Imagine you’re working in Nintendo of America’s marketing division in Redwood City, California, and it’s been a long week. Maybe you’ve had trouble organizing a promotion, or maybe you’re up against a deadline ”“ whatever the reason, you wonder how you’re going to make it to the end of the day. A co-worker snaps you out of your trance, “Hey, what are you still doing here? Did you forget it was Friday?” Friday! You forgot all about gameplay Fridays! All your troubles melt away as you abandon your desk and head for the nearest Wii, for the next hour being a Nintendo employee means playing games.
This weekly ritual is practiced nationwide at Nintendo offices across America, reminding Nintendo employees what the company is all about. “Employees put down their pens or get off their keyboards and play games for an hour, from 4-5 every Friday,” Denise Kaigler, Nintendo’s VP of marketing told me, “If you came to our Redwood City offices on a Friday afternoon, you’d see the entire company playing games.” Kaigler told me that all three of Nintendo’s North American offices, Redwood City, Redmond, and New York all participate in Gameplay Fridays, saying that to make games, you have to play games.
What’s Nintendo playing now? When JC Rodrigo’s not pimping Wii Music, he’s obsessed with Animal Crossing, boasting 6.8 million bells in AC: Wide World. Denise Kaigler is hooked on Crosswords DS and Mystery Case Files MillionHeir. What about Reggie? I asked around earlier this month at Nintendo’s fall press event, and nobody was quite sure.
“What is he playing right now?” Kaigler asked a colleague, “ He plays a game all the time, why can’t I think of it right now?” One nearby Nintendo employee thought they saw him playing Fire Emblem, but nobody could be sure. “He plays everything, but there is something he’s really into right now.”
Reggie eluded me at the event, disappearing from sight soon after the opening statements, possibly to fight dragons and conquer uncharted lands. If I ever manage to corner the big guy, what would Infendo readers want to know? Let us know in the comments!