Ex-Nintendo boss Reggie Fils-Aimé says everyone was indie

Our body is ready. 

The former president of Nintendo America, Reggie Fils-Aimé returned to The Game Awards last night to present the award for Fresh Indie Game of the year. In his award statement, Reggie shared some of his thoughts on the industry and why indies, in particular, are so significant.

“I think this is the most important award of the night,” said Fils-Aimé. “Because I believe indie developers are the most important creators in this industry. Why? Because every nominee this year, and every year at one time was an indie developer.”

Some of the nominees this year featured the biggest names and studios in the industry including Kojima Productions, a triple-A studio with a multimillion-pound game that players questioned might be classed as an indie. Reggie went on to clarify that everyone who started out with imagining what they could create was in a way an independent developer, or at least they embodied that spirit.

“In the same sense that everyone was once a kid sketching a superhero in the middle of class or lying in bed at night thinking of worlds and challenges that no one had ever dreamed of before,” said Fils-Aimé.

He also touched on his admiration for Producer, Siguro Miyamoto and the late CEO of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata who he said had infused the industry with their bright imaginations. He even mentioned a short story about how Iwata had invented a video game on a portable calculator whilst still in high school.

“They both became fixures in the history of video games,” said Fils-Aimé. “But first they were dreamers and they began with their imagination, so like everyone else, at the start, they were true indie developers.”

Disco Elysium went on to win the award for Fresh Indie Game along with three other awards at the show, so a good night for the team at ZA/UM.