Nintendo’s Kimishima was only elected president for a year, he claims in interview

Tatsumi Kimishima is a name you’re going to hear a lot of in the coming year, thanks to the Nintendo board electing him as the company’s new president. While he many not be as charismatic or endearing as Satoru Iwata, he’s filled with business savvy — arguably a trait that Nintendo needs now more than ever.

In a recent interview conducted by Nikkei magazine, the new president made a few interesting remarks.

Notably, he predicted that the Nintendo Wii U — the company’s latest failed console — would be a commercial flop, as it was too similar to the original Nintendo Wii. While this might not sound like a remark of a genius, it does make sense.

Read more: Nintendo appoints Tatsumi Kimishima as new company president

The Wii sold like hotcakes during its tenure, because it introduced the motion control phenomenon to the gaming world when the fifth-gen consoles, like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 didn’t.

The Wii U has eventually gone on to sell over 10-million units, but that’s largely thanks to its gaming bouquet including Splatoon and Super Smash Bros. Wii U rather than its hardware ingenuity.

Remarkably, Kimishima has also revealed that the Nintendo board has elected him for just one year, and he is “unsure about what will happen beyond this period,” claims GameSpot.

Nintendo’s former presidents have had well over ten years at the helm each, so sacking Kimishima after a single year in charge would be rather anti-Nintendo. Still, it’s clear that the company is willing to change with the times, regardless of what those times might hold.

Read more: Nintendroid dreams: will the Nintendo NX console run on Android?

While Kimishima does take the reigns at an awkward time for the gaming giant, he can look forward to the Nintendo NX — the company’s upcoming and supposedly revolutionary console — which will perhaps be Nintendo’s most important hardware release since the Nintendo Wii.

Additionally, he has also committed to the company’s mobile roadmap, a vision that Satoru Iwata had for the company prior to his death. And rather fittingly, the company’s first plunge into the mobile dive pool will be inspired by the Pokemon he once fathered.