Nintendo is now left without a leader after CEO Satoru Iwata died due to the growing tumor in his bile duct last Saturday. The company is now grieving together with its fans for the loss of a great leader.
While many are still mourning, the company cannot avoid to discuss about the vacant office that Iwata left behind.
The spotlight for the presidency is now falling on Shigeru Miyamoto, who is responsible for the development of best-selling video games Donkey Kong, Zelda and Mario.
Contrary to the expectations of many, the multinational company revealed that it still has no plans to decide on who will inherit the office of the late CEO. Nintendo has not yet released a list of candidates for the position. The company also clarified that Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda will continue working as representative directors.
On the other hand, some experts believe that now is the right time for the company to break its tradition by appointing a deserving leader from the outside. Many believe that Miyamoto tops the list of candidates with his knowledge and experiences.
An analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities named Eiji Maeda expressed his opinion regarding the president selection. "A leader must have good understanding of Nintendo culture, engineering skills and corporate management, not to mention charisma in leading talented developers."
"If we consider that, an outsider is pretty unlikely, and the strongest candidates at this point would be Mr. Takeda and Mr. Miyamoto," the analyst added.
Genyo Takeda, who is now 66, is an intelligent engineer who has helped the company in developing consoles like the Nintendo 64.
The Super Mario Brothers maker needs a good leader to manage its properties and keep the company on top. With the new console under development and the new expansion project in mobile gaming with DeNA, the world's largest video game company must be wise and careful in choosing its new CEO after Satoru Iwata's death.
