The man behind much of the success of the Nintendo video game brand, Reggie Fils-Aime, is out with a new book, "Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo." He joined Cheddar to talk about his journey and some of the lessons he learned that he could impart upon a wide audience. "I thought that now, given the challenges that were facing across so many different areas, that sharing the benefits of my lessons and my insights and my learnings across all of those industries, across all of those experiences. would really add value to the conversation," he said. "Add value, whether you're a brand new freshman on campus or whether you're a tenured executive." Fils-Aime also touched on what made the Nintendo Wii a success and where he sees the video game industry going in terms of new experiences and the metaverse.

Between Bells

Former Nintendo Exec Reggie Fils-Aime Life Story and the Business of Games

ever wonder who helped bring some of Nintendo's greatest successes from the week to the Nintendo switch to the mainstream. Well, you can thank Reggie Fils aime for that. The former president and chief operating officer of Nintendo has been revered by business leaders and gaming fans alike for years and now he's got a new book talking all about it, disrupting the game from the Bronx to the top of Nintendo gives readers an inside look at the innovators rise to the top and features inspiring stories for anyone looking for leadership lessons joining us now discusses Reggie Fils aime himself, former president and Ceo of Nintendo and author of disrupting the game. Welcome to the show, Reggie, you have changed so many lives. I'm sure you hear that all the time, you've had such an impressive career, you're the son of Haitian immigrants, you became one of the most powerful names in the gaming industry. What made you decide to tell your story now? Why is now the right time? Sure, well, first, thanks for having me, you know, My journey was one that was unprecedented. Really, the ability to put my myself from the Bronx tough neighborhood to grow across a variety of different industries and to spend 16 years having a major impact at Nintendo. I thought that now, given the challenges that were facing across so many different areas that sharing the benefits of my lessons and my insights and my learnings across all of those industries. Across all of those experiences would really add value to the conversation, add value, whether you're brand new freshman on campus or whether you're a tenured executive. That's why I wrote the book and why I punctuated all of the stories in the book with these So what moments, you know, things that the reader can take away, you lay out five principles in your book. I want to read one that has stuck out to so many people where you say quote, life is hard, so dig deep tenacity and grit are essential qualities for everyone. But as you well know, some people really do shy away from things like that when it gets hard. So why is it so important? And how do you embrace adversity? You know, look, it oftentimes people will look at an executive like myself and believe that my journey was just, you know, happiness and roses that I never faced adversity and there's there's nothing that could be more wrong. And so it's important for folks to recognize that adversity is going to be part of your journey. Things will not always work out perfectly, but it's the ability to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and be able to take on that next challenge with the benefit of learning from that past experience. I think that's what's so critically important. And yes, it's difficult to do. But what I hope in the stories that I share is that I give the reader or the listener some really actionable points of things that they can do To think about a particular situation, apply a key lesson and be able to move forward productively. It's hard but we all have to do it. But we have revolutionized the gaming industry back in 2006. And in your book you mentioned you named it we to symbolize inclusivity when playing the game that wasn't talked about much in the early 2000s. What made you think of that? You were so ahead of the time and how have you seen other gaming companies maybe follow that very route? You know, it's really important to understand that. Back when the we was launched in 2006, the gaming industry was small and somewhat insular about one out of every three people played video games at that point Today, seven out of 10. And so what Nintendo saw was an opportunity to expand the gaming universe to get more people picking up a controller and engaging with content. And that's why the company focused on this innovation of the wii remote, right? If you remember it, a one handed controller looked like a T. V. Remote control that had gyroscopic sensors. So you could play a game of tennis by swinging your hand. You could hit a baseball by doing a swinging motion with a bat. And that type of innovation made it easy for people to get engaged to start playing a variety of different types of video games and video game experiences. The company did the same thing with the Nintendo Ds. It was the first gaming platform, really the first broadly available piece of consumer electronics that had a touch stream well before The iPhone. So it was these types of innovations that drove accessibility that drove an ability for a broad range of consumers to get into the gaming business. And obviously it worked that we sold over 100 million units, the Nintendo DS over 150 million and the company continues to enjoy success with the Nintendo switch. So with the metaverse taking off Reggie, what do you think the future of gaming will look like? You know? So I have, I've gone on record to say that the the core concept of the metaverse which is a digital environment where your avatar has meaning and you can interact with your friends across a range of experiences. I do believe we are well on our way to that type of experience. But I do think that it's going to be companies like Epic who have had great success with Fortnite, it's going to be companies like roadblock a variety of different experiences. One common currency. I see these types of companies doing really well. It's progressed down this path and I also see opportunity for smaller companies, companies that are working on a range of innovations that will engage with players in a brand new way. I have about a minute left with you, where would you like to see Nintendo go with its next gen, console, you know? That's a that's an interesting one for me to answer because I've been away from the company now for three years and the company just announced its latest financial results and made forecast for next year and the company themselves acknowledged that transitioning from such a successful platform, like the Nintendo switch on to its next, it's next platform is going to be a big challenge. And so look for me, I know the company is in good hands, I know that they will continue to innovate in ways that are different than its competitors. They're going to pursue paths that make sense for them as fundamentally an entertainment company, not so much a technology company. And so, you know, now I get to watch it like a fan, I get to see how they push this agenda forward, but I do believe that whatever it is that they do, it will be innovative and it will be pushing an agenda to get more and more consumers engaging with their content Mario and Zelda and all these wonderful franchises. There are wonderful franchises. Hopefully we can get our hands on the consoles when the next one comes out relatively sooner Reggie fizz of a former President Ceo of Nintendo and author of disrupting the game, you can grab your copy anywhere where books are sold. Thank you so much Reggie