In 2012, a freelance journalist’s acquaintance went for an interview to work at GREE. The Japanese journalist claimed the interviewer at GREE said, “You don’t know how to defeat Nintendo, right? I know the way.”

The phrase became fairly popular on the Internet after the journalist wrote about it online. Sometime later, people on the Internet started to believe it was GREE CEO Yoshikazu Tanaka who said that, rather than the interviewer. It eventually transformed into a meme.

During those times, both Tanaka and the head of GREE’s public relations felt they shouldn’t have to clear up the air, as they were certain no one within the company ever uttered those words, and there was no proof anyone ever said that.

6 years after what had transpired, Tanaka spoke to Sankei News to look back on the incident. Tanaka regretted not disavowing the fabrication, so in a way GREE is partly responsible for the phrase/meme spreading like wild fire.

Although GREE wasn’t focused on making games for Nintendo platforms at that period of time, it’s doing so this year with its first fishing game for Switch.