A lifetime achievement award for Don James, Nintendo’s behind-the-scenes man | interview

Don James, executive vice president of Nintendo of America, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dice Awards on Thursday night for his contributions to the games industry.

He joined Nintendo in 1981 as the fifth employee of Nintendo of America. He basically did everything that had to be done, and he said, “Every day was a new adventure” in our exclusive interview. And yet James, who spent 43 years at Nintendo and is now retiring, is hardly known in a public way. I never interviewed him until this week, and most gamers have no idea what James did in his career.