Reggie: Fan petitions don’t change what Nintendo does

Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime has revealed in a recent interview that the fan petitions and campaigns Nintendo fans run ‘doesn’t effect what we do’.

This rather blunt statement comes in an interview with Siliconera. Reggie was quizzed on Operation Rainfall, the campaign to bring Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower to the west (specifically North America). While the campaign’s goals were eventually met, the release of the games in North America, it would seem the campaign itself had little effect on Nintendo’s decision in the end.

“I wanted to bring Xenoblade here. The deal was, how much of a localisation effort is it? How many units are we going to sell, are we going to make money? We were literally having this debate while Operation Rainfall was happening, and we were aware that there was interest for the game, but we had to make sure that it was a strong financial proposition.”

Reggie says the decision ultimately is financial.

“I’m paid to make sure that we’re driving the business forward – so we’re aware of what’s happening, but in the end we’ve got to do what’s best for the company. The thing we know [about petitions] is that 100,000 signatures doesn’t mean 100,000 sales”.

So while if you’re really passionate about something and want to run a campaign, this news shouldn’t stop you – just remember ultimately you might be beating your head against a brick wall.