We've heard rumors about this happening, and now it's official. With Nintendo's Sales and Marketing divisions moving out of Redmond to New York and San Francisco, those wishing not to relocate are leaving the gaming giant. We already know that George Harrison is leaving at the end of the year, so this makes two.

I for one, will remember Kaplan for when she said that the Wii would be region-free. But let's remember the good times, because she did have good tenure and was pretty good for Nintendo.

Nintendo Co Ltd is losing another senior executive from its U.S. operations. Vice President of Marketing Perrin Kaplan said on Thursday she would leave the video game company at the end of the year.

Kaplan, who has been with Nintendo 15 years, announced her departure one month after George Harrison, her boss and the senior vice president of marketing, said he would leave by the end of the year.

"I finally will be leaving Nintendo at the end of the year. Until then, I am focused on getting a great transition team in place and handling all of my normal responsibilities as well," Kaplan said in an e-mail to Reuters.

The announcements followed months of speculation that the two well-regarded faces of Nintendo would leave after the company, which has its main U.S. office in Redmond, Washington, said earlier this year it would move its sales and marketing staff to New York and San Francisco.

Nintendo is riding high on the success of its Wii video game console and DS handheld device, which are appealing to a broader audience than products from rivals Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp.

Akira_EX via reuters.com »