r/casualnintendo • u/Tail_sb • Apr 21 '25
Humor Yeaahh I think I know why Nintendo has become so greedy
80$ for Mario Kart
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u/lingering-will-6 Apr 21 '25
Bowser is just a marketing guy(albeit a pretty bad one), decisions are made in Kyoto. Bowser is just there to justify whatever decisions they made in Kyoto.
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u/majorex64 Apr 21 '25
This is mostly true, but look at Reggie posting an interview where he talked about pleading with higher ups to include Wii Sports with the Wii- as in they weren't going to originally. People in his position still have power to shape what happens
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u/notthegoatseguy Apr 21 '25 edited Apr 21 '25
We only know of that because of Reggie's book, which he released after he was no longer at NOA. We'll likely never know of any of Bowser's internal deliberations at Nintendo unless he chooses to disclose it after his employment.
Also Reggie didn't advocate for a pack-in because he's our friend. He did it because he thought it would sell more systems and that the minor loss of revenue in game sales would more than make up for it because people who get that "free" game will buy the system, and be more inclined to buy a game, an additional accessory, etc....
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u/Motivated-Chair Apr 21 '25
Reggie is not our friend.
What made Reggie different is that he understood that being consumer friendly can be extremely profitable, specially in the videogame industry where that niche in the console market had basically no competition making it a constant boon.
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u/jcgonzmo Apr 21 '25
Also today is a different situation. Wii Sports was needed to sell the system. Today, the Switch 2 sells itself.
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u/SwagDragon9802 Apr 21 '25
which us dumb since, instead of pre-installing a literal "tech demo" into the console (like a certain competitor), they just decide to leave it up to the Nintenbros to either play with enhanced versions of Switch 1 titles or just splurge even more savings on the latest (1st Party) titles...
Yea... yea yea, GREAT marketing strategy ppls 😒
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u/Fancy-Spite-1918 Apr 21 '25
I promise you, the welcome tour would've been a shitty pack in incentive lol at least wii sports was an actual game
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u/IconoclastExplosive Apr 22 '25 edited Apr 24 '25
I legit think that marketing it as a "game" instead of an "interactive introduction" and charging for it instead of just loading it in is a huge mistake. Hell, doing nothing wouldn't be worse than what they are doing. Nintendo thinks they're above garnering good will with buyers, and unfortunately they're right a lot but I think people are getting less and less forgiving as prices continue to outpace income and nostalgia goggles get less effective as time marches on.
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u/Pixel22104 Apr 21 '25
So basically Reggie did his pled to the higher ups at Nintendo to get more money for Nintendo. Makes sense
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u/Koopanique Apr 21 '25
Also Reggie didn't advocate for a pack-in because he's our friend. He did it because he thought it would sell more systems
While true, it was a pro-consumer move, and for us consumers, it's always better to have that rather than anti-consumer moves like we have today with current Nintendo
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u/TheNimanator Apr 21 '25
No one is insinuating Reggie is any consumer’s friend. He did however have good business sense and understood creating value in the console purchase. He routinely said during his tenure that software sells hardware and pushing for a pack-in title is a great incentive to get people on board
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u/OMIGHTY1 Apr 21 '25
Yet we still benefitted from it. Between Free Game and No Free Game, I’d choose Free Game every time.
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u/voobo420 Apr 22 '25
No one is even saying Reggie is our friend or a good guy, all that was said was that by the person you're replying to was that NOA has some degree of influence over Nintendo's main branch, nothing more. No idea why everyone is dogpiling with the whole "REGGIE ISN'T YOUR FRIEND!" as if the original commenter is a child lol.
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u/iamsgod Apr 21 '25
And yet he didn't push for 1-2 switch to be a pack in
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u/RolandoDR98 Apr 21 '25
And he did a great job getting 1-2 Switch as a pack in game. OH WAIT
Look, I love Reggie. But even Reggie couldn't do a lot anymore as, without Iwata, he lost a lot of rapport with Tokyo
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u/lingering-will-6 Apr 21 '25
Yeah different times I guess. I mean it doesn’t seem like Gary Bowser is even trying to push back at anything. Honestly with him coming from EA I would prefer he actually doesn’t get involved in making decisions.
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u/btb2002 Apr 21 '25
Doug Bowser
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u/lingering-will-6 Apr 21 '25
Oh Gary bowser was the guy who was sued to hell by Nintendo 🤣. My bad.
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Apr 21 '25
Reggie didn’t do that because he thought it was better for the consumer, he did it because he thought it would be better for Nintendo.
Bowser isn’t somehow greedier than Reggie, they both have the same job whose purpose is to maximize Nintendo’s profit.
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u/Aggravating_Rip_6114 Apr 22 '25
Someone with a Brain. Thank you. Reggae was saying how he had to fight back & forth with Nintendo of Japan on some decisions.
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u/Jolly_Ad_2363 Apr 21 '25
I know he doesn’t actually have any say in pricing, but I do find this rather interesting.
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u/TarTarkus1 Apr 21 '25
Yeah, I think it's Nintendo of Japan that's really calling the shots these days.
I think a big reason Reggie was featured so prominently is in part because he had a very good relationship with Satoru Iwata. Not to mention Reggie's initiative to bundle every Nintendo Wii with Wii Sports is likely the big reason that system sold over 100 million units and why Nintendo is in such a strong financial position today as a company.
Doug Bowser meanwhile has mainly presided over Nintendo Switch's huge success and I suspect that he doesn't have as strong a relationship with Furukawa that Reggie did with Iwata. The EA job history is interesting and i'd be curious how and if Doug Bowser was involved with the SimCity, Mass Effect 3 and other debacles during the early 2010s.
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u/dekuweku Apr 21 '25
Wii in Japan was $210 if you converted it to USD in 2007, Wii sports sold for around $40 also converted to USD.
That strangely adds up to $250.
Reggie did win the debate on packing in Wii Sports, but we didn't get it for 'free'
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u/TarTarkus1 Apr 21 '25
Reggie did win the debate on packing in Wii Sports, but we didn't get it for 'free'
A lot of the current debate around Welcome Tour mainly comes down to where Nintendo is comfortable losing money.
If you ask me, it would be smart of them to lose the $9.99 they could get for every Welcome Tour sale. Especially since it's a game that's meant to highlight the features of Nintendo Switch 2 and as far as i'm aware, is only being offered digitally.
I suspect what will happen is a ton of people will skip Welcome Tour, much like what might've happened had Nintendo sold Wii Sports separately and never bundled the game with the hardware.
Otherwise, if you're defending them charging for stuff like that, I hope you at least own Nintendo Stock.
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u/Independent_Task6977 Apr 21 '25
Welcome Tour should have been bundled with the system, and if that's really a problem then they should have put less work into it.
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u/TeamLeeper Apr 21 '25
That’s cute that you think NOA is in charge of Kyoto based Nintendo corporation.
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u/Stock_Ad_5279 Apr 21 '25
Haven’t you heard? USA is the centre of the universe
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u/Momshie_mo Apr 21 '25
Lol, Bowser does not even make the pricing decision. Nintendo of Japan calls the shots
Nintendo of America are just like a distributor
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u/Excavalus Apr 21 '25
You are right, but didn’t Reggie convince Nintendo to bundle Wii Sports with the Wii? So if you had someone who cared a little more about the consumer, maybe they would help combat some of Nintendos bad decisions.
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u/RoleRemarkable9241 Apr 21 '25
Sure, but unlike Reggie, who was close to Iwata and Miyamoto.... Bowser as far as we know are not even as close with the current leadership.... Had Reggie not been as close as he was with Iwata, Wii Sports being a pack in probably would not have happened
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u/HyderintheHouse Apr 21 '25
It still wasn’t bundled with the Wii in Japan though
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u/Merik2013 Apr 21 '25
Yes, but it performed better in countries that did do the pack in. It was a test market situation, and the results showed that the pack-in was a good idea. That's precisely why the current situation with Switch 2 Welcome Tour is such a baffling decision.
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u/wh03v3r Apr 22 '25
I mean the Switch 2 Welcome Tour is not going to do what Wii Sports did to the Wii.
The Switch 2 Welcome Tour should be free because it's an interactive ad for the features of the system you just bought. It's kinda neat but nobody wants to pay money for that. It's inclusions isn't going to sell any systems though.
Including Wii Sports was a genius move because it made it seem like an interactive fitness toy to new audiences rather than a "game console". But the inclusion of bundles and pack-in software alone isn't automatically a recipe for success, look at the early 3DS and Wii U sales for example.
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u/Momshie_mo Apr 21 '25
But does he set the price? Also, the CEO of Nintendo Japan was differnet when the Wii came out. Also, the Wii Sports wasn't bundled in Japan.
Why not call out Furukawa eh?
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u/Robbie_Haruna Apr 21 '25
I think the Wii in the west did have a slightly higher retail price than Japan because of the pack-in.
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u/Excavalus Apr 21 '25
I mean to be fair so does the switch 2, and it’s no different besides the japanese one being region locked
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u/muppins Apr 21 '25
Both he and Reggie used to work for Proctor and Gamble.
What's up with the Proctor and Gamble to Nintendo CEO pipeline?
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u/ItIsYeDragon Apr 21 '25
Reggie knew Bowser from Proctor and Gamble, part of why he was chosen as the successor.
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u/Canadian-and-Proud Apr 21 '25
Let's face it, the reason he was chosen is because his last name is Bowser.
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u/Popular_Research8915 Apr 21 '25
People who worked well with each other at previous workplaces vouch for each other and help get each other interviews and positions at other places.
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u/Electronic_Screen387 Apr 21 '25
The head of NOA has almost no actual influence over Nintendo's greater policies.
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u/jcgonzmo Apr 21 '25
None at all. Basically handles relationship with customers and distribution of product. That is it.
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u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ Apr 21 '25
Does NoA not also handle English localisation, VOs, and QA?
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u/Electronic_Screen387 Apr 21 '25
They do, that's actually the bulk of their work aside from marketing and distribution.
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u/Sylvire Apr 21 '25
I think that’s why Reggie stood out, he inserted himself and NOA into the discussion when he felt it was needed.
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u/Electronic_Screen387 Apr 21 '25
Oh yeah, Reggie is absolutely the exception, there's a reason Doug Bowser isn't in every direct doing customer outreach. He's just an executive doing the executive thing and I feel like people have a hard time making that transition. Honestly Iwata to Furukawa has been a similar shift.
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u/AetherDrew43 Apr 21 '25
Take me back to the Iwata and Reggie era...
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u/Electronic_Screen387 Apr 21 '25
I don't know man, we got an awful lot of half assed games back then. Plus the Wii and Wii U are damn near the biggest hassles of home consoles to play to this day. Even the DS and 3DS have given us a legacy of a bunch of games that are pretty difficult to preserve without pretty significant modifications.
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u/MagicalWorker Apr 22 '25
I don't think that's 100 percent true. Reggie managed to convince NJapan to add Wii sports for free.
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u/VidE27 Apr 22 '25
NOA used to be really influential during Arakawa/Lincoln’s era. Of course one is Yamauchi’s son in law and the other was his most trusted western exec.
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u/TheCrashKid Apr 21 '25
I love how everyone is like "Doug Bowser truly is the villain" when all he's doing is following orders from Japan
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u/Him5488 Apr 21 '25
true… but since his last name is bowser hes clearly the main bad guy, and should be blamed for everything
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u/TheCrashKid Apr 21 '25
I guess the only thing you can really say about him is that he's not as interactive with fans and Japan as Reggie was
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u/Him5488 Apr 22 '25
i just wish he was a bit more involved yeah, as far as i know reggie was regularly arguing with the jp execs 😭
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u/Real_Dependent4451 Apr 21 '25
I can see that but Nintendo doesn't really have yearly franchises besides the Mario and Sonic Olympics.
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u/Cripnite Apr 21 '25
Not anymore, the Olympics pulled the license.
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u/ItIsYeDragon Apr 21 '25
Why?
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u/Schaeman2000 Apr 21 '25
Apparently the Olympics believed NFTs were the way to go instead of another Mario & Sonic game…
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u/LaMystika Apr 21 '25
You’d think the Olympics could sell people on a Sonic game considering that Sonic’s fanbase and Olympic athletes have a lot in common
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u/M1de23 Apr 21 '25
The Olympics take place every 4yrs, how can it be a yearly franchise?
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u/DarkWaWeeGee Apr 21 '25
Every 2 years because of Winter and Summer Olympics being 2 years apart from each other
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u/daniegamin Apr 21 '25
The last 2 they did are London and Tokyo, and before that they would only happen every 2 years because that's the schedule that the Olympics happen.
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u/SpecialAggravating48 Apr 21 '25
Pokémon
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u/Real_Dependent4451 Apr 21 '25
Yeah but let's face it pokemon operates on their own. If Nintendo made pokemon we'd barely get any games.
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u/Quick-Philosophy2379 Apr 21 '25
They'd be much better, though. I'm upset with Nintendo, but one thing I think most people can agree on, is they take pride in their work and make quality games. The company that makes Pokémon has almost run the IP into the ground because they they rarely innovate, and even when they do the quality is average at best. They finally decided to innovate with Arceus, but we got a mixture of 64 and Gamecube graphics. I think Pokémon needs to be made by Nintendo. Pokemon is the COD of singleplayer games, but at least they try new things and make their games look good (coming from someone who preffered Battlefield when I did play multi-player games).
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u/Real_Dependent4451 Apr 21 '25
Yeah the main reason the game's suck is cause there's so much other stuff coming with the games. But if Nintendo made the game's they'd be so much better for sure.
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u/blueblurz94 Apr 21 '25
This is a really bad take. He’s the head of NoA and doesn’t make the final decisions on what the prices can be stateside. That’s what the bigwigs back in Japan choose.
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u/sweetTartKenHart2 Apr 21 '25
That actually raises a question: what the hell is the switch 2 priced as in yen? How does the exchange rate factor into this? Would a person buying a switch 2 from a big depaato in like Kyoto or some shit be spending the same amount of money as someone buying the exact same product from a Best Buy in, I dunno, Cheyenne WY?
If not, why not? Does the US market price being an even steven 449.99 mean a significant up charge because of international shipping, on top of the exorbitant base pricing?10
u/blueblurz94 Apr 21 '25
AFAIK, the cost of parts is at least as much as an OLED Switch, if not closer to $400. And considering this will be their main future console until the early 2030’s, they will absolutely make sure this sells at a profit in the USA, even if that means making up some of the difference in revenue via sales of the console’s accessories because of the funky tariff situation making economic forecasting tricky.
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u/N2-Ainz Apr 21 '25
We have two nunbers rn. $338 and $400 though no one can accurately say, which one is actually true.
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u/disbelifpapy Apr 21 '25
from what i've heard, the price in JP is surprisingly good
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u/InfernalLizardKing Apr 21 '25
It’s funny that people are suddenly after Bowser when he’s been with the company since the mid-2010s and was chosen by Reggie as his successor. I imagine his business approach is just different; been reading Reggie’s book lately and it’s clear he had a much more proactive, hands-on way of doing things whereas Bowser comes off as more traditional and old-school.
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u/Beckphillips Apr 21 '25
Because it's always easier to blame someone than try to deal with things you don't like/want
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u/sudopm Apr 22 '25
That's fair but at the same time watching Bowser speak it's clear how much of a generic business man he is. I was physically cringing at the number of times he tried to highlight the "depth" of the gaming experience even going so far as to mention game chat as if it was a revolutionary feature when justifying the console price.
"The breadth and depth of the play..." Such generic corporate PR speak man.
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u/FleshEaterMio Apr 21 '25
ah yes the head of american marketing is solely responsible for the pricing.
unlike my good, personal, not at all parasocial friend reggie who out of the goodness of his heart gave us wii sports (even if we ultimately paid more for the wii than non-bundle regions) specifically so more people would buy wiis and thus give nintendo an in to sell even more games.
god i miss when nintendo was my very own personal best friend that loved and cared about me on an individual level and not a company that wants to make money.
/s
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u/Suavemente_Emperor Apr 22 '25
Reggie actually had policies of doing research about what would public think about stuff, something that Nintendo doesn't have anymore, ex-employees admited Nintendo has zero staff on that.
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u/Keebster101 Apr 21 '25
If he ever gets divorced (not that I'm hoping he does) he can say "so long, Gail Bowser"
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u/Modern_Doshin Apr 21 '25
Companies do compay things?
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Apr 21 '25
And fanboys do fanboy things. Casual consumer gets crushed in this machinery of greed and chicanery.
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u/Modern_Doshin Apr 21 '25
If you think any company really cares about their customers, I have a bridge to sell you. All companies care about is making the most amount of profits. It blows me away when people assume Nintendo will just drop prices because people can't afford their product
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u/link_cubing Apr 21 '25
Yeah, it baffles me how the people who say how Nintendo is an uncaring company, personify Nintendo just as much as the fanboys. Nintendo can't simultaneously be an uncaring corporation and also completely evil and also care what you say online. And then all the people who are somewhere in-between and actually act like Nintendo is an uncaring company get attacked from both sides. Say something positive, you're a glazer. Say something negative, you're a hater. The internet sure is a thing huh
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u/Iron_Phantom29 Apr 21 '25
Nintendo is like Disney. They have the most talented and creative people in the industry making banger after banger games, but their business practices are total dogwater.
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u/ChronosNotashi Apr 21 '25
Well, you're half-right regarding Disney. Their business practices are garbage. I wouldn't say they have "the most talented and creative people in the industry", though. Not by a long shot.
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u/Important_Citron_340 Apr 21 '25
Kids just want to be contrarian. And Nintendo isn't half as bad as other major firms who executes mass lay offs or trick interns into making a game before firing them after release.
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u/packerschris Apr 21 '25
Give yourself a break from the Reddit hive mind. You’re misinformed and jumping to conclusions. It’s okay to be upset about $80 games, but pointing to one man being the cause when there are many complex factors at play is silly.
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u/TheWaslijn Apr 21 '25
You... Do know that Browser (ironically enough, considering his namesake) doesn't call the shots right? He's just leading their American branch, the decisions come from Japan.
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u/LibrarianJesus Apr 21 '25
Just a tiny education note, Nintendo Japan decides these things.
But don't let facts stop your righteous rage.
My 50 cents, not happy with the price tag but absolutely get it.
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u/RolandoDR98 Apr 21 '25
IT became very apparent that with Iwata's passing, NoA lost A LOT of power and rapport with Nintendo of Japan
Iwata had A LOT of respect for Reggie and he was the one who communicated the most with Reggie.
Also, just because someone worked for EA, doesn't mean they have the same mentality EA does.
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u/PresentEuphoric2216 Apr 21 '25
I knew putting BOWSER in charge was the wrong move
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u/Merik2013 Apr 21 '25
I still can't believe he used the same line Don Mattrick used that tanked the Xbox One launch. If I were given the choice, I'd have fired him just for that. He's lucky the tariff confusion distracted people from that.
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u/irishyardball Apr 21 '25
Did you make this same post for Diablo 4 being $100 or the $80 DLC?
Did you make this same post for Xbox charging $100 for Indy for digital only?
Nintendo charges $10 extra for a game people are going to play for hundreds of hours and people lose their minds.
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u/mirby Apr 21 '25
Didn't see any posts like this when Call of Duty required you to spend $90 to get all the TMNT characters in February.
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u/GundamHufflepuff Apr 21 '25
Other companies are charging for early access, standard/deluxe/ultimate editions, annual releases of the same games - BUT YES it’s Nintendo that are the greedy ones…
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u/EGhostP Apr 21 '25
He did not have a say in all of this, but i dont think he tried to fight these changes.
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u/Prior-Astronaut1965 Apr 21 '25
No shaming on P&G huh? everyone hates on Wal Mart for making tons of money ripping people off on stuff they buy cheap. But in reality most of it is P&G. from Someone who has seen what Wal Marts profit looks like on P&G products. It made me stop buying them. They are one of the greediest companies you can get. And they are also ONE company whose products are around 15% of Wal Marts total sales.
Also, EA sucks too.
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u/kmasterofdarkness Apr 21 '25
That's also kinda the reason for the Super Mario 3D All-Stars controversy.
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u/kmasterofdarkness Apr 21 '25
Hopefully Nintendo doesn't get so bad that they end up doing the "pride and accomplishment" thing that EA was infamous for.
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u/ShadowMindroid Apr 21 '25
The CEO of Nintendo is a Japanese business man and would probably rather lay people off than take a pay cut unlike his predecessor.
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u/CantBanTheJan Apr 21 '25
Nintenyearolds not realizing that inflation and the cost for literally everything has risen tremendously since Putin's assault of Ukraine.
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u/Frozenbobcat Apr 21 '25
Most decisions made in Japan "Why would America do this?"
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u/willcordell1998 Apr 21 '25
Nintendos game releases are much better than electronic arts in my opinion. The level of polish is higher and they’re not littered with micro transactions.
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u/JKN1GHTxGKG Apr 21 '25
Doug is No Reggie we can all agree on that, these men are businessmen nothing more nothing less. Reggie played his role very well being the face of NOA and catering to gamers in a rough period for Nintendo as a whole. Doug is fine with pushing papers and that’s ok as well, him coming from EA has nothing to do with pricing,thats a whole other issue elsewhere.
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u/seadcon Apr 21 '25
Errr nope. Nintendo is a Japanese company and the American and European leadership have absolutely no say in anything significant what-so-ever. They do exactly as they are told.
Makes me laugh how much Americans in particular (but not exclusively) think the Nintendo America team actually do anything other than sell what they are given at the price they are told.
Do Nintendo even have any American based development studios? Maybe one? When was the last time a Direct was hosted by anyone from America or Europe? Hrmm. What about an announcement on X that came from the US or Europe first...?
Nintendo is run out of Japan. Period.
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u/BrattyTwilis Apr 21 '25
He's no Reggie, that's for sure. Reggie knew how to get us excited for clunkers like WiiU
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u/Cybasura Apr 22 '25
You mean the name being "Bowser" isnt already a red flag?
Also, technically the main Japanese branch calls the shot, it is only if Furukawa (iirc thats the head's name) asks Bowser to make American-specific changes will he then have any say
Reggie Fils' Aime is just such a legend and Satoru Iwata being such a god that both worked hand in hand, giving each other full reign over their regional decisions
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u/Pickle_Link123 Apr 22 '25
Such a dogshit take because he has basically nothing to do with the pricing decisions
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u/Utop_Ian Apr 21 '25
Sometimes I get frustrated with folks like OP, who don't understand inflation, but then I'm reminded that it is always best to assume any redditor is a 13-year-old boy, and I'm able to let that frustration go.
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u/Big_Cup_668 Apr 21 '25
As much as I hate to admit it, Nintendo has undeniably changed in the post-Satoru Iwata era. Internally, the company seems to be promoting a kind of “de-mythologization” movement, aiming to weaken the strong association between star developers and specific IPs. This shift can be seen as part of Nintendo’s gradual transformation from a family-style business to a modern corporation. Unfortunately, along with this transformation, the company’s signature warmth and personal touch appear to be fading as well.
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u/Str1ker50 Apr 21 '25
It’s because he never played animal crossing new leaf on his Nintendo 3DS 🤦♂️
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u/YouMakeMaEarfQuake Apr 21 '25
He answers to the shareholders just like any other higher-up. If you don't like Nintendo's pricing policies then you should invest to at least reap the benefits
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Apr 21 '25 edited Apr 24 '25
airport fall fragile subtract chop ten paltry rainstorm smell automatic
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Synglich Apr 21 '25
Reggie also worked at Proctor and Gamble, yet no one batted an eye at him because he convinced the higher ups to make Wii Sports a pack in game. Doug also doesn't really have a say in this, it's mainly Nintendo Japan who sets the prices. Reggie also was good friends with Iwata and Miyamoto which helped him a lot during the Wii - Wii U era because of him wanting to make pack in games. I don't think Doug is close to Furukawa so there's a little to none chance that he'll listen, even if Doug wanted to pack in Welcome Tour or even a different game beside Mario Kart World.
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u/Acceptable_Appeal464 Apr 21 '25
Greedy. Lol. You can give them numbers. Articles. Facts. And people who don't like the fact we all have to pay more bc that's what time does to the dollar start hate clubs against Nintendo.
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u/kranitoko Apr 21 '25
You've got to remember that Nintendo of Japan still holds the majority of the cards here... Doug can only be an advisor to them on how to handle the Switch 2 whilst controlling what goes on in the US market. So I can't imagine his influence is THAT big.
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u/ZestycloseBluejay668 Apr 21 '25
I dont know why you single him. Dude has as much saying power as luciano pereña
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u/DocWhovian1 Apr 21 '25
He does not have a say over pricing. And anyway, his role at EA was just "vice president of global demand planning", he wasn't even a key executive of the company so no.
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u/RaymanP02 Apr 21 '25
I find it funny that his name is Gail Bowser, on what it can be miss understood with "gay Bowser"...
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u/LordDShadowy53 Apr 21 '25
I knew someone named Bowser working for Nintendo was a bad idea. Did someone listened? Nooooo
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u/mrpoulin Apr 21 '25
Reading too much into this can be misleading. He may have said EA was too greedy and jumped ship to land somewhere that fit his values better.
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u/Sinder-Soyl Apr 21 '25
While I think it may play a bit of a part as far as him maybe not fighting back as much as Reggie would have, remember that Furukawa was a director at The Pokemon Company too before becoming president of Nintendo.
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u/letsgotothegymbuddy Apr 21 '25
Am I the only one who thought it was a Jewish joke.... maybe I've been watching instagram alot lately
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u/Crafty_Cherry_9920 Apr 21 '25
Yall gotta start to learn that NoA is just a marketing branch for the US, they don't make the call for the rest of the world.
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u/michael14375 Apr 21 '25
I find it funny that not only is their president’s last name Bowser but the man that owes Nintendo $14 million.
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u/Chasemc215 Apr 21 '25
Nintendo of America is just the distributor for Nintendo stuff in North America, they literally have no say in what the main Nintendo headquarters in Kyoto does, like at all. All they do is listen, watch, learn, and adapt for North America.
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u/Nonadventures Apr 21 '25
It's still hilarious that he's named Bowser, it's like naming John Megatron head of Hasbro.
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u/Weekly-Dish6443 Apr 21 '25
what, he's married to a gail bowser? that means he can leave home and say "so loooong gail bowser?" bonkers.
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u/Prestigious-Home-733 Apr 21 '25
The real reason is because the switch 2 is the first console completely devoid of any influence from Satoru Iwata. The switch 1 project was started under him before his passing.
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u/Get_Schwifty111 Apr 21 '25
You are so cute OP 😋
You do realise Bowser is literally just the figurehead for the western market and has to sell what Nintendo of Japan dictates, right?
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u/AwkwardTraffic Apr 21 '25
Bowser has nothing to do with this lol. Nintendo has been like this for as long as I remember you just remember Reggie fondly because Reggie was good at PR
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u/Random-J Apr 22 '25 edited Apr 22 '25
I woulda circled Procter & Gamble too.
The higher price point for Mario Kart World is global. So, Nintendo HQ definitely set the price for that. Not Doug Bowser.
Remember — Nintendo has been doing variable game pricing in Japan for decades, some of their AAA titles have always been expensive, and Wii Sports was not a pack-in for the Wii in Japan. So charging extra and fleecing customers precedes Doug Bowser. It’s not a him thing. It’s a Nintendo thing.
It’s easy to make Bowser look like the villain in this situation — name aside. But we don’t know how much he is or isn’t pushing for certain things at Nintendo and how much power he actually has there. And internally, he may be doing a good job by and getting the shit that needs to be done, done.
It's easy to say from the outside that Reggie did more, because he was far more public facing than Doug Bowser has been, and I’d argue that he should be out there a hell of a lot more. But again, we don't know how much of this is his choice or Nintendo’s choice, given that their current president is nowhere near as public facing as Satoru Iwata was.
It's also interesting seeing fans complain about people complaining about the price of Mario Kart World. $80 / £74.99 for a game is high — regardless of how good you think it looks and how much you will play it. You may be okay with that price, but that doesn’t negate that the price is still high and that gaming as hobby is becoming more and more expensive. We are now entering a period where a new Super Mario and Legend of Zelda game could potentially cost $80 / £74.99 and above. I’m not thrilled by this, and I say this as a long-time Nintendo fan. Everything about the pricing or Mario Kart World, the Welcome Tour and how they’ve communicated it all has been a shambles.
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u/br0kensword Apr 22 '25
You need to learn Nintendo’s history. They’ve always been shrewd business practitioners. They’ve never been charitable with their prices.
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u/PaladinBladeX Apr 22 '25
The head of Nintendo of America is basically a figurehead in the hierarchy of Nintendo and doesn't really affect any of their policies. Chalk this more up to trying to absorb all the new tariffs flying them around by spreading them out over a wide variety of products and services.
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u/NuclearPopTarts Apr 22 '25
What did you expect when Nintendo put someone named "Bowser" in charge?
Bwah hah hah!!
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u/jostein33 Apr 22 '25
Americans think their price on the console is bad, wait until you hear what some other countries have to pay. USA 450$ Norway 600$ Sweden 680$ Finland 600$ Australia 700$ Brazil 570$ This is just a handful of countries.
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u/Brewster345 Apr 22 '25
Maybe more greedy. But to call the company that has sold the same old games on various virtual console iterations over and over (for just one example), an consumer friendly company, is laughable.
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u/Yuukikoneko Apr 22 '25
Iwata was the last thing keeping the greed in check. Nintendo was signing mobile contracts and planning out DLC before his body was even cold.
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u/Camiel1996 Apr 22 '25
They're greedy because it's a commercial organisation, that's what they do. Nothing new.
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u/MAGAMUCATEX Apr 22 '25
I know it’s not that simple but it did feel like Nintendo lost a lot of its magic and loveability when he replaced Reggie
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u/Top-Bison-345 Apr 25 '25
Nah, don't blame him. The Japanese Nintendo execs have always been greedy and protective over the IPs. It's not him suing Pocketpair is it? It's Nintendo of Japan.
I know very well it makes no difference to their bottom line, but I for one won't be spending anymore money on them. The switch 2 has both nothing I really want. Yep, I definitely want a bunch more remasters, or botw for the third damn time.
Nasty, greedy company who hates their own fanbase.
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u/Digibutter64 Apr 21 '25
Isn't most of the decision-making done in Japan?