 Alright everyone, it's happened. Doug Bowser, the new-ish. It's been, you know, almost a couple years at this point. President of Nintendo of America has finally done a massive interview and he chose to do it with Polygon. I could think of some other outlets that might have been better, but that's where he went. He is obviously taking over the reins, some big shoes to fill of Reggie Fieseme. And there's been a lot of ire-tossed Doug Bowser's way, some of it over the free melee stuff, some of it just over Nintendo's general direction, some of the lawsuits that have happened over things like with ROMs, and it's just been a very interesting thing. Most of it, I think, Doug Bowser really doesn't have much to do with because these exact same things were happening under Reggie Fieseme and Satura Awada in the past as well. So I don't think Shintura Furukawa and Doug Bowser are really like the center focuses of those decisions made at Nintendo. I think a lot of it's just made by a general policy. They have it at their legal departments. That being said, Doug Bowser has spoken and he was asked about the Nintendo Switch Pro. Just straight up asked about it, along with some other interesting things like Joy Con Drift, that's right. Polygon actually asked some pertinent things. I don't expect this that often from major media outlets. They kind of don't really drill these interviews on some controversial points because they don't wanna lose potential interviews in the future, but Polygon, to their credit, did ask some hard questions. And Doug Bowser did basically his best Reggie Fieseme impression. Let's get into it. So is Nintendo holding back games for a Switch Pro? We talked a little bit about it earlier. No, this is what Polygon is saying. Regarding the lineup and how the lineup sort of shifted throughout the year because of COVID. And I think it manifested in a few ways. I would not by any means call Nintendo's lineup in the holiday season a light lineup. But again, just pointing it against 2019, for example, with Link's Awakening and Luigi's Mansion 3 and Pokemon, it's obviously kind of a different beast versus this year. Or you know, we have Pikmin 3, Great Game, Hyrule Warriors, Age of Calamity, Great Game, Mario Kart Live, Home Circuit, also really good. But you don't necessarily have the big new internally developed game. And I understand that delays happen, especially because of COVID. But I also know there have been some discussions anyways that Nintendo may be trying to hold back certain titles for potentially some hardware changes in the future. I want to know if that's something that you guys are looking at, strategizing around to make sure that, hey, if we were to update the hardware in some way, we would have like a strong enough lineup to do that. Doug Bowser responds, Russ, the way I'd answer that is, we look at the fourth year of Nintendo Switch. We continue to see very, very strong momentum. We see the platform appealing to a wide range of consumers. This year in particular, we've seen more women gamers come to the Nintendo Switch platforms. Women that had not owned a Nintendo Switch platform in the past. And they're engaging in our content in new and different ways. We've been able to introduce not only games like Animal Crossing New Horizons, but from our partners games like Hades or Minecraft Dungeons, or Ori and the Will of the Wisps. We have a number of different ways that players are coming in and engaging the content and it's not just all AAA content, but former AAA content is doing incredibly well too. Some of the top titles that are still bought after someone buys a Nintendo Switch today are titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, The Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild, or Super Mario Odyssey. So that back catalog is still fresh and new for any new purchaser of a Nintendo Switch. And that plays into how we market and talk with our consumers. So with a catalog of over 4,000 games available and Nintendo Switch selling very, very well, I think you saw the MPD numbers from October, where we sold 735,000 units, up 136% year over year. November is going to be an equally strong month for us. I can't reveal the data because MPD will be talking about it this afternoon. So we now know when this interview was taking place. It was about, you know, a few days ago. But I think you're going to see an equally strong month from Nintendo in the month of November with a very strong Thanksgiving and Black Friday week and Cyber Monday week. The editor does note that Nintendo has sold more than 1.35 million. We actually talked about that in the video already. So yeah, Nintendo Switch sold 1.35 million units in November. And where that points me is we will be releasing content, as I mentioned earlier, on a regular cadence year round. And there's also a lot more to come. Obviously, as you think about our IP and we'll release it when it's right and when it's ready. And when we've got great gameplay experiences. But in the meantime, we continue to lean into what I still think is a very strong lineup for this holiday and a very strong catalog. So as you can see there, Doug Bowser just straight up didn't even like, was asked, Hey, are you holding back content for new hardware? And he's just like, Hey, we have great hardware. This is a total Regifis may answer. Not satisfied. They pressed them further. Polygon states, obviously rumors of a Switch Pro had basically been floating around for years at this point. You know, for a while it was alongside the Switch Lite and then that didn't end up happening. These days, hardware strength is all the rage. Nintendo has never been one to push hardware. That's technically not true. Just a little note for myself. But obviously at this point, a 720p handheld screen is getting a little bit creakier. How does that match with Nintendo's long held strategy of updating the hardware after? Let's say three or four years. Doug Bowser responds. Yeah, a couple of thoughts there. There were a few questions in there. Let me break it down. First, we're always looking at technology. And as we know, technology is constantly evolving and changing. And we're always looking at what is coming to determine how can it enhance and improve the gameplay experience? And whether that's on a current platform or whether that's on a future platform, we're always looking at that. However, we also see right now, and we just talked about it, momentum on the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite in the fourth year is strong. And we believe we're changing the trajectory of another typical console lifecycle. And we will continue for the foreseeable future to really lean into both of those platforms and the content that comes with it. Because it is the symbiotic relationship that makes the real difference. And that's why the Nintendo Switch is so differentiated. First, the hardware form factor obviously is something that you have a gaming system that you could play at home as a console and you could take on the go and play in handheld mode virtually anywhere is unique and remains unique within the industry. But then the way we build games into the platform and the way the partners build games into the platform is really what matters. And the experience that you have when you play, so that's what we'll continue to lean into as we go into really what will be the fifth year of Nintendo Switch. And as Mr. Shintura Furukawa, president of Nintendo mentioned in his corporate management policy briefing, we believe we're just at the midpoint of this life cycle on this platform. Now again, Polygon isn't satisfied with this answer. I, a huge credit to Polygon because he's kind of skirting around it. Again, he is doing his literal best Regi Fizume impression talking around the question, not giving you a direct answer, kind of saying that, hey, the current Switch is doing great. That's our focus. I mean, this is what Nintendo does. They never talk about their next hardware until they announce it, but it's cool to see an outlet push. Here's what Polygon said next. So I guess that goes back to my question, which is to say, because of the success of the Switch and the Switch Lite, does that buy you time with hardware that if it wasn't doing as well, you would need to refresh sooner? Doug Bowser says, it allows us to manage the life cycle differently, I would say. I think that's the easiest way to put it. Right now with the momentum we have, our focus will be on the existing form factors. Yeah, good luck getting anything out of Doug Bowser or Nintendo about a Switch Pro. Yes, the Switch is incredibly successful. Yes, Doug Bowser seemed to keep skirting his answers to, hey, we're not replacing the Switch. You know, like it's got a long life ahead. It's got four years. Yes, it does. And Switch Pro doesn't replace the Switch. It's a mid-gen upgrade, a mid-gen refresh. It is not a mid-gen replacement. But Doug Bowser, of course, isn't going to go there because if a Switch Pro is coming, he doesn't want to shoot himself in the foot, like Miyamoto did at one point when Miyamoto said, hey, we absolutely are not releasing upgraded 3DS hardware. One week later, the new Nintendo 3DS was announced. Nintendo has this history of just either just outright telling you something's not gonna happen and then it does, or just literally a bunch of non-answers. And that's what Doug Bowser's doing. Reggie Fisame was the king of non-answers to questions that potentially were probably gonna be true anyways. Oftentimes when Reggie gave you a non-answer to a question about the future of a product or about a new product and rumors around it and the non-answer Reggie gave was almost as good as a real answer because when he gave that non-answer, it typically meant something's happening. But obviously, depending on what side of the Switch Pro fence you're on, whether you think it's happening or you think it's not happening, you're gonna look at this completely differently. You're gonna look at this as confirmation if you think it is happening because Nintendo tends to skirt around and dance around questions like this when things are happening, or if you don't think it's happening, hey look, Doug Bowser said they're just focusing on the current platform for the next four years. It is what it is. There really is a bunch of non-information in here. But, Polygon then said, you know what? We're not gonna get what we want from Switch Pro. Clearly, Nintendo's not gonna go there. Doug Bowser's not gonna go there. They're not gonna answer questions on this pretty par for the course. What about Joy-Con Drift? Because really isn't that many interviews about Joy-Con Drift? It hasn't been that many interviews even given this year. So they go on to ask Doug Bowser the following. I wanted to talk a little bit about, and I know it's kind of a four letter word, but Joy-Con Drift. Obviously, Nintendo is a long reputation of really strong hardware, but this is something that has not gone away. I know you offer free repairs for people that can mail in their Joy-Cons. It's kind of feels like this continues to be like a band-aid that's being put over it. And I wanted to know long-term, are there hardware designs planned to address this? So when people buy a new Switch, they're not necessarily worrying. Hey, I'm gonna need to send in my Joy-Cons every six months or so. Doug Bowser says the following. First and foremost, we want every consumer to have a great experience with their Nintendo Switch. And with games they play on Nintendo Switch. That's of utmost importance to us. Our mission is to put smiles on faces. And we want to make sure that happens. If consumers have any issue with our hardware and or software, we want them to contact us when we will work through the proper solution to get them up and running as fast as possible. Specific to the Joy-Cons themselves, we've been working very closely with consumers if and when they might have issues, whether it's a replacement or a repair. And then what I will say is as we look at our repair cycles, we're always looking at what is being sent in and for what reasons and understanding that better. And without going into any details, it always gives us an opportunity to make improvements as we go forward. This is as Reggie Fesame a response as you can get. Folks, if you guys are all on the, Doug Bowser's to blame for everything. Doug Bowser and Reggie Fesame basically sound like the same person at this point. This is the biggest non-answer yet. Like, oh, hey, look, Joy-Condrest is a problem. We wanna know if there's any hardware redesigns planned. Hey, I'm just straight up not going to give you any details. But I mean, we do have an opportunity to make a difference, to do something different. An opportunity. Joy-Condrest is a new guys. It's not a 2020 issue. It's been there since 2017. Nintendo's not gonna do anything about it. Now they have various lawsuits going through courts. And if anything, those lawsuits might force Nintendo into it. There's actually a recent push again by some governments over in Europe that is actually where the government itself is suing Nintendo over Joy-Condrift. So Joy-Condrift is not going to go away. The governments in Europe are not letting this apparent anti-consumer fault in a controller go away. So if a redesign happens, it might just be because governments end up forcing Nintendo into having to redesign it. But that being said, it's a pretty big non-answer here. It's a pretty big, hey, we look at all issues that come in through the repair and we consider all potential future hardware fixes. But they haven't fixed this one for whatever reason. And maybe it's because if they do fix it, it admits fault in their court cases. I have no idea. It could literally be as simple as, we don't wanna give up on a bunch of these lawsuits and lose out on millions and millions, hundreds of millions of dollars or whatever it might be. So we can't fix a problem and admit fault to it because it's almost like they dug the hole so deep with this issue, they can't really just fix it and think that gets them out of it because it might just dig a financial hole deeper. It's a very sticky situation Nintendo finds themselves in, which they can get out of by the way with a Switch Pro with redesigned hardware because you could redesign the Joy-Con then. And if you redesign the Joy-Con then and it fixes the problem, it's not a we redesigned it to fix the problem. It's we redesigned it to have more accurate and more precision in our control sticks, right? They can come up with some marketing spin on, it's better precision, better durability, better this, better that. They can talk about all these things that would just be marketing spin for, hey, buy our new system. So yeah, Switch Pro is really the first real chance. Switch Lite was technically a minor one, but Switch Pro is the real chance and a full hardware redesign or a full hardware upgrade anyways, where Nintendo could really do something about Joy-Con drift. So we'll see what happens if and when that platform ever comes out. That's a lot. That's a lot folks, we went through a lot. So I'm gonna kind of leave you with some final thoughts here. One, welcome to the public eye Doug Bowser. This isn't his first time there, of course. E3 2019 was kind of his coming out party with a bunch of very similar type interviews, just talking about a bunch of games that were coming out last year. But now we finally get him pressed on some hard questions and he has stepped up pretty much in the same way Reggie Fiza May would. He's literally taken notes right out of Reggie's playbook and I just have to applaud you, man. Like these aren't the answers I want as a consumer. I wanna hear, hey, yeah, we might be looking at new hardware. Oh, hey, yeah, we are thinking about fixing Joy-Con drift, at least thinking about it. But we're not gonna hear those kind of answers. That's not, Doug Bowser is not going to reveal that kind. You're not gonna hear anyone at Nintendo reveal that kind of, not even Shintaro Furukawa himself, not even Shigeru Miyamoto is gonna unveil information like that. So this is the world we live in. Doug Bowser is not slipping up. And yeah, I still think we're getting to switch pro next year. Joy-Con drift fix I think is more up in the air. But credit the polygon for at least asking the questions that all of us have on our minds that we want answers to. We could take from it whatever we want at this point. All right, folks. I am Nathaniel Rovedges from Nintendo Prime. If you enjoyed this video, why don't you drop a like and hit that subscribe button. We are on our road to 70,000 subscribers. Let's get it done, folks. Let's give this channel a real shot at 100K in 2021. Let's make this a wonderful Christmas for me at this channel. And by the way, just a reminder, next month is huge. We are kicking off 2021 with a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X or Nintendo Switch giveaway details on that to come. It is a makeup for our original giveaway that got postponed due to some, I guess, all my views mean fake crap that YouTube was throwing in my face. But we're out of the woods with that now. So now we can go back to doing a killer giveaway for that. Stay tuned for the details on that. Looking likely it's going to be through a live stream. But we'll see. Might change my mind on that. There's a lot of things percolating in my brain on how to properly give away the largest potentially most expensive single giveaway I've ever done. All right, folks. I'll catch you guys in. The next video.