Did Gamergate Get This Woman Fired?
Someone just got fired from Nintendo of America. Normally your average firing doesn’t warrant headline news, but this one has been reported everywhere, and for this reason: the exiting employee is Alison Rapp, formerly of Nintendo’s localization unit The Treehouse. Recently potentially offensive content has been cut from the US localizations of certain Nintendo games. All examples involve squicky acts of fetishization such as petting female bodies with the 3DS stylus — generally, stuff that looks creepy outside of Japan (and in some cases inside). Looking for a scapegoat, the malicious online movement known as Gamergate found Rapp and accused her of instigating the cuts, then proceeded to do what they do and contact everyone they could within Nintendo to file complaints against Rapp. Now that Rapp really has been fired, Gamergate is claiming it as a victory, and the media is appropriately outraged. Nintendo of America eventually responded to the accusations. While they admit they fired Rapp, they vehemently deny it was because of anything Gamergate did or said.