Nintendo appointed Tatsumi Kimishima as the new company president following the sudden death of former president Satoru Iwata in July of the current year.
Prior to his appointment, Kimishima became the chief financial officer of The Pokemon Company before he became the head of Nintendo of America from 2002 until 2006. He was later on succeeded by Reggie Fils-Aime.
Kimishima's appointment came as a result of a meeting held by the Board of Directors on Sept. 14 at the company's office in Japan. The move comes at a crucial time when the gaming industry, generally speaking, seemed to be in a tricky state.
The company's official statement also mentions Nintendo executive and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto as a "Creative Fellow" while Wii mastermind Genyo Takeda will carry the title of "Technology Fellow." They will reportedly continue their roles as the company's senior managing directors and representative directors.
"It's a collective approach to leadership, with Kimishima, Miyamoto and Takeda sharing the burden for managing Nintendo," said analyst Hideki Yasuda of Tokyo-based Ace Research Institute. "Kimishima's executive experience in the U.S. means he has an understanding of that very large market."
Nintendo announced that it has just entered in a partnership with The Pokemon Company International and Niantic Inc. in a bid to develop a mobile device version of Pokemon Go! Other future plans include the development of games for smartphone devices in April and the launch of Nintendo's next gen gaming hardware platform which will be codenamed as NX.
Iwata was, in a period of 13 years, the face of Nintendo and had become its front man in almost everything that includes product announcements and meetings with key analysts. He was the first president outside the Yamauchi family which started running the company in the late 19th century. Under his leadership, he was credited for tripling the company's total revenue.
"It's a very orthodox choice, which sends a message that the company is choosing to stay the course," said executive officer Mitsushige Akino at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co. "Investors expecting growth would have preferred to see some bigger changes. Someone with a direct experience in designing games would have been better."
Last Sept 10, the company announced that it is releasing a new Pokemon gaming title which will have Bluetooth capability built in.
Kimishima's new role as company president will begin to take effect on Sept.16.
