Nintendo's success with the Switch is undeniable, as the hybrid console has seen a number of sales spikes lately, largely fueled by people stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even before that, though, the Switch's success was nothing to scoff at, and apparently, that success made it a lot easier for former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime to retire from his post.
In an interview with Danny Peña on GamerTag Radio, Fils-Aime dove into a few different aspects of his life, including his retirement from Nintendo after 16 years at the company. When asked if he was surprised with the level of success that the Switch had achieved, Fils-Aime replied, "No, it was not a surprise to me."
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Fils-Aime went on to state that the Switch gave him the same feeling that the Nintendo DS and Wii had. "I knew it was going to be magical," Fils-Aime commented. According to Fils-Aime, a big part of that feeling was driven by the console's portability, which he says solves a key player complaint – having to stop playing games to leave somewhere. There were other key factors that aided that success, too, and all of that combined made it easier for Fils-Aime to retire.
"Candidly," Fils-Aime stated, "knowing that it was going to be successful is what helped make my retirement easy." Fils-Aime went on to say that he knew the company was going to be in "great shape" for a few years after the Switch launched. Given Nintendo's recent Switch sales numbers, that certainly seems to be the case.
While that success is apparent now, Nintendo was in an interesting position leading up to the Switch's launch. The Wii U had effectively bombed, trapping a number of high-profile games on a system that simply didn't sell well. That fuelled concerns among fans that Nintendo's next console would repeat the same mistakes, though those fears now seem to be unfounded.
With the Switch halfway through its lifecycle, there are still a number of big announcements that could be made for the system, as well as big games that have already been confirmed but have no release date quite yet. Luckily, another Nintendo Direct is on the way, which may provide fans more new games to look forward to.
Thankfully, Fils-Aime was able to close out his time at Nintendo on a high note. The industry icon was added to GameStop's board of directors shortly after his departure from Nintendo, and while things at GameStop have been a bit wild lately, it's good to see Fils-Aime's fingerprints in other parts of the games industry.
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