Nintendo has chosen a new president following the death of Satoru Iwata in July. Former Pokémon executive Tatsumi Kimishima will now lead the gaming giant.
Kimishima has worked at Nintendo since 2000, when he was the chief financial officer of the Pokémon Company, the firm in charge of marketing and licensing the extremely popular Pokémon franchise. Since then, he has fulfilled various roles at Nintendo of America including director and chairman, managing director and head of human resources.
Kimishima was born in 1950, and started his career at the Sanwa Bank, Ltd (currently The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.).
His appointment is part of a reshuffle of the company’s top brass. In a notice, Nintendo said: “We aim to strengthen and enhance the management structure of the Company following President (Representative Director) Satoru Iwata’s passing on July 11, 2015 and a large-scale revision of the organisational structure of the company on September 16, 2015.”
As part of the reshuffle, Genyo Takeda – who was instrumental in development of the original Wii console – will take the role of Technology Fellow. Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto will be Creative Fellow.
Read more: Nintendo NX: What we’d like to see
Nintendo is at a crucial stage in its history. Its current console, the Wii U, has suffered from poor sales and mixed reviews, especially against the might of the Xbox One and PS4. The firm is currently working on a new console codenamed NX, about which little is known.
Former president Satoru Iwata died in July, aged 55. The cause of death was a bile duct growth.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.