Former Nintendo of America CEO, Tatsumi Kimishima, was announced today as the late Satoru Iwata’s replacement as President of Nintendo of Japan. Kimishima was Reggie’s precursor from 2002-2006 as well as serving for a year as president of Pokemon USA.
In contrast to Iwata’s tenure as a game creator, Kimishima is more of a corporate businessman so it will be interesting to see what direction he takes Nintendo as it perches at the edge of deciding if it wants to be properly competitive in the console and mobile markets or if it wants to stick to doing it’s own thing (which has been working less well in recent years).
Kimishima has pledged to continue on the path that Iwatasan had laid out for the company, but time will tell whether or not this is the case or the best option for Nintendo’s future. We wish him the absolute best of luck during his tenure as president and hope he will perhaps be the first Nintendo president to make Nintendo technologically competitive on all fronts with its competitors, bringing third party developers back into the fold. Let’s-a-go!