Death Metalist
Member
Mighty shoes to fill but all the best to him, seems like the best thing to do right now for the time being.
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Tatsumi Kimishima (former NoA CEO) is the new president of Nintendo [Updated]
- Thread starter JoeM86
- Start date
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I can see how a lot of younger people really came of age during the Iwata era, and think it's natural that Nintendo would be run by a whimsical man like him, also a developer, etc...
...but I came of age during the Yamauchi era, and the Nintendo I know was ran by a person who didn't just not understand games, he actually kind of hated them!
And this was the superior era of Nintendo to me (no disrespect to the Wii/DS/Iwata era, it's just lesser than NES and SNES to me).
Lots of talk about keeping Nintendo creative and such. But let's remember that Super Mario Bros and Zelda actually emerged from the decree of an old man who didn't care about games and actually just wanted success in the market. Those games were less birthed in Miyamoto's magic workshop, and were more the result of a ruthless business man saying "make something that sells my console!"
We can get amazing games from Nintendo when there is a pure businessman at the top, don't worry about that.
...but I came of age during the Yamauchi era, and the Nintendo I know was ran by a person who didn't just not understand games, he actually kind of hated them!
And this was the superior era of Nintendo to me (no disrespect to the Wii/DS/Iwata era, it's just lesser than NES and SNES to me).
Lots of talk about keeping Nintendo creative and such. But let's remember that Super Mario Bros and Zelda actually emerged from the decree of an old man who didn't care about games and actually just wanted success in the market. Those games were less birthed in Miyamoto's magic workshop, and were more the result of a ruthless business man saying "make something that sells my console!"
We can get amazing games from Nintendo when there is a pure businessman at the top, don't worry about that.
ST2K
Member
I guess it depends on how involved Kimishima is in that type of thing, and I don't know how much he will be. Considering his background, I can't say what he could bring to those types of decisions. Iwata had his design background and Yamauchi had his odd intuition about hits. What exactly does this guy bring to the table? Will he oversee platform designs in a meaningful way? Does he have a vision of gaming all his own or is he more of a raw numbers guy?
I guess we'll find out in the time to come.
TheMagician
Member
That was a great period of success for Nintendo on the hardware front.
No wait, that actually started in 2006...
PdotMichael
Banned
I don't know. Sony was quite successful with Cerny.
It would be more important to have a person who is 120% behind the console and developement instead of a decades old face just for the sake of it.
ShockingAlberto
Member
I'm going to throw out there that maybe people can't be boiled down to singular aspects and could have multiple facets to them that might not be publicly known to enthusiast spectators.
He became NOA CEO in 2006.
The U.S. was the only region where GameCube performed decently.
Exactly how I felt upon reading the announcement and the guy's history.
But since Iwata was irreplaceable, they (and we) have to make do with the next best option, and I wish Mr. Kimishima every success in the world over the next few years. I hope he stays true to Iwata's vision and the plans he had put in place.
I have to imagine iwata had a short list of replacements in mind. If Tatsumi is all numbers I cant see iwata ever making him an option because that would go against nintendos vision. A purely numbers guy would likely go mobile and whatever else the stupid shareholders want.
impossible to judge off one picture. after we see him in motion well get and idea of what his personality is like.
I know I shouldn't judge by appearance, but this guy doesn't look that personable.
impossible to judge off one picture. after we see him in motion well get and idea of what his personality is like.
Sensible choice. The foundations of Nintendo's creative vision have been laid for the mid-term, an Mr Kimishima sounds appropriate for executing them successfully and moving the company forward.
Incidentally, he doesn't seem to have also taken the role of CEO in either NCL or NoA. I imagine that if different people were to be set for the two roles, the one with the more business background would be set CEO, rather than President / Representative Director. With that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if he also becomes CEO.
Incidentally, he doesn't seem to have also taken the role of CEO in either NCL or NoA. I imagine that if different people were to be set for the two roles, the one with the more business background would be set CEO, rather than President / Representative Director. With that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if he also becomes CEO.
Cerny is a three decades old face, he's been considerably longer in the industry than Kimishima. And he was a gun for hire, whereas Kimishima has been with Nintendo for a long time.
Got me there.I don't know, looks like he (laughs) sometimes to me.
What I hope he will continue from iwatas leadership is not compromising the quality of first party software even if he has to delay, and continue the dlc practices established by Iwata. Also making the developers feel that their jobs are safe in bad times.
Things I would like to see change is naming of hardware,, hardware philosophy regarding tdp, size , performance balance.
PdotMichael
Banned
Do you really believe that Iwata did that kind of micromanagement? Videogame dev background doesn't mean a lot as president.
Leafhopper
Banned
You joke but, that would make my day damn it.
Mysterious
Banned
NCL never had a designated CEO role. The only time CEO of NCL was ever referenced was E3 2015.
I'd argue that a lot of what made Nintendo great during the NES/SNES days was a combination of the developers at Nintendo and the state of the industry. Keep in mind that, while many would consider NES/SNES Nintendo to be the best era of Nintendo, that's also the era of Nintendo that's responsible for draconian third-party policies that pissed off third-parties and made them develop for other consoles after the SNES era.
Personally I think Nintendo will do just fine in terms of output no matter who's at the top though.
ShockingAlberto
Member
What I think would have been a good choice, and definitely a bold and experimental one, would have been Takahashi as President with Kimishima as CEO serving as an advisory role to Takahashi. Takeda would do the same.
But I imagine it's really difficult to sell that idea to people worried about their jobs or their dividends. It's too much short-term chaos, but I think long-term it would have been a good idea. I suspect they'll put some form of that in place, anyway.
But I imagine it's really difficult to sell that idea to people worried about their jobs or their dividends. It's too much short-term chaos, but I think long-term it would have been a good idea. I suspect they'll put some form of that in place, anyway.
He's probably going to be much more in the background than Iwata was, he's been a major Nintendo guy for years and people don't seem to talk about him that much. I'm guessing he's been selected to carry out plans that Iwata and Nintendo already made for the future and to make sure things run smoothly.
I want this to happen.
I don't know, looks like he (laughs) sometimes to me.
Kimishima laughs confirmed.
PdotMichael
Banned
That you only became system lead architect with a lot experience is quite natural but he was never that Playstation face. And he did a fantastic job.
The point is that Nintendo should rather put people who are directly involved in front of the presentation.
Kimishima drinks confirmed.
Yep. And prior to that he was with The Pokemon Company and Pokemon USA Inc. and helped to expand Pokemon further in the west. Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal reached more homes because of him.
I absolutely believe that Iwata was very involved in both game and hardware development. He has been widely credited for the original DS and Wii control/system layouts. More recently he went hands on in Q&A with Nintendoland and adjusted the physics for the balloon game to be more similar to the classic one.
He was a very hands-on president.
Kissenkopf
Banned
Interesting choice. I wish him luck.
ST2K
Member
Iwata undoubtedly had a firm vision as CEO that was directly felt in a variety of ways, including the systems Nintendo produced.
In fact, I think it'd be absurd to hold that Nintendo's output wasn't largely shaped by Iwata during his era or Yamauchi during his.
Those were my exact worries, I hadn´t thought about the pre-Iwata era. Thanks for the reassuring info
I wish him the best of lucks
To add, Yoot Saito's one off comment like how to ask a girl you don't know out when he was on a leisurely boat ride with Iwata a long time ago inspired Iwata to make that an important feature in the 3DS. Iwata was always searching for unique ideas and unique games from developers and thought about them heavily on ways to make them work.
It can be both though.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
You're not at all wrong. It was a different time.
Just saying... Nintendo isn't Nintendo just because they had a whimsical developer President.
Iwata's rise to power was a surprising (and welcome) development, but it wasn't core to the DNA of how Nintendo became this charming and quirky hit machine.
Nintendo would be Nintendo even with more traditional executive leadership, because it was born and took over the world with traditional executive leadership.
I'd be curious to see how a traditional executive would mobilize Nintendo in the 2015+ market. Sure, you can imagine worst case scenario moves like cutting and running to mobile, outsourced garbage products, whoring out the brands in a bad way, etc... but maybe the result might actually be a Nintendo that is more self-sufficient and competitive than ever?
Will be interesting to watch...
That would be a good way to add his own twist to future asks. Every time the interviewee says something great Kimi-kun takes another swig and slowly gets more and more drunk throughout the interview.
Gurgelhals
Member
Looks like a medium-term solution to me considering that Shinya Takahashi has also been promoted and is now responsible for both internal development divisions.
Takahashi is probably going to become CEO in a few years, but the board probably thought that it is still too early for that for whatever reason. So they went for the safe route for now by appointing a more experienced person, even though he doesn't have a background in game development. Actually, it's a bit similar to when Iwata took over. He was made President immediately, but he had a Chairman watching over his shoulders during his first years.
Takahashi is probably going to become CEO in a few years, but the board probably thought that it is still too early for that for whatever reason. So they went for the safe route for now by appointing a more experienced person, even though he doesn't have a background in game development. Actually, it's a bit similar to when Iwata took over. He was made President immediately, but he had a Chairman watching over his shoulders during his first years.
I'd love that, lol.
It's good to remember though that a good developer doesn't always make a good president. We have no idea for example if Koizumi would be able to handle the financial side of things, host shareholder meetings, make business deals with global partners, etc.I was hoping that Yoshiaki Koizumi would be groomed to supersede Miyamoto and Iwata in the future.
I really like the guy and I thought that his mentorship and his youth would be something good for Nintendo.
Though he may not particularly want to head that role if asked.
PdotMichael
Banned
We are talking about micromanagement that a president takes the responsibility of the general strategy and output is like its job.
Anything else is quite naive.
I think Konno is more focused on their mpbile stuff nowadays. I think Eguchi is a more likely candidate to be taking center stage.
It's less that he is a developer and more that he plays a strong mentorship role amongst his colleagues in newer titles and projects.
He certainly has that charisma and the other skills can be taught and learned. Charisma is something that is hard to attain and is something necessary when working with or against a board or shareholders. Being a developer gives him some insight, but it's largely the leadership experience and ability to compromise and work with other people that I was open to suggesting and wanting him as a successor.
He is also 47 and is open as a long term project. With his position and role in the company, it's not a stretch to believe that he has the backing of others within Nintendo, especially amongst the younger employees. It's also not as if Iwata was alone in the decision making.
My only worry is that he, like other younger workers, may be the type of person to reject the role if asked.
It wasn't looks with Iwata. He changed Nintendo's face. Nintendo needed him.
Simply Sami
Member
What did people expect?
The death of Iwata was a surprise and they hardly going to get a young guy. It's a sensible replacement.
The death of Iwata was a surprise and they hardly going to get a young guy. It's a sensible replacement.