Doug Bowser, former President of Nintendo of America, recently reflected on his assessments before and after the Switch's launch and discussed Nintendo's platform strategy. He believes there is currently no need for Nintendo to bring its first-party titles to competing platforms.
When Bowser first learned about the Switch, he was impressed by the concept of merging home consoles and handhelds into a single device, believing this design would allow the company to concentrate its development resources on one platform. He initially worried that the Switch's lower specifications compared to competing products might negatively impact consumer response, but his concerns faded after seeing attendees enjoying games at the January launch event.
Discussing exclusivity strategies, Bowser stated that Nintendo's hardware and software teams collaborate to develop and optimize products, aiming for optimal performance, controlling development costs, and keeping users within their own ecosystem. He also noted that even though Switch sales have surpassed 150 million units, discussions about the "console wars" often focus solely on Sony and Microsoft, which frustrated his competitive nature, though he believes Nintendo has carved out its own path.
Bowser also looked back on his hiring experience. In 2015, while Nintendo was still struggling with the Wii U, he saw multiple projects targeting that platform canceled at EA, which led him to initially decline Nintendo's offer. He reconnected with recruiters and accepted the position a few weeks later. He also mentioned that Shinya Takahashi would observe testers' facial expressions during internal playtests to gauge whether players were truly having fun.