Shinji Hatano

Shinji Hatano (波多野 信治) (born April 14, 1942) is a former executive at Nintendo. Hatano was the general manager of Nintendo's Accounting, Licensing and Marketing Divisions, and the former Representative Director. As the head of the Licensing Division, Hatano is largely credited for such business decisions as attracting Square Enix to forming a partnership with Nintendo, allowing first-party characters to appear in third-party games (such as Link in Soul Calibur II), and the Mario Party spin-off games. Hatano is credited under special thanks in Metroid: Other M, and also executive produced the Dōbutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing) anime film. Hatano retired from Nintendo in 2013. The final game he produced for them was Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre.