How Hiroshi Yamauchi Silenced Steve Ballmer

Jonbo298 · 01-06-2005, 02:33 PM

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NOW HE IS safely retired, the 77-year old former Nintendo boss Hiroshi Yamaushi is regaling Wired magazine about how he reverted to abuse to silence the mighty Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Apparently Microsoft was making a bid to buy Nintendo for absolutely huge amounts of money. Vole was confident that Nintendo would take it. The Game Cube wasn't doing particularly well at the time and there was a lot of money involved. Ballmer himself showed up at the negotiations to have a quiet word.

However Yamaushi didn't like the deal, which he saw as a loss on a level similar to World War Two. He said he ranted a bit about Japanese values and identity but it went no-where. So in the end he said in Japanese "suck my yellow balls Mr Ballmer".

The translator looked embarrassed and was clearly not translating the phrase exactly, although Ballmer did smile at a sentence that included the word 'yellow' in it.

Frustrated Yamaushi stood on a chair, put his hands around his mouth and very slowly and in English said: "Hey Ballmer why don't you suck my tiny yellow balls."

He said Ballmer and team were speechless. They were as scandalised as if he had shown them a nipple at the Superbowl, he said.

It is nice to know that high powered board room meetings involving billions of dollars use the same language and methodology of a Kave piss-up.

February Issue of Wired talks about it.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=20547

Just a few words. Thats fricken hilarious!

Acebot44 · 01-06-2005, 02:50 PM

He's Yellow!

Dyne · 01-06-2005, 03:05 PM

Too bad it's fiction.

GameMaster · 01-06-2005, 03:16 PM

If you go and read the entire interview, you'll discover this man is quite pompous and bitter about how powerful and rich Americans are.

Dark Samurai · 01-06-2005, 03:48 PM

Kinda racist a bit though right??

Anyway, if you read the whole thing he mentions that the DS and the Revolution will interact with each other... that'd be cool... I just hope they dont kill it like with this generation.

But I do gotta say... he is a badass... no question

KillerGremlin · 01-06-2005, 04:20 PM

And the irony is that after the next generation of consoles Nintendo JUST might find themselves in Sega's position, only with Microsoft and Sony offering them lots of money.

Karma baby, what goes around comes around. Don't be surprised if Nintendo puts itself up for sale a few years from now.

Acebot44 · 01-06-2005, 04:48 PM

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Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

Karma baby, what goes around comes around. Don't be surprised if Nintendo puts itself up for sale a few years from now.

I can only hope