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Chris Pranger The Nintendo Treehouse Localiser Has Been Fired

https://twitter.com/TheChrisPranger/status/631852330133028864

You may remember Chris Pranger who was the outspoken Nintendo of America localisation employee? Well, he has announced today that he has been fired from the company. He is the person who recently defended Nintendo’s naming of the Wii U and said that games such as Xenoblade Chronicles simply won’t sell enough to justify localising the title. He was very forthright in his views and you can read some of his thoughts, here, here and here.

223 thoughts on “Chris Pranger The Nintendo Treehouse Localiser Has Been Fired”

  1. Nintendo Tetrarch Quadramus-NX

    >>>That’s what you get for speaking out of line, now I’m one step closer to a higher position>>>

          1. He was an asshole to people while speaking as a Nintendo representative. He deserved to be fired. If Reggie pulled what Pranger did when he first started out, I guarantee you that Reggie would not be in Nintendo today. In fact, he’d most likely be fired today if he did something like that in a recent interview.

              1. *talks in a nasally voice* That is what he did that was asshole-y. He was basically calling everyone that complains about some of Nintendo’s bad decisions what nerds use to be viewed as: nasally challenged losers that talk like Steve Urkel. So yeah. Fuck Chris Pranger. He had it coming.

                1. meh… He had a sassy tone in his voice.. Big deal; I dont really care. But taking someones job for just opinions is a bit drastic. suspension would have sufficed and calmed the people who wanted justice .

                  1. When you sign an NDA, which most big companies have, opinions are not welcomed & can get you suspended or even fired. So therefore, he broke his contract since he didn’t have permission to express his opinions.

                      1. Actually, depending on what you’ve given away when you weren’t supposed to, breaking NDA could be very minor to extremely major. And since Nintendo fired him, they felt it was major.

              2. I don’t get this, because Reggie has said things along these lines many times, if not things that have come off as worse than what this guy said. So Reggie can spew stupid shit and insult Nintendo consumers intelligence at times, but they fire this guy almost immediately?

                Reggie deserves to be fired just as much as this guy, if that’s the case.

                1. Nintendo Tetrarch Quadramus-NX

                  >>>Except he never insulted the fans in such way, that’s worse than insulting the empire>>>

          2. freedom of speech just watch what you say. probably breach of contract. don’t know him but that would suck. we all make mistake, must be more to the story.

          3. another person who mistakes a law meant to protect you from the government from keeping you quiet. Freedom of speech does not protect you from private censorship, such as having to be kept from saying damaging things about the company you work for…

      1. I'm a Boss Ass Bitch

        At least was being fucking honest. Biting your fucking tongue and saying nothing is something only weak bitches such as yourself does.

        1. Nintendo Tetrarch Quadramus-NX

          >>>So some of you are mad because he insulted you, I see, no wonder you humans are sadistic by nature>>>

              1. Nintendo Tetrarch Quadramus-NX

                >>>Well if it isn’t this Boss Ass Bitch then it’s the other bitch>>>

                >>>You get what you ask for simply put>>>

                  1. Nintendo Tetrarch Quadramus-NX

                    >>>I see your continuous defeat makes you even more stupid, grab a dictionary and look up the word bitch>>>

                  1. I'm a Boss Ass Bitch

                    Oh fucking please. Once I’m to much to fucking handle. You’ll simply get fucking butt hurt and send a lame ass clip of something that doesn’t make any fucking sense whatsoever.

                      1. I'm a Boss Ass Bitch

                        Oh I understand them. To bad your to fucking lame to write it out yourself. Pathetic bitch

                      2. Why do you swear so much? Do you think it’s god damn motherfucking funny you pieces of dogshit?

          1. Biting your tounge is something you HAVE to do in the real world bro. You can’t just “be honest” to your boss and expect to keep your job.

            1. I'm a Boss Ass Bitch

              No were about to disagree because everyone else was. Just shut the fuck up you bandwagoning bitch.

          1. Nintendo Tetrarch Quadramus-NX

            >>>I enjoy their “spirit” break better, it’s lovely watching their essence fade away>>>

        2. Nintendo Lieutenant Cereza

          All employees know their place. I always see Miyamoto and Aonuma glance down and chuckle nearvously whenever they’re asked information they know they cant answer. I’m certain they know of people … JUST … LIKE … PRANGER … Pobably That co-worker from the past Koizumi who spoke out of line and was sentenced to Hara-kiri in the homeworld.

        3. If you were an adult, you’d know that literally any job, particularly at publicly traded companies, you have to sign a nondisclosure agreement and you aren’t able to speak for the company as a whole.

          1. the last xbox boss was fired for all his stupid ideas for the Xbox One. those mistakes were so bad it has taken phil spencer almost a year and half to back track all those issues. but I think that was a bit worse then this situation. he should have changed his tone. said something more like “we embraced the challenge of localizing a product we know may not sell” instead his tone was more “why would we even bother” his own fault. he should stand by his work not cower from it.

            1. I am not just talking Microsoft, any corporation or even some small firms all have NDA that basically say they will let you go if you speak about their business. I don’t want to go into specifics for the exact same reason.

        1. We should go on twitter and make sure this get’s coverage. Nintendo should be ashamed for firing a supportive employee and family-man.

          He did nothing to deserve immediate termination as if he committed a fraud or something.

          I’m really sick of the New Nintendo. Putting pride and $$ before their own employees… It’s really sad.

          1. Well, he did break his conduct, so in result he got fired, he even stated he did, I do feel sorry for him but he should have thought before he acted

                1. He was a complete asshat and didn’t deserve to keep working there.
                  He had no respect for the products or the fans

              1. That’s the bad thing about signing a NDA, you could get fired without a warning. He had to have done/said something he shouldn’t have said/done for this to happen.

                1. And it all happens in the podcast he was in. In hindsight, firing him was pretty severe & a simple suspension with no pay would have made me just as happy as him being fired. I hope he can find another job real quick if his family is in need of a steady paycheck.

                  1. Wait, so he was fired during the podcast? Yeah it sucks, I’m fairly certain hell find a job, or hell just go on unemployment while he looks for another one.

                      1. I see, ok now I fully understand it. I really want to listen to it but I keep forgetting to download if and I get sidetrack. Would you happen to know what podcast it was.

              2. Broke conduct? So you just fire people willy-nilly when an employee does something wrong? Make no attempt to salvage the employee or correct the situation?

                When your only solution to an employee problem is to fire them, you’re HR department is failing.

                1. Of course? When someone spouts bullshit that insults your customer base and makes your company look bad do you seriously think anyone is going to want to keep them on their staff? What exactally is there to “salvage” from someone who has shown to be willing to spout utter garbage from a position of high power?

                2. We don’t know if he has been warned before. Unless a person work for Nintendo and even then they may not know the whole story.

            1. I don’t recall nintendo firing that many people, unless u count the location change at NOE ( I think).

            2. Probably worth mentioning that we’re only assuming he got fired for those interviews since they were presented to us alongside the news in this story. We really have no idea whether it’s over that or something completely different he did behind the scenes.

          2. Every single company especially ones that are public have their employees sign agreements not to do this kind of stuff. It’s not just Nintendo.

          1. NOJ makes all the decision, there was a reddit post about an employee working for NOA and said all the stuff about amiibo shortages and games and such are all on NOJ

        2. Daaaaang, Nintendo… It sounds like a damn police state that company. I’d like to hear inside information about how the employees are treated within.

            1. Nahh… I don’ wanna.

              But I stand by my opinion. It’s a police state, they probably regulate your blood levels to know if you’re not working hard enough. They probably hold the rights to your first newborn, you know how it is.

                1. Shut up you flaming fanboy stupid son a bitch. You should go work for them and make them suck even more. Your dick sucking skills will definitely help them suck more.

                  1. …I’m sorry could you bring some level of sense to your comment? Possibly proof of your claims about me as well if you wish to state that my mother is a dog, that I would bee a poor worker, that Nintendo is doing poorly, and that I suck dicks cause I’m confident all of those things, especially the last one, are patently untrue about me. I may munch muff, but wiggidy wangs don’t interest me.

                  2. Nintendo Tetrarch Quadramus-NX

                    >>>He insulted us basically, that is just a big illegal thing to do within the empire>>>

                      1. Nintendo Tetrarch Quadramus-NX

                        >>>And he was a part of it, whether the American departments are corrupt or not, it doesn’t matter, an employee should never speak for an empire or complain about it unless something very bad is at stake, like his life or rights>>>

                        1. I hope you, as a robot, understand that thanks to him NoA shady policies have been severely exposed.

                          Heck, NoA is all about monkey business in its purest state!

                  3. I think what he meant was that, by “police state”, that Nintendo may of fired him for the statements he maid…which seems VERY controlling. What ever happened to freedom of speech? I get that you shouldn’t talk trash about the company you work for, but this, again, seems fishy as maybe he was simply trying to explain nintendo’s mindset on certain things like localisation. It seems that, if his statements were the main reason he was fired, an extremely petty excuse for kicking someone out. I’d understand if he starting saying stuff like “Reggie can suck my dick” but I don’t think it was even close to that level.

                    Note, I think the opinions he did express were pretty stupid (most localisations being a “colossal waste” which probably means “boo hoo no Mario kart-like sales even though we break even”) but I wouldn’t have him fired for it!

                    1. I’m sorry we don’t have free speech in private companies, only in public areas. That’s kinda what terms and conditions mean and why you can’t swear or use inappropriate things on some sites without getting banned. You give up the freedom to say/show/do absolutely anything you want in order to use the service. Pure and simple.

                      I think many of us don’t understand our (USA) freedoms and rights and tend to soap box more than look at things as objectively as we mean to.

                      I don’t know the terms and agreements he agreed to work under so I can’t say if him being fired was harsh or not, but I can say it’s terribly unfortunate for him and his family and I do wish him the best.

                      1. Yes, and if a company wants to be seen as a military state, then they should definitly fire employees and not make any attempt to edify or educate them.

                        He didn’t get a warning, he wasn’t told to back off the talking…Nintendo straight-up blindsided him. I’ve worked for large companies. And HR is the first thing to go when they are struggling. Shit Human Resources do things like this, and I think Nintendo’s actions expose far more than what he did.

                        1. You don’t know if he got a warning. You don’t even know why he was fired. All we know is that he said he was fired and that it was his own fault. He didn’t say anything else.

                          1. Considering he said “he did not see it coming”, I’d suppose he did not get a warning. He kinda would have seen it coming if it was caused by a repeated mistake he had been warned about before. But of course, that’s just an assumption on my part.
                            However, I’m with you on not knowing what the reason for him getting fired was. Can we really oppose/support the situation if we don’t know how severe his misstep was? I personally don’t think so.

                            1. Nintendo Tetrarch Quadramus-NX

                              >>>He kind of contradicts himself though>>>

                              >>>”It was my own fault” and then “I didn’t see it coming”, kind of a contradiction there>>>

                            2. Maybe he realized his fault only after being told about it. Sometimes you won’t realize you’re doing something wrong in the process of doing it, but you’ll perceive your error once you rethink the situation after it’s been done.

                        2. True, but we can’t just say this is 100% Nintendo’s fault if we have no evidence of such. We can’t go on one hand saying this is a police state and this man is being denied his freedoms, then on the other scream Nintendo is totally wrong and evil when we don’t have evidence that anything Pranger said is true as to why he was fired.

                          If we will take his word and not even try to appreciate the possibility this may have been a long time coming and he said what he said and did what he did before the clock would most certainly run out, then we’re being unfair.

                          If Nintendo CEOs come out grabbing their nuts and facebooking and tweeting the pink slip they gave him while laughing at his family’s state, yes I will agree with you. But people at Nintendo DON’T just get fired. I don’t recall enough instances like this that would make me assume as much.

                      2. Well it seems at least that the free speech of their workers are basically “you can say anything…but if you do anything we don’t tell you to (thus includes mistakes, accidents, not knowing a rule, etc…) then we’ll FUCKING RAPE YOU!!!!!”

                        1. You’re hyperbolising the situation and you know it. No one was raped, a man was fired. Just like a man and woman are being fired RIGHT NOW for probably something for more petty, yet we all wish to rally around this one face we see and know. All of it’s wrong mind you, but see how I too can hyperbolize and make a situation seem worse/better than it is? See how that completely ignores your point?

                          In a more serious sense freedom of speech means you are held responsible for what you do and say. No one can technically make you say anything, but you are to be held responsible for the actions what you say cause. That’s why it’s illegal to yell fire in a crowded theater. You can do it yes, but to cause that much panic and what not is against public order and safety so you must be held accountable for your words and your decision to use them. He, possibly, was not and so was punished for it. Tis the checks and balances that keep our nation afloat.

                          Also knowing the rules of your job is your responsibility. If you’re too stupid/lazy to learn/remember them, you probably should be fired. If he was fired for what he said this was no accident or mistake, so again, he broke the rules and was punished for it.

                          1. So if someone said to you “you can say whatever you want…but if you say anything bad about me I’ll shoot you” would that be classed as free speech? Consequences like that keep people in line ( like getting fired) and, while technically he could say whatever, he’d be punished for it…so the punishments are there to shut people up. I know it’s corporate policy that you simply can’t say some stuff but it seems kinda hypocritical when reggae calls fans “insatiable” and gets away Scott free.

                            1. Yes it would. Either I chose to say what I want and run the risk of him shooting me or I don’t. I chose, not him. If you wish to ask if his words are free speech, yes they are. However, he could be punished if he actually has a weapon and is threatening me with it. I’m fairly confident there are laws against that.

                              Rights don’t make you exempt from laws. Rights saw you can run your mouth to people about whatever, but your contract legally binds you under punishment if you say what you’re not supposed to. You can chose to break that contract, but you do so of your own accord and you will be punished for it.

                              I really don’t see how that’s a hard concept to understand.

                              And as far as Reggie is concerned, it’s HIGHLY likely he was okay to say what he said man. I mean look at his position (President of Nintendo) and look at Pranger (some guy who works at TreeHouse). I think their positions allow a different levels of flexibility when disguising company info and speaking to the public. Calling fans insatiable hardly equates to talking about how the damned company runs man, come on.

                      3. Just face it bro you are a fanboy a mindless puppet who can’t think for himself will do anything for Nintendo even if it’s bad and anything people try to say to you won’t make any sense because you are thick headed better off talking to a monkey probably understands more

              1. Nintendo fired a man with a new kid and family. Someone who has been defending and trying to help communicate Nintendo’s actions.

                He didn’t get reprimanded, didn’t get written up. He was treated like he was committing fraud or something. Just fired.

                It was a dick-move on Nintendo’s part. I mean, it was pretty much his dream job, and he defended it, and Nintendo completely stabbed him in the back.

                I’m really on the fence. Not sure I care enough about Zelda U to keep supporting Nintendo

                1. Well that sucks for him, but with the family, new kid, and dream job, he should have probably been more careful about how he was representing his job while speaking of things he may or may not have been at liberty to speak about.

                  I can’t say he was stabbed in the back or if it was a dick move on Nintendo’s part because I don’t know the things you can and cannot speak to the public about, especially when it is not your place to speak on such things. He works at TreeHouse, not PR, and likely overstepped his bounds or something.

                  I wish the man well and all, but demonizing Nintendo just seems ridiculous to me.

                  1. It just seems like harsh treatment towards the man from Nintendo given his current situation (he’s got a family to feed)…what if he didn’t know he was stepping outside the boundaries?

                    1. It doesn’t matter, what ShadyKnights is trying to say, and I think I finally agree, is Nintendo is no different than any other corporate beast these days.

                      1. Uh.. Kind of? They’ve always been a company and sometimes companies act quickly and cruelly, yes. But what I have been saying is, everyone is rallying around this guy and saying he didn’t deserve this, when we’ve never really known Nintendo to do something like this before, so why would would we assume they would do so now without reason?

                    2. Then he should have known. Knowing the rules of your work place is one of your top priorities, ESPECIALLY when you have a family to take care of. I don’t mean to come off as callus, but as someone who’s watched his ex girlfriend constantly loose a job because she willingly broke this or that rule (not out of spite or meanness, just life happened and it was follow rules of job or take care of her family) and watch her pick herself back up after being upset for a bit, while also being a single mother of two, I can’t really say he can’t make it. He can and will bounce back. Guy’s got heart.

                  2. Actually, we don’t know why he was fired. He did say it was his fault. I don’t even know why this became such a big deal. People are fired everyday.

                2. U do know he mocked fans( in a very rude way), and talked about stuff he was not allowed to talk about…

                  1. I hope you guys are perfect. And if you’re not, I hope you get treated the same way when you slip…especially if your company’s first attempt to correct your actions is, “You’re fired.”

                    1. I’m not ,but he talked about he was not allowed to talk about in a podcast. Its that simple he knew what he could not say but he did so he got fired.

                3. Bet he’s really feeling like spitting in somebody’s face at Nintendo right now. “U can stick that stUpid name right Up U’re ass!”

            2. It has been stated that Nintendo treat their employees very well. Same with Sony and I do know Microsoft treat their employees well.

            1. Off topic, but this might sound kind of dumb. I’ve seen people with that same avatar and I kept looking to find her and figure out who the heck she was. And then I watched Kill la Kill recently and had no idea you that you literally had her name in my face this whole time…

              1. Haha. That’s funny. Although, I don’t post very often anymore, it could have been you just forgot. I like your icon and I know who it is despite forgetting her name and the shows title.

          1. IDR? Fired the guy for defending them?
            Am I missing something or did Nintendo just friendly-fire someone that was trying to defend them?

            If I worked for Nintendo, I’d be getting my resume ready…

            1. The problem isn’t that he defended him. The problem is HOW. It is generally poor form to insult your customers. And anyone surprised is delusional, as there aren’t too many companies where doing so will not be punished in some form.

                1. Actually, he did insult customers. He insulted the ones that are criticizing Nintendo. He got what he deserved.

              1. If it was so fucking important or offensive, why not tell him to stop? Why not have HR talk with him?

                Just fire employees without a warning? Really?

                Damn. Cold bunch, the lot of you. I’m all for justice and obeying corporate rules, but last I checked, people make mistakes.

                1. NDA are very strict contracts and its not just a nintendo thing ( capcom, sony, microsoft ect have one), he join a podcast, knowing what he cannot say. I do feel bad for him, and wish him well

          2. He was largely defending Nintendo. Hearing his name actually caught my attention because he managed to fish reassurances out of Nintendo’s otherwise flaky decisions

          3. You never know guys (I’m talking to the whole comment section) there may be something behind the scenes that we don’t realize. Something he’s done wrong to deserve to be fired. He seems to think that it was his fault, he said it was his fault.

          4. You do not have opinions of your own in a Japanese company, even if you work for the American branch or whatever. Motherfucker should have known.

          5. Any smart person knows that speaking your mind in his position is a dumb risk to take, regardless of what company you work for him. Sucks for him, but he really should’ve known better.

            1. It was a risk. I have just been thinking Nintendo was bigger than the run of the Mill corporate entity. I fucking said they were better than Microsoft because they have “heart”… My foot is tasting pretty nasty right now.

              As most of you have stated. Nintendo is just a corporation. If that’s really all that’s left of them, shame of me for being blind enough to think of them as something better.

              I’m buying another console. Nintendo get’s $60 bucks from me when they release Zelda. You all finally convinced me, Nintendo’s no different than any other corporation. Not what I thought starting the day,but you guys finally got through to me.

            2. I don’t know how things work outside Japan, but it probably isn’t smart anywhere. Like you said. So many dumb people get fired these days especially over twitter and facebook posts.

          6. I cannot help but be a little amused by this… He seriously should have known better than to speak about the company he works for, publicly, without permission. It’s not about Nintendo’s practices, it’s about him assuming he is allowed to represent the company. Everyone should take this as a lesson that you should have more respect for the people you work for.

          7. Truth be told, I found him a prick earlier this week.

            But today I see that just exposed how low in the rock bottom NoA is right now.

            In other words, he was fired because he showed that NoA is totally bogged down in its own low standards.

            1. Agreed. I even confronted Chris on Twitter, saying his defense of the WiiU name was bullshit…not I feel sorry for him. :/ Guess he should have been acting like a Facebook employee.

              Where I work, I can shoot my teammates with rubberbands and talk trash, but we always get our job done, and if one of us goes a little two far, the big bosses reel us back a little. God I’m thankful I don’t work for Nintendo…almost applied to work in their eCommerce department…dodged that bullet.

              1. You aren’t making your company look stupid on an intentional level, nor are you breaking NDA. Not the same.

              2. That defense of the Wii U name was indeed really poor.

                Yeah, the corporate environment can become kinda toxic sometimes. Specially in big companies like Nintendo, which might harbor several eastern — i.e., stiff — codes of conduct for its employees.

                I consider myself a responsible and commited professional, but thinking about working at a place full of rules and whatnot sends srivers down my spine.

                Best of luck on your professional path!

          8. Glad he’s fired. Glad he exposed Nintendo. Glad that gaming is dead. Glad that the super extinction event on Earth takes place in 2017. Glad we’ll all be dead forever.

          9. For real, this is low. Like, maybe the guy could have been nicer about the way he gave his opinions, but really those are the kinds of answers that I want to hear. What he said about localisation made sense, and people that don’t get the games that they want localised would like to receive an answer as to why. He really should have presented himself better, but he shouldn’t have been let go for something like that.

          10. You remember that Iwata was against firing people right? $100 says Reggie or someone wanted him fired before but Iwata was like no I don’t fire people. You should never be fired for speaking your mind. As long as your not trashing the company it falls under freedom of speech which is something the USA used to be all about.

            1. Too bad Nintendo isn’t American then. In Japan you get down on your knees and shut up if you have to. Its’ sad but it’s true.

          11. In the actual podcast he doesn’t even say anything negative… it was all made up by Nintendo News sites.

          12. As soon as Iwata passes away, Nintendo starts firing people…. don’t know whether to feel bad or what…

            1. I can’t believe in saying this but Iwata was the best thing to have happened to Nintendo in a while. Now that he’s gone, Nintendo is going to go down the shitter. The employees are going to turn on each other until they destroy this company. It’s Lord of the Flies again.

              1. It doesn’t matter what happens in NA. It only matters what happens in Japan. All satellite regions have no real say and only do what they are told. In the case of NA, you can see how they have no ambition to do anything other than what they are told.

          13. I don’t get involved with he said-she said/ so take my advice QUIT WHILE YOUR AHEAD!!
            Cause just 1 day you’re not gonna laugh/ when your mouth writes a check your behind can’t cash!!

            U GOTTA BIG MOUTH!!
            Lol

          14. he will be ok there lots of restrooms he can suck old cocks at and his young butt will find many old men to please all cash in hand

            1. 1. Insulting customers, going on a podcast without permission and revealing information to the public he shouldn’t have revealed
              2. No

          15. his wifevwill learn to love the new income from restroom cock sucking

            he eill get used tothe taste,its that or a mcdonalds job

          16. I don’t know why this got me worked up.
            Being a Nintendo fan these days is like being in a bad relationship….you know you should just leave, but you don’t.

            1. Nintendo Tetrarch Quadramus-NX

              >>>Not to offend you or anything because you are one of the few I respect in this base but, the rage against the empire makes some of you blind to everything sometimes, just like Stranga imagines me to have said something like defending Federation Force when I’ve never done it ever as an example>>>

          17. I guess half the responses here are from Xbots and Sonyans who likes to defend the guy because their words will be an attack on Nintendo as a whole and don’t realize this topic is one sided since they are reacting to one person’s tweet. Probably most of these trolls are kids who don’t know how any business is run from the inside and thinks that you have the right to say anything in your mind. Remember the saying, “Don’t bite the hands that feed you”?

            For those who know how this works, Pranger’s firing is not like that of an ordinary employee’s. This could have been a boardroom decision after one of the NoA stockholders got hold of the articles.

            The guy got way over his head with his reactions, even though he was defending Nintendo he was also insulting the people who he should be encouraging to buy their products. And don’t think that Sony or Microsoft will not do this if it happened to them… because they do too. You just don’t know about it because of a “Gag Order”.

          18. While I think his representation of Nintendo’s fanbase while talking about localization was unruly and that his defense of the name Wii U was damage control, the outcome is a bit extreme.

            Condemn me if you will, but I am a supporter of second chances- he should have stayed but be given a tighter leash and some sort of penalty instead of being straight-up canned.

          19. *bursts into Mark Hamill Joker levels of laughter* GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE, YOU FUCKING DOUCHEBAG!!! Now Nintendo just needs to fire the other 99% of the idiots at Nintendo of America!

          20. Pingback: El empleado de Nintendo, Chris Pranger, fue despedido | Arcadiavg

          21. Pingback: Cliffy B Criticises Nintendo For Firing Chris Pranger | My Nintendo News

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