The Sinophobic reactions to Chinese devs’ strong showing at Gamescom 2026 look familiar to anyone old enough to remember the Japanophobia in the 80s. You could openly accuse Nintendo of “enslav[ing] your children” and garnered enthusiastic reviews from New York Times and Wall Street Journal (img below; Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children by David Sheff).
Note 1: The book is a main source of “Nintendo love hotels” misinformation, which many western reporters such as Keza MacDonald still believe.
Note 2: Be skeptical of the very positive spin for the book on its Wikipedia page. A temporary account created the page, cited it on the Nintendo page, peaced out, and never to be seen again (imgs below). It’s an utter mystery(?) who that person might be.
[Originally posted on 2026-08-26 Pacific Time]
