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Aquamarine · Oct 19, 2013

The purpose of this topic, first and foremost, is to be a research topic, but there are some questions at the end to keep it relevant.

One thing I've noticed on the Internet is a distinct lack of data about early Nintendo corporate governance. Believe it or not, Nintendo has actually been a public company for a very long time. Here's a brief timeline:

1949 - Hiroshi Yamauchi becomes President of Nintendo
1951 - Yamauchi changes name to Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd.
1962 - Nintendo becomes a public company, gets listed on the second section of the Osaka Securities Exchange and on the Kyoto Stock Exchange
1963 - Yamauchi changes name to Nintendo Co., Ltd.
1970 - Nintendo moves to the first section of the Osaka Securities Exchange
1980 - Nintendo of America was founded in New York City, USA with Minoru Arakawa (Yamauchi's son-in-law) as president
1982 - Nintendo of America moved to Washington, USA
1983 - Nintendo moves to the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where it remains today
1990 - Nintendo of Europe established in Frankfurt, Germany
1990 - Nintendo changes fiscal year end from August to March
2002 - Yamauchi resigns as president, stays on Board
2002 - Iwata becomes first post-Yamauchi president since company went public
2005 - Yamauchi resigns from Board, Iwata takes full control over the company
2013 - Yamauchi passes away

So I did some digging into very old Nintendo materials (microfiches, archives and whatnot), and I thought I'd tell you guys about how Nintendo's board of directors has progressed over time. This content really isn't anywhere else on the web, so I'm glad to be sharing it.

Color codes:

YELLOW = First year as a Board member
GREEN = Moved higher up in the Board hierarchy from the previous year
ORANGE = Moved down in the Board hierarchy from the previous year
RED = Last year that person was a part of the Board

Without further ado, let's get started!

In the beginning: (Nintendo's Last FY ending in August)

Minoru Arakawa joins the team!

In the lull between the SNES and N64, Tokio Sotani retires from Nintendo, Akio Tsuji gets promoted, and a host of new faces enter into the Board of Directors, including the infamous Howard Lincoln.

The next four years are smooth sailing. If the Early 90's was the Golden Age, this is Nintendo's Silver Age.

But a few years later, Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln retire from the Board (pretty soon, they'll retire from Nintendo of America as well). Katsunori Tanimoto, the Lead for Nintendo manufacturing since the '80s, retires. None of the Senior Managing Directors that were there in FY 89 are still at Nintendo.

However, a bunch of newcomers arrive. Atsushi Asada becomes Executive Vice President out of nowhere. Satoru Iwata, Miyamoto, Genyo Takeda, and Nobou Nagai fill up the lower ranks. Something big is about to happen at Nintendo...

And it happens! In one fell swoop, Yamauchi retires as Nintendo's president after holding the position since 1949! He chooses Satoru Iwata, #11 in Board hierarchy as his successor. However, Atsushi Asada is placed as Chairman to keep Mr. Iwata in line, and Yamauchi stays around for a few years to make sure everything is catered to. During this time, Yamauchi works with Iwata to design the DS and the Wii, Nintendo's most successful handheld and console. Akio Tsuji, the final member of Yamauchi's original FY 89 board team, retires. Only Hiroshi Yamauchi is still left at Nintendo from the original group.

Tatsumi Kimishima takes Minoru Arakawa's / Howard Lincoln's place as Nintendo of America's presence on the board, but compared to his predecessors, he prefers to take more of a back seat and let Iwata dominate.

Finally, Yamauchi is permanently gone from Nintendo, as is his appointed Chairman, Atsushi Asada. For the first time in more than 50 years, Nintendo is completely under the thumb of a new leader. Of course, Iwata finalizes his re-organization, promoting Miyamoto, Yoshihiro Mori, Shinji Hatano, Genyo Takeda, and Nobuo Nagai to the most senior roles. Iwata also brings in a few new faces.

The next few years are pretty quiet, though poor Mr. Nobou Nagai passes away prematurely, and various long-standing board members leave Nintendo.

More and more board members are preparing to leave as Nintendo profits continue on a steep decline...is Iwata planning something?

He is! Pulling in Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto into his closest inner circle, Iwata hired a wide array of new people to join him on the board.

What is the point behind Iwata's new appointees? Here's what Iwata had to say about them:

I have some questions about the changes of directors. I am wondering if the shortage of game titles, which has led to slow sales of Wii U, is because President Iwata oversees too many sections. I think it would be better for Mr. Iwata to concentrate on supervising software development in Japan instead of placing the overseas operations under his direct control. Was this decision made based on the idea that it will not only enable you to boost sales overseas by releasing software but also strengthen relationships with overseas video game developers and retailers? Also, does the retirement of two representative directors in charge of business administration mean a more development-oriented management style?

"It is a fact that Wii U currently has lost momentum owing to longer-than-expected intervals between software releases. We were faced with the alternatives of taking time to refine our products or launching them without too many intervals, and after careful consideration, we selected the first option because we believe that from a mid-and-long term perspective it is more important to improve customer satisfaction with each game. Development always bears many uncertainties and a delay in release is not necessarily a consequence of insufficient management of development teams. Needless to say, our new management will appropriately supervise our development teams. I have always been involved in many sections of the company, and the Software Planning & Development Division, one of our two software development divisions, has been under my direct control since 2004. After the changes of directors we announced, Mr. Shinya Takahashi will replace me in that position to oversee the daily management of that division, which I believe will spare me enough time to supervise our overseas operations.

With regard to the changes of representative directors, we have no intention of creating a more development-led management. It is a coincidence that among the five representative directors, the three directors in charge of development are younger than the two in charge of administration and marketing. As we grow older, it inevitably becomes more challenging to top the performance of our peak years, so for many years we have been considering a suitable time for the generational change. Although the changes of directors this time may sound sudden to some, it is in fact the conclusion of a long-standing discussion inside the management. You might feel that, considering the experience, stability and total performance of the current management team at this point, it would be safer to maintain the status quo this year. However, we are now in the position to take up various challenges to adapt to a fast-changing business environment. Considering our aim, I think it is never too early to change to a younger management. This is why we decided on the generational change.

I believe that development of novel and attractive products is the largest factor contributing to our competitive edge. Therefore, if we made our management full of clerical, administrative and sales staff members who are unfamiliar with development of products, people might see it as being unbalanced. From the standpoint of our competitive edge, we think it is not at all unbalanced because the three remaining representative directors have been leading Nintendo for the past 11 years. Although our business decisions have not been made by representative directors alone in the past, we are thinking of supplementing the decreased number of representative directors by having Mr. Kimishima, a new managing director, join the executive management committee and by inviting heads of departments to take more active roles in the decision-making process. I hope these efforts will address your concerns over our corporate governance.

I appreciate your opinion that I should concentrate on supervising software development in Japan, but we would like to achieve good results so that later you will understand that the change in management was indeed a good decision."

Is Iwata acting completely in good faith here? Perhaps he made this "generational change" in part to get rid of people who may have been conspiring to take over his place?

It seems as if Iwata is grooming Tatsumi Kimishima. Will Kimishima be Iwata's go-to guy if he gets ousted by shareholders?

But better yet, will these new people that Iwata appointed be any good? Or will they just continue to pursue the status quo? It's something that I think about an awful lot when it comes to Nintendo's top leadership.

We can't just discount the old players, either. Hiroshi Yamauchi has now passed and the future of his shares is still up in the air. Presuming the majority control goes to Minoru Arakawa, will he respect Iwata enough to not meddle in the company's affairs?

Nintendo in the 90's was very different from the company was today. As you can see from the past leadership, no one who used to run Nintendo is at the company anymore. Minoru Arakawa has an opportunity here to combat Iwata's leadership and do something about Nintendo...but I digress.

Team Filler · Oct 19, 2013

That was a very interesting read, thank you for piecing this all into one place.

I could see Iwata wanting to maneuver his supporters into key positions in case of severe dissent from the shareholders, particularly after these last few years of the ominously-looming smartphone business.

JB2448 · Oct 19, 2013

Excellent, excellent read. Arakawa moved on from Tetris Online, Inc. in March of this year, so we really don't know what his next move (if he has one) will be.

It's still so strange and saddening to think that the man who led Nintendo for more than half a century has passed.

Anth0ny · Oct 19, 2013

Kimishima used to be President of NOA before Reggie, right? Would be kinda strange if he became CEO of NCL at this point, but I guess anything is possible...

PhantomR · Oct 19, 2013

Anth0ny said:
Kimishima used to be President of NOA before Reggie, right? Would be kinda strange if he became CEO of NCL at this point, but I guess anything is possible...

Yes, but Reggie reported to him.

So initially it was:

Kimishima: President
Reggie: Executive Vice President, Marketing.

After Reggie got promoted, it became:

Reggie: President and COO
Kimishima: CEO

After Kimishima got promoted, it became:

Reggie: President and COO
Iwata: CEO

shinra-bansho · Oct 19, 2013

Interesting thread, Aqua.

It could be interpreted as Iwata essentially stacking the Board, such that it's passive to his direction. Have any of these new directors expressed any views regarding the direction of the company and whether change is needed?

Also, am I interpreting this correctly in that Nintendo has never appointed any independent directors? Frankly, I think some outside insight would be hugely beneficial. The company is far too insular.

It will be interesting if Arakawa, who will likely control the Yamauchi family stake, ends up forcing his way onto the Board again.

Also, iirc, in the thread about Iwata taking over NoA it seemed to be implied that Kimishima was essentially being demoted for some reason? Was that a false assessment?

PhantomR · Oct 19, 2013

shinra-bansho said:
Also, iirc, in the thread about Iwata taking over NoA it seemed to be implied that Kimishima was essentially being demoted for some reason? Was that a false assessment?

Yes.

Moving from NOA to a Managing Director position at NCL is a big deal. It's definitely a step-up. I am 95% sure that Reggie will never get to Director level like Arakawa-San and Howard Lincoln did.

DDayton · Oct 19, 2013

shinra-bansho said:
It will be interesting if Arakawa, who will likely control the Yamauchi family stake, ends up forcing his way onto the Board again.

Do we have any evidence Arakawa would want to be on the NCL board? Everything I've ever heard implies he's been quite happy not working at Nintendo and enjoying life in Hawaii.

Granted, the departure of his domineering father-in-law could change things, but I'm skeptical that he has any desire to jump back into corporate life.

(I could vaguely see the old NOA gang teaming up, but it sounds more like silly fan fiction than anything else.)

Aquamarine · Oct 19, 2013

shinra-bansho said:
Interesting thread, Aqua.

It could be interpreted as Iwata essentially stacking the Board, such that it's passive to his direction. Have any of these new directors expressed any views regarding the direction of the company and whether change is needed?

Also, am I interpreting this correctly in that Nintendo has never appointed any independent directors? Frankly, I think some outside insight would be hugely beneficial. The company is far too insular.

It will be interesting if Arakawa, who will likely control the Yamauchi family stake, ends up forcing his way onto the Board again.

Also, iirc, in the thread about Iwata taking over NoA it seemed to be implied that Kimishima was essentially being demoted for some reason? Was that a false assessment?

What annoys me the most is the passivity of Tatsumi Kimishima. He's just a wet blanket compared to his predecessors...he doesn't have nearly the same kind of drive to stand up to the CEO and create an independent voice inside of the company. It's under Kimishima that Nintendo of America devolved from an independent powerhouse to little more than an empty shell. I think Kimishima getting upgraded to Managing Director is due to his passivity...he plays nice with Iwata, so he gets to go deeper into Iwata's inner circle. Can you believe that Iwata, Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto are the only ones left on the Board of Directors who were appointed by Hiroshi Yamauchi?

About each new member:

1) Shigeyuki Takahashi was originally hired by Nintendo to pursue future business expansion and report to sales / marketing...this was in 2007. I bet he would want the company to realize some form of mobile expansion, but Iwata keeps him under check
2) Satoshi Yamato - Specialty was to manage system programs, like eShop or Miiverse. Presumably Mr. Yamato is all about maintaining Nintendo's proprietary system software, and doesn't like moving onto another base
3) Susumu Tanaka - Big in working with overseas subsidiaries + licensing...probably not so keen on Nintendo moving outside of the status quo
4) Shinya Takahashi - An internal developer at heart, just like Miyamoto. He was probably brought into the Board as someone who could be easily controlled by Iwata
5) HIrokazu Shinshi - Oversees manufacturing, probably has ties to Nintendo maintaining the status quo as well

I'll keep an eye out for Shigeyuki Takahashi, but the others don't seem to be major players in coming up against Iwata.

cafemomo · Oct 19, 2013

Interesting that Mr. Lincoln was the only Westerner on the board.

Was kinda expecting Reggie to be there.

Bronetta · Oct 19, 2013

Very informative post. Fantastic work Aquamarine.

A certain crowd always says that Nintendo's board of directors is dominated by stubborn old timers who can't adapt to changes in the market. But that doesn't seem to be the case based on these findings.

Log4Girlz · Oct 19, 2013

Iwata is sinking the ship.

Mabase · Oct 19, 2013

Fantastic post, and fascinating read. Thanks for that!

NeoGaf AAA-Quality content

Cheerilee · Oct 19, 2013

DavidDayton said:
Do we have any evidence Arakawa would want to be on the NCL board? Everything I've ever heard implies he's been quite happy not working at Nintendo and enjoying life in Hawaii.

Granted, the departure of his domineering father-in-law could change things, but I'm skeptical that he has any desire to jump back into corporate like.

(I could vaguely see the old NOA gang teaming up, but it sounds more like silly fan fiction than anything else.)

Arakawa retired so that he could enjoy the rest of his life, but now that he owns Yamauchi's shares (if he owns Yamauchi's shares), and if he believes that Iwata dun goofed, then he might feel forced to get back into the game.

I think Arakawa's first move would be to axe Iwata. Arakawa would either need to pull a new president out of his ass, or step in himself until he can find someone else to do the job (Arakawa by himself is probably capable). But since Iwata has ingratiated himself into Nintendo's entire upper management, Arakawa (or [insert president]) would have to prepare to replace anyone and everyone who doesn't fall in line (and worst-case scenario, that means Nintendo's entire upper management, overnight). And for anyone who does stay, Arakawa would still have to consider "Is there anyone who can do this guy's job better than he can?", since it's the new president's job to fix things and deliver results. Arakawa himself would obviously have an advantage in this process over an outside hire, since Arakawa's already familiar with Nintendo's upper management.

Miyamoto is an interesting factor, because he's basically un-fireable, since Nintendo has invested so much PR into him being the source of all great Nintendo games. Arakawa might have to promote him if there's any shakeup, just to keep him (promote him on paper, I mean, not a real promotion. A real promotion is more artistic freedom).

NOA would probably be an easier problem for Arakawa to deal with, because I imagine he can find a new CEO for them in an afternoon. Or even easier than that, he can just promote Reggie. If Iwata got the axe, and Kimishima didn't grovel at Arakawa's feet and beg to be exiled to NOA, that would probably be enough to win Reggie a seat at Nintendo's Japanese table (assuming Reggie joins the winning team, and doesn't stay loyal to Iwata, of course).

DDayton · Oct 19, 2013

...am I the only one mildly confused by these "Well, of COURSE the first thing to do is fire Iwata" posts, or the notion that all the NCL board folks are essentially Iwata toadies?

I don't know -- perhaps I'm crazily mad (or madly crazy), but I'm not entirely sure that Iwata is leading Nintendo into a deathmarch. For that matter, I'm not sure that the standard proposal given ("NINTENDO SHOULD MAKE 'mobile' GAMES") would do anything to improve Nintendo's situation, given that their handheld game sales are still doing rather well.

Cheerilee · Oct 19, 2013

DavidDayton said:
...am I the only one mildly confused by these "Well, of COURSE the first thing to do is fire Iwata" posts, or the notion that all the NCL board folks are essentially Iwata toadies?

I don't know -- perhaps I'm crazily mad (or madly crazy), but I'm not entirely sure that Iwata is leading Nintendo into a deathmarch. For that matter, I'm not sure that the standard proposal given ("NINTENDO SHOULD MAKE 'mobile' GAMES") would do anything to improve Nintendo's situation, given that their handheld game sales are still doing rather well.

Iwata and Reggie were heroes for years, but the wheel turned. Reggie started to get flak for NOA's shortcomings, but then there were rumblings from NOA insiders saying that Reggie himself wasn't the problem, that NOA overwhelmingly likes Reggie, but that Iwata/NCL has been handcuffing him/them, and calling the shots from Japan. And that was before Iwata installed himself as NOA's CEO.

Iwata got a lot of credit for the things Nintendo did right with the Wii and DS, so now people are holding him to everything Nintendo does wrong. We had that NotEnoughShaders article that blew a gaping hole in his "please understand" defense, and we've got Pachter regularly calling him out for the biggest loss in Nintendo history, caused by the perfect storm of an ill-conceived WiiU and a faltering 3DS.

And then we've got an interview with Iwata earlier this month where he basically confirms what Nintendo's detractors have said since he came to power, that for good or bad, Nintendo clings to unpredictable gimmicks because they're afraid of anything resembling a fair fight.

And now we're in a neat thread that points out that (either through intent or just the ravages of time) everyone in Nintendo's upper management currently owes their position to Iwata.

My post was just speculation, and it contained a lot of "ifs". Ultimately, it doesn't matter if Iwata is responsible for things or not, if Arakawa (who himself is just a hypothetical at this point) believes that Iwata is responsible for a problem that requires a house-cleaning (a common enough opinion), then Iwata will be the first to go. If Arakawa is unconvinced, then obviously he won't be firing anyone.

And for the record, I think mobile games are a bad idea at this time. I don't think they're exactly harmful by themselves, but I think the drain on manpower while Nintendo is currently shorthanded isn't worth the return. But I do think Nintendo should be exploring other markets, because this perfect storm of WiiU/3DS proves Nintendo's need to diversify. A "third pillar" would do Iwata a lot of good right now. My pet solution is one that Yamauchi handed to Iwata on a silver platter several years ago: an animation studio. It would compliment Nintendo's skills, wouldn't significantly drain their resources, and would not only diversify Nintendo, but become an asset to Nintendo's two existing pillars.

Bluemercury · Oct 19, 2013

Aquamarine said:
What annoys me the most is the passivity of Tatsumi Kimishima. He's just a wet blanket compared to his predecessors...he doesn't have nearly the same kind of drive to stand up to the CEO and create an independent voice inside of the company. It's under Kimishima that Nintendo of America devolved from an independent powerhouse to little more than an empty shell. I think Kimishima getting upgraded to Managing Director is due to his passivity...he plays nice with Iwata, so he gets to go deeper into Iwata's inner circle. Can you believe that Iwata, Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto are the only ones left on the Board of Directors who were appointed by Hiroshi Yamauchi?

About each new member:

1) Shigeyuki Takahashi was originally hired by Nintendo to pursue future business expansion and report to sales / marketing...this was in 2007. I bet he would want the company to realize some form of mobile expansion, but Iwata keeps him under check
2) Satoshi Yamato - Specialty was to manage system programs, like eShop or Miiverse. Presumably Mr. Yamato is all about maintaining Nintendo's proprietary system software, and doesn't like moving onto another base
3) Susumu Tanaka - Big in working with overseas subsidiaries + licensing...probably not so keen on Nintendo moving outside of the status quo
4) Shinya Takahashi - An internal developer at heart, just like Miyamoto. He was probably brought into the Board as someone who could be easily controlled by Iwata
5) HIrokazu Shinshi - Oversees manufacturing, probably has ties to Nintendo maintaining the status quo as well

I'll keep an eye out for Shigeyuki Takahashi, but the others don't seem to be major players in coming up against Iwata.

So its because of Kimishima that NOA is non existant? At least with Lincoln there were many western presence regarding software deals and 3rd party support....

Celine · Oct 19, 2013

Good job Aqua (apart from the cospiracy theories).
Surprised Imanishi wasn't on the board earlier though.
He was Yamauchi's right arm.

suppadoopa said:
Interesting that Mr. Lincoln was the only Westerner on the board.

Was kinda expecting Reggie to be there.

You have weird expectation

Aquamarine · Oct 19, 2013

Celine said:
Good job Aqua (apart from the cospiracy theories).
Surprised Imanishi wasn't on the board earlier though.
He was Yamauchi's right arm.

You have weird expectation

I'm just generating discussion!

sd28821 · Oct 19, 2013

Didn't take long for the dumb conspiracy theories to start .

People cant possibly have gotten there jobs because they are the best fit or being groomed for the future or to being new ideas and view points.

The Mana Legend · Oct 19, 2013

Log4Girlz said:
Iwata is sinking the ship.

Why even bother coming into this thread then? This shit is getting extremely annoying.

I am reading through the OP now, and there's some interesting stuff there that I didn't know before. Thanks!

Shiggy · Oct 19, 2013

sd28821 said:
Didn't take long for the dumb conspiracy theories to start .

People cant possibly have gotten there jobs because they are the best fit or being groomed for the future or to being new ideas and view points.

*looks at Wii U*
No.

The Mana Legend · Oct 19, 2013

Shiggy said:
*looks at Wii U*
No.

*Looks at DS, 3DS and Wii*

Yes.

Seriously, get the fuck out. I'm so sick of this shit. You guys make every Nintendo thread miserable.

Raysoul · Oct 19, 2013

Interesting read. Nice work OP.

Log4Girlz said:
Iwata is sinking the ship.

Shitty post.

Shiggy · Oct 19, 2013

The Mana Legend said:
*Looks at DS, 3DS and Wii*

Yes.

Seriously, get the fuck out. I'm so sick of this shit. You guys make every Nintendo thread miserable.

With the same mistakes being repeated over and over again, it simply doesn't look like change can come from the inside. When even posters on NeoGAF saw issues with the Wii U long before its launch after the initial 3DS debacle, one may want to question the expertise of the BoD.

My comment wasn't meant completely serious though. Even I think the conspiracy theories are going over the top in this thread - should have clarified that with a spoiler tag

Mihael Mello Keehl · Oct 19, 2013

Wow thats a lot of good information. Thanks

Gamerloid · Oct 19, 2013

Nice work putting all that information together. Things really have changed since the 90s. The best thing to happen to Nintendo was Howard Lincoln. He was brutal, but got the job done.

shinra-bansho · Oct 19, 2013

sd28821 said:
Didn't take long for the dumb conspiracy theories to start .

People cant possibly have gotten there jobs because they are the best fit or being groomed for the future or to being new ideas and view points.

It's not really necessarily conspiracy to suggest that the Board may be stacked with either passive or acquiescent directors. It does happen. If it was the case, it wouldn't be something isolated to Nintendo either, I recall reading about Michael Eisner and his time at the helm of Disney.

From Aquamarine's comments on the members, other than apparently Shigeyuki Takahashi, it doesn't sound like they're offering new and/or dissenting viewpoints with regard to Nintendo's corporate strategy.

chaosblade · Oct 19, 2013

shinra-bansho said:
It's not really necessarily conspiracy to suggest that the Board may be stacked with either passive or acquiescent directors. It does happen. If it was the case, it wouldn't be something isolated to Nintendo either, I recall reading about Michael Eisner and his time at the helm of Disney.

From Aquamarine's comments on the members, other than apparently Shigeyuki Takahashi, it doesn't sound like they're offering new and/or dissenting viewpoints with regard to Nintendo's corporate strategy.

Would make sense of a lot of things, if the board is an echo chamber that's not good when they are in a situation where a shakeup is needed. Like, you know, right now.

noal · Oct 19, 2013

Interesting write up Aqua. Are we saying this is a safe board for Iwata?

Cosmozone · Oct 19, 2013

Great write up, but it would be interesting to know how many people there are toying with the go mobile devices idea. Hope the number is small.

Goldmund · Oct 19, 2013

Isn't Nintendo of Europe based in Großostheim? It's close to Frankfurt, but it's not Frankfurt. I remember a lot of German localizations making references to that (for example, the hero's hometown in Secret of Evermore was Großostheim).

Porcile · Oct 19, 2013

Third parties want Nintendo/MS and Sony to bow to their every whim and desire. Howard Lincoln's aggressive management style would never sit well in today's development environment. Maybe in the 90's when Nintendo held all the power but that created a lot of ill will which hasn't been easily forgotten.

Tenki · Oct 19, 2013

Goldmund said:
Isn't Nintendo of Europe based in Großostheim? It's close to Frankfurt, but it's not Frankfurt. I remember a lot of German localizations making references to that (for example, the hero's hometown in Secret of Evermore was Großostheim).

Yes, it's in Großostheim.

Scum · Oct 19, 2013

I wonder if someone like Peter Moore will be a good choice for NoA...?

Bronetta said:
Very informative post. Fantastic work Aquamarine.

A certain crowd always says that Nintendo's board of directors is dominated by stubborn old timers who can't adapt to changes in the market. But that doesn't seem to be the case based on these findings.

I had this very notion in my head for a long while, until I was rightfully corrected. :lol

Bluemercury said:
So its because of Kimishima that NOA is non existant? At least with Lincoln there were many western presence regarding software deals and 3rd party support....

Pretty much. That's why he's been sent back home and Iwata has taken (temporary?) charge.

Aquamarine said:
I'm just generating discussion!

Aqua, any thoughts on Shibata? I don't know what it is, but it feels like something's up with him...Not in a bad way, though.

vareon · Oct 19, 2013

Pretty informative read, thanks. I know jack shit about this, so I'll just read the discussion by those who knew better silently.

MegaByte · Oct 19, 2013

Cheerilee said:
Iwata and Reggie were heroes for years, but the wheel turned. Reggie started to get flak for NOA's shortcomings, but then there were rumblings from NOA insiders saying that Reggie himself wasn't the problem, that NOA overwhelmingly likes Reggie, but that Iwata/NCL has been handcuffing him/them, and calling the shots from Japan. And that was before Iwata installed himself as NOA's CEO.

An alternate reading of the situation is that Kimishima was the problem, and Iwata removed him in the cleanest way possible. I guess we'll know soon enough by what future actions NOA takes.

Cheerilee · Oct 19, 2013

MegaByte said:
An alternate reading of the situation is that Kimishima was the problem, and Iwata removed him in the cleanest way possible. I guess we'll know soon enough by what future actions NOA takes.

Although Kimishima did get promoted, and one doesn't normally get rid of problems by promoting them.

Looking at Kimishima's path, it's interesting, because he only ever rose in rank when someone above him left (which appears to be the pattern with Nintendo, you typically climb when someone steps out). One rank here, one rank there, but his job never really changed.

Then one day, literally half of the seats above him become vacated, he's removed from NOA, and Kimishima is apparently the only person to get promoted to fill any void. Now all the power at Nintendo seems to be consolidated into a core group of four people (the smallest core group in recent history), of which Kimishima is suddenly a member.

DDayton · Oct 19, 2013

Cheerilee said:
My post was just speculation, and it contained a lot of "ifs". Ultimately, it doesn't matter if Iwata is responsible for things or not, if Arakawa (who himself is just a hypothetical at this point) believes that Iwata is responsible for a problem that requires a house-cleaning (a common enough opinion), then Iwata will be the first to go. If Arakawa is unconvinced, then obviously he won't be firing anyone.

True -- I guess I'm just hesitant to see many people outside internet websites assigning all blame to Iwata for anything. The Wii U is bumbling, certainly, but the 3DS turned around -- it will almost certainly never hit DS levels at this rate, but it's far from a failure.

Iwata and Reggie were heroes for years, but the wheel turned. Reggie started to get flak for NOA's shortcomings, but then there were rumblings from NOA insiders saying that Reggie himself wasn't the problem, that NOA overwhelmingly likes Reggie, but that Iwata/NCL has been handcuffing him/them, and calling the shots from Japan. And that was before Iwata installed himself as NOA's CEO.

I've heard quite the same thing from a few other folks -- essentially, only Yamauchi's son-in-law really had any freedom.

And then we've got an interview with Iwata earlier this month where he basically confirms what Nintendo's detractors have said since he came to power, that for good or bad, Nintendo clings to unpredictable gimmicks because they're afraid of anything resembling a fair fight.

See, I must be reading things differently -- the article said that Nintendo wasn't good at competing, which is essentially mirroring what folks around these parts have always said: in a straight out competition, Nintendo can no longer make it against the competition (MS/Sony, and/or Apple). They have to take an alternate path. Hard core gamers don't like that, but I'm not sure that "alternate path" necessarily means "unpredicatable gimmicks," nor that refusing to fight on the same grounds when one can't expend the same financial resources equates to refusing a fair fight.

In all fairness, perhaps I came across a bit gruffly, but I'm not altogether sure having someone OTHER than Iwata would significantly change things at Nintendo.

(A new "third pillar" could be interesting, of course... I'm not sure the path lies within animation, but some sort of alternate hardware...)

DDayton · Oct 19, 2013

Cheerilee said:
Although Kimishima did get promoted, and one doesn't normally get rid of problems by promoting them.

I don't know... if Kimishima's strengths seemed misplaced at NOA, but he was still seen in a mostly favorable light, I can see them pulling him back to Japan and promoting him. Why shame the guy if it wasn't necessarily a good placement for him?

Then one day, literally half of the seats above him become vacated, he's removed from NOA, and Kimishima is apparently the only person to get promoted to fill any void. Now all the power at Nintendo seems to be consolidated into a core group of four people (the smallest core group in recent history), of which Kimishima is suddenly a member.

In all fairness, I'd argue that for MOST of NCL's history, all power was essentially consolidated into a core group of one person...

PhantomR · Oct 19, 2013

Aquamarine said:
1) Shigeyuki Takahashi was originally hired by Nintendo to pursue future business expansion and report to sales / marketing...this was in 2007. I bet he would want the company to realize some form of mobile expansion, but Iwata keeps him under check

Takahashi-San was based out of Redwood city, but reported to Reggie, not sales/marketing.

Cheerilee said:
And then we've got an interview with Iwata earlier this month where he basically confirms what Nintendo's detractors have said since he came to power, that for good or bad, Nintendo clings to unpredictable gimmicks because they're afraid of anything resembling a fair fight.

A "fair fight"? What does this even mean?

Oersted · Oct 19, 2013

Goldmund said:
Isn't Nintendo of Europe based in Großostheim? It's close to Frankfurt, but it's not Frankfurt. I remember a lot of German localizations making references to that (for example, the hero's hometown in Secret of Evermore was Großostheim).

Marketing is in Frankfurt, but the main part is in Großostheim.

Cheerilee · Oct 20, 2013

PhantomR said:
A "fair fight"? What does this even mean?

Head-to-head. A level playing field. Whatever you want to call it.

Nintendo achieved domination over two markets. But they're "not good at competing" (aka, they make glaring errors and tend not to learn from them), so they lost ~50% of one of them at the first possible opportunity. Then they lost even more to Sony, and then the industry started walking all over them. They deflected some scrubs in the handheld arena without too much trouble, but then Sony brought in a GBA-killer.

Instead of making a GBA2, Yamauchi advised Iwata to retreat, and the DS was Nintendo's side road into the world of gimmicks. And it paid off huge. The Wii was another retreat, and it paid off even bigger.

But now Nintendo seems to be in a constant state of retreat. The 3DS was a retreat from Vita (lol), and WiiU was a retreat from next gen. That's not a good strategy, it's terrible. Nintendo better get "good at competing" and they better do it fast, because it doesn't matter where they go, they're either going to find failure, or they're going to find success and will have to fight to keep it.

But I digress.

Mailenstein · Oct 20, 2013

Great thread, thanks a lot!

I'm wondering where Nintendo is heading with their next handheld and console. While they could innovate with the NDS and Wii, they simply jumped on the 3D/tablet hype train with the 3DS and WiiU. However, thankfully the 3DS turned out to be a real good system with a great library so far. Let's see if they can innovate next time around again.

Windom Earle · Oct 20, 2013

Well that was great. Thanks for putting in so much work and effort!

hongcha · Oct 20, 2013

Cheerilee said:
Nintendo achieved domination over two markets. But they're "not good at competing" (aka, they make glaring errors and tend not to learn from them), so they lost ~50% of one of them at the first possible opportunity. Then they lost even more to Sony, and then the industry started walking all over them. They deflected some scrubs in the handheld arena without too much trouble, but then Sony brought in a GBA-killer.

Instead of making a GBA2, Yamauchi advised Iwata to retreat, and the DS was Nintendo's side road into the world of gimmicks. And it paid off huge. The Wii was another retreat, and it paid off even bigger.

But now Nintendo seems to be in a constant state of retreat. The 3DS was a retreat from Vita (lol), and WiiU was a retreat from next gen. That's not a good strategy, it's terrible. Nintendo better get "good at competing" and they better do it fast, because it doesn't matter where they go, they're either going to find failure, or they're going to find success and will have to fight to keep it.

.

Great post. I'd say you're right on the money.

BlackJace · Oct 20, 2013

I really have to admire the work you put into these threads. I believe I still have your retail one bookmarked lol.

Anyways, it would seem that Nintendo really isn't completely ran by old geezers after all...

Crash55118 · Oct 20, 2013

Really great write up, thanks for putting in the work.

Nintendo's whole structure seems really broken at the current time, and I am not sure that all the recent restructuring will make too much of a difference. I pray that someday Bill Trinen will be able to write a book about his experience at Nintendo, if any American could get a seat on that Board I wish it was him.

Windom Earle · Oct 20, 2013

Goldmund said:
Isn't Nintendo of Europe based in Großostheim? It's close to Frankfurt, but it's not Frankfurt. I remember a lot of German localizations making references to that (for example, the hero's hometown in Secret of Evermore was Großostheim).

There is a Frankfurt office as well that includes the localization team afaik. Edit: Beaten, marketing as well seemingly.

FZZ · Oct 20, 2013

This is a fucking hilarious topic in the sense you end up attempting to paint Iwata as the enemy, and hope Arakawa will do something to actually help Nintendo out of their current position.

All we know is that the board is changing, Yamauchi has passed away and he chose Iwata to succeed him, NOT Arakawa.

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