http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=38483

Nintendo of America said:

NINTENDO CO., LTD. ANNOUNCES PROMOTION OF NOA CHAIRMAN TATSUMI KIMISHIMA TO NCL MANAGING DIRECTOR

Led Nintendo of America Since 2002

REDMOND, Wash., April 24, 2013 – Nintendo Co., Ltd. (NCL) today announced a planned promotion for Tatsumi Kimishima, current chairman and CEO of Nintendo of America (NOA) and a director of its parent Nintendo Co., Ltd. Subject to shareholder approval, he will become NCL managing director, and transfer from NOA in Redmond, Wash., to NCL headquarters in Kyoto, Japan. In his new position, he will assume the roles of general manager of Corporate Analysis and Administration, and general manager of the General Affairs Division. These titles are currently held by Yoshihiro Mori and Masaharu Matsumoto respectively, both of whom are retiring. Kimishima will assume his new duties in Kyoto later this summer.

Kimishima was named to his current position at NOA in 2006. He first joined Nintendo in Japan in 2000, and was subsequently named president of Pokémon USA in 2001, before moving on to become president of the Nintendo of America subsidiary in 2002. Previously, he spent 27 years at Sanwa Bank of Japan, with multiple postings in North America and Central America.

Many of his current responsibilities, including the CEO title, will be assumed by Global President Satoru Iwata. The move will support the company’s unified global strategy, allow streamlined decision making and enhance Nintendo's organizational agility in the current competitive environment. Reggie Fils-Aime will continue in his role as president and COO of NOA, reporting to Iwata.

Other changes announced to Nintendo’s global board of directors can be found at http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/.

I dunno how big a deal this is but it is an interesting development.

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PogueSquadron said:

Will this affect Nintendo's interest (or lack thereof?) of getting some western development teams going? That's the one thing I'd really like to see moving forward.

How was Reggie doing with that? This is like a dream scenario as far as I'm concerned; let Iwata bring his success with the 3DS in Japan over to the States, and (hopefully) this will bleed over to the Wii U in both territories this Christmas. I think they recognize Reggie just isn't "getting it" this time around.

Posted by

Deerock69

on: 04/24/13, 20:41

I'll be honest... I didn't even know NoA had a CEO. I thought there was just one CEO, of "Nintendo". And then NoA has a president. Because that is all anyone ever talks about. Did the last CEO even do anything?!

Posted by

Zero

on: 04/24/13, 20:42

Uhh yeah, I'm with Zero. I thought Reggie was CEO. When I read the thread title, I thought Reggie had quit or been fired or something. This is weird.

Posted by

WrathOfSamus777

on: 04/24/13, 21:10

This is good news, I like Reggie but he was slipping. Iwata needs to first of all bring over more 3DS colours, secondly forge strong relationships with more Western devs.

Edit: Reggie was CEO, he has been replaced by Iwata, but he remains as COO.

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 04/24/13, 21:20

Edited:

04/24/13, 21:20

@anon_mastermind

No, the CEO was Tatsumi Kimishima. It's right there in the press release.

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 04/24/13, 21:22

Oops, I guess Reggie is NoA president? Whatever that means. I wonder if he even makes business decisions as president or he's just a figurehead. Kimishima, never heard of the guy, good to see him get a "promotion". I have faith in Iwata to handle America well.

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 04/24/13, 21:25

@Deerock69

Reggie's "getting it" is not super relevant. NOA is a marketing department. I cannot imagine he has much clout as it pertains to what gets localized or does not, what third party relationships Nintendo does or does not pursue, etc.

@Zero

Reggie is the President and COO of NOA, not CEO.

The fact that Kimishima is now Managing Director of NCL, and Iwata is President and CEO of NOA means NOA is going to be more tightly under NCL's control, if anything else. It certainly doesn't suggest additional autonomy. If people like how Iwata has handled things, I suppose this is good. If he was involved in some of the decisions to not bring games over to the US, then I suppose this is bad.

Posted by

Kal-El814

on: 04/24/13, 21:34

Last few posts sum up my confusion.

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 04/24/13, 21:35

If Reggie's role is smaller at NOA and Iwata's role is bigger, then we can't be the only ones less than satisfied with Reggie's handling of things over the last few years.

Posted by

WrathOfSamus777

on: 04/24/13, 21:40

@WrathOfSamus777

It's not smaller. It's the same.

Posted by

Jargon

on: 04/24/13, 21:43

NOA president role was pretty substantial in the 90's, when Arakawa was running things. Yamauchi clearly had final say, but him and Howard Lincoln made some important decisions.

Posted by

Hinph

on: 04/24/13, 21:46

So, if Reggie is getting smaller, how will this affect his ass-kicking? Will he only be able to take names from now on? Does he need a side-kick? Is this why Iwata is going to become president of the United States of Nintendo of America? Could this somehow be connected to the fact that I am - for some damn reason - listening to Haddaway on YouTube right now? The thick plottens.

Posted by

r_hjort

on: 04/24/13, 21:49

@Hinph

Such as?

I think the fact that NOA has ALWAYS been under Japanese oversight speaks volumes about how it's perceived by NCL. Arakawa was part of Yamauchi's family by marriage, I don't think there's much of a reason to assume that NOA under his tenure was anything other than an NCL puppet.

Posted by

Kal-El814

on: 04/24/13, 21:55

Guess I should have said "80's." heh. But it was Arakawa's job to make Donkey Kong and the NES a success in North America amidst an industry collapse, and he did so. NOA execs, though obviously under certain NCL orders, made a lot of the calls.

Read Game Over! Such an intimate look into all of these peoples' lives... even Yamauchi! Seriously, anybody who wants the epub copy, shoot me a PM with your email address.

Posted by

Hinph

on: 04/24/13, 22:01

Is this really good news? I feel like Iwata is biting off more than he can chew. Don't get me wrong, he may be a brilliant business man but hes also just one person. Didn't he state he'd take full responsibility for the financial situation they are in with the Wii u? I dunno...I hope his wife is ok with the extra hours he'll be putting in.

Posted by

Abdooooo

on: 04/24/13, 22:10

@Kal-El814

I honestly think giving the Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down to which titles hit NA is just about entirely under Reggie's control, and that's about all he really controlled. I think he tried to shape which way the Wii skewed in NA, and he got lucky that he was riding a zeitgeist with both the Wii and the DS that were going to be a success no matter who was at the helm. Now that the chips are down, Reggie thinks he knows what's right, but his ham-handedness is starting to show while 3DS and Wii U sales are struggling to find their footing in NA. That's how it looks from my armchair analysis, anyway.

Posted by

Deerock69

on: 04/24/13, 23:42

Edited:

04/24/13, 23:48

Hinph said:

Guess I should have said "80's." heh. But it was Arakawa's job to make Donkey Kong and the NES a success in North America amidst an industry collapse, and he did so. NOA execs, though obviously under certain NCL orders, made a lot of the calls.

Read Game Over! Such an intimate look into all of these peoples' lives... even Yamauchi! Seriously, anybody who wants the epub copy, shoot me a PM with your email address.

Yeah, Game Over is a page-turner. Great book.

Posted by

WrathOfSamus777

on: 04/24/13, 23:45

@Hinph

I heard a lot about Game Over but never read it myself. It's a shame it's not up as a Kindle or iBook or else I would've ponied up for it, from what I hear it's supposed to be a really good and interesting read.

Anyone know what kind of impact this news has on Reggie? I hope this means Nintendo of America will have better communication with Japan.

Posted by

Layth

on: 04/25/13, 04:35

Edited:

04/25/13, 04:37

Abdooooo said:

Is this really good news? I feel like Iwata is biting off more than he can chew.

And also, don't forget he called it the Super "Ness" in front of a *LIVE!* worldwide audience! Oh no!

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 04/25/13, 05:16

Deerock69 said:

I honestly think giving the Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down to which titles hit NA is just about entirely under Reggie's contro

I cannot think of a single reason to assume that Reggie has anywhere near that amount of clout.

Posted by

Kal-El814

on: 04/25/13, 06:00