NOA's Vice President of Corporate Affairs announces her departure...

In somewhat surprising news, one of Nintendo of America's VP's has announced that she is leaving Nintendo. Denise Kaigler joined the company in January 2008 as Vice President of Corporate Affairs.

Kaigler announced the news on IGN's Nintendo Minute feature, citing family reasons for her departure.

I know how your readers like me to reveal news and surprises in my Nintendo Minutes, and I'd say that today definitely qualifies as my latest surprise.

It's a fact of life that job and family often pull us in opposite directions. As regular readers of this feature know, this has proved particularly challenging for me, as I've spent the last two years commuting almost constantly between San Francisco, Seattle, New York and my home in New England. It has been a fantastic adventure, but the time has come where I need to choose one over the other � and I have to choose my family.

So, as a result, this will be the final "Minute" that I spend with you all, and my last day with Nintendo of America.

During my time at Nintendo I have developed friendships with so many wonderful people, from my co-workers to people I have interacted with along the way, including reporters, bloggers and video game fans like all of you. Those memories simply can't be replaced, and I will take them with me. What I leave behind is a great team that will continue to tell the story of Nintendo's pipeline of wonderful products.

There are hundreds of people I hope I will run across again � and trust that I will. So instead of considering this "game over," I look at my choice as really just finishing one level � and moving on to the next.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to answer your questions and talk so directly with Nintendo's fans. For now, my "Minute" is up.

Kaigler is one of the most repsected PR execs among the Nintendo community, and she will no doubt be missed.

We'd like to wish Denise all the best for whatever the future has to offer.