Reggie Fils-Aime

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Reginald Fils-Aime
Reginald Fils-Aime
Born March 1961
Occupation President of Nintendo of America

Reginald "Reggie" Fils-Aime (pronounced 'fiː.zəˌmeɪ) (born March 1961) has been the President and Chief Operating Officer for the Nintendo of America, the North American division of Japan-based video game company Nintendo [1] since May 25, 2006.

Previously, he was Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Nintendo of America.

Fils-Aime came into prominence in May 2004 when he was selected to play host to Nintendo's press conference at E³. His opening words heralded a new era for Nintendo and the rest of the video game industry, playfully dubbed the "Reggielution" and calling him the "Regginator."[2]

Contents

[edit] Background

He graduated from Cornell University in 1983, earning a Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics.

Soon after receiving his degree Fils-Aime took a position with Procter & Gamble. Following that, he took a position as Senior Director of National Marketing at Pizza Hut, where he launched the Bigfoot Pizza and The Big New Yorker.

He served as the Head of Marketing for Guinness in the United States and was responsible for all brands.

He served as Chief Marketing Officer at Derby Cycle Corporation, directing sales and marketing efforts for eight brands. He also served as Managing Director and oversaw Derby's British operations.

He then joined the world's Chinese food service leader, Panda Management Co., acting as Senior Vice President. Later, he came on board to VH1 as Senior Vice President. He was responsible for a 30% increase in ratings by refocusing the channel's content to appeal to younger viewers.

[edit] Nintendo

Fils-Aime joined Nintendo in December 2003 as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He was responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Nintendo in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.

On May 25, 2006 Fils-Aime became the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America after former president, Tatsumi Kimishima, was moved to his new role as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Fils-Aime is the first American to hold this position.

Reggielution artwork made by a fan. A play on Fitzpatrick's version of Korda's famous Guevara photograph.
Enlarge
Reggielution artwork made by a fan. A play on Fitzpatrick's version of Korda's famous Guevara photograph.

[edit] Reggielution

Fils-Aime shot to fame in May 2004 with the opening line of Nintendo's E³ press conference: "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games." His theatrical antics gained a cult following on the Web soon after, when following the conference, many images of him spread across the Web. Reggie is considered by some to be responsible for revamping Nintendo's public relations in North America, leading many fans and members of the press to dub his arrival the "Reggielution" (after the Nintendo Revolution, the code name for Wii).[3]

[edit] Personal life

Fils-Aime was previously married, and divorced. Fils-Aime is the father of three children, one currently in college at Duke University. The other two live in Florida. He has a long-term girlfriend, Stacey Sanner, whom he met at his previous career at VH1. They live in a condo on the Eastside of Seattle.[2]

[edit] Awards

  • Clio Award
  • AICP award for Advertising Excellence
  • Silver Edison from the American Marketing Institute
  • 2 Gold EFFIEs from the New York American Marketing Association
  • Named one of the "Marketing 100" by Advertising Age in 1998

[edit] Quotes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
  • "There's been nothing proven that violence in video games has an impact. As a parent though, and I'm a parent for a 20-year-old, for a 16-year-old and for a 10-year-old, and so, you know, I make choices everyday for my kids as to what games I think is appropriate for them to play. And, you know, in the end it's up to the parents, it's up to the gamers themselves working with their parents, if they're under 21, to make the smartest choice for the games they play."[4]
  • "The government is already involved from an entertainment standpoint. I mean, they regulate a large part of our entertainment. What we're trying to do as an industry is be proactive and drive it much more positively, much more effectively, than the government can, and that's what the ESA is all about[....] We think we're doing a pretty effective job, and certainly from an Nintendo perspective, we think the ESA is the way to go." [5]
  • "The fans are great, you know, I have to tell you a story. After E³, I immediately go into interviews and other meetings. I get a phone call from my son, who is now 16 years old, telling me, "Dad, you're famous. You got all these things on the web!" And I'm, like, "You're kidding me!" I didn't know what was going on. And we had all these fansites and all this information floating around. They called it the Reggielution and they called me the Reggienator. It was pretty fun." [6]
  • ""Hello, my name is Reggie...and I'm addicted to my BlackBerry. In fact, to me it's a 'Crackberry.'" [7]
  • "I'd much rather have the consumer buy a Wii, some accessories, and a ton of games, vs. buying any of my competitor's products." speaking to USAToday about a suggestion by Microsoft's Peter Moore that one could buy a Wii and an Xbox 360 for the price of a PlayStation 3. [8]

[edit] E³ 2004

  • "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass. I'm about taking names and we're about making games."
  • "It's a new day. A new day for me, and a new day for Nintendo."
  • "One of our competitors is a manufacturer in Japan who wants to capture every one of your entertainment dollars transporting all your content between all of your electronic devices on their memory sticks. We are not that company. And there is another company out there who doesn't care what you do, as long as you do it on their operating system. We are not that company either." - Regarding Nintendo's competitors (Sony and Microsoft, respectively).
  • "Over the years, I know you've heard a lot of Nintendo people say "we're all about the games". Well guess what? We are. Whether you're talking about Donkey Kong or Tetris, Madden or Mario, Metal Gear or Resident Evil, he with the best games wins. Always been that way, always will."
  • "DS not only changes Nintendo, it changes our industry."
  • "I like to think of it like buying a car. Admit it. Your left brain looks at a vehicle in terms of the numbers. What's the horsepower? The towing capacity? The 0-60? That's our competitor's approach. But your right brain is different. There's only one question out there: sitting behind the wheel, where will this baby take me? In other words, do you want to go just a little bit faster, down the same streets you've always driven, or down a new road, to places you've never seen before? That's the difference with Nintendo DS."
  • "Mario sees himself in Nintendo DS, and he feels like flying."
  • "Nintendo DS is not standing still. As a tenth serious competitor decides to make a run at Game Boy, DS raises the bar on portable gaming, before they even get started." - Regarding Sony's PSP
  • "I hope if we've done anything, it's to show you that this is a new day for Nintendo. We remain all about the game, all about the gamer, or in other words, all about you. "

[edit] E³ 2005

  • "Now I know many of you today walked in with numbers already swimming in your heads: 360, 16x9, 1080, 8.2 GHz. Well, we'd like to add one more number to the mix. And that number is two." - Referencing 2 billion games sold
  • "If you're ready to move beyond pure numbers, to a place where your right brain can invision the best in innovation and the best in gameplay improvement, well, you've come to the right place."
  • "The key here are two little words: the word 'or' and the word 'and'. Nintendo is not an or company, with games devoted to just this group or that group. We're an and company, with games for this group and that group and for groups that don't even call themselves gamers yet."
  • "To date, global sellthrough for Nintendo DS stands at over 5 million, or more than twice the level for the PSP. Now, I know what some of you are thinking: "well, the PSP hasn't arrived in Europe yet". So we got there when we said we would, and they didn't. You know what? That's Sony's issue, not my problem."
  • "We're working to overcome the overly macho nature of the current online console game world, where a handful of the high testosterone crowd fight for supremacy, while the mass of casual game players stay away."
  • "If competitors don't like our two to one advantage, dominating market share with both SP and DS, well, I've got bad news. Because we just made it two and a half to one." - Regarding Game Boy Micro

[edit] E³ 2006

  • "Playing is believing"
  • "You came to LA this week to peek into the future. But if all you want is next generation, you're in the wrong place. Because what you'll see from Nintendo is not just 'next'. Instead, it's what's absolutely new. What we're unveiling is the next leap in gaming; to a place where playing is no longer just about looks, it's about the feel. Where it's no longer confined to just the few - it's about everyone. And most of all, the next leap is not about what you see, because what you see is not always what you get. The next leap is about playing, because playing is believing." E³ 2006 Press Conference[9]
  • "Do you know anyone who's never watched TV, never seen a movie, never read a book? Of course not. So let me ask you one more question. Do you know someone, maybe even in your own family, who's never played a video game? I bet you do. How can this be? If we want to consider ourselves a true mass medium, if we want to grow as an industry, this has to change."[10]
  • "Nintendo's way is to challenge conventional thinking. Not just for the sake of doing things differently, but to do things better."
  • "The graveyard of any industry is filled with the headstones of companies who decided to keep doing things the same old way. Playing only on the margin, making things just a little bit better. That strategy works....for a while, but ultimately it's failed. Over the years our industry has come to accept progress simply by what’s on the screen."
  • "We want to thank everyone who wrote good things about it the day you heard it—both of you." - E³ 2006, joking about the reaction to the Wii's name when it was first announced.
  • "Mr. Iwata, perhaps this year I can just take the names and you can kick the....you know..." E³ 2006 Press Conference referring to his opening comments at E³ 2004.[11]
  • "Let's face it. The bottom line of every E³ is simple: what's hot and what's not. Here's our take. What's hot is the feel of the game, the look is secondary. What's hot is the next leap, not just a small step. It's hot if it's disruptive, it's not if it's predictable. The future of our industry is inclusion, not exclusion. It's about the heat of emotion, not the chill of technology. We know that the future is right here. Wii and the DS represent the same thing: risk. Risk allows progress. We're a company that doesn't run from risk; we run to it."[12]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nintendo Reggie Fils-Aime promoted to COO of Nintendo of America
  2. ^ a b Peterson, Kim. Putting Nintendo back in the game. The Seattle Times.
  3. ^ Lin, John. Meet a Gamer - Reggie Fils-Aime
  4. ^ NintyGal Addressing criticism of violence in video games and underage gamers
  5. ^ NintyGal Addressing regulation in the gaming industry as well as criticism of video game violence by Jack Thompson
  6. ^ Spike TV's Game Head Commenting on his fanbase that arose following his appearance at E³ 2004
  7. ^ 1UP.com Reggie Speaks At ZD Gaming Summit
  8. ^ USAToday: Nintendo hopes Wii spells wiiner
  9. ^ E³ E³ 2006 Press Conference Opening Comments
  10. ^ E³ Growing as an industry
  11. ^ E³ Reference to "kicking...you know..." at E³ 2004
  12. ^ E³ E³ 2006 Closing statements

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../r/e/g/Reggie_Fils-Aime_28e8.html"