Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo
Written by Reggie Fils-Aimé
Narrated by Reggie Fils-Aimé
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER
Includes an audiobook-exclusive conversation with video game journalist Geoff Keighley!
Read by the author.
LESSONS FROM A BOSS-LEVEL DISRUPTOR AND GAMING LEGEND
Reggie Fils-Aimé, retired President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America Inc., shares leadership lessons and inspiring stories from his unlikely rise to the top.
Although he’s best known as Nintendo's iconic President of the Americas—immortalized for opening Nintendo’s 2004 E3 presentation with, “My name is Reggie, I'm about kicking ass, I'm about taking names, and we're about making games”—Reggie Fils-Aimé’s story is the ultimate game plan for anyone looking to beat the odds and achieve success.
Learn from Reggie how to leverage disruptive thinking to pinpoint the life choices that will make you truly happy, conquer negative perceptions from those who underestimate or outright dismiss you, and master the grit, perseverance, and resilience it takes to dominate in the business world and to reach your professional dreams.
As close to sitting one-on-one with the gaming legend as it gets, you will learn:
- About the challenges Reggie faced throughout his life and career—from his humble childhood as the son of Haitian immigrants, to becoming one of the most powerful names in the history of the gaming industry.
- What it takes to reach the top of your own industry, including being brave enough to stand up for your ideas, while also being open to alternative paths to success.
- How to create vibrant and believable visions for your career, your team, and your company.
- How to maintain relentless curiosity and know when to ask questions to shatter the status quo.
Editor's Note
Nintendo behind-the-scenes…
This debut memoir from the former president and COO of Nintendo of America provides an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek at life at the video game giant. He documents his early days growing up in a Bronx tenement and his professional success at Proctor & Gamble, VH1, and, later, the most famous gaming company in the world. Readers can take away many important business and leadership lessons from the daring career decisions Fils-Aimé makes along the way.
Reggie Fils-Aimé
Reggie Fils- Aimé is an award-winning innovator and disrupter who has helped bring the Nintendo DS, the Wii, the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and the Nintendo Switch to the global marketplace. He joined Nintendo of America Inc. in December 2003 as Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. In May 2006, he was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer. He was inducted into the International Videogame Hall of Fame in October 2019 and received the annual Legend Award from the New York Video Game Critics Circle in January 2020. Prior to joining Nintendo, Reggie was Senior Vice President of Marketing at VH1. During his tenure at VH1, he engineered the channel’s redirection to young viewers that resulted in an overall 30 percent rating growth, and he created and executed the marketing plans for The Concert for New York City, which raised more than $35 million for disaster relief in the wake of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks. Since retiring, he has focused his energy on developing the next generation of business leaders. In August 2019, he was named Cornell University’s Dyson Undergraduate Business School Leader in Residence. He also founded Brentwood Growth Partners to help emerging companies scale and enable leaders to create world-class cultures.
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Reviews for Disrupting the Game
37 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great business book first, not just about gaming.
Reggie's book is first about business and marketing, and it just so happens that about 70% of it takes place in the gaming industry. If you're just looking for a book about the gaming industry or hoping for a tell-all book about Nintendo, this is not what you'll find. This is NOT "Console Wars: The Reggie Years". The first third of the book is about his early years growing up, his education at Cornell, his time at P&G, Pizza Hut, Panda Express, VH1, and a few more. However, you should still read it. It's very good, it's entertaining, there are good business & life lessons, and a lot to gain from it.
If you've already read a ton of business books, you probably won't get too much out of this one. It's more of a business 101-201 level book, but it also offers a modern take, based on relationship building, practical insights, a willingness to take calculated risks, leading with a healthy mix of business savvy and empathy (not ego), and being data-driven.
From a Nintendo history point of view, there's a lot of focus on Reggie's early years, the Nintendo DS, and the Wii, all major successes. I wish Reggie had shared more about the WiiU and how they could have been so wrong. He does explain some of the mistakes and lessons learned, but it felt a bit dismissive, focusing more on the what went wrong rather than how it happened. How is it that they missed the mark? Which industry trends were missed or downplayed? That sort of lesson would have been educational.
I highly recommend the Audiobook since it's narrated by Reggie himself. The words carry more weight through his delivery, and the pacing is thoughtful, though I'm sure some will find it slow. I think it was just right. There's also a bonus 1h+ interview with Geoff Keighley at the end, and that one is definitely more for the Nintendo fans than the business audience. That was a nice touch.
Overall 5-stars, highly recommended book.1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pretty enjoyable book. Just a heads up, it’s not so much a auto-biography though some early chapters discuss his parents, Haiti, and his childhood, this book is mostly about little life lessons to help you get through life and career choices. The “so what” as he would call them at the end of each chapter summarizing the lessons to take away from each chapter you just read. You don’t have to necessarily be a video game fan to enjoy this, as I said this book is mostly about life lessons that you can apply to any life or career. However, as a video game fan you will probably appreciate some of these chapters a bit more as he does eventually discuss Nintendo.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fenomenales historias de uno de los hombres más interesantes del mundo de los videojuegos. Tiene consejos muy relevantes si estás pensando en entrar al mundo de los negocios.