Nintendo Of America Announces Executive Promotions
Kimishima Promoted to Chairman and CEO; Fils-Aime Promoted to President and COO
REDMOND, Wash., May 25, 2006 - On the heels
of the successful unveiling of the new Wii console,
Nintendo of America Inc. today announced three key promotions
at the executive level. Current President Tatsumi Kimishima
is taking on the new role of chairman of the board and chief
executive officer, while Reggie Fils-Aime is being promoted
to president and chief operating officer from his current
role as executive vice president of Sales & Marketing.
Additionally, Mike Fukuda is being promoted from senior vice
president of Business Development to executive vice president
of Business Development. All promotions are effective
immediately.
"Around the world, Nintendo DS has been steadily drawing more
people into the video game category," said Satoru Iwata,
president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. "With the upcoming
introduction of Wii, along with the strength of this new
leadership team and strong executives already in place,
Nintendo will continue to dramatically change the way
consumers of all ages interact with their video game console
on a daily basis."
Kimishima was appointed president of Nintendo of America in
January 2002. He joined Nintendo at the company's
headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, in 2000. He served as chief
financial officer of The Pokémon Company in 2000 and
president of Pokémon USA Inc. in 2001. Prior to joining
Nintendo, he spent 27 years with Sanwa Bank of Japan, serving
in various management positions. As chairman of the board and
CEO of Nintendo of America, he will oversee the overall
management of Nintendo of America and continue to serve on
the boards of Nintendo of America and Nintendo Co.,
Ltd.
In his new role as president and chief operating officer,
Fils-Aime will lead the day-to-day operations of Nintendo of
America while continuing to oversee the Sales & Marketing
Division as the company prepares for the launch of Wii. He
joined Nintendo of America in December 2003 to lead all Sales
& Marketing efforts in the United States, Latin America
and Canada. Prior to joining Nintendo, he served as senior
vice president of marketing at VH1. He also has held key
marketing positions with Guinness Import Co., Derby Cycle
Corp., Pizza Hut, Panda Management Co. and Procter &
Gamble.
In his new position as executive vice president of Business
Development, Fukuda will oversee corporate strategic planning
and third-party publisher and licensing programs. He also
will continue to oversee product development more dedicated
to the North American market. He has been with the company
for 12 years, joining in 1994 as director of planning. Prior
to Nintendo, he worked for an international trading company
and learned the video game business in the United States,
working with third-party publishers during the early days of
the Nintendo Entertainment System® (NES).
The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive
entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan,
manufactures and markets hardware and software for its
Nintendo DS, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo
GameCube systems, and upcoming Wii console.
Since 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 2 billion video games
and more than 360 million hardware units globally, and has
created industry icons like Mario, Donkey Kong®,
Metroid®, Zelda and Pokémon®. A wholly owned
subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond,
Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in
the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo,
visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.