Reggie Fils-Aimé Shares Wild Story of Nintendo and Amazon’s Tense Standoff
Reggie Fils-Aimé, the former president of Nintendo of America, recently shared an intriguing story from his time at the company that had everyone buzzing. During a talk at New York University, he recounted a rather intense phone call with an Amazon executive who had a rather unusual request for Nintendo back in the days of the Nintendo DS.
Fils-Aimé recalled that this conversation took place towards the end of the Wii and DS generation, around the late 2000s or early 2010s. At that time, he was busy driving up revenue for Nintendo while Amazon was eager to dive deeper into the gaming market. Their goal? To offer the lowest prices and outshine competitors like Walmart.
Here’s where things got sticky. According to Fils-Aimé, the Amazon executive was looking for massive financial support from Nintendo to undercut prices. Reggie, steadfast in his principles, bluntly told the executive, “You know, that’s illegal. I can’t do that.” There was a moment of silence on the other end, but the executive still insisted on getting what they wanted. This led to the drastic decision to stop selling to Amazon altogether, as Fils-Aimé wasn’t about to compromise his integrity.
This wasn’t the first time Nintendo and Amazon’s relationship had faced challenges. Fast forward to last year, and there were rumors circulating about tensions between the two companies regarding third-party resellers, which temporarily affected the availability of Nintendo products on Amazon ahead of the anticipated launch of the Nintendo Switch 2. However, both companies later denied any serious disputes, with Amazon stating that it was happy to offer Nintendo products to its customers.
After a year-long hiatus, Nintendo games made a comeback on Amazon in June 2025, but the details behind the back-and-forth remain elusive. While Fils-Aimé didn’t disclose everything, he did mention that he was determined not to jeopardize relationships with other retailers during his tenure.
In his words, “I wasn’t going to do something that would put at risk the relationships we have with our other retailers,” emphasizing the importance of standing firm in business practices. This approach, he believes, ultimately builds respect in the industry.
When discussing the launch of the original Switch in 2017, Fils-Aimé noted that Amazon played a crucial role in that success, highlighting that it stemmed from a mutually beneficial partnership rather than any sort of coercion.
Reggie Fils-Aimé’s anecdotes are a fascinating glimpse into the business side of gaming, showcasing the complexities behind major industry relationships that often go unnoticed by the casual gamer. As always, the gaming world continues to evolve, and these stories remind us of the intriguing past that shapes the gaming landscape today.