A Nintendo fan bought enough stocks so he could attend the company’s shareholder meeting and complain about Splatoon 3’s customization options. The man interrupted the shareholder’s meeting and went into a lengthy ramble about how all the multiplayer game’s best poses are for the girl squids, while boy inklings get much less attention.
“The company has blatantly given the boys in Splatoon the cold shoulder, and I would like to see some improvement,” the man said (translated by GLHF’s Georgina Young). “It makes me extremely sad when people say ‘If you enjoy playing as a boy, then you won’t enjoy playing Splatoon.’”
He also expressed concern over Splatoon 3’s marketing, which he said raised concerns that there would be no male characters in the game. He wasn’t entirely wrong. Splatoon 3 doesn’t ask your character’s gender when you begin and lets you pick any clothing, hair, and customization options.
The man’s “question” continued on until company president Shuntaro Furukawa interrupted him and said it was too long. He continued undeterred and, when he finally finished, Furukawa just thanked him for his time and moved to the next question.
任天堂の株主総会で今のスプラトゥーンのボーイの冷遇(司令とかハイカラシティのエモートとか)について訴えてきたよ！
途中で「他に質問したい人もいますので…」って言われちゃったから後半は予定より大分はしょっちゃったけど、なんとか伝えてきたよ！
1,2枚目は伝えたこと、3枚目は見せたこと。 pic.twitter.com/UuMXkASePV
— haru (@haruikatako) June 23, 2023
It’s an odd situation, made even more peculiar by the means the man used to attend the meeting. He reportedly bought several Switch OLED models with a credit card, sold them, and used the cash to purchase enough stocks to make him eligible for attending the meeting. All this happened after the man sent multiple letters to Nintendo demanding changes in Splatoon 3, letters that, unsurprisingly, went unanswered.
The future of Splatoon 3’s customization probably won’t change, but Nintendo has plenty of new plans in store for the ink splatter, including some big changes to the formula in the upcoming single-player DLC campaign.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF