Reggie Fils-Aimé, the former president of Nintendo of America, has publicly explained why Nintendo stopped selling Wii and DS hardware to Amazon during the consoles’ commercial peaks.
Speaking at the NYU Game Center Lecture Series, Fils-Aimé described a business impasse between Nintendo and the then-expanding retailer that led Nintendo to halt direct shipments to Amazon during the Wii and DS era.
Context: the Wii and DS era
The Nintendo DS launched in North America in November 2004 and the Wii followed in North America in November 2006.
Both platforms became major revenue drivers for Nintendo: the DS family ultimately sold in excess of 150 million units worldwide and the Wii family sold more than 100 million units, making both consoles among Nintendo’s best-selling hardware lines.
Reggie Fils-Aimé served as Nintendo of America’s president from 2006 through 2019, a period that encompassed the Wii’s lifecycle and significant portions of the DS’s market presence.
Rewritten account of Fils-Aimé’s remarks
Fils-Aimé told the audience that Amazon, seeking rapid expansion in the video game retail space, requested substantial financial support from Nintendo so it could undercut competitors on price.
According to Fils-Aimé, Amazon pushed for what he called an “obscene amount of support” to ensure it offered the lowest price in the marketplace and beat rivals such as Walmart.
He said he told the Amazon executive that providing that level of financial support would be illegal and could harm Nintendo’s relationships with other retailers.
When the two sides could not reach agreement, Nintendo stopped selling directly to Amazon.
Verified facts and implications
Fils-Aimé framed the decision as both a legal and strategic stand: he said Nintendo would not participate in pricing behavior that might violate law or disadvantage other retail partners.
The pause in direct shipments to Amazon reflected broader tensions between large platform holders and major retailers during periods of explosive hardware demand.
The episode is part of Nintendo’s longer history of managing retail partnerships to protect pricing, distribution, and relationships with brick-and-mortar and online sellers.
What this means for industry watchers
The exchange highlights how hardware manufacturers, retailers, and platform holders negotiate marketing support, pricing, and distribution during console launches and high-volume sales windows.
For Nintendo, the Wii and DS eras were formative in shaping how the company manages retail agreements and enforces pricing and promotional policies across partners, including major online retailers and traditional chains.
Speaking at the NYU Game Center Lecture Series, Fils-Aimé described a business impasse between Nintendo and the then-expanding retailer that led Nintendo to halt direct shipments to Amazon during the Wii and DS era.
Context: the Wii and DS era
The Nintendo DS launched in North America in November 2004 and the Wii followed in North America in November 2006.
Both platforms became major revenue drivers for Nintendo: the DS family ultimately sold in excess of 150 million units worldwide and the Wii family sold more than 100 million units, making both consoles among Nintendo’s best-selling hardware lines.
Reggie Fils-Aimé served as Nintendo of America’s president from 2006 through 2019, a period that encompassed the Wii’s lifecycle and significant portions of the DS’s market presence.
Rewritten account of Fils-Aimé’s remarks
Fils-Aimé told the audience that Amazon, seeking rapid expansion in the video game retail space, requested substantial financial support from Nintendo so it could undercut competitors on price.
According to Fils-Aimé, Amazon pushed for what he called an “obscene amount of support” to ensure it offered the lowest price in the marketplace and beat rivals such as Walmart.
He said he told the Amazon executive that providing that level of financial support would be illegal and could harm Nintendo’s relationships with other retailers.
When the two sides could not reach agreement, Nintendo stopped selling directly to Amazon.
Verified facts and implications
Fils-Aimé framed the decision as both a legal and strategic stand: he said Nintendo would not participate in pricing behavior that might violate law or disadvantage other retail partners.
The pause in direct shipments to Amazon reflected broader tensions between large platform holders and major retailers during periods of explosive hardware demand.
The episode is part of Nintendo’s longer history of managing retail partnerships to protect pricing, distribution, and relationships with brick-and-mortar and online sellers.
What this means for industry watchers
The exchange highlights how hardware manufacturers, retailers, and platform holders negotiate marketing support, pricing, and distribution during console launches and high-volume sales windows.
For Nintendo, the Wii and DS eras were formative in shaping how the company manages retail agreements and enforces pricing and promotional policies across partners, including major online retailers and traditional chains.