Around the same time Reggie Fils-Aimé stepped down from his role as Nintendo of America, he showed off some gifts he had received from co-workers as well as the company's studios.
One gift that generated a lot of speculation online (at the time) was a signed and framed piece of artwork from Retro Studios. We even ran a story about it at the time. In it, Reggie is surrounded by characters from Retro's games. However, one is hidden away behind a Mario statue and it kind of looks like a robot.
If you've been wondering about it at all, Reggie has now elaborated on what it is during a special AMA (Ask Me Anything) fundraiser. He also mentioned how his placement of the statue in front was also on purpose. Here's what he had to say, courtesy of GameXplain:
"He said that wouldn't show the portrait, but he did say this character was a personal, sentimental drawing of a character that the Retro Studios team did for him. And the president of Retro, Michael Kelbaugh - who is a good friend of Reggie, made him promise not to show it to anyone because it had an inside story that he's committed to secrecy about.
"Reggie confirms that he did put that Mario statue there on purpose because he didn't want anyone to know what this character was."
So, now we kind of know what was behind the statue, we guess? Some kind of "personal, sentimental" drawing...
Any ideas about who this character could be? Still hopeful we might see it one day? Leave your thoughts down below.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 31
Robot Iwata confirmed
And the mystery still lives on
Is that a golden butt on the right?
The real secret is that Reggie is a robot.
Man I would kill to see what it is.
It's the Regginator!
@PBandSmelly That sounds plausible. A joke gift or gift(s) if you will. If you just made that up though: bravo! Made me grin with my morning coffee! (Note: the coffee wasn't grinning with me)
That Black book and the picture makes it seem like hes died.
Anyways, the top part just looks like part of Samus's Gun, but the robot hand could be anything to be honest.
We debated this in the original article from 2019
In all seriousness, I'm pretty sure that robot was/is an internal mascot for Retro.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Don't fall for it. Reggie isn't going to say what the drawing is. He isn't going to do that. It isn't just a personal inside thing.
R.I.P. Reggie('s career at Nintendo).
@LexKitteh You might be right there!
...I feel like the hand is from that Player Nodon from Game Builder Garage. lol
He didn't want us to know what it was...but he wanted us to see it.
Next announcement: Reggie's new book unveils the mystery of the character hidden behind his Mario statue. ; )
Is this a Butt to hang on the Wall on the right?
I think it's the new Donkey Kong villain from the game that Retro Studios is making.
I think its Robo K Rool. Rare see him as the madman behind NoA.
It's clearly Cyandog from Medabots. I mean, why wouldn't it be? /jk
Is that the VR robot thing ?
It's the robot from PROJECT GIANT ROBOT.
F.
@Joeynator3000 Nah, it looks nothing like that.
@Flashlink99 The only thing more depressing than the fact that this is a question asked on this comment thread is that the answer is "Yes. Yes, it is...."
@Madder128 Robo Iwata for smash
I'm down for that
@Joeynator3000
I knew that hand looked familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly where I had seen it before!
Maybe the rest of the robot is made out of dicks and it's not Nintendo approved.
For a robot, it has quite the human ear.
I hope the world NEVER finds out. Keep up the mystery
@bluemage1989 I can see that happening. I mean, he's been a king, a pirate, a scientist and a robot would definitely complete the collection.
A "personal," "sentimental" drawing, eh? Y'all are missing the obvious; clearly this is a pseudo-commisioned piece of Reggie's robot waifu.
I would like to see it one day, moreso if Reggie himself revealed it.
Nice to see two bosses having some personal friendship, even without a project we don't know about.
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