Everyone who plays and enjoys video games is likely familiar with Reggie Fils-Aieé. As one of, if not the most, iconic members of Nintendo’s company history, Reggie Fils-Aime played a huge role in Nintendo’s public image for 16 years. Known for his charisma and the many memes he spawned through his work, Reggie Fils-Aime brought a traditionally conservative Nintendo back to the forefront of games as the unique presence seen in the games industry today.
Several years ago, many of those Nintendo games were likely purchased from aGameStopstore as well.GameStophad been the gaming enthusiast’s primary store to shop for years, up until this past decade anyway. It has seen great financial distress in the past few years with the widespread adoption of digital games and greater improvement of internet infrastructure. Now in 2020, Reggie Fils-Aime has joined a struggling GameStop’s Board of Directors in service to helping the reinvigorate the company in a time where its relevance is at its lowest.
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Reggie’s Bold History with Nintendo
Reggie’s significance in contributing to Nintendo’s resurgence cannot be understated. At E3 2004, Reggie Fils-Aime stepped up on stage in a rare showing of confidence from Nintendo, and he gave his now famous “kicking ass, taking names, making games” speech. In that moment, Reggie Fils-Aime immediately transitioned from a no-name executive to one of the most recognized icons in gaming history. He proved that Nintendo had indeed matured with Xbox and PlayStation, though in a distinctly different way. Reggie Fils-Aime proved to consumers and media that Nintendo was its own entity and would continue to make games for everyone who plays games. Since then,Reggie Fils-Aime has had plenty of memorable momentsthroughout his history with the company.
From there, Reggie Fils-Aime served to be the warm and charismatic public face of Nintendo for subsequent years up until his retirement. Even if much of the braggadocio and confidence seen at E3 2004 might’ve been the brainchild of Satoru Iwata, Reggie was able to deliver this message and show the world Nintendo had the confidence to stand on its own. Two years later, he became the President of Nintendo of America and continued his presence as the face of a newly revitalized Nintendo.Even after Reggie retired as president of Nintendo America, the company has continued his legacy and ideals in delivering Nintendo Directs that excite fans.
GameStop’s Declining Relevance
In the last decade, GameStop has not seen a similar resurgence like Nintendo has. In fact,GameStop’s relevance has depleted consistentlysince the release of the seventh generation consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii). The aforementioned generation of game consoles brought with it several technological innovations in entertainment technology that drastically changed video games. With the widespread expansion of internet connectivity, the advent of digital game sales, and the burgeoning storage requirements of game sizes, physical sales of video game have seen step decline in the last decade.
Much of GameStop’s revenue stream hinges on the sale and re-sale of physical games, a concept that is on an archaic trajectory with the inter-connected lives of consumers in 2020.Physical game sales numbers, as recorded by the NPDand other industry sources for statistics, have proven that fewer and fewer consumers are purchasing video games via physical media in all stores, not just GameStop. Stores like Best Buy and Walmart (that also sell games) have not suffered because each also offer other products, not just games.
GameStop being the niche storefront that it is has understandably suffered greatly from the industry’s shift in convenience and preferences. Executives from GameStop have recognized this change, and have even triedtransitioning GameStop stores into community hangouts for gaming fans, not just storefronts. This kind of broadening in scope for GameStop stores makes a lot of sense in the current state of the games industry, but it may be too late. GameStop needs to make unprecedented and drastic changes to turn around, something Reggie Fils-Aime has had experience with in the past.
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How Reggie Fils-Aimé Could Help GameStop
Bringing onReggie Fils-Aime to GameStop’s board of directorsshows that its corporate structure understands GameStop needs to make a comeback, and it speaks volumes that Reggie would even be willing to jump on board a company that has decidedly suffered in the last decade to turn a profit. Reggie Fils-Aime likely has joined on in service to a change of heart from GameStop’s corporate team, as consumers in the industry have seen the GameStop store redesign concepts and how drastically different they are in comparison to typical GameStop stores. GameStop may be gearing for radical changes in more than just the stores themselves, and Reggie Fils-Aime may be the perfect public face to show the world that GameStop is back.
Though there are naysayers as towhat Reggie Fils-Aime’s impact will have on GameStop, there’s still a chance. Reggie organized and displayed to the world that Nintendo was able to mature and adapt to a changing industry. It stands to reason he may be able to do the same with GameStop. Reggie could speak from experience to the mentality and strategy in revitalizing a company in the face of changing consumer trend, so expect to hear from Reggie Fils-Aime sooner than later about howGameStopintends to come back strong.
