Nintendo Names New President

Nintendo was struck with tragedy earlier this year, and the company was joined by many in giving tearful goodbyes to its previous president, Satoru Iwata, after he lost a long battle with cancer. Now, Nintendo celebrates a new beginning by announcing the appointment of its new president, Tatsumi Kimishima.

Nintendo has a new president: http://t.co/lTKH0PYCqB pic.twitter.com/BkTMBivSMa

— Forbes Tech (@ForbesTech) September 14, 2015

Kimishima is unique amongst people to hold the position, as no one who has held the position of president at Nintendo has quite had the background in business that he has, Forbes reports. Previously, Kimishima was a banker before being a manager of the Pokémon Company, which he joined in the year 2000. The was also the CEO of Nintendo of America for seven years in 2002. After serving that position, he became Managing Director of Nintendo.

According to Fortune, it was speculated that a more public face of Nintendo would become the president of Nintendo. Many expected the possibility that Shigeru Miyamoto or Genyo Takeda would take over the position, as they had been steering the company in the absence of Iwata.

Iwata leaves behind a great legacy, his biggest accomplishment likely being the Nintendo Wii selling 100 million units while he was the president. Iwata was also beloved as the President of Nintendo because of his passion for the medium of video games and his willingness to place himself in comedic situations in order to speak to his audience. He was even willing to apologize to consumers when he felt like Nintendo did not live up to reasonable expectations as a company.

Kimishima might just be what Nintendo needs right now. The industry of video games is ever evolving and is in a period that could prove treacherous to even the most established of companies. While creativity is paramount in an art form such as video games, the disappointing sales of the Wii U compared to the Wii and the partnerships that Nintendo has entered will require someone who has a sharper sense when it comes to business. Having Miyamoto focus on the creativity of Nintendo while Kimishima steers that with better business decisions might just right the ship Nintendo is sailing upon.

Pokemon Go might actually make Max and Brian go outside http://t.co/BWYw3wxSLy #UpatNoon pic.twitter.com/2DhYcZ3Pay

— IGN (@IGN) September 14, 2015

Nintendo has launched Pokémon Shuffle, a 3DS game that has been ported to mobile and also Pokémon Go, which is an augmented reality game available on mobile devices. The titles that Nintendo offers on mobile are expected to grow over the next two years.

Previously, Nintendo shied away from mobile platforms, but seems to be in good hands with Kimishima leading the company in this transition period.

[Image Courtesy of Nintendo]