>“While Mr. Iwata had been the company’s global president for well more than ten years at this point, he had not moved into the formal, large president’s office used by his three predecessors,” Reggie writes. “Instead, he had preferred a simpler office, with his desk at the head of a rectangular-conference room setup that could hold up to twelve additional people.” Besides two large TV screens, Iwata had cabinets full of books, video games, game accessories and controllers. Reggie had always thought that the office looked like it belonged to a game dev instead of the top exec at a global corporation.
>The two greeted each other. Only days earlier, Nintendo had announced it was entering the mobile market. But first, Iwata had something more important to talk about. “Reggie,” he said, “my cancer is back.”
>“To see his concern, and for him to bring me back to Kyoto specifically to tell me in person, heightened my anxiety, and I focused on every detail he shared,” Fils-Aimé writes. Iwata switched gears, and after he mentioned his personal news, he focused on the company’s new console, which he said was “critical” to Nintendo’s future. That console was the Nintendo Switch.
>gets fired >tries literally everything to stay relevant including turning the gamestock stock into a meme and writing books like a late night show host >still only Yea Forums underages give a shit Name a bigger downfall.
Samuel Butler
On Reggie's E3 2004 "My name is Reggie..." opening line
>When Mr. Iwata and Mr. Minagawa arrived in town from Kyoto, we sat down in a NOA conference room to discuss the upcoming E3. I set up the conversation by reemphasizing the objective to engage with our existing Nintendo audience as well as broadening our message to other gamers. I also emphasized that our in-person audience would be gaming media who were already biased against Nintendo. We needed to change the conversation by being bold.
>I had Don read my opening lines aloud to the group so that I would be free to study Mr. Iwata’s reaction. His face was blank, but his stillness, the slight squinting of his eyes, and the furrowing of his forehead told me that he was attempting to absorb the meaning and implication of the words.
>The room remained silent. Mr. Minagawa said something to Mr. Iwata in Japanese; I leaned over to Mike Fukuda to get a translation.
>“They don’t understand it,” Mike whispered. So I jumped in at this point.
>“Mr. Iwata, from our very first conversation you were clear that Nintendo needed to change the conversation with our business partners and with our fans. We need to be clear that we are focused on driving the industry. We are going to be aggressive. We will drive innovation. We will look to be successful across the world, recognizing that 75 percent of all gaming revenue is done outside of Japan. This line is the opening phase of our new direction.”
Jacob Gonzalez
>Mr. Minagawa was translating all of this into Japanese for Mr. Iwata, even though we all knew Mr. Iwata understood English. He used this as a way to give himself added time to think and to understand nuances fully. Still, he remained silent after Mr. Minagawa was done.
>Finally, Mr. Minagawa broke the ice. “Reggie, I have a question. Why are you so angry?”
>Oh boy. I had a lot of explaining to do. “Mr. Minagawa, I am not saying this in anger. I am saying this with a conviction that Nintendo is on a new path. A different path than our competition. We need people to believe our path is correct.”
>“Reggie is right,” Mr. Iwata finally spoke. “We are embarking on a very different path than our competitors. We have made so many industry advances for which we have not fully received credit. We need to be more aggressive in our messaging. I support this opening line.”
