Fully Charged: Nintendo appoints new president, and Tidal is selling CDs (seriously)

Nintendo has a new president

Following the passing of beloved Nintendo president Satoru Iwata in July, the company has appointed a new leader for the role. Tatsumi Kimishima had recently served as managing director at Nintendo, and previously held roles at Nintendo of America and The Pokemon Company, but now will be representative director and president.

Longtime Nintendo employees Genyo Takeda and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto had run the company in the interim, and they have new titles as well: Takeda is now a Technology Fellow at the company, while Miyamoto is a Creative Fellow. These new roles are deemed standout positions that recognize their contributions to the company.

According to an interview with Nikkei in Japan (translated via Nintendo Life), Kimishima plans to maintain the company’s current plans during this initial one-year term, including smartphone game development with DeNA. And one other interesting tidbit: he apparently advised the company that the Wii U would fail, so he might bring a welcome new level of critical insight to Nintendo’s leadership.

[Sources: Nintendo, Polygon, Nintendo Life]

Tidal is selling CDs

Tidal might be trying to make a name for itself in high-quality streaming music, but the company clearly doesn’t mind dipping into dated tech to make some extra bank. After exclusively releasing Prince’s new album, HITNRUN PHASE ONE, the company is now selling physical and digital versions online.

That’s right: now you can buy a Prince CD from Tidal. It’s priced at £14, but shipping is apparently another £8, which makes this physical option a rather pricey one. No word yet if this will become a standard move for any further exclusives found on Tidal, but it is a surprising twist.

[Source: Business Insider]

Need for Speed delayed on PC

Play

On Sunday, we shared news that Electronic Arts and Ghost Games were opening up a closed beta test for Need for Speed on consoles – but not PC. And now we know why computer players weren’t invited: that version of the game was just delayed into 2016.

It will hit PC in the spring now, while the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions are still slated for 5 November (3 November in North America). Ghost says the need to have an unlocked frame rate and increased visuals in the PC version requires additional work, which is why it’s missing the holiday season. But at least the PC game will have all of the console updates released ’til that point when it comes out in the spring.

[Source: Need for Speed]