Great show! I really enjoyed the Splatoon talk. Hopefully, I'll make the time to play it more.
On the Chris Pranger-ing: I suggest listening to the Part-Time Gamer podcast he was on if only to hear the thing that got a person fired. My impression on him is mostly from the podcast and not at all from the NeoGAF thread. He gave jovial, candid, unchecked, and honest insight in to the workings of Nintendo Treehouse. His talk on all the subjects left me with the sense that he has love, criticism, frustrations, and adoration for position he held in the industry, to his peers, and competitors. This love and etc. would not be out of place on Radio Free Nintendo or other podcasts.
Frankly, I am shocked and saddened that Mr. Pranger's words were presented without context or twisted in a way to garner a bad impression of him on forum threads and Twitter replies. His comments on Sakurai gave me the sense that Sakurai cares deeply, perhaps insanely, for his work and for Smash Bros. Pranger's comments on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake are not any more harsh or extreme than any other thoughtful questioning on the video game. Lastly, his talk on picking games to localize was a blunt explanation on the business realities as he saw it.
I don't question Pranger's firing; clearly he spoke out of turn and against Nintendo's policy. What I am left with is an answer to why Nintendo (of America) isn't more transparent or communicative to the enthusiast press and audience. Granted, Pranger's podcast appearance is probably too much and too rough in its frankness. But when some of the passionate audience so easily interprets words as something abhorrent. And to have the game of telephone play out in articles in the worst way possible. I find it hard to argue against Nintendo thinking, "Why bother having anything other than a polished, practiced, media-trained, and controlled interaction with the press and public."
In this instance, Nintendo (as represented by Chris Pranger) had gained nothing good from being candid and transparent.