Yes JBO I know some of the story, Nintendo of Japan`s president is one bad .. , his mind is just business, even with his family. His daughter in an interview once said he is no man to be with (she ment as a husband and father).
In 1994 with when Nintendo started to loss their no. 1 spot in the US against Sega, quickly Nintendo of Japan ordered NOA`s president who`s his son in law to report back in Japan in person. Note : Nintendo was never No. 1 in Europe, just in Germany.
Another thing is that Konami of Japan didn`t release NES Castlevania-III in the US and Europe with the custom sound chip cuz of the cost ?!, OK then what about The MSX computers the Euro version, most of its games had that chip.
Example : Salamander, Gradius-II/Nemesis-II, Parodius, F-1 Spirit, Kings Valley-II and Contra. And yes I had one just for Konami games. awesome