For those who might not know, Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida wasn’t always the beloved figurehead lovingly referred to as “Shoe.” In the past, Shuhei Yoshida was little more than a cutthroat businessman, but now he has become one of the most recognizable faces in game development, and his presence typically generates a fair share of cheering.

Part of Yoshida’s transformation can be attributed to his willingness to interact with the fans, and immerse himself in the world of gaming. Not only does the Sony president tout the PS4 and PS Vita as premiere gaming platforms, but also he regularly shows that he’s a gamer and is passionate about gaming.

To that point, Shuhei Yoshida made an appearance in the most unlikely of places, the Hot Pepper Gaming YouTube channel. For those who may not be familiar, Hot Pepper Gaming is a video review show wherein critics and gaming personalities try to “review” a game after having consumed an extremely hot pepper. Suffice it to say, the entertainment of the videos comes more from watching people suffer to present cogent thoughts than hearing opinions on popular games like Batman: Arkham Knight.

In addition to game reviews, Hot Pepper Gaming also has a video feature called ‘Fire Sale’, where developers try to entice gamers with their upcoming release. However, in order to get the free marketing, the devs need to also eat a hot pepper.

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This latest Hot Pepper Gaming video isn’t exactly a Fire Sale, but more of a developer interview. In it, Anthony Carboni chats with Vlambeer’s Rami Ismail about Nuclear Throne, a rogue-like currently in Steam Early Access and set to come to PS4.

Since both Carboni and Ismail consume hot peppers before the interview it’s pretty entertaining watching them try talk about Nuclear Throne, but things get real weird when Shuhei Yoshida shows up. It’s unclear if Yoshida is a fan of Hot Pepper Gaming or Nuclear Throne (or both), but his willingness to eat a hot pepper is pretty surprising. Even more shocking than that, though, is how cool and collected Yoshida is while he’s clearly in an immense amount of pain.

For what is mostly just a nonsensical video, Shuhei Yoshida turns the interview into something magical by showing up and eating a hot pepper. Who would have thought that the President of Sony’s Worldwide Studios – the guy who unveils games at Press Conferences and likely makes big board room decisions – would also show up, eat a hot pepper, and be so cool about it? Like we said at the top of the post, Shuhei Yoshida has built up a fan base for a reason, and doing something like Hot Pepper Gaming is only going to increase his popularity.

Source: Hot Pepper Gaming