Breaking news indeed… and while the actual location has yet to be announced, (they’re still looking for a building to lease) thanks to the dedicated desktop heads over at our good ol’ San Jose Mercury News, comes word that Nintendo is opening up an office here in Silicon Valley.
Said to be in the vicinity of “Redwood City, Menlo Park, San Carlos”, current Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has stated that 55 key jobs in sales and marketing will be moving from the headquarters in Redmond, WA.
While the news of moving these departments might cause a stir with key executives, Nintendo’s move looks to position itself to finally enter the valley’s esteemed community. With the success of the Wii & the DS, the move definitely comes at a time where Nintendo is financially stable.
For the valley itself, this means even more signs that the turbulent years after both the bubble of dot.com crash & 9-11 era might finally be put to past as the valley itself is recovering and still thriving as a technology & media leader.
If done right, this should be great news for an already thriving gaming community. Northern California is already home to Electronic Arts in Redwood City, Namco in San Jose, Capcom in Santa Clara, Red Octane in Sunnyvale, and Cryptics Studios in Los Alto.
Will Nintendo’s presence make an impact? Most definitely. How deep that impact influences the area and the gaming industry as a whole will depend on whether or not Nintendo can capitalize on the Valley’s sense of spontaneity and simple good natured windfall.
Source: mercurynews.com
