Reggie Fils-Aimé

Reggie Fils-Aimé
Full name	Reginald Fils-Aimé
Born	March 25, 1961 (age 65)
Super Mario–related role	President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Nintendo of America (2006–2019)

“My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games.”

—Reggie Fils-Aimé

Reginald Fils-Aimé is an American businessman who formerly served as the president and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo's North American branch. He was therefore responsible for all Nintendo-related activities in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. His career at Nintendo began in 2003 as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, a position he held until 2006, before being promoted to president, succeeding Tatsumi Kimishima, who had held the position since 2002.

Fils-Aimé gained notoriety among the gaming community at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), where he introduced himself with the above quote. Many fans now know him as the "Regginator" (which eventually became his Mii's nickname), and he is attributed with sparking a new era for Nintendo, one of improved public relations, which fans and the press dubbed the "Reggielution". He made regular appearances at subsequent E3s, being one of the three main sources of information for upcoming hardware and software (occasionally providing information on Nintendo's sales accomplishments and goals), the other two sources being Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata. His most notable presentations introduced gamers to the Nintendo DS (E3 2004), the Game Boy Micro (E3 2005), specifications of the Nintendo 3DS (E3 2010), and the Wii U GamePad (E3 2011). He also discussed and displayed trailers for a variety of games, including Super Mario Galaxy and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon.

During these presentations, Fils-Aimé would often participate in light-hearted sketches and showcases alone or alongside Miyamoto and Iwata. For example, in a promotional trailer for the Nintendo 3DS—featured at the end of the aforementioned E3 2010 presentation—he notices the console on a stool that is surrounded by objects such as DK Barrels, a Red Shell, and a Banana Peel, these having previously come out of the screen. After watching a Super Mushroom and two coins emerge, he picks up the 3DS, laughing as he sees Miyamoto and Iwata being chased across a bridge by Bowser. In response, Bowser pops out of the screen and breathes fire on him. When the video ends, and the presentation refocuses on the stage, Fils-Aimé pretends to brush soot out of his hair, while his jacket is singed and partially torn.

He later appeared as the main character of a series of sketches by the producers of Robot Chicken in Nintendo's E3 2014 YouTube video, where he introduces the E3 presentation as a whole. In response to an indignant fan who asks for the release of Mother 3, Reggie consumes a Fire Flower to transform into a fire form and set the fan on fire. With Mario's help, Fils-Aimé also stops the ambush of the presentation by Wario, Ganondorf, and a Bullet Bill. When the same fan from earlier complains about the lack of Star Fox in the presentation, Fils-Aimé uses his laser vision to vaporize the fan completely.

On February 21, 2019, Fils-Aimé announced that he would be retiring from his position as president of Nintendo of America, with Doug Bowser succeeding him on April 15, 2019.

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

Quotes

• "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." (criticizing Sony and Microsoft at E3 2004)
• "That's Sony's issue, not my problem." (referring to how the PlayStation Portable had not reached Europe when promised, but the Nintendo DS had - E3 2005)
• "Nintendo's way is to challenge conventional thinking. Not just for the sake of doing things differently, but to do things better." (E3 2006)
• "My body is ready." (before demonstrating Wii Fit alongside Miyamoto at E3 2007)
• "I feel just like a purple Pikmin." (E3 2012)
• "While I go Reggie on these fools, here's what's new." (E3 2014 Robot Chicken sketch)

Gallery

• 

  Fils-Aimé at a promotional New Super Mario Bros. Wii event
• 

  Fils-Aimé in a life-sized replica of the Bumble V kart from Mario Kart 7, at the 2011 LA Auto Show
• 

  Fils-Aimé promoting New Super Mario Bros. U
• 

  Fils-Aimé in an E3 2014 sketch by the producers of Robot Chicken
• 

  Fils-Aimé's fire form in an E3 2014 sketch by the producers of Robot Chicken
• 

  Fils-Aimé holding a phone with Super Mario Run on it

Notes

The first revision of Reggie's Mii

• Shortly after the North American launch of the Nintendo 3DS, a QR code was made available on the Internet, which, when scanned, provides the 3DS user with Fils-Aimé's Mii. The Mii has since been updated, slightly shorter in stature with more prominent lips and brown as his favorite color instead of blue. His Mii was in the trailer for Mii Fighters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.
• The first game he played on a console was Super Mario World.
• Fils-Aimé considers Blooper as the worst item of the Mario Kart series.

External links

• Official X page