Tatsumi Kimishima Replaces Satoru Iwata As Nintendo President

In July, Satoru Iwata, the former President of Nintendo, passed away at the age of 55 and was only recently replaced by Tatsumi Kimishima, aged 65. For many people, this was a confusing move on behalf of the board at Nintendo, considering Tatsumi’s age. According to the Winnipeg Free Press, Tatsumi Kimishima was appointed in order to strengthen management at the company.

Iwata, while president, had lead the Nintendo company to huge success and actually tripled revenue through his implementation of new and innovative devices and animations. The Verge explains Iwata’s contributions.

“…was a very well-known figure to Nintendo followers from his appearances in the company’s Nintendo Direct broadcasts and his ‘Iwata Asks‘ series of interviews with developers.”

Prior to his recent position as President for Nintendo, Tatsumi Kimishima was the President for Nintendo of America between 2002 and 2006. After that, Tatsumi Kimishima was promoted to managing director of Nintendo in 2013. He is a long-time executive of the company, and there is no doubt that he has plenty of experience for the position. In addition, Tatsumi has a particularly strong understanding of the U.S. market, which is one of the largest markets for the Nintendo corporation.

According to Bloomberg, Tatsumi Kimishima will be primarily controlling administrative measures for Nintendo, while Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda keep hold over software and hardware systems. They have been attributed with new titles, respectively named the “Creative Fellow” and “Technology Fellow.” This new collaborative approach is meant to follow the plans that Iwata strived for. As stated in the Wall Street Journal, Osamu Kamada, an analyst for Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. talked about Tatsumi Kimishima.

“He’s been watching Mr. Iwata closely for a long time, so Mr. Kimishima is a safe choice to implement steps laid out by Mr. Iwata.”

There is no doubt that Nintendo is certainly taking some excellent leaps as of recent. Just last week, they announced the upcoming release of Pokemon Go, a mobile augmented reality game available for iOS and Android mobile devices. The new game will allow players to search and capture Pokemon in the real world and is scheduled for release in 2016, indicated the Venture Capitalist Post.

Tatsumi Kimishima, although a very quiet executive presence in comparison to the previous face of Nintendo, is said to be planning some exciting projects for the future of the company. Gamers are encouraged to stay tuned for more innovative and creative explorations in the gaming world.

[Image by Wikipedia]