I get really frustrated with poor journalism within video game journalism. It seems to happen a lot in relation to the Switch Take this recent post for example:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/1dspoiy/switch_2_wont_face_low_supply_legal_action/
The title of tech4gamers article says that "Legal Action Planned Against Scalpers". It doesn't directly say Nintendo's planning on suing scalpers, but saying legal action heavily implies that.
Here's the problem. Nintendo didn't say that at all!
The article was based on Nintendo's recently shareholder question and answer that's available here:
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2024/qa2406.pdf
Here is question 2 as translated by Google translate:
"Q2: I would like to ask about measures to prevent resale of the successor to the Nintendo Switch. At last year's general shareholders meeting, you said that you would take measures to prevent resale by ensuring sufficient production of the hardware, but are you making progress on these measures?"
"A2: Furukawa: As a measure against resale, we believe that it is most important to produce a sufficient number of units to meet customer demand, and this approach has not changed since last year. In addition, we are considering whether we can take any measures within the scope of the law, taking into account the circumstances of each region. In addition, last year and the year before, we were unable to produce a sufficient amount of Nintendo Switch hardware due to a shortage of semiconductor parts, but this situation has now been resolved. We do not believe that the shortage of parts will have a significant impact on production for successor models at this time."
It doesn't at all say that Nintendo plans to sue or take legal action against scalpers. (And I hate scalpers.) It says that Nintendo wants to do what they legally can! That's completely different!
Switch "journalists" should be held to a higher standard. I don't know whether the problem was a bad translation or huge logic jumps. But it's ridiculous that articles like this gain traction based on bad journalism.
Posted by pickledgreatness
4 Comments
Welcome to internet journalism friend, it’s all about clickbait!
“In addition, we are considering whether we can take any measures within the scope of the law, taking into account the circumstances of each region.”
It’s not a direct announcement of legal actions against specific individuals. But make no mistake, this sentence is a legal threat. In business, you do not say anything that hints or implies you may be considering legal action unless you are serious and ready to take such action.
Given that this is a reply to a shareholder, the expectation should be that Nintendo is prepared to take legal action against scalpers and anyone else who may threaten a successful Switch 2 launch.
Agreed. Nintendo is not going to dump a ton of money on frivolous lawsuits that’ll go nowhere, that is 100% certain.
Thank you for clearing things up.