Yesterday, February 1, I received a very shocking and saddening text message from one of my friends back in high school: Reggie Fils-Aime – the President of Nintendo of America – as announced his retirement from the company, starting on April 15. Reggie has been the President of Nintendo of America for the past 15 years. For gamers, these 15 years have been years to remember; In those 15 years, Reggie has become a Nintendo legend (of Zelda).
I low key almost cried watching this video. What Reggie so special to the gaming community that all Nintendo fans will remember his personality. Reggie was charismatic and energetic to the point it was contagious. Reggie was dedicated to innovating the gaming world; he was completely against the idea of gamers getting used to same patterns over and over again after every release of a new game. Of course when you are dedicated to innovating the gaming world, there are going to be a few hiccups. Somethings fans will love to forget soon that Nintendo created during the Reggie era are the awkward handling motion controls in Star Fox Games Games – looking at you Star Fox Zero – and the completely premature release of the Wii U -, but Reggie has also given us timeless games and consoles that have completely change the gaming world. Super Mario Galaxy – a game released for the Nintendo Wii on 2007 – is one of my favorite games of all time. Super Mario Galaxy still had the same boring plot of Bowser kidnapping Peach and Mario having to go save her, but the gameplay was nothing like a traditional Mario game. Super Mario Galaxy tested your platforming skills to their limits in a 3-d plane as Mario hops from galaxy to galaxy. Not only that, Super Mario Galaxy was the first ever Mario game to have a fully symphony orchestrated soundtrack and had cinematic like sequences never before seen in a Mario game; it was truly a work of art. One of Nintendo’s more recent accomplishments in the Reggie Era is the release of the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo decided to go bold with the creation of the Nintendo Switch; they decided they would create the first ever gaming console that you can plug into your TV and take it on the go with you as a portable device and so far sales have been great.
What makes Reggie a living legend amongst Nintendo fans though is his interactions with the gaming community itself. To Nintendo fans, Reggie was more than just a businessman pitching his company’s latest product; he was an active member of the gaming community. One of my personal favorite moments of Reggie’s career was when he gained the persona of the “The Regginator”. Before Reggie was hired to the President of Nintendo of America, Nintendo was in an era where they preferred a more conservative image, and Nintendo fans were getting bored of that image. Then Reggie came along and Nintendo went from having a conservative image to one that embraced energy and theatrics. Fans started calling Reggie “the Regginator”. Reggie, being the interactive community man he is, embraced this new persona. Nintendo released the following video to advertise the E3 announcements in 2014:
Reggie’s first words to the world as the President of Nintendo of America was at the 2004 E3 event where he said, “My name is Reggie. I’m about kicking ass, I’m about taking names, and we’re about making games.” Reggie sure did Kick ass. The gaming world garnished a lot of attention and love because of all the hard work Reggie has put into his work. Reggie, in my opinion, represents exactly represents what the ideal businessman should be like. Profits are important of for businessman – after all, it is their living – but to Reggie, the most important aspect of being a businessman is having passion towards the products you produce and most importantly, restoring faith and excitement to the consumers of your product. As someone who has been greatly impacted and influenced by the actions of Reggie, it is unbelievably sad watching him step away from the company. I grew up playing all the games that he has tirelessly worked on producing and pitching. Despite how sad it is to hear this news, I know Reggie’s legacy will continue to live on. He has meant so much to gamers all across the world that i know for sure that his charisma and energy will continue to shape the gaming world long after his retirement. If you end up reading this at all Reggie, I think i speak for gamers everywhere when I say thank you for the past 15 years and we wish you the best moving forward.
The Academic Journey 