Reggie Fils-Aime is one of the most well-known and well-loved figures in the video game industry, and his departure from Nintendo rocked the world of fans everywhere. Fortunately, his retirement from the company where he spent 16 years as president was not the end of Reggie sharing his love for Nintendo. Now a Leader in Residence at Cornell University (his Alma Mater), Fils-Aime often gives presentations for students in the School of Business.
During the Q&A session of his most recent talk (a discussion of the leadership principles he followed for his 35 years in the industry), Reggie was asked what was his favorite game that released during his tenure at Nintendo (2003-2019). In a move that delighted the whole audience, Reggie answered with, “I would say Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.”
He went on to describe himself as having always been a “huge Zelda fan,” and stated that his favorite entry in the series overall was A Link to the Past. He also praised the development team for changing up the formula and conventions of the franchise with Breath of the Wild, calling it “phenomenal.”
Reggie was also asked who he mains in Smash, garnering a volley of cheers and laughs from the audience (and the colloquium host). Beginning his response with a humorous disclaimer about his Smash skills, Reggie stated: “Those of you who truly are Nintendo fans know I’m not very good at Smash.” Despite this self-professed lack of skill, Reggie still plays and enjoys Smash Bros. Ultimate and chooses to main Princess Zelda and Ridley. He plays the former for her ability to keep him on the stage more easily, but gave no reason for his choice of Ridley — at least, not in this Q&A.
In an episode of Nintendo Minute uploaded in December 2018, Reggie discussed how he chose Ridley as one of his mains. He jokingly stated how he initially wanted to simply pick a powerful character that no one else had access to so he could be the best player of that character for even the briefest of moments. He states the reason for his continued Ridley use shortly after, saying the character’s wings allow him to get back onto the stage more easily than other characters (I think we can see a trend in his character choices here).
With the sequel to Breath of the Wild launching sometime in the (hopefully near) future, it will be interesting to see if Reggie’s choice of favorite overall Zelda game remains A Link to the Past. As for his Smash mains, I get the feeling we may see a new addition to Reggie’s personal roster if any of the unannounced DLC fighters end up having strong recovery moves.
