A fan of Splatoon 3 showed up to a Nintendo of Japan shareholder meeting to send his complaints "directly" to the company. Fans going after developers for their decisions is nothing new, but the way this fan did so is somewhat unorthodox.By just a hair, Splatoon 3 is currently the highest-rated entry in the trilogy of child-friendly multiplayer shooters according to Metacritic, and the fastest-selling as well. It's certainly not perfect, having been criticized for its lack of innovation from Splatoon 2 as well as various latency issues regarding the online matchmaking. But the most interesting complaint thus far is in regard to its Inkling customization features, which have been expanded from the previous game and praised by critics. And one Japanese fan decided to voice his displeasure to the face of the gaming giant.While the disturbance was not captured on film, a series of Japanese tweets from user @NStyles detailed the events that transpired. During the Q&A portion of the meeting, the fan decided to voice his complaints about Splatoon 3's character customization, specifically the male to female ratio among all the aesthetic options. He argued that it wasn't fair to boys himself, and managed to get his whole complaint in despite President Shuntaro Furukawa attempting to cut him off due to his question being too long. Once the fan was done speaking, the president politely thanked him for playing the game and sharing his opinion, but did not directly address the complaint itself.
After the incident, a user claiming to be the fan explained that he had purchased Nintendo stocks in order to gain an audience as well as access to shareholder meetings. This came after he delivered his complaint in several emails that went ignored, and then bought several Nintendo Switches, which he then sold to afford the stocks. Considering how often Nintendo's stocks tend to fluctuate in value, this step could not have been easy. Nintendo has not responded to requests for comment on the incident at this time.
In the age of social media, fans have more access than ever to most of their favorite celebrities and companies, and more than ever before, said celebrities and companies are directly addressing their fans and the feedback they receive. Nintendo especially has been noted for addressing fan complaints in recent years in some of the sequels it puts out, so maybe this fan assumed Nintendo might address his complaint if he delivered it personally. Regardless of the way communication has been altered, it remains incumbent on all fans to read the room and remain respectful at all times, as they are not owed anything from their idols.
Splatoon 3 is available now on Nintendo Switch.
Source: Video Games SI
