Yesterday, news broke that Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime – the President of the company who ushered in the Wii era, saw them through the Wii U era, and launched Nintendo back into relevance with the Switch – will be stepping down come April.

For Nintendo fans, this wasn’t just news of an executive leadership change—Reggie has been a fan-facing figure for over a decade with his fan interactions, his appearances at trade shows, conventions, and Nintendo’s Direct presentations, and the sheer number of memes he has bestowed upon the gaming community (most historically, “my body is ready”). It’s just a general bummer overall then that he will be stepping down.

News of his retirement was greeted with congratulations on his tenure and his achievements by many across the gaming industry—including head of PlayStation’s Worldwide Studios Shawn Layden, head of Xbox Phil Spencer, the official DOOM account, the official Square Enix account, and more. You can see these tweets for yourself below.

Reggie Fils-Aime leaves a massive legacy in his wake—now to see if his successor Doug Bowser (yes, really) will be able to live up to it.

This will always be true. We'll miss you, Reggie. https://t.co/N2zBwQDQlY

— DOOM (@DOOM) February 21, 2019

All the best to Reggie Fils-Aime on the next phase of his life and career. Great leader, industry partner and friend.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 21, 2019

https://twitter.com/shawnlayden/status/1098741639005102080?s=21

Thank YOU, Reggie, for everything. ♥

— Limited Run Games (@LimitedRunGames) February 21, 2019

Thanks for everything, Reggie!

— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) February 21, 2019

We will miss you, Reggie. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication at Nintendo! pic.twitter.com/Vs7x3QPXRE

— Tetris (@Tetris_Official) February 21, 2019

Thank you, Reggie! We hope you keep on dancing, ten outta ten! pic.twitter.com/H4fgaS2pYa

— YO-KAI WATCH (@YokaiWatchNews) February 21, 2019

https://twitter.com/squareenixusa/status/1098725062209724416?s=21

We will miss you Reggie! That Game Award trophy looks nice in your office! Thank you for everything!

— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) February 21, 2019

Thanks for having a sense of humor. pic.twitter.com/qxQ3yOh7xr

— Cheap Ass Gamer (@videogamedeals) February 21, 2019

*fistbump* pic.twitter.com/eaVU7IWn18

— Gaming (@xGaming) February 21, 2019

With the announcement of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo promised that every playable character throughout the series’ history was making a return. Well, everyone except for Waluigi who exists as an Assist Trophy. Despite what you may think though, Nintendo doesn’t “hate” Waluigi. In fact, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime even mains him in Mario Tennis Aces.

What started as a question from Waypoint about Fils-Aime’s main character in the recent tennis game inevitably devolved into a discussion about the villain’s exclusion. Fils-Aime stated that, “CLEARLY, Nintendo does not hate Waluigi. Because here I am with him as my main character. I mean look, we’re making every character that’s ever been in a Smash Bros. game available in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.”

When told that this doesn’t include Waluigi, Fils-Aime imitated exhaustion and replied, “You would think that would be enough to satisfy the fans. But noooooo! The fans have to focus in on one character that isn’t part of the series and to demand their inclusion.

“So, one of the good things about the way we approach E3 is when it’s all said and done we step back. We look at all of the feedback and share with the devs and certainly Mr. Sakurai will be aware of the groundswell of support that appeared for a Waluigi. And in the end it’s his decision to make. Just like when we were getting ready to launch the Wii U and 3DS version there was this groundswell asking for Reggie to be a playable character in the game. I mean…”

Obvious light-heartedness aside (and no, Fils-Aime never did become a playable character), Nintendo seems more than a little aware about the reception to Waluigi’s absence. How could they not be? Legions of his fans were furious about it, whether as a joke or in seriousness. Some even took to Twitter to harass Super Smash Bros. Ultimate creator Masahiro Sakurai who proceeded to block them.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem impossible that Waluigi is added to the game later especially given Nintendo’s exceptional post-launch support for Switch games. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is out on December 7th for Nintendo Switch.

With the Nintendo Switch hogging the limelight for Nintendo, helping it rise back to dominance in this console generation, one continues to wonder about the fate of the Nintendo 3DS. The handheld platform has had over 1,000 games release at this point but with the Switch providing an even more powerful portable solution, does the 3DS really have a future?

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime says it does – the company actually has some new 3DS games to announce in the coming months. Speaking to IGN, Fils-Aime stated that, “We’re going to continue [focusing on the 3DS], we’re going to continue to have some new games on that platform. We’re going to announce [them], and we will over the next number of months, but it’s going to continue to be a vibrant piece of our overall business, certainly here in the Americas.”

What about Mario Kart Tour, the mobile version of the popular kart racer that was announced earlier this year? It was notably absent from E3 2018 but as per Fils-Aime, that wasn’t the right place to talk about it.

“Depending on the game, E3 could or could not be a place to shed light on mobile activity. In the case of Mario Kart Tour, we made the decision that there’s going to be another opportunity to shed more light on that app, especially shedding light when it’s closer to its launch. We continue to be on track to launch it in this current fiscal year for Nintendo.”

Nintendo has seen some very strong success in the mobile market thanks to titles like Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. This combined with the Mario Kart IP more or less means another strong mobile IP but we’ll have to wait for more details on the release date.

Nintendo’s E3 2018 showing was solid, but entirely unspectacular. True to their word, Nintendo decided to show off not much that wasn’t coming this year- and what is coming this year was all stuff we already knew of. The result was a Direct that, to anyone expecting literally any surprise, must have been disappointing.

Addressing these concerns, Nintendo’s President Reggie Fils-Aime said in an interview (via Go Nintendo) that Nintendo is a company that loves to surprise its fans, and that there are many more announcements that it will announce in the months and weeks ahead. Which, really, should not come as news to anyone- Nintendo, after all, makes announcements through the year, instead of just at E3, via its Nintendo Direct broadcasts. That kind of thing is what keeps the Switch constantly in the news, and hype for it constantly going. Indeed, Fils-Aime made sure to note that the pacing of news and releases will drive the Switch and its momentum forward in the coming weeks.

Given Nintendo’s penchant for making major game announcements during its Directs, and often for announcing a game just months or even weeks before it is due out, I see no reason to not take Reggie at face value here. As for what these games and announcements might be? That’s anyone’s guess, after all.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Pokken Tournament DX won’t be the last Wii U titles upgraded for the Nintendo Switch. According to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime in conversation with Waypoint, consumers can expect more such enhanced Wii U titles for hybrid console.

It’s not secret that the Wii U was a lackluster sales success, especially compared to the Wii which sold 100 million units in its lifetime. Fils-Aime noted that, “Given the install base of Wii U, there was some fantastic content that consumers did not get to play. So that creates certainly a business opportunity.

“On the other hand, one of the things that we’ve discussed internally is, there really needs to be an additional element to that game to make it fresh, and to further compel the consumer to buy in.”

“I think the best example of that is Pokken Tournament Deluxe. Additional fighters, that gives the fan a reason to buy into it. Same is true with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, providing a mode that the consumers wanted in terms of a better battle mode, that was then included in that game.

“And so, I think the way we will continue to evaluate this is: yes, do we have opportunities with great games that maybe were not played as broadly on the Wii U, but then what’s the plus alpha that’s going to make it really compelling for the consumer?”

What those games will be wasn’t confirmed but Fils-Aime said, “I can tell you there’s more to be announced.”

Super Smash Bros. perhaps? Xenoblade Chronicles X? Time will tell so stay tuned fore more information.

The DS line-up will be expanded once again when the New Nintendo 2DS XL releases in July. Priced at $149 and boasting improved processing power, it will serve as the definitive non-3D handheld from Nintendo.

However, many have asked about the need for the New 2DS XL. Speaking to Time, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime noted that the new handheld will stay “in between” the 2DS and 3DS XL.

“The Nintendo 2DS really focused on that entry level gamer. The four-, five-, six-year old that is just getting into gaming, but wants to play Mario Kart, wants to have a Super Mario Bros. experience, wants to play Pokémon. And we feel with Nintendo 3DS XL at $199 that it’s a fully-featured product, that it is, if you will, the Cadillac of handheld gaming. And then we heard from consumers, ‘Boy, I wish there was something in between.'” This resulted in the New 2DS XL’s creation.

The New Nintendo 2DS XL will be available on July 28th in North America and Europe at $149/£133.

The NES Classic Edition has been a pretty strong hit for Nintendo – according to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime when speaking to Time, the console managed to sell 2.3 million units. This is up from 1.5 million sales in February 2017 and despite the console being recently discontinued.

Speaking about plans to “focus on the future”, Fils-Aime said, “We had originally planned for this to be a product for last holiday. We just didn’t anticipate how incredible the response would be.

“Once we saw that response, we added shipments and extended the product for as long as we could to meet more of that consumer demand.”

Though the final shipments came about this month, stock is already sold out. Fils-Aime apologized for consumers who were “frustrated about not being able to find the system,” but also said that Nintendo “needs to drive” other areas. “We’ve got a lot going on right now and we don’t have unlimited resources.”

Besides that being the Nintendo Switch – which has sold 2.74 million units worldwide – that includes the rumoured SNES Classic that’s apparently arriving later this year.

In the midst of Nintendo reportedly doubling production of the Switch to keep up with demand, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime spoke to Fox News about the company’s plans for this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo.

“E3 is always a big time for Nintendo. We look at each E3 as a unique opportunity to tell our story. And we’re gonna have a big E3 this year.”

That entails content for both the Switch and Nintendo’s flagship handheld 3DS. “We’re going to be showcasing a variety of games. We will have experiences for…consumers will be able to attend the show for the very first time. So I’m not gonna tell you all of the various games and all of our little secrets for E3, but I can tell you that E3 is going to be a major opportunity for us to showcase not only Nintendo Switch, but also content coming to Nintendo 3DS.”

Fils-Aime noted that the Switch had a strong reaction thus far. “Every day we’re setting new records – from a US perspective – meaning today I can look back and see how I compare to the launch of the Wii, or the Nintendo DS, or the Nintendo 3DS, and I’m setting sales records every day with the Nintendo Switch. The reaction has been fantastic. Consumers want it.”

What are your thoughts on the Nintendo Switch thus far? Let us know in the comments.

Another concern, dating way back to when the Nintendo Switch was first revealed, was the 3DS potentially being phased out. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

According to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime in a recent interview with Wired, “3DS has a long life in front of it. We’ve already announced games that will be launching in the first couple quarters of this year. There are a number of big games coming. And in our view, the Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo Switch are going to live side-by-side.”

A lot of this comes down to the differences in price and games available. “You’re going to be meeting different price points, you’re going to be meeting different types of consumers, you’re going to have the newest, freshest content available on Nintendo Switch, you’ve got a thousand-game library available on Nintendo 3DS, plus some key new ones coming. They’re going to coexist just fine. We’ve done this before, managing two different systems.”

Fils-Aime ended by saying that, “I think there’s a sense that Nintendo Switch is a portable device. It is portable. But at its heart, it’s a home console that you can take with you on the go.”

What are your thoughts on the matter? Let us know in the comments.

One of the biggest concerns with the Nintendo Switch following its presentation was that of supply. After all, with how hotly in demand the NES Classic was, would Nintendo be able to meet demand for its newest platform?

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime addressed these concerns in an interview with Wired. “What we’ve said publicly is that there will be 2 million units that will be shipped worldwide for the launch, essentially through month one.

“I know, because I read the boards and I read the comments, that there is concern about supply. From what I’ve read, the concern seems to stem from the lack of ability to buy NES Classic. So what I would say is this: Two million for essentially the first month is a huge number, especially when you look and see that this is not peak seasonality.

“This is essentially the first three weeks of March. Our focus is making sure that the consumer who wants to buy a Nintendo Switch can buy a Nintendo Switch. That’s how we build our supply chain, that’s how we think through the amount of product that’s available.”

Fils-Aime also stated that the problem with the NES Classic was that it “was a situation where the global demand was well in excess of anything we had anticipated, and that’s what created shortages. The good news, at least for consumers in the Americas, is we’re going to continue to make the NES Classic available. With the ongoing level of supply, the ongoing demand is going to be met. We know the concern.”

The Nintendo Switch is out on March 3rd. What are your thoughts on it? Let us know in the comments.