Are you one of those who thought that working on Nintendo could have free games? This was not true even in his golden age.
If you like videogames, maybe you've ever dreamed of working in your favorite company; and it's very likely that it was specifically on Nintendo. Many of us grew up with Japanese games and imagined all the advantages and free games that employees would have. But no, in fact, this was not and is not like that.
The advantages of working at Nintendo during the NES era
Thanks to Chris Bieniek we can peek a little at what it was like to be a Nintendo employee when the Nintendo Entertainment System was on every sideboard. For these times, employees bought (yes, bought) their video games through an application. The advantage of working here was that you did not have to go to a store to get them.
But it is not the only one. The employees used to have a pretty eye-catching discount. It is not the same as free, but it is something that simple mortals did not have. For example, many of the NES games consisted of 40 to 50 dollars in stores; but employees could buy titles like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid or Golf for $ 14-17. With those discounts, who would not want to work there.
Look at the old employee purchase requests and the prices that were handled back then:
Things have changed in Nintendo
Let's go back to the future. As of today, employees no longer buy their products through a form with fantastic discounts. However, they can get some discounts and exclusive products for them in the Nintendo Redmond Store; which, in fact, is open only to company workers.
On the other hand, Japanese employees have to buy their Nintendo products like any other person: through retailers, either through direct purchase or pre-sale.
Years ago the idea of working in Nintendo seemed more glamorous, although now it is not so bad either. Unless you plan to do it in Japan.