First move: implementing dress-down Fridays

To show it's serious about a digital future, Nintendo of America has created a role — senior vice president of network business — and appointed Duncan Orrell-Jones to the new position.

Orrell-Jones will lead the company's digital strategy for 3DS and Wii U in North America, reporting directly to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. Before joining Nintendo, Orrell-Jones spent nearly 20 years at the Walt Disney Company, where his responsibilities included spearheading digital opportunities for Disney-owned IP.

Orrell-Jones takes up the role on 1st July. Here's hoping that date signals the start of a big improvement in Nintendo's online strategy.

Nintendo of America Hires New Senior VP of Network Business

Duncan Orrell-Jones to Lead Nintendo’s Online Efforts

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nintendo of America announces the hiring of a new senior vice president of Network Business. Effective July 1, Duncan Orrell-Jones will take on the newly created position and spearhead the development and evolution of Nintendo of America’s digital strategy for the company’s Nintendo 3DS and Wii U video game systems. Orrell-Jones will work at Nintendo’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash., and report to Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime.

“Duncan Orrell-Jones brings knowledge and hands-on experience to Nintendo that will help us develop and implement long-term digital initiatives for our systems,” Fils-Aime said. “By creating this new position we’re demonstrating our commitment to the expansion of our online business, and Duncan is the perfect person for the job.”

Orrell-Jones comes to Nintendo from The Walt Disney Company, where he has worked since 1993, most recently as senior vice president in the Disney Interactive Media Group. In that role, he was responsible for identifying opportunities to expand Disney’s games business outside North America across a variety of platforms. Prior to that he also served as the senior vice president and general manager for the Disney Interactive Media Group in Tokyo, where he led a 140-person team to drive the company’s digital properties on various platforms.

Orrell-Jones holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from UCLA and an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.