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Nintendo's Newest President has been decided!


Dublinthefox

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After long wait on who would become the successor to former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, it was decided that Tatsumi Kimishima is the choice of becoming the next president of the company. Kimishima used to be the president of America from 2002 to 2006 before Reggie and was also the cheif financial officer to the Pokemon company.

 

Kimishima was begin his new role on September 16th.

 

http://kotaku.com/nintendos-new-president-has-been-named-1730475135

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 Kimishima used to be the president of America from 2002 to 2006 before Reggie and was also the cheif financial officer to the Pokemon company.

 

Now, I don't know all the presidents of the USA, but this strikes me as unusual, though not poor choices.

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If I was a betting man, I would have bet on Takeda. Thankfully, I am not a betting man.

Kimishima is a conservative choice. He definitely won't be the face of the company like Iwata was. He's not known for smiling in public photos and definitely looks like he takes everything seriously. Reggie is a great face for NOA, but I imagine someone else will become the face of NCL, Miyamoto being the obvious choice for now, but his new job title of "Creative Fellow" seems to indicate that his career is in it's final chapter and I wouldn't be surprised to see him bow-out in the next couple of years.

Some people are concerned because "he's a business man not a developer," but honestly I don't see that as a fault. Managing and developing are two different things. Iwata was exceptional in that not only was he a damn-good developer (seriously, the guy was a coding god) he was also a pretty damn-good manager, too. That rare as all hell. There is nothing inherently wrong with hiring someone with a management career for a management job. What is important is that the person chosen knows the company and the industry. Yes, Kimishima started his career at a bank, but he only got as high as a branch GM before he jumped to The Pokemon Company in 2000. He's been with NCL and related companies for 15 years. 15 years. He's not some random bank executive that Nintendo picked off the list of Japanese business executives looking for a new job. He knows Nintendo. He may be a manager, but he's a manager that knows the company he's working for. At the end of the day that is what is important.

Now, he has said that he will follow Iwata's "basic strategy" for now. I take that as Nintendo will continue to be Nintendo, but there will be some changes. I expect Nintendo to be a little more risk-averse.

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I'm alright with this choice, to be honest. He's not the next Iwata, sadly, but a guy like Iwata only comes once or twice in your lifetime (HE WAS TAKEN TOO SOOOON). He was one of the producers of handful of Mario sports games AND Metroid Prime, so like DZ said, he's been with the company a while and knows the properties. His experience as a banker will probably help Nintendo manage its assets a bit more and the fact he has experience in NOA makes me hopeful that American issues won't be ignored so much (coughamiiboshortagescough).

 

Guy does look dour as hell though.

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The business man in me says this is the guy. This guy will take a good financial hold and manage the company to a new efficient and working lengths. It also looks like in the statements by him that he is going to take a new lead into expanding the company with new minds to add new ideas into Nintendo Franchises.

But I'll also voice my slight concern in the fact that he's a banker. I doubt it would happen, but I feel Nintendo might be more financial driven than what it was but ... we'll see.

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People talk up has banking experience like he had a banking career. If you look at the "resume" Nintendo posted for him, it is clear that he has a management career. He hasn't done banking since the 1990s.

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Well...

He was a corporate planner for a bank for 27 years and the financial advisor when in Pokemon.

That's a lot of years in financial related jobs.

Not saying his past jobs invalidate his managing experience however. He seems like a wise and professional choice.

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Having a head with good background in financing certainly isn't a bad thing, but you can't help but wonder If he'll be willing allow developers to take the same amount of risks that Iwata allowed. He had an eye for talent and potential, and sometimes those ideas don't always go through due to a risk value. This guy has alot to prove.

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