Following the announcement of Nintendo’s new president, Tatsumi Kimishima, we’ve gotten the first details of his new role at the Kyoto-based company.
In a few new reports and an interview from Nikkei (translated and summarized via Serkan Toto), we’ve learned some very interesting tidbits for the former banker-turned-Nintendo president. First, Nikkei reports that Kimishima’s personality is described as “soft” and “friendly.”
Kimishima reveals that Iwata didn’t give him instructions to run the company, while the Nikkei report says that Kimishima wasn’t Iwata’s favorite choice. Nintendo was reportedly looking for someone younger first and foremost, but they didn’t have a favorable candidate.
The new president reiterated Nintendo’s smartphone and IP-development plans, saying they won’t change. He said the company’s goal is to develop new businesses. Despite being named the new president and representative director, Kimishima revealed that he is only elected for one year.
Coming from this, Kimishima said that he doesn’t know what is coming next. He went on the record to say he is not against company outsiders leading Nintendo one day. It’s unclear if this means simply those not currently employed at Nintendo, foreigners, or both.
According to Nikkei, Kimishima predicted the failure of the Wii U as it was introduced, while he said it was too similar to the original Wii. Despite his business and banking history, he is quoted as saying that it’s wrong to lead a gaming company on numbers alone.
The new trio of administration involving Shigeru Miyamoto (Creative Fellow), Genyo Takeda (Technology Fellow), and Shinya Takahashi (General Manager, Entertainment Planning & Development Division) was reportedly a rushed decision because of the oncoming holiday season.
Kimishima was quoted as saying one task for him is to develop the next group leadership structure for Nintendo, with a future-proof leadership system inside the company. Kimishima claims the challenge is to identify new projects and establish the right human resources to reach “Nintendo-like” profits again.
Finally, Nikkei quoted Kimishima in saying there won’t be changes to the basic strategy implemented by former president Satoru Iwata.
