Nintendo of America Boss Bowser
US consumers still can't preorder a Switch 2; Tarkir: Dragonstorm's thunderous debut
I interviewed Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser (yes, he’s got the same name as the Koopa King) the day after President Trump’s “reciprocal tariff” announcement sunk markets. Soon after, Nintendo cancelled US preorders for the Switch 2, and still hasn’t rolled them out after Trump’s 90-day pause on tariffs:
Some Nintendo fans have assumed that the Nintendo Switch's $449 price tag accounts for global tariffs. But after President Trump's most recent announcements, could this number increase in the U.S.?
What I can share is the $449 for the individual SKU and then the $499 for the hardware SKU plus Mario Kart World. Those were made based on previous tariffs, and there was no impact from previous tariffs on those pricing. More on that pricing, I should say, much like every other company, I think in the U.S. right now, we're in the process of actively assessing what the impact may be, but we really have nothing further to announce in regards to pricing.
What impact do you expect tariffs to have on your business moving forward, not only for the Switch but for everything that Nintendo America sells?
As I mentioned, we're just going to have to actively assess what that impact may be. Things may change in the days ahead. So we're just watching and trying to understand what that impact might be and what actions we might have to take.
There's also a concern about availability. Scalping bots are extremely effective. What can Nintendo of America do with its retailers to ensure that every family who wants a Nintendo Switch 2 on launch can get one?
First of all, we want to meet the demand that's out there. We think we have a device in Nintendo Switch 2, and a host of games both from Nintendo and from our publishing partners that consumers are really going to want to purchase and be a part of. We've been able to build up inventories over the past months and be in a good position as we head into the launch period. When it comes to issues like scalping or bots, we're working actively with our retail partners. They have programs in place to prevent a lot of this action, and we depend on those as they sell their products ourselves. We have a unique program within Nintendo.com where we're engaging with active users and people with established Nintendo accounts to offer products to them first and foremost. […]
Is Nintendo of America considering working with your parent company to possibly bring manufacturing to the U.S.?
We're always assessing where we should be having manufacturing based on where volumes are and also based on just other economies and considerations. So, right now, our manufacturing is primarily located in Southeast Asia, but we are always looking at other options to ensure that we have a fulfilled supply chain overall.
You can read more of the interview here, or listen to my conversation about it with Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd.
Here are some extra morsels from my interview with Bowser:
Like many people, very surprised to see FromSoft producing a Nintendo exclusive [The Duskbloods]. Can you talk a little bit about how that partnership came about?
I can't speak specifically to that partnership. I don't have enough information to provide you that insight. But what I can say is we've worked very closely with our publishing partners throughout the Nintendo Switch era to really bring them onto that platform and show them the benefit of bringing their games onto that platform. And I think if you look at the host of publishers, both AAA publishers and smaller indie publishers have already announced they'll be on the platform either at launch or at some point during 2025. I think it indicates the value they see in being on the platform and being a part of our gaming ecosystem.
I'm also interested in variable game pricing. We're seeing more of this with the Nintendo Switch 2 as compared to Nintendo Switch games. How do you arrive on individual numbers for each game?
You know, we take a close look at the gameplay experience that we're offering, the depth and breadth of the game, the longevity and repeatability, if you will, of gameplay overall and make an assessment as to what the right price would be for that particular experience that we're offering. And even during the Nintendo Switch period, we had games such as The Legend of Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom that was priced at $69, versus Breath of the Wild from Legend of Zelda that was priced at $59. So it really is dependent on those factors such as depth, breadth and durability of gameplay over time.
Do you think you'll offer more deals such as we've seen before, where you can get two games bundled at a slightly lower price on the on the e-shop? What sort of ways are you considering to pair games together for perhaps a little bit more of a deal to consumers?
So you'll see offers like the bundle that we're offering right now with Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart World bundle together for $499, and that'll be offered through the holiday period of 2025. But other than that, we have no plans for any bundles at this point, further bundles at this point of time. We really want to offer consumers a wide range of products and of games that they can play and let them make the selections they want to make based on the types of games and genres they like to play.
I also spoke more about rising game prices with NPR One’s Andrew Mambo in an embedded conversation below!:
Next, few Magic: The Gathering sets have stirred me quite like Tarkir: Dragonstorm. I wrote up my feelings here:
Dragons tear through the sky while warring factions struggle to oppose them. Tarkir has never been a peaceful place, but it’s gotten a whole lot more contested in Magic: The Gathering’s most recent expansion, a long-awaited sequel to a celebrated 2014 set that’s drawn allegations of dealing in Orientalist tropes.
Out Friday, Tarkir: Dragonstorm addresses those criticisms while largely succeeding at updating the formula that made the original Khans of Tarkir such a fan-favorite. It’s not quite as fresh, but it’s still a welcome return to an original setting as Magic careens towards crossovers ranging from Final Fantasy to Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The first Tarkir block arose out of converging trends inside the world’s most popular trading card game. Its designers, who came to game maker Wizards of the Coast through a vaunted talent search, were tasked with creating a three-act arc that hinged on its middle set. […]
Khans of Tarkir hit my life when I was most engaged with the game. It was my senior year of college. I had rebounded from a spiraling depression, thanks in part to a lifelong friend I met at a local Magic store. Together, we spent most weekends drafting the Tarkir sets, and I even won a local “Game Day” Standard tournament with a deck I’d cobbled together from inexpensive cards. For years, I hosted flashback Khans drafts, and I even joined a homebrewed Dungeons and Dragons campaign set on Tarkir.
So I've been elated to see Wizards return to the war-torn setting after more than a decade. Resurgent clans have overthrown their old draconic oppressors, but now face new broods of wild dragons. Tarkir: Dragonstorm thus tries to unite fan-favorite three-color gameplay with crowd-pleasing, powerful dragons, which now serve as both allies and antagonists.
After complaints that the original setting conflated real-world cultures, the set’s new designers based this Asian-inspired fantasy on more direct roots. The Mardu look as Mongolian as ever, but the Sultai, a clan of deep-jungle necromancers that lived in opulent palaces resembling Angkor Wat, got a makeover. Their zombies aren’t mindless, shackled slaves anymore; now they’re honored dead (incidentally, the mummies of Magic’s Amonkhet plane recently received the same rehabilitation).
The nomadic Abzan got the most dramatic transformation. Instead of sporting scale mail more reminiscent of ancient Chinese armor than those the Turkic tribes they were based on actually wore, Abzan troops now look far more fantastical. Stylized faces adorn their breastplates, which light up like Jack-o'-lanterns when infused by the power of the ancestors they carry into battle. I'll admit that I don't love the silliness of this particular bit of art direction.
I'm also unimpressed by the Abzan’s headlining “endure” mechanic. Creatures with this keyword enter with +1/+1 counters (an echo of Abzan’s old “bolster” and “outlast” mechanics) or they create variably sized Spirits. It's appropriately thematic, but I hate tracking all the different tokens these cards produce.
Otherwise, Tarkir: Dragonstorm feels like a supercharged blend of the original block. I've been particularly drawn to the quasi-Siberian Temur: I realized that I played it exclusively during the Magic Arena streamer event, at last week's prerelease tournament, and at a draft I hosted this week with packs Wizards provided. What can I say? Temur’s mix of splashy spells, woolly mammoths and a potent (and amazingly, merely uncommon) dragon makes it a force on the battlefield. Temur also boasts my hands-down favorite preconstructed Commander deck, which includes dozens of dragons from across the game's history.
While it'll never eclipse my memories of Khans of Tarkir, Tarkir: Dragonstorm already feels like a high watermark of the Magic year. It's spurred me to compose a new Tarkir cube, and it's driving me to compete in more local tournaments. I wish it included the old “morph” mechanic, but after several face-down sets from last year, I really can't complain. The clans are back, baby, and I wish they'd never left.
Finally, before I let you go, I helped edit this insightful piece from colleague Manuela López Restrepo: 'A Minecraft Movie' is both a box office hit and post-ironic meme. What a weird movie and what a weird time to be alive!
The absolute final boss at avoiding pricing questions