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One of the first things that Tatsumi Kimishima, the newly-appointed CEO of Nintendo, said in his new role is that "it's wrong to lead a gaming company on numbers alone." This is the kind of thing all Nintendo fans want to hear, of course, and yet here the sentiment seems curiously out-of-place. For Mr Kimishima, the future will be numbers and little else.The challenges Nintendo face are enormous, multi-faceted, and immediate. The company is being squeezed out of its traditional markets as the games industry changes, and alongside this has made big mistakes. Wii U was unable to capitalise on Wii's mainstream success, and may (undeservedly) end up as the company's lowest-selling console. The 3DS continues to sell well, and Nintendo more or less now own the dedicated handheld market, but the ubiquity of mobile - and the sheer money to be made there - makes it look like chickenfeed.
Then the cruellest blow of all, the unexpected death of company president Satoru Iwata in July this year. Nintendo is a company that, throughout its history, has known tragedy - but this loss cannot be understated. It served to toughen Nintendo's internal commitment to Iwata's ideas, and this is another factor behind Kimishima's appointment.
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