“You want the true version?” he joked. “I have much better versions.”

December 10, 2019 2:11 AM

He smiles as he shows it to me. “At that time it was very easy to lie, because the Internet was not invented.” So that first formal communication to Nintendo was a lie? “Yeah,” he laughs, “of course.”
The Lie That Helped Build Nintendo by Joe Skrebels
posted by juv3nal (22 comments total)

also on youtube
posted by juv3nal at 2:12 AM on December 10, 2019

I like Joe from podcasts but this is my first time actually reading any of his stuff, and I was not disappointed. He's got a joviality I enjoy. Thanks.
posted by Acid Communist at 3:29 AM on December 10, 2019

And the story itself is pretty great, thanks for sharing it.
posted by ersatz at 3:52 AM on December 10, 2019

What a ride. Pre-Internet really was a different world. Thanks for sharing.
posted by Fizz at 3:54 AM on December 10, 2019

Thank goodness the internet put an end to lies!
posted by fairmettle at 4:08 AM on December 10, 2019 [22 favorites]

What a story! What’s especially weird for me, personally, is that a friend of mine just moved from Kyoto to Gothenburg. Naturally, I have passed the story along.
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:54 AM on December 10, 2019 [4 favorites]

I always wondered what all those Nintendo sculptures were doing there by the motorway.
Mystery solved!
posted by groda at 6:31 AM on December 10, 2019 [3 favorites]

The Lie That Helped Build Nintendo

Another fine user name presents itself.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:41 AM on December 10, 2019 [17 favorites]

I actually remember as a kid seeing the "Bergsala" name on various instruction manuals or whatever amongst Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe, etc. and wondering how this weird company found its way into the mix. Thanks for the post.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:45 AM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

This lie may have built Nintendo, but it's absolutely true that my uncle works there and he let me play a prototype of Super Mario Bros. 4 and Mario has a gun.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:48 AM on December 10, 2019 [25 favorites]

I think my Canadian girlfriend has that game (it's out in Canada already).
posted by ODiV at 7:03 AM on December 10, 2019 [5 favorites]

That's a really fascinating story (of which I was completely ignorant). When I was a kid I coveted those Game & Watch handhelds a lot, I never had one personally but I lusted after them. To think that just about all small boys of Sweden circa 1983 potentially had 5 games each? Mind boggles.
posted by Ashwagandha at 7:24 AM on December 10, 2019 [2 favorites]

Maybe I'm jaded by stories of American entrepreneurship, but misrepresenting a smallish company as being a little bit larger sounds more like being ambitious than outright lying.
posted by ardgedee at 7:45 AM on December 10, 2019 [3 favorites]

A delightful little article
posted by latkes at 7:58 AM on December 10, 2019

I must have driven by that statue of Mario in Kungsbacka hundreds of times, and knew nothing of this story. I remember seeing a similar statue, if not an identical one, from I-90 outside of North Bend, and just figured that Nintendo had offices all over the world with these Bob's Big Boy knockoffs outside. I've never had a console or been into computer games at all, but my wife (who grew up in Sweden) talks about those handheld games from her childhood, which I don't remember being a thing. But maybe I just wasn't paying attention.
posted by St. Oops at 8:03 AM on December 10, 2019 [2 favorites]

To think that just about all small boys of Sweden circa 1983 potentially had 5 games each?

As I was seven and Swedish for most of 1983 I was smack dab in the middle of the Game & Watch craze. It was, I can assure you, a glorious albeit fraught time. Nobody in my circle of friends had five Game & Watch games, but I'm sure their calculations are correct. Parachute was my jam. But oh how I envied the kids with Multi Screen Game & Watches.

I've never before seen the Bergsala story laid out like this, though. I had no idea. Great post!
posted by soundofsuburbia at 8:28 AM on December 10, 2019 [6 favorites]

This is indeed extremely good content.
posted by General Malaise at 8:49 AM on December 10, 2019

I thought the lie was that the R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy) was going to be fun.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:55 AM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

Awesome story, searching for a picture of the Mario statue I came accross the following blog with scans of Bergsala's marketing materials:

During the late 80’s and yearly 90’s Bergsala, the official distributor of Nintendo products in Sweden published yearly games brochures, leaflets and other promotional items. I still have some of these, and decided to scan them and share. For me, who grew up with the NES, these trigger some seriours nostagic feelings. Even though they are in Swedish, I hope many other will enjoy them too!
posted by Harpocrates at 9:24 AM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

If I could find an Owe Bergsten, I could change the world for the better and make millions of people happy. Anybody know how to find an Owe Bergsten?
posted by MrVisible at 9:30 AM on December 10, 2019

A 20-metre tall Mario statue that bears a more than passing resemblance to Saddam Hussein has been torn down outside of a Nintendo distribution office in Sweden and replaced with a far less dictator-like version
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 9:50 AM on December 10, 2019 [5 favorites]

In its early years Atari founded a fake competitor so it could sell twice as many games to distributors.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:16 AM on December 10, 2019 [1 favorite]