After Jim Merrick left Nintendo of Europe for apparently no reason, NOE was left with a large hole in its marketing staff.
That changed today, as Nintendo announced that Laurent Fischer will be replacing James as Head of Marketing for Nintendo of Europe. Fischer worked for Nintendo as marketing director for France before this promotion. Quoting Fischer in a statement at the announcement:
"Nintendo is moving into a very exciting and innovative time as we expand the definition of gaming and broaden the population of video games players. I am looking forward to the new challenge of working for Nintendo at a European level in this particularly significant period."
Jim Merrick worked as the Head of Marketing for NOE since January 6th, 2003, and had been with Nintendo since 1995. Before 2003, he worked for Nintendo of America in several different departments, including working with Satoru Iwata on an Internet strategy for Nintendo's games in 2000. His work more than likely led up to the launch of Nintendo's WiFi Connection service, although he was not directly associated with the launch of the service.
Merrick or Nintendo have not given an actual reason for Merrick's departure.
