Nintendo of America, Inc. is a subsidiary of the Japanese multinational video game company Nintendo Co., Ltd. Originally based in New York beginning in 1980, the company moved its headquarters to Redmond, Washington in 1982, and remains there as of 2025. It handles the distribution of products to retailers in the US and Canada, translates and adapts games for the North American market, and markets and provides customer support for Nintendo products.
Nintendo of America receives the highest volume of calls to customer service centers the week after Christmas, as customers from across the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico realize they don't know how to operate their new video game systems. In 2002, the company added about 75 seasonal representatives to their 125-member call center team. The team received 90,000 calls, emails, and letters from customers during the week between Christmas and New Year's.
In this image, Sue Nelson, an advanced customer service representative, prepares to answer calls at the call center in Redmond. Her desk is covered with toy versions of Nintendo characters, and a game controller sits within reach of her right hand.
Caption information source: "Nintendo 'heroes' to the rescue," by La Monica Everett-Haynes, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 27, 2002, p. 19, 26.
Additional Information: Metadata created as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
Credit: MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, 2000.107.20021226.CD05.001, photo by Loren Callahan
