I think Kimishima is basically Iwata's lap dog anyway, he basically ceded all real control that NOA had when he replaced Howard Lincoln/Arakawa on the board of directors, he does whatever Iwata wants.

Who do you think would be a good fit then?

Why are people saying Sakurai?? Dont think he is really a businessman and he also isn't employed by Nintendo anymore, he works for Sora Ltd and Project Sora... He must be a Kingdom Hearts fan =P

Iwata should stay, but he should cede control of NOA to experienced people in the North America market. Perhaps someone like Warren Spector should be hired to take the reigns of NOA for example and he should be given real weight at the discussion table in corporate philosophy.

Iwata's effectively admitted he doesn't know the Western market well, and increasingly that's where the game business is primarily coming from.

Your guess is as good as mine. I would have to do some research before I would make my pick. The point is if they stay within, the culture at Nintendo won't change. And it needs to change drastically if they want to stay relevant.

I totally agree that he should loosen his grip on Nintendo of America. I think it might help him win favor with investors as well

I explained why I said Sakurai. He doesn't work FOR Sora Ltd, he IS Sora Ltd. He started it, he owns it, he is its sole employee outside of perhaps a secretary. Project Sora was a dev studio that was 78% owned by Nintendo before it was disbanded. Its only purpose was to make Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Now Sakurai is directing a team of Namco developers. They're making a Nintendo game. For all intents and purposes, he still works for Nintendo, he just isn't officially employed by them. He's basically a freelancer.

That's great that's he's a good game designer, but that doesn't mean he can run a Burger King as a manager, let alone a $20 billion dollar corporation. 

The two are completely different things. 

Well I never said they should immediately appoint him president. I just pointed out that Iwata came from literally the same background, and has been president for the past 10 years.

The honest truth is I think Nintendo is going to continue to suffer in the coming years until they get better Western managers/management at least on par with what Arakawa/Lincoln were in the 1990s *at minimum*.

There is no console business left in Japan and even the handheld business is shifting gradually to smartphones as Japan goes increasingly app crazy (they are now the no.1 global consumer for smartphone apps, and the no.1 type of app being downloaded are games). 

If Nintendo wants to be successful in this business, you simply cannot have a company with a bunch of 60-year-old Japanese men making decisions when the central market is largely becoming American/European males.

Sony has great Western people in their Playstation division like Cerny ... it's precisely why the Playstation 4 is doing so well, he basically designed that console for them and made it spot on with where the tastes of the market are today. Until Nintendo gets someone like that, they will continue to wander the desert IMO.