Nintendo of America today sent word that the company has made three key executive promotions, all effective immediately.

Current President Tatsumi Kimishima will now assume the new role of chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Reggie Fils-Aime has been promoted from executive vice president of Sales & Marketing to president and chief operating officer. And Mike Fukuda is being promoted from senior vice president of Business Development to executive vice president of Business Development.

"Around the world, Nintendo DS has been steadily drawing more people into the video game category," commented Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. "With the upcoming introduction of Wii, along with the strength of this new leadership team and strong executives already in place, Nintendo will continue to dramatically change the way consumers of all ages interact with their video game console on a daily basis."

As chairman of the board and CEO of Nintendo of America, Kimishima will oversee the overall management of Nintendo of America and continue to serve on the boards of Nintendo of America and Nintendo Co., Ltd. He was appointed president of Nintendo of America back in January 2002. He originally joined Nintendo at the company's headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, in 2000. He also served as chief financial officer of The Pokemon Company in 2000 and president of Pokemon USA Inc. in 2001. Prior to joining Nintendo, he spent 27 years with Sanwa Bank of Japan, serving in various management positions.

Fils-Aime's new role as president and chief operating officer will see him lead the day-to-day operations of Nintendo of America while continuing to oversee the Sales & Marketing Division as the company prepares for the launch of Wii. He joined Nintendo of America in December 2003 to lead all Sales & Marketing efforts in the United States, Latin America and Canada. Before joining Nintendo, he served as senior vice president of marketing at VH1. Fils-Aime also has held key marketing positions with Guinness Import Co., Derby Cycle Corp., Pizza Hut, Panda Management Co. and Procter & Gamble.

Finally, Fukuda in his new position as executive vice president of Business Development, will oversee corporate strategic planning and third-party publisher and licensing programs. He also will continue to oversee product development more dedicated to the North American market. Fukuda joined Nintendo back in 1994 as director of planning. Prior to that he worked for an international trading company and learned the video game business in the United States, working with third-party publishers during the early days of the Nintendo Entertainment System.