I Risked My Life to Work at Nintendo

I have identified as a gamer since childhood. In fact, I was born the same year as the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System and have owned all of Nintendo’s flagship consoles except, of course, the Virtual Boy. Unfortunately, the term “gamer” has taken on a lot of baggage over the last decade or two. But it persists, and I find it difficult to disconnect myself from it as it’s still an apt descriptive label. My passion isn’t just relegated to loving a hobby — video games have contributed to who I am, and the only college I applied to specializes in video game production. As someone privileged enough to grow up with them, they helped expand my vocabulary (thank you, RPGs) and told stories that influenced my way of thinking while being wonderful, innovative displays of human creativity. There is no denying now that video games have integrated into our culture similarly to literature, film, and television. Anyone who knows anything about video games knows the name Nintendo — and also many who don’t: my parents called any game console a “Nintendo.” With the company’s family-friendly persona, introduction to fans at a young age, and revival of the home-gaming market, Nintendo is seen as a paragon of the industry. But it’s still a business, and its first priority is to make money. The highest cost for just about any company is labor, and companies will go to great lengths to keep this cost down (they use people’s reliance on work to survive, lobby to keep minimum wage down, engage in union-busting activities, pervade stigma about discussing pay and even lie about it being illegal, and the list of tactics is truly endless). <a href="https://medium.com/@xNINja/i-risked-my-life-to-work-at-nintendo-c9099845882f">Visit Now</a>