 4th 2007 1:39PM
I would not argue AT ALL if they moved to Lincoln, NE. That's only about an hour's drive away from me... Buahahaha. I could stalk their offices every day! :3
But now that I've posted this here, it'll be a snowball's chance in hell they'd move to Lincoln.
Zertoss @ May 4th 2007 1:43PM
I can't imagine them moving anywhere other than someplace on the west coast. Is this a result of Iwata busting some heads over Brain Age?
a6tmrf @ May 4th 2007 1:45PM
At least the cost of Lincoln is really cheap... plus they could get great tickets to the Husker games! Um....
hvnlysoldr @ May 4th 2007 1:50PM
Reykjavík. I heard that Nintendo is looking to expand. Digipen shares a section with Nintendo and the lease is ending soon. Nintendo wants it back and looking to expand. Start another branch with its sales and marketing teams.
aegies @ May 4th 2007 1:51PM
Most gaming publications and site headquarters are located in the Bay area and New York, and that's also where design and marketing firms are predominantly located, so both of those locations would make some sense. That said, everyone I know in the industry (testers, community managers, etc) are in the Bay, save for the ones that work at Nintendo, so for them to schmooze, it would make sense to move, given Nintendo's more aggressive stance this generation.
http://eat-sleep-game.com/news
Ken @ May 4th 2007 1:52PM
@hvnlysoldr
Yep. That's the only reason I wanted to go to Digipen. Well that and it's in a good area.
Steve @ May 4th 2007 1:55PM
Opening up a branch somewhere else may be a good idea, but moving the entire US headquarters to another location is just a bad idea. Moving to San Francisco or New York City makes the problem even worse.
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.
Booxatron @ May 4th 2007 2:04PM
I really hope not...I suppose it won't affect me personally THAT much either way, but still, it's nice just *knowing* that Nintendo's right here in my backyard...
waLLy @ May 4th 2007 2:07PM
sf please.
me wanna new job.
Stabface Pro @ May 4th 2007 2:09PM
That really sucks and I hope it's not true. It's been nice to be able to drive to Nintendo and pick things up, like when there were Wiimote shortages. And I have friends that work there! Cryin' shame.
hvnlysoldr @ May 4th 2007 2:17PM
This is rumor and it's only affecting the sales and marketing people. Microsoft has not bought Capcom or Nintendo. They're not feuding over a little lot. Nintendo is sharing a section with Digipen that's rumored to be the expansion point in Redmond.
Digi Smalls @ May 4th 2007 2:24PM
sf has enough gaming jobs. be the real maverick Nintendo and join Rockstar here in NYC.
.
Slaziman @ May 4th 2007 3:18PM
NYC please, maybe we can go to the Nintendo HQ in GTA IV then... that would be so sweet, we could buy it and build an empire >:O!
MosquitoControl @ May 4th 2007 3:34PM
NYC.
I'd certainly apply for a job, haha.
Maybe they need more legal counsel.
Arno @ May 4th 2007 3:36PM
Come to NYC so I can try and get a job there. I really doubt they'll come here though.
ill trooper @ May 4th 2007 3:40PM
What about the Mariners?
majortom1981 @ May 4th 2007 4:09PM
Sales and marketing moving to NYC makes a lot of sense.
Lag @ May 4th 2007 4:07PM
What about DigiPen? Nintendo is there land lord
Booxatron @ May 4th 2007 4:13PM
@23
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.
redspear @ May 4th 2007 4:25PM
Steve obviously you have never been to SF. Rent is so expensive in this city because there is no space to go but up. As a city there is only one city in this country which is more densely populated and that is NYC. If you want cheap rent you can go to Oakland. Even in SF rent is pretty cheap if you goto the Richmond and Sunset districts. You can get a studio in the tender-nob for around 800 a month. Most apartments in this city go for around 1200 a month even if you want to live in Nob Hill. Daly City which also has rent control is also cheaper than SF because there is more space and less people per Square Mile. In fact living in SF is actually cheaper than living in many places in Marin County or San Mateo.
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.
steve @ May 4th 2007 5:17PM
@14 - Steve
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
Mr Khan @ May 4th 2007 5:56PM
They probably just want to move to a more central location to fit into this more "gaming for the everyman" sort of ideal, and be more centrally accessible for other businesses to interact with in America,
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.
...Jan... @ May 4th 2007 7:46PM
Oh man. No, I don't want this to happen.
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...