Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10% • Hacker News Board

Re: Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

#61

Post by Wowfunhappy » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 2:10 PM UTC

CM30 wrote: post #30

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much does Nintendo of America really do? It's basically localization and marketing, right? And maybe outreach to third party developers? I would imagine they're able to underpay due to the allure of working for Nintendo combined with a lack of actual positions.

They do have at least one development studio there, Nintendo Software Technology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Software_Technology They also make quite a few more changes than expected when localising games. Or at least they did in the olden days, where the American versions of games sometimes had different/extra features compared to the Japanese originals. I think some of the localisation team are also reg…

> They do have at least one development studio there, Nintendo Software Technology.

Oh, interesting! The list of games isn't particularly impressive though, a lot of ports and remakes. Compare that to also-US-based Retro Studios, which isn't considered under Nintendo of America from what I understand.

Re: Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

#62

Post by shimman » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 2:13 PM UTC

SSLy wrote: post #55

weberer wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not even like they indiscriminately shut down fan projects either. Just the ones that try to make money. You still have sites like Pokemon Showdown and Advance Wars By Web that have been running for several decades without incident.

they indiscriminately shut down any sight of online smash tournaments

Probably for the best seeing how many literal degenerates and sex pests there are in the scene, what with Nintendo being a family company and all.

edit: sorry downvoters, if you want to play with corporations you might want to remove the rapists from your ranks:

https://www.ssbwiki.com/2020_Super_Smash_Bros._sexual_miscon...

Re: Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

#63

Post by solenoid0937 » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 2:13 PM UTC

cautiouscat wrote: post #50

Nintendo gets a lot of flak for how they treat consumers and how litigious they are. However I get the impression they treat their employees very well in Japan. Like when the Wii U flopped, execs took a pay cut to avoid layoffs. No company is perfect, but Nintendo seems like an example some C-suites should follow.

When I was a kid this Japanese guy from Nintendo used to live next to us. He gave me the Nintendo DS before its official release for my birthday. It was pretty cool.

Re: Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

#64

Post by chalupa-supreme » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 2:13 PM UTC

iLoveOncall wrote: post #45

Before people praise them (a bit late for that I guess given the current comments), Nintendo seems to pay quite poorly their employees in the first place, as you can see from the salaries on https://www.levels.fyi/en-gb/companies/nintendo/salaries/sof... for a company that has a stash of cash and is as successful as they are.

100k for entry level roles at one of the most recognizable brands of the world doesn’t seem too bad to me. Then again, I’ve never been to the Seattle/Washington area.

Re: Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

#65

Post by isakmarr » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 2:13 PM UTC

epsteingpt wrote: post #25

I recently heard that a trip to Popeye's for a family of 3 recently cost $68 in Florida. In Japan, there's a big issue when a snack raises its price 2 cents (3 yen - source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/japanese-snack-company-apolog... ) The country for better or worse seems to be frozen in time - salaries have not caught up with the heady levels of SV (or even Europe) but neither have rents or prices for common go…

> In Japan, there's a big issue when a snack raises its price 2 cents

That can't be true. So inflation just doesn't exist in Japan?

Re: Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

#66

Post by rjh29 » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC

isakmarr wrote: post #65

epsteingpt wrote: post #25

I recently heard that a trip to Popeye's for a family of 3 recently cost $68 in Florida. In Japan, there's a big issue when a snack raises its price 2 cents (3 yen - source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/japanese-snack-company-apolog... ) The country for better or worse seems to be frozen in time - salaries have not caught up with the heady levels of SV (or even Europe) but neither have rents or prices for common go…

> In Japan, there's a big issue when a snack raises its price 2 cents That can't be true. So inflation just doesn't exist in Japan?

Historically, no. Prices were basically flat for a long time until covid.

Re: Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

#67

Post by snapcaster » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 2:15 PM UTC

dismalaf wrote: post #48

rootsudo wrote: post #23

This does not apply to Nintendo of America, which famously does underpay in the Redmond, WA area and well.. I hear has trouble truly attracting talent in the first place.

US tech wages are insanely inflated compared to, well, everywhere.

I hate this crab in a bucket framing. It's so anti-working person. Why isn't it that wages are insanely deflated compared to the US?

Re: Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

#68

Post by 1123581321 » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #56

woodruffw wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't say I've ever been to Popeye's, but $68 for 3 people seems unlikely based on their online prices: I picked a random one in Orlando, Florida and the "family meal" (which appears to be a very large amount of chicken) is $20. The closest thing would be the "16Pc Classic Signature Chicken Family Meal," which is $55.69 at that location and is described as feeding between 6 and 8 people. So you'd need to tip a bit…

Did you include tax? Also, that meal doesn’t include drinks. Poppies is significantly cheaper if you’re taking it home and supplementing with your own drinks.

Florida sales tax is around 8%. Drinks are $2-3.

Re: Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

#69

Post by ForHackernews » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 2:18 PM UTC

isakmarr wrote: post #65

epsteingpt wrote: post #25

I recently heard that a trip to Popeye's for a family of 3 recently cost $68 in Florida. In Japan, there's a big issue when a snack raises its price 2 cents (3 yen - source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/japanese-snack-company-apolog... ) The country for better or worse seems to be frozen in time - salaries have not caught up with the heady levels of SV (or even Europe) but neither have rents or prices for common go…

> In Japan, there's a big issue when a snack raises its price 2 cents That can't be true. So inflation just doesn't exist in Japan?

Population is flat or declining so that's one of the main drivers of inflation. Japan could be a pioneer in steady-state economics.

Re: Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%

#70

Post by leetrout » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 2:18 PM UTC

wincy wrote: post #60

leetrout wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off topic: what are you enjoying lately? Most of the games I have bought work on switch 1 but the screen and controls on the switch 2 are better. I regret buying caravan sandwitch because it's so hard to see with my aging eyes but it is nice to play it anywhere. Always curious to hear what others enjoy about it to help me have less regret in my $600 investment in Mario kart

Pokemon Pokopia has been a surprise hit in our house, I have two kids, but I got into it and spent a ton of time making a perfect little Pokemon village. My kids really enjoy Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. It's really silly but they make all their friends and have them get married and read the news and it's just peak Nintendo goofiness. My kids have also gotten a little older so the mainline Pokemon games have bec…

My kid just discovered tomodachi life from a friend and I'm actually going to buy it for her on my switch 1 and give it to her. We've got a summer trip in a few weeks and she will be surprised to receive the game and the system to be all hers.