Reggie is retiring, to be replaced by Doug Bowser

https://kotaku.com/nintendo-president-reggie-fils-aime-is-retiring-1832793123

Doug Bowser?

Bowser finally won. j/k   In all seriousness though, I will miss Reggie's quirky appearances in Directs and the like.

Also:

Edit: The Bowser memes have begun. Nibel on Twitter

 

 

Good luck Reggie! Thanks for being a joyful face for Nintendo!

I'll remember him for saying this back in 2004:

"My name is Reggie. I’m about kickin’ ass, I’m about takin’ names, and we’re about makin’ games."

 

Well deserved retirement for Reggie, he was always entertaining and I imagine that it hasn't always been easy being the dude that had to sell Nintendo Japan's decisions to the western market.

I do think they have missed an opportunity by replacing him with Bowser instead of Bowsette though.

 

Switch beats xbox and ps4 in jan in America.

 

Jeff Gerstmann on Twitter

LMAO   I hope this continues.

I really will miss seeing Reggie, though. He was one constant amid all Nintendo's changes, even after Iwata's passing. From the Gamecube era on, we could always expect him to pop up. I think my favorite memory will always be the Direct where he and they were all in puppet form, and the one where a robot Reggie replaced him.  

It's weird because he really did almost become Nintendo's western mascot, more than just a company president. So it's fitting that the company mascot of Nintendo is being defeated by Bowser.   (Seriously though, they have to acknowledge Bowser somehow. Make him a funny character in Directs or something, vaguely hinting at his being evil somehow now and then. Rooting for Bowser when games are announced, etc. lol. Oh the possibilities for humor...)

P.S. People are already calling him "President Bowser."  

P.P.S.

Reggie's official message to fans: Nintendo of America on Twitter

Okay now I'm just plain moved...

 

Man, that'll take some getting used to. Hope he’ll have a happy retirement but man, he was the face of Nintendo of America.

His successor being named Bowser is pretty epic, tho.

 

Heard about this on NL. Best of luck in retirement Reggie. E3s won't be as fun without him.


Hee hee Bowser.

 

Dammit Nintendo, you've made Arlo cry... (not really, but still.)

 

I'm sort of surprised by Reggie's retirement, but at the same time, I'm not. The few times I've interacted with Reggie, he was a really nice guy, but if I'm honest, I don't think he ever really got "into" being a visible figure of Nintendo. He tried really, really hard and he did a great job, but like a lot of the top brass at Nintendo, I think it conflicted with him being a very personal person.

I remember being at E3 and there was just one fan, a very sweaty corpulent guy in his 20s who kept on begging Reggie for a business card when ever he saw him going through the downstairs of the corporate booth. This guy just wouldn't leave Reggie alone, and he tried his best to be polite with the fan while keeping his distance.

On the last day, the guy managed to corner Reggie at one of the entrances of the corporate booth (which was just across from where the queues were for people to line up and play the games) towards the end of the day when security had disappeared - and Reggie is just looking at me (because I' was the nearest employee in the corporate booth) with his eyes wide open in sheer terror, almost pleading to get him out of the situation.

This was also the E3 where;

1) Iwata-san hit me with a door and became really embarrassed later when he realised he'd hit an employee and also given be bit of a black eye which I had to somehow explain away in meetings
2) I didn't realise I was in the elevator at the hotel with Miyamoto-san because I was so beat from meetings and running around between them until he told me to "slow down and enjoy the show a little more"
3) I missed my flight home and spent 2-days in an awful motel in Englewood.

But what Reggie and the team that he built at Nintendo were all really great at, was strategy. During Switch launch prep, he defied the "correct" thinking about which publishers to attract to Switch and the sorts of titles to bring. We all thought he was crazy, because it seemed to us that he was completely out of touch with what Nintendo was doing and being "too American". But you know what? It paid off. Reggie backed up people like Steve Singer and others and said to NCL "My guys know what they're doing. Leave 'em alone." - which is why I still need a Switch dev-kit at my desk despite no longer working at Nintendo  

With Mr Iwata gone, Mr Shibata back in Japan and now Reggie retiring along with a lot of senior-middle people that worked with having moved on, it really feels like the end of an era at Nintendo. I hope Reggie enjoys his retirement. He certainly earned it.

 

I'm not entirely sure how I'd feel seeing a giant head floating about in the sky. Is that a form of Nintendoic astral projection?.

 

This is a great story. I also love that he didn't leave during the Wii U struggle, and stuck around until he could leave the company in a much better position. Yeah, he always did seem a little awkward being basically Nintendo's North American mascot.

It's amazing he actually managed to become such a fan-favorite and meme-source when you consider how fish out of water he probably felt with that side of it all.   He did really well with it, honestly!

And if he's responsible in any part for how Switch was marketed and the strategy they went with for its launch despite my and others' initial fears... he nailed it, frankly. I hope his successor doesn't live up to the name Bowser and destroy the mushroom kingdom.   But from what I hear, he knows what he's doing too. I hope.  

Edit:

 

Those are some interesting personal stories. I woulda said they were cool, but, yanno, you ended up with a black eye by accident. Whoops! At that guy harassing him, geeze, learn to take a hint. Thanks for sharing those.

 

Now, if this is true, this would be amazing!

 

Well... here it comes, if true. No longer will the choice be between physical media and digital. But between downloaded or streamed. Physical will continue to be an option for years to come but, it's inevitable in the long term. I've given up resisting it. And MS getting a headstart on it is probably smart for them. It means they can have a presence and mindshare across multiple platforms. And it's not hurting Nintendo, so... win-win.

 

So Switch got hit with a sandstorm which cause some items to be blown away. Lol.

 

I didn't even know Reggie was old enough to retire.

 

Let's give it up for his performances over the years. Especially given his apparent discomfort with having such a public role lol.

Some hilarious memories in that compilation.

(I also always lmao @ Audrey's "I heard nothing!"  )

 

Im happy i got to see Reggie give presentations in person at two of the game awards of the past few years. He was a joy to see in person and always had such a kind energy, especially before the Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey segments if i remember right. At the last one i attended i ended up running into him and getting a selfie with Iwata and they were both wonderful folks with such kindness and positivity radiating off of each of them. I wish Reggie well in his retirement. He deserves it. And who knows theyll prolly get him to come back for cameos in directs. Imagine him becoming nintendos Stan Lee in terms of appearances?

 

Guys...


guys...


Epiphany: Not only is it hilarious that the new President's name it literally Bowser. But this means Nintendo's boss is now Bowser. Boss? Bowser?  








I'm sorry. I'll stop now. It's just too perfect. I swear sometimes Nintendo just has kismet or something on their side the way things work out.

 

man, i can't believe they chose doug bowser. really thought jennifer ridley, tom ganondorf the third or johnny "the penguin" dedede would get the position.