Nintendo Inaugurates New President

Tatsumi Kimishima emerged as president of Nintendo, following a meeting of the board on Monday.

Kimishima, 65, has taken up the positions of representative director and president, and he has shed the roles of managing director, general manager of corporate analysis and administration, division and general manager of general affairs, and head of human resources.

Nintendo also announced the transition of Shigeru Miyamoto, lauded Mario and Zelda creator, to the position of technology fellow.

Genyo Takeda, famed Punch-Out!! director, also has been named a technology fellow.

Taking the seat of beloved Satoru Iwata, who earlier this year died from cancer, Kimishima now holds the reins of a company that has been preparing to push several bold new initiatives.

Nintendo’s new NX console is slated for arrival next year, along with a brand new platform to build an ecosystem of games, consoles, PCs and mobile devices from tohe ground up. The company will release its first mobile game several months from now.

The Show Must Go On

It’s good news that Nintendo was able to announce a successor in such short time, noted George T. Chronis director of qualitative analysis at DFC Intelligence.

“As Kimishima has been with the company for 15 years, it is obvious that the desire was for a known quantity and steady hand to continue initiatives already in place,” he told TechNewsWorld.

Kimishima previously served as CEO of Nintendo of America, before Iwata claimed the position. During his time as CEO of the division, he ceded the spotlight to Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime.

Though Kishimima is relatively unknown to the public, Nintendo watchers included, his work speaks for itself, said Sartori Bernbeck, manager of insights and analytics at EEDAR.

“As new product launches emerge, Kimishima will likely become more consumer facing and gain further merit amongst shareholders and fans alike, but it is likely not his prioritization to become the new face of Nintendo,” Bernbeck told TechNewsWorld. “This is fine, as there are already others who fit that role very well.”

Kimishima’s Challenge

The attention now turns from Kimishima’s resume to results — the ones he’ll have to produce from a strategy he has adopted, noted Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

“This is one of the worst problems for a new CEO, as they are basically on rails with regard to their near-term moves, and they’ll likely be compared unfavorably to the unrealistic perceptions surrounding the person they are replacing,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Add to this the fact that the firm actually does need to change desperately, and this becomes a job that is almost impossible to do.”

It may be a near-impossible task, but making big changes is something Kamishima eventually will have to do. Specifically, he’ll have to restructure a company that’s preparing a new console and a move to mobile.

“Kimishima has already mentioned that he will be focusing strongly on redeveloping the leadership structure at Nintendo, and hopefully this results in more effort in growing the younger talent pool at the company,” remarked Bernbeck.

“As Kimishima, Miyamoto and Takeda grow older,” he said, “Nintendo is in need of younger rock star management members to continue driving the company’s vision.”