Kanye West almost made a video game with Nintendo, presumably for the Nintendo Switch. During a podcast, former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that Kanye West approached him and Nintendo at E3 a few years ago to make a game together. According to the former Nintendo of America president, Kanye chatted with Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s most prominent figurehead known for making series like Mario and The Legend of Zelda, at the company’s E3 booth. Ultimately, this led to a formal meeting between West and Nintendo, but nothing ever came of this meeting.
According to Fils-Aime, who planned the meeting, Nintendo had a lot at stake back then and the prospect of adding a partnership with Kanye West just wasn’t feasible. As a result, the company had to decline the opportunity and Reggie had to bring the bad news to both Kanye and his wife Kim Kardashian, who was also present at the meeting.
“Part of it was talking about what he was up to. He was experimenting with a piece of video game content; he wanted comments on it. He comes out and says,” I want to work with Nintendo, “Fils-Aime said.
The former Nintendo of America president continued:
“We had so many different projects at Nintendo, the opportunity to do anything with Kanye just wasn’t there, so I had to find a way to politely decline this opportunity to work with him. : “Kanye, you don’t want to work with us because we’re tough, we’re tough. All we do is insist on the very best content. We wouldn’t be the type of partner you’d want to work with.” And he looks at me and says, “Reggie, you’re just the type of partner I want for that reason!” It’s like, ‘Oh my god.’ “
Reggie concluded by calling the meeting “interesting” and by noting Kanye’s passion for not only creating, but also for the video game space. It’s unclear if the two sides ever discussed a possible partnership again, and it’s unclear if Kanye is still eager to make what he threw Nintendo at.
That said, as always feel free to leave a few comments to let us know what you think or, alternatively, give me a call on Twitter @RTLnews and let me know there. Was Nintendo stupid to pass up this opportunity?
H / T, Talking Games with Reggie & Harold and Nintendo Everything.