Reggie rises to Nintendo's top

Fils-Aime now president, COO of game giant's US operations; ex-president Tatsumi Kimishima named CEO and chairman.

By Staff, GameSpot

Posted May 25, 2006 2:12 pm PT

There was no more room at the top of Nintendo of America's corporate ladder, so the company just added some rungs. The US arm of the Japanese game giant announced today that company president Tatsumi Kimishima has received a promotion to the new roles of CEO and chairman of the board.

Before coming to Nintendo, Kimishima spent 27 years with Sanwa Bank of Japan, where he served in several management-related jobs. After leaving Sanwa, he served as chief financial officer of The Pokemon Company in 2000 and president of Pokemon USA in 2001 before becoming president of Nintendo of America in 2002.

Taking over the roles of NOA president and chief operating officer is Reggie Fils-Aime, who has led audiences through the past several E3 press conferences as executive vice president of sales and marketing. He achieved celebrity status among Nintendo fans for his speech at E3 2004, when he declared, "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games."

Fils-Aime joined NOA in December 2003, after working in high-level positions at VH1, Procter & Gamble, and Pizza Hut. As the company prepares for the fourth-quarter launch of its Wii console, Fils-Aime will juggle duties between his former role in sales and marketing and his new position overseeing NOA's daily operations.

A third promotion announced today sees senior vice president of business development Mike Fukuda bumped up to executive vice president of business development. Of the three executives promoted, he has the longest tenure with Nintendo, having been with the company for 12 years. In his new role, he will oversee the creation of games and hardware tailored to Nintendo's North American audience.

"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," said Satoru Iwata, the overall president of Nintendo, in a statement.

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Chebwa

YES.

Posted Jun 2, 2006 9:15 am PT
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Disgaeamad

Reggie is doing very well, I wish him all the best.

Posted May 31, 2006 4:30 pm PT
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JBiker51

Dude, Reggie is KING!

Posted May 31, 2006 2:42 pm PT
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k-diddy66

reggie reggie reggie is gonna take over the world

Posted May 31, 2006 6:15 am PT
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WalltoWall

About time!

Posted May 30, 2006 1:32 am PT
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02sfraser

hahah amazing. Reggie is total good and desrved the credit. Good on ya.

Posted May 29, 2006 12:13 pm PT
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i_love_my_ds

just 2 and a half years later? he got to be president pretty damn quick!

Posted May 28, 2006 7:26 pm PT
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darkdaej

Rofl, honestly, it was a question of WHEN would he get promoted. now the question is...who will replace him? now that he's gone, Ninty needs a new public head to spearhead the operation....

Posted May 28, 2006 7:04 am PT
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alcarazo9

viva reggie

Posted May 27, 2006 12:15 pm PT
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cire

The duel position move is common in Japanese companies. Board members tend not to do much. Just get paid. It's a status thing. More power,more money. Checks and Balances have a different meaning in Japan.

Posted May 26, 2006 5:50 pm PT
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marioman50

that's why he was so serious at E3, he was trying to get the new president position

Posted May 26, 2006 4:32 pm PT
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abe200x

Reggie deserves it more then anyone else

Posted May 26, 2006 2:23 pm PT
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MOOGLEMAN01

Nintendo is dead. Who elected this dumb*** for president?

Posted May 26, 2006 1:00 pm PT
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DarkKefka

Good for Regie. Good for Nintendo.

Posted May 26, 2006 12:28 pm PT
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Killagorilla27

Good for him. He's really done a lot to help pull the company out of the gutter (well, it wasn't THAT bad, but still) since he's been on board, and I think this he deserved his promotion...

Posted May 26, 2006 12:15 pm PT
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vaejas

I miss Howard Phillips.
Is he still working at Microsoft?

Posted May 26, 2006 11:49 am PT
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dounowhatiam

wow that was quick he only joined 2 1/2 years ago at this rate in another 2 1/2 years he could be president of the world lol

Posted May 26, 2006 11:22 am PT
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CorruptGamerGX

Miyamoto is the man, but Reggie can still kick ass and take names in Super Smash Bros.

Posted May 26, 2006 11:21 am PT
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Maquis_UK

good for you Reggie. more charisma than Gates AND Moore, in one (large) little finger. .... Wiiiiiiiiiiii !!!!!!

Posted May 26, 2006 10:44 am PT
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kevo14

the regginator is the man

Posted May 26, 2006 10:22 am PT
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GKBeetle

All they did was give three guys new titles. I don't see how that's news.

Posted May 26, 2006 9:43 am PT
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WolfSkill5544

I'm so glad for Nintendo. They are gonna get more games from the third-parties now.

Posted May 26, 2006 9:36 am PT
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faridmon

With today's promotion, Reggie now has the executive power to take millions of more names while simultaneously kicking asses.
GO NINTENDO AND Reggie.
come on and show Bill Gates that he is not Hideo Kojima

Posted May 26, 2006 9:24 am PT
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jaefrmbk2k

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

Posted May 26, 2006 9:01 am PT
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if Reggie tryd to kick my ass i'd have to stomp him aout.

fluffebunnie

Reggie couldn't kick anyone's arse or take anyone's name.

Posted May 26, 2006 8:45 am PT
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chrisdojo

cool. hopefully they get a 'better looking' spokesman now

and please, no one as dumb as peter moore.

Posted May 26, 2006 5:05 am PT
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metdevthegamer

Neato.

Posted May 26, 2006 4:49 am PT
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Master_Morex

Awesome. So far he's been doing a great job for N so he deserved that promotion.

REGGIE KICKED MY BUTT!

Posted May 26, 2006 4:33 am PT
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bunty_007

Who's nintendo fan here?

Posted May 26, 2006 4:29 am PT
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nchan

Reggie scares me. I don't my a**ss kicked and name taking.

Posted May 26, 2006 4:21 am PT
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playwrite

mm...i don't know if i like reggie as prez. he doesn't exactly embody the "nintendo spirit". he is coll and all, but i don't want him having that authority.

Posted May 26, 2006 4:12 am PT
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ravenator529

This is no surprise to me. He is the face of NOA. When this guy talks, people listen. Personally, I think people underestimate the fact that he had a lot to do with the success of Nintendo at E3. Nintendo stole the show from Sony and Microsoft IMO. I want a Wii! I bought a DS right after E3 was over. I am no fanboy because I do spread the love when it comes to owning consoles but I am really excited with what I saw and heard from Nintendo.

Posted May 26, 2006 4:04 am PT
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Megadanxzero

Nintendo are so gonna kick some ass this gen. Hopefully take some names too

Posted May 26, 2006 3:26 am PT
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shasam712

Reggie deserves it, he works hard and seen as he is now legendary to us, the little people, then he may aswell get a decent prmotion.

Apart from that though....not the normal news that I look forward too.

Posted May 26, 2006 3:19 am PT
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lukavider

Probably the prez with THE worst haircut ever....but still kicks major a$$

Posted May 26, 2006 1:35 am PT
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OmegaBob

congrats!

Posted May 25, 2006 11:02 pm PT
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phSychO_AtDawn

I have a feeling hes going to do good for nintendo he said they're going to kick ass and i believe him and I also believe theyre going to make some kickass games.Reggie.Sounds diffrent to the name of NINTENDO. A new way to start the next generation of gaming with a new Captain whos up to date with the times.I feel hes going to answer all of nintendos old skool fans by at least removing its "kiddie" image.GO Reggie

Posted May 25, 2006 10:53 pm PT
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never-named

I'm all for Nintendo, but that arrogant piece of s*** really makes me want to reconsider.

Posted May 25, 2006 10:48 pm PT
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LinkErdrich

The Reggie-Lution has been what the Big N's needed since Howard LIncoln stepped down.

Posted May 25, 2006 10:06 pm PT
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videogamr49

Yay for Reggie! Next best thing to hit Nintendo!

Posted May 25, 2006 9:42 pm PT
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ghostadv

Go Reggie

Posted May 25, 2006 9:23 pm PT
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Tranceplant

REGGIE! He's such a great guy! He's gonna do great things for the company!
Alright!!
Congrats Reggie!

Posted May 25, 2006 9:00 pm PT
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nintendorocks

Reggie for president! Woo!! This is huge!

Posted May 25, 2006 8:52 pm PT
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rbarahona

Good News for Nintendo of America. I have a lot of faith in Reginald Fills-Aime and I'm sure that he will help Nintendo sell more units. They have a tough road ahead, but I'm sure that these changes within their structure will help the entire American branch of Nintendo.

Posted May 25, 2006 8:39 pm PT
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unbiasgamer

reggie rocks. he should rule the world

Posted May 25, 2006 8:11 pm PT
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jon1233

Reggie is the coolest game related person ever. Well 2nd best. 1st is Kojima