Nintendo has released a notice regarding the impending retirement of 68-year-old Genyo Takeda, Representative Director and "Technology Fellow" of Nintendo.
Takeda is one of Nintendo's longest-serving staffers, having joined the company in 1971. He and his team at R&D3 came up with many technical innovations during the '80s - including the battery backup system for Famicom / NES carts - and he was one of the lead developers of the Wii console. He is also known for his work as the Director of Punch-Out! on the NES and Supervisor of Punch-Out!! on the Wii.
The reason listed for his retirement is due to the expiration of the term of the office of Director, which ends during the 77th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 29th June.
Ko Shiota, currently Executive Officer and General Manager of Platform Technology Development Division will be picking up the roles of Director, Senior Executive Officer and General Manager of Platform Technology Development. This role will be taken effective during the 77th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 29th June.
Here's the official announcement:
Nintendo Co., Ltd. announces that it resolved to make the following changes in management at the meeting of the Board of Directors held on April 27, 2017:
1. Retirement of a Representative Director
(1) Reason
Retirement from the Representative Director at the expiration of the term of the office of Director, which is as of the end of the 77th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on June 29, 2017
(2) Name and Title of the Retiring Representative Director
Genyo Takeda (Representative Director and Technology Fellow)
2. Anticipated New DirectorKo Shiota
(New: Director, Senior Executive Officer and General Manager of Platform Technology Development Division)
(Current: Executive Officer and General Manager of Platform Technology Development Division)
- A candidate for a Director who is not an Audit and Supervisory Committee Member
- To be effective after receiving approval at the 77th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on June 29, 2017 3. Role Change of an Executive Officer Ko Shiota
(New: Senior Executive Officer and General Manager of Platform Technology Development Division) (Current: Executive Officer and General Manager of Platform Technology Development Division)
- To be effective at a resolution at the meeting of the Board of Directors after the above-mentioned General Meeting of Shareholders
It isn't clear if Takeda is retiring completely or simply stepping down from his role as director - we'll update this story if any more information comes to light.
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments 27
I wish him well in retirement and thanks for the decades of service.
End of an era.
That's unexpected. I guess he's earned his retirement, if that's what he wants. Hopefully he'll stick around in some other role.
@MarcelRguez Doubtful. He is pretty old. He should enjoy retirement.
45 years of grand ingenuity. We salute you!
@WebHead So is Miyamoto, and he still won't let his creations go. Work culture is crazy there, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't want to retire.
Wih that said, it's true that complete retirement sounds more likely.
Take it easy, sir, and thanks for your service! I will definitely remember your name now, seeing as I love Punch-Out!!
Thank you Genyo Takeda San for helping to create some truly awesome Nintendo games and hardware!
Enjoy your retirement sir.
Hopefully he enjoys retirement, he helped create some amazing stuff.
Well...
Hopefully Shigeru Miyamoto keep working for long.
He will be 65 on this year.
Please, don't retire yet Mr. Miyamoto...
Don't forget he also directed the Startropics games, I wish him well on his retirement.
I hope they keep him around on a consulting role, his inputs seem too valuable to just end here. But he does deserve to enjoy retirement, he's flipping 68!
Hall of Famer
Reading the statement he clearly is only leaving his role and not leaving the company or retiring.
He has been our direct connection to Yokoi-san and his hardware philosophies for 20 years. The good and bad, aside, he's brought us from the N64 through the Switch. Hopefully he's still going to be an influence even if he's outside the company, just as Yamauchi was right up to the WiiU.
However, as some point out this isn't clear that he's leaving entirely. it does not mention anyone else taking over the title of "Technology Fellow". As Kimishima admits not being up to that task (why he created the Fellowship to begin with), and I can't imagine them letting Miyamoto run loose on hardware AND software, so perhaps Takeda is retiring from the day-to-day active full time role, but keeping the Fellowship role as a more part time task.
Enjoy your retirement.
@Anti-Matter Miyamoto is a ball of energy. His type doesn't retire. They talk about retiring, but they never do it I hope that remains true in his case, but you watch how giddy he gets with creative ideas, and I don't think he has the ability to leave it, even if he talks about it from time to time. Heck he's talked about what career he'd get into if he were to retire. I do always worry that he will, but, heck, who WOULD retire from that job, he gets to have total creative oversight over pretty much everything at Nintendo, most of which is his own creation. I think that's every artists dream!
@The__Goomba Maybe he's retiring to work on a Star Tropics open world reboot?
Sad news, but considering his age, I think a nice retirement is in order. I wish him well.
@NEStalgia If only that was the case.
That's bad, hope it gets replaced by valid people but he has so much expertise that it would be difficult, indeed.
Wii was technically risible but that Wiimote was cool (but Joy-Con is far cooler). I liked it, unfortunately I had to sell the Wii because of really bad graphics. On an LCD was a punch in the eye. Got an Xbox 360 instead, cool platform.
Terrible news. Clearly Takeda-san couldn't bear the humiliation of working for the same company as Reggie one more day.
I wish Takeda-san well and thank him for all his hard work. Ugh I long for a good company to work for.
Shame to see him go.
Sixty-eight is more than time to retire, though it's not as old as it used to be!
I wish him a well retirement!
@Anti-Matter I could see Miyamoto retiring at 68 as well. But frankly Miyamoto hasn't been directly managing many games in recent years, but rather supervising. So all of the Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, Star Fox, and other games have had his direction at a high level. We still have another decade hopefully of Eiji Aonuma at the helm of Zelda, but I would imagine even he is training a successor.
But I wish Genyo Takeda the best in his hopefully long and well deserved retirement. He has been one of the great minds behind the development of the game consoles and early arcade systems we have enjoyed.
Thank you Takeda-san sincerely for everything you've done.
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