Nintendo hires Disney vet Duncan Orrell-Jones for new network business job
Nintendo of America announced the creation of a new "senior vice president of Network Business" position this morning, and hired Duncan Orrell-Jones to staff it. Orrell-Jones will "spearhead the development and evolution of Nintendo of America's digital strategy for the company's Nintendo 3DS and Wii U video game systems," as the company describes it. At very least, he'll be the one to point fingers at if the Wii U's eShop isn't to your liking.
His last employer was Disney, where he worked on expanding the Disney Interactive games business across multiple platforms outside North America. Orrell-Jones begins the new gig on July 1.
Nintendo has been showing a new interest in the online market recently. Most notably, of course, it's planning to sell retail Wii U and 3DS games digitally, but we've also seen promotions and discounts on the 3DS eShop today, something that only happened once in the Wii's lifespan (to date).
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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.
For more information about Nintendo, visit http://www.nintendo.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ home console, Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.9 billion video games and more than 630 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company's website at http://www.nintendo.com.
