Fake Nintendo Job Listing Attracts Real Bounty Hunters

Posted on February 9, 2005

Nintendo received scary, serious applications about a job posting on Monster.com for an Intergalactic Bounty Hunter position. The fake job posting was meant to be part of a viral marketing campaign to generate buzz for Nintendo's Metroid Prime 2 game. They did not expect real bounty hunters to apply. However, they reportedly received over 90 serious applications. The fake job ad linked to a website about a fictional company called Athena Astronautics. We are impressed Monster.com apparently went to the trouble to connect the fake posting to an account and allow actual applications and resumes through.

Beth Llewelyn, Senior Director of Public Relations, NOA told Game Daily, "The skills and experience these people listed went beyond surprising into the realm of frightening."

Bounty hunting job seekers were not phased by parts of the job description that read, "Candidate must also be comfortable using high-tech (some would say alien) weaponry... Experience operating in subterranean, low-oxygen, zero-gravity or other harsh, unforgiving environments is a definite plus."

Many of the job applicants were ex-military causing Nintendo's Senior Director of Public Relations Beth Llewelyn to ask, "Perhaps these ex-military personnel know something about government weapons research that we don't?"

Either that or they have secretly been fighting on other worlds. Perhaps they feel they can handle any weapon, no matter how advanced.

Brad King, author of Variety's EEG News blog, had this to say about the incredible story: "This may be the best story I've seen about video games in the 3 1/2 years I've been following the space."