Post by: MegaByte on May 25, 2006, 11:20:13 AM
NINTENDO OF AMERICA ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE PROMOTIONS
Kimishima Promoted to Chairman and CEO; Fils-Aime Promoted to President and COO
REDMOND, Wash., May 25, 2006 - On the heels of the successful unveiling of the new Wii(tm) console, Nintendo of America Inc. today announced three key promotions at the executive level. Current President Tatsumi Kimishima is taking on the new role of chairman of the board and chief executive officer, while Reggie Fils-Aime is being promoted to president and chief operating officer from his current role as executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. Additionally, Mike Fukuda is being promoted from senior vice president of Business Development to executive vice president of Business Development. All promotions are effective immediately.
"Around the world, Nintendo DS has been steadily drawing more people into the video game category," said Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. "With the upcoming introduction of Wii, along with the strength of this new leadership team and strong executives already in place, Nintendo will continue to dramatically change the way consumers of all ages interact with their video game console on a daily basis."
Kimishima was appointed president of Nintendo of America in January 2002. He joined Nintendo at the company's headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, in 2000. He served as chief financial officer of The Pokémon Company in 2000 and president of Pokémon USA Inc. in 2001. Prior to joining Nintendo, he spent 27 years with Sanwa Bank of Japan, serving in various management positions. As chairman of the board and CEO of Nintendo of America, he will oversee the overall management of Nintendo of America and continue to serve on the boards of Nintendo of America and Nintendo Co., Ltd.
In his new role as president and chief operating officer, Fils-Aime will lead the day-to-day operations of Nintendo of America while continuing to oversee the Sales & Marketing Division as the company prepares for the launch of Wii. He joined Nintendo of America in December 2003 to lead all Sales & Marketing efforts in the United States, Latin America and Canada. Prior to joining Nintendo, he served as senior vice president of marketing at VH1. He also has held key marketing positions with Guinness Import Co., Derby Cycle Corp., Pizza Hut, Panda Management Co. and Procter & Gamble.
In his new position as executive vice president of Business Development, Fukuda will oversee corporate strategic planning and third-party publisher and licensing programs. He also will continue to oversee product development more dedicated to the North American market. He has been with the company for 12 years, joining in 1994 as director of planning. Prior to Nintendo, he worked for an international trading company and learned the video game business in the United States, working with third-party publishers during the early days of the Nintendo Entertainment System® (NES).
Post by: Karl Castaneda #2 on May 25, 2006, 11:36:28 AM
Three cheers!
Post by: ShyGuy on May 25, 2006, 11:38:33 AM
Post by: Ian Sane on May 25, 2006, 11:39:09 AM
Post by: Bill Aurion on May 25, 2006, 11:39:18 AM
Post by: thejeek on May 25, 2006, 11:46:07 AM
Post by: stevey on May 25, 2006, 11:50:58 AM
is God and President now!
Post by: UncleBob on May 25, 2006, 11:51:15 AM
Reggie, will you hire me? I'll lick the blood off your boots so they'll be shiney and clean for all your important meetings.
Post by: cirej2000 on May 25, 2006, 11:53:34 AM
That's my guess
Post by: thejeek on May 25, 2006, 11:54:48 AM
Quote
strategic thinking
I think I'd like that. Can you do it in bed?
Post by: Avinash_Tyagi on May 25, 2006, 11:57:24 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: thejeek
Does he get more ass kicking and name taking responsibilities now? Or will he have underlings to do it for him?
More ass kicking, less name taking (the man should concentrate on what he's best at)
Post by: thejeek on May 25, 2006, 11:58:21 AM
Post by: King of Twitch on May 25, 2006, 12:09:59 PM
Post by: ShyGuy on May 25, 2006, 12:10:08 PM
Post by: Crimm on May 25, 2006, 12:19:54 PM
Post by: thejeek on May 25, 2006, 12:40:35 PM
Post by: ThePerm on May 25, 2006, 01:27:50 PM
Post by: nickmitch on May 25, 2006, 01:44:46 PM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 25, 2006, 01:57:30 PM
WATCH OUT, NORTH AMERICA.
Post by: ruby_onix on May 25, 2006, 02:23:30 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
So what does President of NOA actually mean? Like what part of his job is different than before?
As VP of Marketing, Reggie's job was to look cool and sell us on whatever came down from Iwata (because the middle link in the chain, Tatsumi Kimishima, didn't appear to have any voice of his own, and seemingly got promoted for it). The only power he had was that he was able to say "C'mon, you're breaking my balls man" whenever they ordered him to do anything he didn't want to do (like pretending that Iwata powns Reggie at videogames in an attempt to make Iwata look cool, or introducing the Wii name, or having lunch with nerdly fanboys in McDonalds), which is apparently more power than Nintendo ever gave anyone else in his position.
As President of NOA, Reggie actually sets the policy in this part of the world. Change the system's name back to Revolution? Done. Black console available at launch instead of purple or white? Done. Cancel the GBA to put all focus on the DS? Done. Cancel the DS to put all focus on the GBA? Done. Price cuts all around? Done. Ban Sega from the Virtual Console? Done. Shut down Nintendo power? Done. Put demo discs in Nintendo Power? Done. Put thirteen years worth of unused official Zelda manga into Nintendo Power? Done.
As President of NOA, Reggie can literally do whatever he wants, as long as he thinks it's in the best interests of NOA, and as long as the shareholders (who are primarily NCL, and may have conflicting interests) don't disagree.
Quote
Originally posted by: UncleBob
So this means there's some kind of openings, somewhere, right?
Reggie, will you hire me? I'll lick the blood off your boots so they'll be shiney and clean for all your important meetings.
You do know that that's ass-blood, right?
Post by: Ian Sane on May 25, 2006, 02:44:45 PM
So in other words he doesn't really have any power at all.
Considering that NOA's biggest problem over the last few years is an utter inability to market a product worth a damn having someone with Reggie's marketing experience should hopefully be beneficial.
Post by: EasyCure on May 25, 2006, 02:49:38 PM
Quote
Prior to joining Nintendo, he served as senior vice president of marketing at VH1.
why was there never an "I <3 Nintendo" special??? i want to hear michael ian blacks take on the NES, andrew wk on the SNES and some other random celebrity talk about all things nintendo, dammit!
Post by: ruby_onix on May 25, 2006, 03:00:53 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"As President of NOA, Reggie can literally do whatever he wants, as long as he thinks it's in the best interests of NOA, and as long as the shareholders (who are primarily NCL, and may have conflicting interests) don't disagree."
So in other words he doesn't really have any power at all.
True, but the part of NCL that rules NOA is now led by Tatsumi Kimishima, an apparently ineffective leader who doesn't seem to have any opinions or ideas one way or another and is easily swayed, which means that the shoe is on the other foot, and NOA is unstoppable now. Two pronged assault replacing a handicap for the win.
Post by: Fro on May 25, 2006, 03:08:03 PM
Example: NCL actually asking Retro what they thought of the Wiimote; Retro Studios coming up with the Nunchuck attachment.
Post by: Hostile Creation on May 25, 2006, 05:43:09 PM
BEST NEWS, REGGIE WILL USHER IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER
Post by: Crimm on May 25, 2006, 06:08:43 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: thejeek
I'm concerned now, when the ass kicking finally seems to be producing some results, that it would be dangerous to jepordise everything by entrusting it to unproven people. I think if Reggie needs to delegate, it should be the name taking as Avinash_Tyagi suggested and the ass kicking should remain firmly within his remit.
I think he will have to hire staffers based on their ass-kicking ability. Remember Mr. T was found at a contest for Bar Bouncers.
Certainly Lucas is old enough by now, and wise enough to have kept his gauntlet of power.
Just find the guy who played Mario in the TV show, and get him in the gym, and you've got an ass kicking tandem that would make NOA proud.
And, in true video game fashion, if they fail Reggie can deal with the situation. You never fight the strongest boss first.
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 25, 2006, 06:12:08 PM
I think the Power Glove is the 2nd-to-last treasure/power-up in Twilight Princess.
Post by: Athrun Zala on May 25, 2006, 07:34:57 PM
reggie FTW!
Quotethat made me laugh a lot, simply brilliant
Originally posted by: ruby_onixAs President of NOA, Reggie actually sets the policy in this part of the world. Change the system's name back to Revolution? Done. Black console available at launch instead of purple or white? Done. Cancel the GBA to put all focus on the DS? Done. Cancel the DS to put all focus on the GBA? Done. Price cuts all around? Done. Ban Sega from the Virtual Console? Done. Shut down Nintendo power? Done. Put demo discs in Nintendo Power? Done. Put thirteen years worth of unused official Zelda manga into Nintendo Power? Done.Quote
Originally posted by: UncleBob
So this means there's some kind of openings, somewhere, right?
Reggie, will you hire me? I'll lick the blood off your boots so they'll be shiney and clean for all your important meetings.
You do know that that's ass-blood, right?
Post by: theRPGFreak on May 26, 2006, 12:22:19 AM
Post by: ruby_onix on May 26, 2006, 01:58:35 AM
Our bitching may have delivered President Reggie.
Post by: Cyrian on May 26, 2006, 03:40:28 AM
Post by: Caliban on May 26, 2006, 05:27:31 AM
Post by: couchmonkey on May 26, 2006, 05:46:08 AM
Actually, I think the Wii marketing is pretty good, if they keep on this track. I know a lot of people aren't into the people in ads thing, but the point is to demonstrate how the machine works, and you can't do that with just video. The ads are also fairly inclusive, showing people from a wide array of genders, races and ages (though they seem to favour young white and Japanese adults).
Post by: Terranigma Freak on May 26, 2006, 06:00:13 AM
Post by: mantidor on May 26, 2006, 07:29:45 AM
Post by: EasyCure on May 26, 2006, 09:13:43 AM
Post by: IceCold on May 26, 2006, 09:28:18 AM
Post by: couchmonkey on May 26, 2006, 10:43:22 AM
Post by: ThePerm on May 26, 2006, 12:29:13 PM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on May 26, 2006, 01:48:30 PM
No TV ads, no print ads, no FLASH ANIMATION ADS...
Just core hardware/gameplay concepts with a little Wii-naming controversy taken care of a few weeks before, signs of developer support plus a wide variety of demos on the show floor...
And you've got a packed E3 booth with media mentioning how "new" or "exciting" it is, while the only "popular" news to come out elsewhere is PS3's price.
That is a HUGE difference from Nintendo's performance at E3 2001.
Post by: Smash_Brother on May 26, 2006, 02:01:36 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: UncleBob Reggie, will you hire me? I'll lick the blood off your boots so they'll be shiney and clean for all your important meetings.
Given the odds of whose blood that might be, I'd highly recommend against that.
I'd wager half the people Reggie kicks have some kind of communicable disease.
Post by: KnowsNothing on May 26, 2006, 02:03:03 PM
Post by: IceCold on May 26, 2006, 07:36:16 PM
Post by: antman100 on May 29, 2006, 10:45:11 AM
I mean he tows the party line pretty well and I think GameBoy Micro took somebody's name, but he was able to get it back after a long court battle.
Post by: Hostile Creation on May 29, 2006, 12:51:03 PM
I think this calls for an insta-ban, no warning. No one mocks Reggie, inadvertantly or otherwise!
