We first met Nintendo of America’s VP of Corporate Affairs Denise Kaigler at a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament in Worcester, Massachusetts, shortly after she accepted the job with the company. At the time, she had just left Reebok and was a little defensive (probably because she didn’t really know all the details yet) of her role at the house of Mario. Our initial impression of Kaigler was that she was a little different, there was something we couldn’t quite pin down at the time.
Here we are now, a year later, and she certainly is comfortable in her role. Sitting in a big comfy armchair — barefoot, mind you — in a local hotel during GDC, we spoke with the executive about Nintendo’s relationship with the core audience, its plans with the two DS models and its relationship with third-party publishers. Reading our transcription of this interview, it can be interpreted that there was some hostility in our conversation; however, it’s worth noting, that in context, it was a mixture of sass and smiles. She certainly is a different type of executive than the other public figures we’ve gotten used to in this industry.
So, is the SD storage solution a sign that Nintendo is paying attention to the core gamers. Was that development part of feedback? How did that happen?
Kaigler: We have never stopped listening and caring about the core gamer. Ever. As you know, a year ago when I got to the job and reading your site, reading some of the other sites, and reading most of all the message boards — what folks are saying about it. And they are saying, you know, Nintendo doesn’t care. It’s never been about that, right. So what I think - I am going to answer your question in a second - but how I like to explain it: So, there is the core, who have been so faithful to Nintendo for so many years and we absolutely appreciate it and recognize that. … You guys are still right there dead center, we’ve just brought in more gamers. We’ve shared the fun that you guys (the core) have had to yourselves and enjoyed for so long. We are sharing it with many, many more people. So our focus has never gone off the core, we have expanded our focus to include others. So I want to first say that.
Continue reading GDC09: Joystiq interviews Nintendo’s Denise Kaigler about Nintendo and ‘the core,’ DS coexistence
GDC09: Joystiq interviews Nintendo’s Denise Kaigler about Nintendo and ‘the core,’ DS coexistence originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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