Nintendo’s North American subsidiary is about to have some new leaders. One of them is Satoru Shibata, a longtime veteran of the company who will become Nintendo of America’s CEO in just a few months. Most players probably have no idea who he is, but long-time industry watchers and fans in Europe will probably be at least somewhat familiar with the executive thanks to an impressive library of colorful videos in which he can be seen dancing, singing, and talking about his favorite handheld games.
Here’s NoA’s new CEO singing “Call Me Maybe” to promote Nintendo’s Karaoke games (via Tiny Cartridge):
And here he is dancing to promote Yo-Kai Watch:
Here is Shibata cosplaying to announce Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney:
The exec had a reputation for sending Swapnote messages directly to fans when he was head of Nintendo Europe:
He presented separate Nintendo Direct updates to fans throughout the early 3DS and Wii U days. In this one he traveled to a warehouse in Germany to show everyone where the games and consoles get packaged and shipped from:
And here’s the man’s 3DS collection. He says he’s bad at games and never beat Luigi’s Mansion 2, but his favorite way to relax before bed is playing Professor Layton. He had thousands of Miis stored in it, including one belonging to the now late Nintendo President Satoru Iwata:
Will modern Nintendo let this version of Shibata back out into the wild? Probably not. The company’s different now. So is the internet. But at least we have these time capsules from the past. Nintendo’s business strategy has always been a mix of ruthless and whimsical. Will see if more of the latter comes back again in the Switch 2 era. Shibata is joined by Devon Pritchard, who is taking over Doug Bowser’s role as President of Nintendo of America. You can go watch the latest Kit and Krysta podcast for an insider’s perspective on Bowser’s retirement and the new folks in charge.
