 Hey everyone, we got a special weekend video for you today because Doug Bowser, yes, the president of Nintendo of America, answers some questions specifically about Switch hardware, specifically in regards to future Switch hardware and potentials for a Switch Pro. Yes, folks, we're going there. Now, before I get into this video, I gotta remind you, we are giving away two copies of Skyward Sword HD. Head down into the description to find out how to enter and I wish all of you guys luck. So Doug Bowser did an interview or something here with the Washington Post and we're going to go through this article together. It just kind of see what's happening and you know what, some people were complaining about seeing my mug too much, right? Like, oh, you're here too much. There's nothing on screen. Oh my gosh, what are we going to do? So I mean, here's the article, I guess. What do you want me to do? Fine, here's the article. Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America is a skill communicator and right now his message is clear. The Switch is doing great and new hardware will be announced when the time is right. The Nintendo of America Twitter account didn't stutter. This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo was going to be about software and the company wouldn't address any speculation about a new and improved Switch console. But Bowser, who as Nintendo's sales and marketing vice president oversaw the Switch's release in North of America, is happy to share the Japanese company's stance on advancing its technology. We are always looking at technology and how technology can enhance gameplay experiences. It's not technology for technology's sake, Bowser tells the Washington Post. It's how specifically can technology enhance a gameplay experience? And then where do you apply that technology? You want to apply it on current existing hardware and platforms? Or do you want to wait for the next platform? And then what's the right gameplay experience There's a host of factors that goes into it and it's something we're always looking at. Bowser gave this answer in response to a question about Bloomberg and other outlets reports on an upgraded Nintendo Switch. Confirming long standing rumors as well as some eager Nintendo fans waiting for the company to compete in technology again. Bloomberg reported that Nintendo plans for this upgraded Switch as soon as September. But the same report also said Nintendo may announce the console at E3. Instead, Bowser would rather highlight the upcoming slate of games and the diversity of the audience as they serve. It's been Nintendo's strength for decades. As Sony pushes fidelity in prestige storytelling and Microsoft pushes itself into a broad service provider, Nintendo is happy to continue a strategy of offering a wide suite of games and not just attract but nurture and grow its audience. As we enter our fifth year, Nintendo really is redefining what a console lifecycle can look at and the vibrancy of that overall lifecycle with a strong cadence of content, Bowser said. Nintendo's sales strength makes it hard to argue against the company's tactic and with more than 85 million consoles sold as of April and according to the latest numbers from analysts from the firm NPD Group, the Switch remains America's best selling console in terms of revenue and units sold. Its games have also proven to have an evergreen life in the market despite new releases from other publishers. Mario Kart 8 Super Deluxe despite being a re-release. I don't know why this is Super Deluxe, it's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. But anyways, a 7 year old game has no trouble staying among the top 10 games sold every month in the last several years. If there is a need for a new Switch, it's not being reflected in the continued steady growth. Despite the lack of hardware news, Nintendo has been expanding its business and has learned to lean on its powerful intellectual property which of course includes Pokemon and Mario. Both franchises have spearheaded the company's efforts in the smartphone mobile gaming space. Nintendo is currently the publisher of six mobile phone games with a Pikmin project within Niantic Studios, the developer of 2016's phenomenon Pokemon Go on the horizon. Bowser also highlighted Nintendo's partnership with Universal Studios to build out theme parks around the world with one already open in Japan and one each in Hollywood and Orlando soon. We view ourselves as an entertainment company that is focused on very unique entertainment experiences Bowser said. At the hub of this is our integrated hardware and software model and that model has allowed us over decades to generate the characters, the deeply immersive worlds and the IP we all know and love so well but we also know that there's an opportunity to introduce more people to that IP now. Nintendo mobile business helped them push characters and storylines into countries where the Switch isn't sold Bowser said. The gameplay is fundamentally different than what you see on Switch but we've had 650 million unique downloads of our six games available today. Bowser said emphasizing that each game from fire emblem heroes to animal crossing pocket camp all serve unique experiences in different genres. Our smart device strategy has allowed us to reach consumers in 164 countries already. We believe we've been able to broaden the audience of people who now experience Nintendo games and can bring them deeper into that integrated hardware software system and the deeply immersive games that you and I know and play. He also highlighted Nintendo's recent partnership with Lego to create toys based on the Mario worlds and characters. It's unique to Nintendo. We're very selective and very careful about who we partner with when it comes to licensing Bowser said. We've had partnerships with Puma with the color pop cosmetics with Levi's quality brands that really bring the uniqueness of Nintendo overall. So as an entertainment company we're looking for ways that we can introduce our properties to consumers in a very unique and differentiated way and selectively but then ultimately bring them back into the gaming experience. We believe in this model going forward. Selectively seems to be a key word for Nintendo and how it deals with its partners and its community of fans. Nintendo has received widespread passionate criticism of how it continues to pursue legal filings against fan made do-it-yourself games and projects. Last year the pandemic was raging. Super Smash Bros Melee eSports tournaments tried to make doing so by using emulated files to prevent in person competition since the game is only available on the long defunct GameCube console. Nintendo pulled the support and shut it down. We do have a passionate community and we appreciate them very much and we always want to be listening and understanding as we develop content going forward Bowser said. There are times where we do need to reinforce our IP for reasons that I think are very critical. The protection of IP is very important when we think about our ability to continue to build on these properties and we hope people will understand that the reason we protect them the way we do or that that is the reason. That Nintendo said did make a major step recently in support of eSports programs last month and Nintendo and else a partnership with Playverse which brings Super Smash Bros Ultimate Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon 2 into varsity athletic programs starting this fall. Despite the switchers continued strong sales Bowser said Nintendo also struggles with supply chain issues to create and ship consoles out but he believes last year has proven out to be the resilience and vibrancy of the video game industry. It's no breaking news that the game's industry ballooned during the pandemic and Bowser expects the industry has taken advantage of that momentum the best it can. I think it's exciting time or it's an exciting time to be part of the gaming business I really do. We're seeing more and more people engaged in part of their primary forms of overall entertainment. We're seeing various ways they can engage whether it's on a mobile platform or on dedicated platforms such as the Nintendo Switch. It's a vibrant industry going forward. Now look Doug Bowser said a lot and we're not going to dive into all of this. It's actually one of the most in-depth interviews that Doug Bowser we've had and all quite some time. I'm assuming this interview happened probably in wake of the Electronic Entertainment Expo as they brought up so this is obviously related to that and it's quite interesting just looking at Nintendo's philosophy on hardware. You know just scrolling back up to where you talked about hardware at the very beginning because literally they you know the Washington Post admits they directly asked him about that Bloomberg report what the heck is going on with this new switch hardware and he said you know we're always looking at technology and how technology can enhance gameplay experiences. It's not technology for technology's sake so they're not just going to upgrade the switch just to upgrade the switch they need to have a reason they feel like to do that not just hey people want more powerful hardware so let's give it to them and you know and they said how can technology enhance a gameplay experience which again we all know that one of the big benefits I think one of the biggest benefits of a potential Nintendo Switch Pro isn't even okay 4k DLSS output which would be great. It's frame rates obviously improving the gameplay experience can you know begin with improving frame rates. So when you're looking for how could we enhance a gameplay experience by having hardware out there that's capable of running your games at all at 60 FPS locked that to me is a big thing and that's the number one argument to me at least for Nintendo internally to release a product like a Switch Pro I mean why did we get the new Nintendo 3DS it's not like it did some massive innovation no what it did is it made frame rates more stable that was the big selling point was smoother user experience especially when using something like Miiverse and then yeah being able to actually play games at decent frame rates I that was a huge selling point at least to me maybe you guys didn't care about that maybe it's just because hey by the time I bought a 3DS it was the one that was out there they didn't have you know standard 3DSs anymore which was a thing for a while then it says you know and when you apply that technology what's the right time to release it and do you apply it on current existing hardware so like the you know the switch as it is now or do you wait for the next platform so like does Nintendo take this technology use it now or wait for next gen and it's interesting we don't really know the direction Nintendo is going to take with any of this all we know is that they're obviously working on new hardware as Furukawa's already confirmed and I'm sure some of that hardware is for next gen and some of that hardware might be for an upgraded switch Doug Bileser wouldn't confirm one way or another whether this hardware you know whether in answering this question about Bloomberg's report notice that he didn't deny the report and I think that's important to note here because if that report did not include any accurate information right because that he was asked specifically about Bloomberg forget all the other rumor people asked specifically about Bloomberg email the Washington Post got part of it part of the book article wrong they asked him specifically about new hardware according to the Bloomberg report coming out in September or October and instead of him being like yeah that's not happening you know we're always working on new hardware you know we have nothing to announce today there'll be you know something that we announced you know years down the line etc etc etc like we're clear you know one of those we're always working on new hardware of course and we have nothing to say on that report which is nintendo's typical response he literally just went on a tangent about hey look we're always looking at technology we're not just going to upgrade to upgrade but we're going to upgrade because we feel like there's something viable and whether or not we're going to put out a new platform right next gen it's interesting to me it's a very interesting response because Doug Bowser was given every opportunity to just deny deny deny and shoot down that Bloomberg report it stayed dent he admitted they're working on new technology and he just won't confirm whether someone with their working hours for now someone with their working hours for next gen he won't confirm so we don't know so what do we learn out of this the biggest takeaway to me is that nintendo isn't denying the Bloomberg report they're not calling it false they're not saying we're working on something new for years down the road they're saying hey when the time is right we're gonna drop something when that time is right only nintendo knows so take this for what you will Doug Bowser did talk about new hardware and we'll have to go from there link to the washington post article down in the description if you'd like to reread it for yourself if you feel like my reading of it didn't give you full context or if i fumbled too much for you guys i know i fumbled through some of the words uh thank you guys so much for tuning in credit to washington poster great job and i'll catch all of you guys in the next video by the way before i sign out go bucks go baby we're in the eastern conference finals how many of you guys how many of you guys there was someone who had a bet with me someone made a bet with me from the comments someone made a bet that the bucks we're gonna lose to the nets how do you like me now