Nintendo's Doug Bowser talks about Switch Lite, 3DS support and future retro consoles

Doug Bowser, President and CEO of Nintendo of America
Doug Bowser, President and CEO of Nintendo of America (Image credit: Business Wire)

What you need to know

  • Doug Bowser, President of Nintendo of America, held an interview with The Verge.
  • In this interview, Bowser talked about Switch Lite sales and Nintendo 3DS support.
  • Bowser also talked about the possibility of future retro consoles.

Nintendo has found great success with the Nintendo Switch however, there's a lot of questions as to what is coming in the future. In an interview with The Verge, Bowser talked about the plan for 3DS support, Switch Lite sales and whether or not new retro consoles will come in the future.

"It's not only raised the sell-through for the overall family, but importantly it did so without any negative impact on our flagship system," Bowser said regarding the Nintendo Switch Lite sales. "Said another way, Nintendo Switch Lite sales have been additive to the overall Switch business." He continued by noting that "One of the important trends we're also seeing with Nintendo Switch Lite is a higher percent of female consumers are buying a Nintendo Switch Lite, which is a strong indicator of the appeal to a broader audience."

When asked about the health of the Nintendo 3DS and when it will die, Bowser said that "We're certainly not going to say it today. I think time will tell. We will continue to support 3DS this holiday and into 2020."

Finally, when asked if gamers could expect to see a new retro console like the mini NES or mini SNES in the future, Bowser said that "Our focus right now is absolutely on our dedicated platforms such as Nintendo Switch Lite and our flagship Nintendo Switch." He continued by saying "I think with the gameplay experiences you saw with some of our classic consoles that we launched a few years ago, they're now available on Nintendo Switch Online, and this is where our focus will be."

Samuel Tolbert
Contributor

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance gaming writer who started working for iMore and its sister sites Windows Central and Android Central in July 2019. He handles news, previews, reviews, and exclusive original reporting, and has also been featured on TechRadar. With a background studying engineering before he shifted his focus to gaming journalism, he's skilled at identifying technical advantages and disadvantages provided by different hardware. If he’s not writing something, he’s off playing video games, spending time with his pets, exercising, or reading. He's also fond of trying to draw things with his iPad.