Nintendo's big news of the day is what wasn't announced

Today's Nintendo news has far more significance than simply the appointing of a new president for the game maker. It is a clear sign that as a company, Nintendo still struggles to make the immediate leap forward some believe it needs to continue to be a leader in the industry.

But more importantly, it could also be a sign that such a shift is being planned and could come within years.

Despite relatively recent setbacks, Nintendo has a long history of both innovation and tremendous success in video games. Both are powered by a core of talented, aging creators.

With the untimely passing of Satoru Iwata in July at the age of 55, Nintendo faced the challenge of finding a replacement for the beloved face of the company, while still planning for the next generation of game development.

Speculation had Shigeru Miyamoto, Genyo Takeda or even Shinya Takahashi taking over the leadership of Nintendo, but the company instead announced that Tatsumi Kimishima, a 65-year-old director of human resources with a long history of innocuous management at Nintendo, would take over the role.

David Gibson, head of research for analyst group Macquarie in Japan, believes the appointment is meant to buy time for the company to prepare the next president for the role.

He also noted that Kimishima, who over his career helped run The Pokémon Company and was the president of Nintendo of America, is 65, the retirement age for non-directors at Nintendo. What that means, Gibson believes, is that he's not likely to be around for even five years.

So why appoint someone who will likely only hold the role for a few years?

That's where the rest of Nintendo's restructuring comes into play.

Along with announcing Kimishima as the company's new president, Nintendo also walked through some significant changes happening at the company.

Both Miyamoto and Takeda (who had been co-running the company since Iwata's death) have been named "fellows" at Nintendo. Takeda, one of the architects of the Wii, is now a technology fellow, and Miyamoto is now a creative fellow.

By giving up their general manager positions, this allows both Miyamoto and Takeda to better advise Kimishima. What that means, Gibson believes, is that essentially the two will end up having less day-to-day impact on Nintendo but a much bigger impact on the company's long-term, overall strategy.

This means Nintendo can stay in the relatively safe hands of three talented leaders while preparing for the next generation.

What does that mean for the near future of Nintendo, its strategies and games?

Not a lot of change.

In appointing Kimishima, Nintendo said its aim was to "strengthen and enhance the management structure of the company" following Iwata's death. During a press conference today, the company added that there are no plans to change Iwata's fundamental strategy. Those plans include a partnership with DeNA to make mobile games and plans for a gaming system known as the NX.

So it's business as usual, at least externally, while Nintendo begins to prepare younger management for their inevitable rise to power at the company.

Gibson sees the company focusing on its next big initiative — mobile games — in the near future with a press conference on the matter as early as next month.

While news of Pokémon Go coming to mobile made a big splash, it wasn't part of the DeNA deal, so expect some big news when that initiative is finally detailed.