• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Tatsumi Kimishima (former NoA CEO) is the new president of Nintendo [Updated]

J

JoeM86

Member
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2015/150914e.pdf

Takeda is now "Technology Fellow" and Miyamoto "Creative Fellow"

Interesting stuff

// Mod Edit:

This is the guy who moved from Nintendo of America to Nintendo of Japan when Iwata became CEO of Nintendo of America: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=545992

Here's the summary of what he did in his former two positions from that press release:

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.
Click to expand...

futureproofwfucf.png


In relations to that third point, this is probably a pretty accurate take given their new CEO is already 65 and thus at retirement age:

Gurgelhals said:
Do we know anything about that large-scale corporate restructuring mentioned in the press release?

According to the old and new titles, the following seems to be happening:

- Miyamoto is stepping down from his managerial role at EAD towards a purely advisory role on the board of directors. No successor has been announced.

- Same for Takeda who is stepping down as general manager of the IRD division. No announcement of a successor here as well.

- Are EAD and SPD (and IRD?) being merged? Because Shinya Takahashi seems to have gotten a BIG promotion from General Manager of SPD to General Manager of an apparently new division called "Entertainment Planning & Development Division" - which could be the name for the newly merged Entertainment & Analysis Development and Software Planning & Development divisions. This would be pretty big news. After all, he takes over Miyamoto's old managerial position while, at the same time, remaining the boss of the other major game development division within Nintendo.

- Also, Takahashi has been appointed as supervisor of the "Business Development Division". Another new division? Something along the line of Iwata's Corporate Planning Division (of which he was the general manager in the years before he became president), perhaps?

If you ask me, Takahashi is the crown prince in this arrangement. He's being groomed to take over in a few years, while Miyamoto and Takeda are slowly stepping back and settling in a purely advisory role until their eventual retirement. Kimishima is taking the reins in the meantime as the more experienced manager for the next couple of years (until after the NX launch, etc.). Just my two cents on the matter.
Click to expand...
Of course, keep in mind that some Japanese CEOs stay around forever. Sega's current CEO is 73.

mXJF7gN.png
 
Spirit Icana

Spirit Icana

Member
Congratulations Kimishima-san. Looking forward to learning more about him. I hope he can live up to Iwata's legacy and help Nintendo prosper in the years ahead.
 
H

Hasney

Member
I was going to ask whooooooo, but that PDF lays it out pretty nicely. I guess I don't have any thoughts on it until he actually makes some decisions.
 
S

Sawneeks

Banned
Congratulations to him.

I won't judge his appointment until decisions start to be made but it's interesting to see that he was CEO of NoA for a time. Maybe this means more translations of games for the West?
 
A

akidnamededdy

Banned
"Kimishima Asks" doesn't sound as nice...harrumph.

Don't know much about the guy other than what's in the pdf. Wonder if he'll make some kind of address to the fans/customers soon. I'd like to think he'd try to keep some semblance of approachability and openness to the company, it was one of the few things Nintendo has been doing right the last several years.
 
M

Milly Osworth

Member
akidnamededdy said:
"Kimishima Asks" doesn't sound as nice...harrumph.

Don't know much about the guy other than what's in the pdf. Wonder if he'll make some kind of address to the fans/customers soon. I'd like to think he'd try to keep some semblance of approachability and openness to the company, it was one of the few things Nintendo has been doing right the last several years.
Click to expand...

Kimi asks.
 
B

Big One

Banned
Eh...I wish him luck, but if his track record of localization is a show for anything...

His game credits aren't all that impressive either. Mostly Mario Party. Hope Nintendo isn't using him to push the mobile market.
 
L

Lingitiz

Member
Mysterious said:
He's 65. They're going to have another CEO in 5-10 years?
Click to expand...

Probably. They may have picked him as a stopgap until a younger President is ready to take the role. Obviously Iwata's death was a big surprise to all so no one lower down the food chain is really ready for the role. Might as well pick a seasoned vet for now.
 
K

KingBroly

Banned
Definitely makes sense given how unexpected this all was. They obviously want more time to form a new, permanent direction. I can't see Kimishima being CEO for very long.
 
M

MrSaturn99

Member
Reading the PDF, he seems like an okay choice despite his age. I'd like to know more about him, too.

Regardless, good luck to him!
 
M

Madao

Member
so, an invisible president?

i can't remember what this guy ever did as NoA president. he was between Howard and Reggie, right?
 
S

scitek

Member
I would think this bodes well for NOA possibly having a bit more independence since he could have a bit of a partiality toward the branch.
 
M

Mariolee

Member
Sir_Crocodile said:
Is this the former banking guy?
Click to expand...

But Gamecube was far more aligned with third parties it felt like than later generations. It will be interesting to see how things change in the future. Of course, no one will be able to replace Iwata.

I also find it weird that Iwata essentially took his job from him awhile back and now he is in Iwata's seat. Weird how things work out sometime.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
StevieP said:
NOA wasn't exactly lighting up the charts with the GameCube
Click to expand...

He also oversaw Pokemon's expansion to the west.

I'm too tired to give a full rundown of why Kimishima was the obvious choice. It's not "Hey stand up in the bleachers and pledge your undying support" obvious, but he's going to keep Nintendo on the rails for the next few years. Probably a decade or so until Shinya Takahashi is ready to take the reins.

He's fairly western-focused as, like, an actual person. I don't know what he'll do as President of Nintendo, but he has children in America, visits often, likes to do business here.
 
W

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
N0EbPhH.jpg


I know I shouldn't judge by appearance, but this guy doesn't look that personable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

PlayStation names Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino as its new CEOs
News 5 6 7 8 9
420
18K
nial replied
Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead names Shams Jorjani as its new CEO (company founder Johan Pilestedt remains chief creative officer and chairman)
News Business
3
672
rm082e replied
Nintendo hires former PlayStation exec to head up AAA third-party games
2
612
Ozriel replied
Sega appoints Dreamcast and PSOne veteran Shuji Utsumi as new Western boss
News Business
18
1K
onQ123 replied
Honest thoughts on Shuntaro Furukawa as Nintendo president?
Opinion Analysis 2 3
100
6K
yurinka replied
Top Bottom