Reggie Fils-Aime was the president of Nintendo of America from 2006-2019 and was one of the most recognizable figures in the video game industry during that time. He was instrumental in the success of the Wii and the Nintendo DS and brought some progressive thinking to Nintendo as a company at a time when they really needed it. His book Disrupting The Game is a snapshot of his business career, especially his time at Nintendo.

It’s well-written and has Reggie’s personality all through its pages. I knew a little about his business background before reading the book, but I didn’t know he had worked for so many companies before he came to Nintendo. I knew a lot about his time at Nintendo, but I didn’t know he led the charge on some of the most instrumental decisions that led to the success of the Wii and DS, and I underestimated how much he changed the culture at Nintendo of America, and how badly Nintendo of America needed a culture change.

My only real complaint about the book is that it’s too short, as it’s only around 200 pages. While reading about Reggie’s successes in the business world was interesting, some time could’ve been spent talking about some of the failures to balance things out. Granted, there might not be a lot of failures to talk about, but I can think of at least one: the Wii U. After talking about the success of the Wii in detail, Reggie glosses over the decisions that led to the Wii U not living up to expectations. From there, he could’ve gone into more detail about the lessons Nintendo learned from the Wii U, and what they did differently with the Switch.

Reggie should consider writing a book just about his time at Nintendo. I love seeing behind the curtain of video game companies and learning how games are made on the creative side, and the decisions that are made on the business side. I don’t know how much Reggie could talk about that Nintendo would approve of, but it would make for an interesting book if he did.

In spite of its brevity, Disrupting The Game is a good read, and is especially recommended for Nintendo fans and aspiring business executives.