The next game in the Gears of War series has included a reference to former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé, which has prompted a response from the former Regginator on Twitter.
Reggie Fils-Aimé was known for transforming himself into a kind of living meme, thanks to his corny persona that he used during gaming events, which endeared him to the gaming public at large. One of Reggie's most famous quotes was "My body is ready," which he uttered before testing Wii Fit at E3 2007. The quote became associated with Reggie and it appeared in several different video games in various capacities, such as when the player collects all of the custom outfits in Super Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U.
Reggie Fils-Aimé retired from his position as president of Nintendo of America earlier this year and people from all over the industry wished him well. It seems that Reggie had a lot of supporters within Microsoft, as one of the first achievements the player unlocks in the upcoming Gears 5 is "My Body is Ready," which is earned when completing boot camp. Reggie commented on the reference on Twitter, which led to a response from Phil Spencer, the current executive vice-president of Gaming at Microsoft, who said "Respect paid where respect is due."
The days of rivalry between the console gaming companies have long since ended and companies like Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony will often cross party lines in order to congratulate each other or to mourn the passing of a key figure, as was the case when Satoru Iwata passed away in 2015. There has also been a lot of co-operation between the big names in the console market as of late, with Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony banding together to oppose the tariffs on China, as well as working together on streaming gaming technology for the upcoming generation of consoles.
Reggie Fils-Aimé was an important figure to the gaming industry as a whole and he helped Nintendo to transition into the Nintendo DS/Wii era, while helped to bring gaming to new levels of mainstream attention. The fact that a Microsoft game features such a clear reference to Reggie shows just how much he was beloved by the industry as a whole.