As reported yesterday, America's hottest VP of marketing Perrin Kaplan is leaving Nintendo, which is very sad for me because I never got a chance to flirt with her shamelessly in the course of an interview - one of the reasons I took this gig in the first place. That lucky bastard Dean Takahashi of The Mercury News conducted an exit interview of sorts with Kaplan, reflecting on her 15 years at Nintendo. Together they touch on the company's success, her respect for Miyamoto, mud wrestling, and each other.

She noted how she used to try to give me hugs over the years and I would always be stiff about that. (I have always thought it awkward to hug the people I write about). But Perrin gave me a hug as I walked out and I pretended to be stiff.

Exit interview: Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan to bow out at year end: That's All Folks [The Mercury News A+E Interactive]

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