Reggie Fils-Aime Becomes NOA President

[nmaster64]

That's right folks. In one of the quickest climbs to the top of a major corporation ever heard of, in a mere 3 years as Nintendo VP of Sales and Marketing, Reggie Fils-Aime, one of the most beloved corporate figures in the games industry and often referred to as the Regginator by many gamers, has been promoted to President of Nintendo of America.

This is certainly an unexpected but exciting move by Nintendo. Reggie has made a strong positive impact on Nintendo ever since his big E3 debut in 2004, where he quickly became a fan favorite. His ascension will surely help Nintendo's image even more. We wish the Regginator the best with his new position, and hope we'll be seeing a lot more of him kicking ass and taking names.

The full press release is below...

Originally Posted by Nintendo

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™ 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).

[ShadowMarth]

Wow, didn't see this one coming. PR guy is the NOA President? Wtf.

[Neumie]

they need it. nintendos marketing is pretty dismal. hopefully he will put more focus on marketing and reimaging the nintendo name. congrats reggie :D
now if only they could sort europe out :S

[bignds]

Psh, any companies decision to put their european head quarters in germany isnt a good choice.
I believe this is a very, very good move on Nintendos behalf, for obvious reasons. Plus the former NOA presi was pretty absent from public view in comparison to reggie, iwata and miyamoto, i know hes not a PR guy, but he can atleast showhim self a bit more.

[ShadowMarth]

I'm thinking this is a figurehead type move. After all, having "NOA president" on stage is better than having your PR guy on stage pushing your product. And it did say the current president will still have a very large role..

[Yoshi]

Not a very big surprise...after watching the nintendo e3 2006 press conference I was thinking: "DANG! THAT GUY WOULD BE GREAT AS THE NINTENDO PRESIDENT!"

but whos gonna give awesome speeches at e3 now? i hope he still does it

Now he can kick ass and take names on an even higher corporate level. Woo!

<3 Reggident.

[Pilot_51]

That's a good move for Nintendo I'm sure, as long as he keeps the speeches (which seems to be the case according to the article) and actually works to make some good changes to NOA (as if it can get much better).

[bignds]

Obviously, and with out a shadow of a doubt he will carry on his PR role.They know how strong he is htere. As shadow said, this is just a publicity, and token move, giving your company a corparate face is never bad.

[nmaster64]

Bold words from the new president:

Originally Posted by The Regginator

How will we market Wii against competitors? We won't -- because Wii doesn't have any competitors. In the broadest terms, three videogame consoles will be available for the holidays. But realistically, only Wii introduces a completely new way to play. Only Wii is easy enough that people can start playing immediately, even if they have no videogame experience. Only Wii brings a disruptive element to the industry and forces developers and players out of their comfort zones and into a place where everything is fresh and new again.