Summary
- Nintendo didn’t celebrate its 100th anniversary, reflecting its humble and disciplined corporate culture.
- Former developer Takaya Imamura shared insights about Nintendo’s unassuming nature during his time there.
- Imamura believes that the Star Fox series may make a comeback, but uncertainty remains about the timing and format.
Back in 1889, a little company called Nintendo was founded, producing hanafuda playing cards for the masses. 100 years later, that same company was one of the pioneers of video games, launching the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Game Boy over the span of eight years.
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While 100 years of history and multiple massive console launches may seem like cause for celebration, a former Nintendo developer has shed light on that anniversary, revealing that Nintendo didn’t even celebrate it.
Star Fox Creator Takaya Imamura Shares That Nintendo Didn’t Celebrate Its 100th Anniversary
Speaking in an interview with 4Gamer (and translated with a bit of help from Google), Star Fox creator Takaya Imamura shared details on what it was like joining and working for Nintendo around that period.
“I joined the company in the year of Nintendo’s 100th anniversary. At that time, society as a whole was in a bubble, so companies would take students who had secured employment on trips and throw parties to keep them from losing out, but Nintendo did nothing (laughs). We didn’t even celebrate our 100th anniversary, and it was a company that never got carried away,” Imamura said.
Nintendo did nothing. We didn’t even celebrate our 100th anniversary, and it was a company that never got carried away,
This corporate attitude was distilled through the company by then-Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi. “It was ‘Keep calm when you’re happy, keep calm when you’re unhappy.’ No matter how well the company was doing, Yamauchi would always speak harshly to employees. Of course, this was because Yamauchi had failed in many businesses, but toys and games are a business that is a liquid business, so it’s right even if you think about it normally. Hearing Yamauchi’s strong and persuasive words made me think, ‘You have to make good, interesting things to sell, right?'” He added.
Imamura’s first job at Nintendo was creating artwork for the now-dormant Star Fox series, a series that he told TheGamer last year he believed would come back, saying, “Miyamoto has got strongest feelings for Star Fox. So, I think we’ll see another game, film, [or] some kind of new development with the IP at some point, but I don’t know when or what.”
We can live in hope.
- Released
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June 30, 1997
- ESRB
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e
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo EAD