Nintendo appoints new president and restructures company

Just two months after the passing of Satoru Iwata, Nintendo has appointed a new president to lead the company. Despite earlier reports that game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and console developer Genyo Takeda are the possible successors, Nintendo took a different path by appointing someone who is more business-oriented.

Along with a corporate reorganisation, Nintendo has announced through its website that its new president will be Tatsumi Kimishima. The 65-year-old Kimishima will be the fifth president of Nintendo.

Kimishima started working in 1973 in the Japanese banking industry, and his ventures into the video game business began in December 2000. His first steps into the world of video games began when he joined The Pokémon Company as its chief financial officer, according to Bloomberg profile details. Two years later, he was appointed as the president of Nintendo America in January 2002. A couple of years later, Reggie Fils-Amie took over as the president of the company and Kimishima became the CEO and chairman of the company in May 2006.

Since June 2013 Kimishima has played a big part in Nintendo by securing several positions including managing director and general manager of the company’s General Affairs Division. He also became its Corporate Analysis & Administration Division general manager and managing director of Nintendo's human resources branch.

Although Kimishima has been a part of Nintendo and the video game industry, it is worth noting that he has not been fully involved in developing a game or a console, unlike previous president Iwata and previously rumoured successors, Takeda and Miyamoto. What Kimishima lacks in video game development, however, he makes up for in business knowledge. His expertise could prove to be helpful for Nintendo, especially with the company currently facing poor sales of the Wii U.

Aside from appointing a new president, Nintendo’s board of directors also decided to restructure the company. The board revised the roles of many Nintendo executives in what is described as a massive revision of the organisational structure of the company.

Some of the changes in the structures include Takeda’s shift from General Manager, Integrated Research & Development Division to Technology Fellow and Miyamoto from General Manager, Entertainment Analysis & Development Division to Creative Fellow. Nintendo’s statement defines the term “fellow” as an experienced individual in a specific field.

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