HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Reginald Fils-Aimé ( ; born March 25, 1961) is an American businessman best known for being the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
and
chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...
of Nintendo of America, the North American branch of the Japanese video game company
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
, from 2006 to 2019. Prior to his promotion to president and COO, Fils-Aimé was executive vice president of sales and marketing. Fils-Aimé gained celebrity status among gamers following his appearance at Nintendo's E3 2004 press conference in May 2004, and helped to revitalize Nintendo's image as a major contender among the other video game console makers,
Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...
and
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
. Fils-Aimé had held previous sales and marketing executive roles at
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...
, Pizza Hut,
Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...
,
Derby Cycle Focus & Kalkhoff Holding GmbH (formerly ''Derby Cycle GmbH'') based in Cloppenburg, Germany, is one of the three largest manufacturers of bicycles in Europe. During the 2010/11 fiscal year Derby employed 756 people. Derby Cycle has a 14% market sh ...
,
Panda Express Panda Express is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in American Chinese cuisine. With over 2,400 locations, it is the largest Asian-segment restaurant chain in the United States, and is mainly located in North America and Asi ...
, and
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
. Fils-Aimé retired as president of Nintendo of America on April 15, 2019, after an announcement on February 21, and was succeeded by Doug Bowser. He subsequently became a Leader in Residence at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
and was later named to the board of directors for
Brunswick Corporation Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Brunswick has more than 13,000 employees in ...
,
GameStop GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer, headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas). The brand is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operated 3,203 stor ...
, and Spin Master.


Early life

Reginald Fils-Aimé was born on March 25, 1961, in
The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, New York City. His parents had immigrated to the United States from
Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
in the 1950s due to conflicting political views of his grandparents; his paternal grandfather was a general when the Haitian military overthrew the democratically elected government, which included his maternal grandfather. Fils-Aimé's mother worked as a lead sales representative in a fine jewelry store and his father was a
machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...
. Fils-Aimé has said that he adopted his optimistic attitude from his mother. He was raised on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, where he attended Brentwood High School; he described himself as the "lone minority" among his classmates. He was accepted into
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
in 1979, and graduated with a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in
applied economics Applied economics is the application of economic theory and econometrics in specific settings. As one of the two sets of fields of economics (the other set being the ''core''), it is typically characterized by the application of the ''core'', i.e ...
and management from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1983. He was president of the school's
Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in North Am ...
fraternity chapter, where he was described as being neat and organized.


Career

Fils-Aimé took a job at
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...
in the company's brand management program. He also took a position as senior director of national marketing at Pizza Hut, where he launched the Bigfoot Pizza and the Big New Yorker. Fils-Aimé served as the Head of Marketing for Guinness Imports Co. in the United States and was responsible for all brands. He also worked as chief marketing officer at
Derby Cycle Focus & Kalkhoff Holding GmbH (formerly ''Derby Cycle GmbH'') based in Cloppenburg, Germany, is one of the three largest manufacturers of bicycles in Europe. During the 2010/11 fiscal year Derby employed 756 people. Derby Cycle has a 14% market sh ...
, directing sales and marketing efforts worldwide for eight brands. Fils-Aimé served as managing director and oversaw Raleigh U.K., Derby's British operations. He then joined the American Chinese food company Panda Management Co. acting as senior vice-president. He also joined
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
's
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
network in 2001 as senior vice-president and left in 2003. Fils-Aimé was responsible for a 30% increase in ratings for the VH1 network by shifting the channel's focus to appeal to younger viewers. As part of his role at VH1, Fils-Aimé also laid out and implemented a marketing strategy for The Concert for New York City, which garnered more than $35 million for disaster relief following the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
.


Nintendo

Fils-Aimé joined Nintendo in December 2003 as the executive vice president of sales and marketing. Fils-Aimé had been recruited for the position, but during the interview period, he said that he had asked to see
Satoru Iwata Satoru Iwata (; December6, 1959July11, 2015) was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer and producer. Beginning in 2002, he was the fourth president of Nintendo, as well as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo of America from ...
, the president of Nintendo, which was considered highly unusual but was granted. His conversation with Iwata went far longer than planned and it helped to establish the friendly relationship Fils-Aimé had with Iwata for more than a decade which, according to Fils-Aimé, helped with open communications and understanding to help Nintendo improve overall as a business. Because of this, Fils-Aimé has called Iwata his mentor as well as a "dear friend" throughout his time at Nintendo. Fils-Aimé was initially responsible for all sales and
marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...
activities for Nintendo in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
. On May 25, 2006, Fils-Aimé 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 A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
. Fils-Aimé was the first American to hold this position. At the time Fils-Aimé was hired in 2003, the video game industry was stagnant in major markets, and Nintendo's competitors
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
and
Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...
were looking to regain interest by building more powerful home consoles. For Nintendo, it had recently come off re-organization of upper management, including Iwata being named its president only the year prior. The company was producing the
GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...
, but Iwata and other Nintendo executives saw that most titles being produced were sequels with almost no new
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...
. Fils-Aimé said that the decision for Nintendo to differ from its competitors and try to bring back fun into video games was made before he had been hired, and part of that was planned through Fils-Aimé's marketing skills and presence. Fils-Aimé became a recognized public face for Nintendo at the 2004 E3. The year prior, Nintendo's press conference was considered a quiet and dry affair compared to the conferences given by
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
and
Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...
; while Iwata and other Japanese executives were present, the only American on stage was George S. Harrison and had remained stoic during the conference. Nintendo was also losing in the sixth console generation. The
GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...
was struggling against the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
and the original Xbox console, and long-time Nintendo fans were despondent over Nintendo's current state. Fils-Aimé served to lead off the 2004 conference as his first introduction to the public. He led off the conference with "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and ''we're'' about makin' games." His presentation was considered aggressive, and at one point directly attacked the approaches that Microsoft and Sony were taking with handling of video game content on their consoles. This message had been thoroughly planned by the upper management of Nintendo and Fils-Aimé had expressed caution to them about the tone of the message, but they still wanted him to deliver it. His theatrical antics, flying in the face of Nintendo's long-standing conservative image, gained a cult following soon after, with many gamers calling him the "Regginator", a play on the character of the Terminator. Following the conference, many images of him spread across the
Web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
. In interviews years after the 2004 event, Fils-Aimé said that his presentation was not his idea, but writing from the public relations department, and he himself had to be convinced to give the aggressive approach. Fils-Aimé's presentation was considered by others the right attitude that Nintendo needed to present at the time to show themselves still relevant in the current console generation and was no longer taking a conservative approach to gaming. Fils-Aimé is considered 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 "Revolution", the
code name A code name, codename, call sign, or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in ...
for the Wii). He had not only considered the constantly-changing challenges of marketing to youth, but as well as continuing to address the older video game players, who were still a key market for Nintendo. He further believed that addressing all demographics would be like
a rising tide ''A Rising Tide'' is a 2015 American romantic drama film starring Hunter Parrish, Ashley Hinshaw and Tim Daly. Plot After his family restaurant in Atlantic City is destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, a young chef, Sam Rama, must take on new responsi ...
for the industry with Nintendo positioned to capture that the best. While still in sales, Fils-Aimé rewrote how Nintendo worked with vendors; instead of having Nintendo try to seek vendors' favor and better in-store place by assuring Nintendo could meet demand, Fils-Aimé created agreements where vendors would only get Nintendo's stock in stores if vendors ordered high volumes of their product. This served to help with the success and popularity of the
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
. He has attributed the success of the Wii to a marketing strategy laid out by
Clayton Christensen Clayton Magleby Christensen (April 6, 1952 – January 23, 2020) was an American academic and business consultant who developed the theory of " disruptive innovation", which has been called the most influential business idea of the early 21st c ...
: On July 11, 2007, while introducing the Wii Balance Board, Fils-Aimé walked up onto the stage and stated “My body is ready.” This quotation would eventually become a
meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
and Fils-Aimé acknowledged the phrase several times, including at the
E3 2012 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012 (E3 2012) was the 18th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 5, 2012, and ended on June 7, 2012, with 45,700 total attendees. It was ...
conference, his appearance on
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,
and his resignation announcement video. When Iwata implemented their
Nintendo Direct Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentations or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began ...
online press conferences, Fils-Aimé would frequently participate in these alongside Iwata, including a mock Mii-avatar battle, which similarly became the subject of several memes. In other public press presentations for Nintendo, Fils-Aimé has been involved with skits with production support from Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, Mega64, and The Jim Henson Company. On November 5, 2007, at the encouragement of marketing professor Ed McLaughlin in the department of Applied Economics and Management at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
, Fils-Aimé gave a guest lecture on Nintendo's marketing strategy targeted at gamers across a spectrum of demographics. Fils-Aimé was a member of the advisory council for Cornell's Communication department from 2008 to 2021. In 2016 and early 2017, Fils-Aimé was featured in two episodes of Deadlock, on the Game Theorists web show, debating about various Nintendo-related topics. Fils-Aimé announced his resignation as the company's president and COO on February 21, 2019, which took effect on April 15, 2019. He was replaced by the company's then-head of sales, Doug Bowser. Fils-Aimé stated he started thinking about retirement after Iwata's death in 2015: "It also reinforced for me the legacy that he had built, and he had created for the company. And that really drove me to be introspective around, 'So what's the legacy that I want to build, that I want to leave?'" He waited until he felt Nintendo of America was on solid footing for positive growth, which occurred by early 2019, to begin the process of retiring. His decision to retire was emboldened by the success of the
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
, a hybrid game console the company released in 2017 which by the end of 2018 had already reached over 32 million sales. He believed with the Switch, which he had compared to Nintendo's previously successful Wii and
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
consoles, "the company was going to be in great shape for at least a few years".


Post-Nintendo

After leaving Nintendo, Fils-Aimé created his own
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account under the name @Reggie and made his first tweet saying, "Hi Twitter community." Fils-Aimé announced he had been brought on as the first Leader in Residence at Cornell University's Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management starting in October 2019. Fils-Aimé had already been on the advisory board for Dyson as well as for Cornell's department of communications prior to this appointment, and was approached by Cornell shortly after his retirement announcement about the opportunity. In addition, Fils-Aimé joined the board of directors for the New York Videogame Critics Circle, and became a managing partner in Brentwood Growth Partners, an equity firm based in Kirkland, Washington. Through his positions at Cornell and through the New York Videogame Critics Circle, he wants to provide mentorship opportunities for youth and young adults as to encourage them to grow and become "leaders across a range of as many different disciplines as possible". Through the Residence program he plans to present his "Seven Principles for Next Generation Leaders" that he had learned over his career, and will work with the New York Videogame Critics Circle to help younger students in programs like the DreamYard Academy at William Howard Taft High School to show the students "the work that's done through the power of video games, using video games as the medium to teach critical thinking, to teach writing skills". Fils-Aimé stated these also help him give back to both the community he was raised in and to his alma mater. Fils-Aimé, who had participated in The Game Awards since its creation in 2015, presented at The Game Awards 2019.
GameStop GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer, headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas). The brand is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operated 3,203 stor ...
named Fils-Aimé along two others onto its board of directors in March 2020, replacing several directors that were leaving as part of the company's efforts to turn the company's profitability around. He and several of GameStop's board members were slated to resign around June 2021 based on SEC filings. He was also named to Spin Master's board of directors in May 2020. After the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
began, Fils-Aimé announced that he and video games journalist Harold Goldberg would start a podcast, ''Talking Games with Reggie and Harold'', in conjunction with the New York Video Game Critics Circle. The podcast is aimed to raise charitable funds for the non-profit group to help mentor lower-income and under-served students in New York City impacted by the pandemic. Fils-Aimé was added to the board of directors at
Brunswick Corporation Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Brunswick has more than 13,000 employees in ...
on October 27, 2020, and later authored a book titled ''Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo'' released in April 2022.


Accolades

Fils-Aimé has been recognized for his marketing expertise in the advertising industry, including receiving a
Clio Award The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The awar ...
, two Gold Effie Awards, an
Association of Independent Commercial Producers Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...
Award for advertising excellence, a Silver Edison from the American Marketing Institute, and was named one of the "Marketing 100" in 1998 by ''
Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...
''. From the video game industry, Fils-Aimé was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Video Game Hall of Fame and has received the Legend Award from the New York Videogame Critics Circle.


Personal life

Fils-Aimé is married to Stacey Sanner, his longtime girlfriend whom he met in his previous position at
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
. He has three children from a previous marriage. Fils-Aimé started playing video games with his children when they were 2 and 5 years old. he lived on the Eastside of Seattle.


Bibliography

*


References


External links

*
Reggie Who?Surfing The Blue Ocean: Fils-Aimé On Nintendo's Expanding MarketGameCube Advanced outdated biographySan Jose Mercury News GDC 2007 InterviewN'Gai Croal's Level Up GDC 2007 Interview Part 1N'Gai Croal's Level Up GDC 2007 Interview Part 2MTV E3 2007 InterviewGamePro E3 2007 Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fils-Aime, Reggie 1961 births Cornell University alumni American people of Haitian descent Living people Nintendo people Brentwood High School (Brentwood, New York) alumni American chief operating officers American video game businesspeople Businesspeople from the Bronx