| RolStoppable said: Reggie has been idolized because he happened to hold the job when Nintendo rose back to market leadership with the Wii, but he actually wasn't remotely close to being great. Bowser's lower public presence was a positive, because we didn't need to hear from NoA when virtually all important decisions have always been made in Japan. Today's Directs with Japanese personnel doing the talking while being subbed is more appropriate than Reggie or Bill Trinen leading the presentations in the past. Reggie said a lot of stupid things in interviews during the 3DS and Wii U era. As for consumer-friendliness or the lack thereof, Reggie was the cause for Operation Rainfall because he refused to publish three first party games in North America. Three games that were going to have English translations anyway, because they were going to be released in Europe. As for Wii Sports being a pack-in or not, it's doubtful that it would have mattered much, because it isn't hard to buy a console and a game separately. There's a narrative that the Wii might have not succeeded if it hadn't been for a bundle, but that doesn't hold up under scrutiny. In any case, I'd rather have a Bowser successor who remains mostly invisible like Bowser than a loudmouth like Reggie. Because chances are that attention-seeking executives say stupid things, be it Reggie, Spencer or Ryan. |
You know… I actually kind of agree with you on the “loudmouth president” point. There are pros and cons to each approach, I suppose. I’m not a big fan of idolizing powerful people. (It just feels…really weird. Like you know they’re putting on a performance to attract consumers. Lab-grown charisma.) IDK I grew up with Reggie & Iwata as the face of Nintendo, so maybe my favorability is a little misinformed. NoA president doesn’t have too much power, so it is difficult to say what exactly can be attributed to Bowser and Reggie in terms of how Nintendo performed during 2004-pres.
Though Reggie fighting for Wii Sports is indisputable a win for consumers. Not saying that was the reason why Wii succeeded, but you would never hear a story about Doug Bowser fighting for Welcome Tour being packed-in with NS2.
