Nintendo Of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé Announces Retirement: Here’s How The Video Game Community Reacted

Reggie Fils-Aimé will be turning over his duties as president of Nintendo of America to Doug Bowser in April. Fils-Aimé, who, for years, has been the warm, friendly face of Nintendo stateside, is retiring.

Bowser, currently the head of sales and marketing, is replacing him. In a statement, Fils-Aimé thanked Nintendo and the gaming community for their support.

Reggie Films-Aimé Makes Retirement Official

"Nintendo owns a part of my heart forever," he said. "It's a part that is filled with gratitude — for the incredibly talented people I've worked with, for the opportunity to represent such a wonderful brand, and most of all, to feel like a member of the world's most positive and enduring gamer community."

Fils-Aimé took to Twitter to thank the Nintendo community. In a video message, he thanked fans for their unending love and passion for the company. That video includes a highlight reel recounting some of Fils-Aimé's most memorable moments at the company, plus various memes fans have created around the executive's famously wacky personality.

Fils-Aimé Background

Fils-Aimé joined Nintendo in 2003 as the executive VP of sales and marketing. Three years later, Nintendo promoted him to the chief operating officer position. His popularity among the gaming crowd began in 2004, when he appeared onstage at Nintendo's E3 press conference and said something that would later become one of the most iconic statements in the history of the gaming world.

"My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass. I'm about takin' names. And we're about making games."

As the president of Nintendo of America, he oversaw the launch of the Wii and 3DS, two of Nintendo's most popular platforms of all time. Not to mention the Nintendo Switch, which is still selling like hotcakes.

An applied economics graduate at Cornell University, it's no wonder why Nintendo let Fils-Aimé handle the company's sales and marketing department initially. But beyond his expertise in business, Fils-Aimé is also a true gamer, and numerous antics throughout his career catapulted him to celebrity status in video game circles.

No surprise, then, that the video gaming community is a bit saddened by his departure. Below are some of the reactions from the gaming community on Twitter:

ⓒ 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Join the Discussion
Real Time Analytics