Nintendo opens its San Francisco store today, May 15, in Union Square at 331 Powell Street. Nintendo San Francisco is the second official Nintendo store in the United States, and follows the hugely popular New York location, which was formerly known as the Nintendo World Store, but closed down for renovations and rebranding as Nintendo NY before reopening in 2016.
IGN went along to the San Francisco store to check out what Nintendo has… in-store. And we also sat down with Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser to talk about why the company has opened its first store on the West Coast now.
Of course, we had to ask about all things Nintendo Switch 2, which launches on June 5. So we quizzed Bowser on the Switch 2's availability in the U.S. at launch and beyond, those controversial Game-Key Cards, and plenty more.
Doug Bowser: So were you just downstairs [at the store]?
IGN: Yes, I was.
Bowser: What are your thoughts?
IGN: I think it's great. It reminds me so much of the [Nintendo stores] in Japan. I really like the vibe of it and the large statues, and you can buy the miniature versions, I think that's really nice.
Bowser: You picked up on that.
IGN: Yes, absolutely.
Bowser: That’s great.
IGN: So, to get started, congrats on opening Nintendo San Francisco.
Bowser: Thank you.
IGN: It's exciting to see all that stuff that Nintendo fans have just longingly looked at from Japan finally come overseas to the States. So walk me through it – how did this all come together? Why now, and why was San Francisco the pick for the first public store on the West Coast?
Bowser: Well, you hit on one important point. We were looking for an opportunity to open a store on the West Coast, and as we looked at possible cities for us, San Francisco just kept coming to the top of the list for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's a vibrant city, it's got a very, very high level of traffic. And it also draws from around the Bay Area, a lot of consumers, into the core of the city. And then Union Square itself is, of course, the center of the shopping district within San Francisco, a pretty iconic location being within the same building as the Westin St. Francis Hotel, which is obviously very iconic. And so for us, it just felt like a perfect location to open a store on the West Coast.
IGN: Do you see Nintendo San Francisco becoming kind of a hub for Nintendo fandom? Much like how Nintendo New York hosts the Nintendo Direct watch parties. What can fans expect from this location?
Bowser: Well, as we look at Nintendo San Francisco, similar to the other stores, we view them as an opportunity, really, to immerse our fans in the world of Nintendo, our characters, our worlds, our products. But we also look at these stores as a gathering place, where people can come together, discover, if you will, new items, discover new games as they're released. And yes, from time to time, when either we have Directs, or we have releases, use the store for an event space, if you will, for people to gather and celebrate whatever that event might be.
IGN: Any plans for Nintendo Switch 2 launch day?
Bowser: We will be selling Switch 2 at the Nintendo San Francisco Store. No plans yet to announce as to the release. However, I would encourage anybody to look either at our social media sites, which is @NintendoStoreUS, or you can look at Nintendo.com for more information.
IGN: It's obviously just setting up to be a huge year for your company. This week it's a store, next week you're opening a theme park, and then two weeks after that is a new console. I imagine you're all just really tired all the time. But there's more than that, too. You have a movie coming next year, you have live events like Nintendo Live, where you and I first spoke. Nintendo's always been an entertainment company, but with all this expansion, how has the way you view Nintendo internally and define your company's mission changed over the last several years?
Bowser: I don't think the mission has actually changed. Our mission is very simple, to create smiles. If you think about our strategy and how do we support that mission, it's about incrementing the number of touch points that consumers can have with our IP, whether it's our characters, our world, through a variety of experiences. And I think you hit on it as an entertainment company, while the core of our business model, if you will, is video games, we also look at opportunities like movies, theme parks, or even stores like Nintendo San Francisco as a place for people to have that immersion and those experiences with our IP overall. So to your point, we've got a series of events that are coming up this year. But it's really just a wonderful opportunity for us to engage with consumers in a host of different ways and, frankly, to build on their affinity and their love and their passion for our characters.
IGN: And I think part of building on that passion and how you've done that the last several years has led to what's been arguably Nintendo's most successful console generation ever. And as it's been very successful for Nintendo, we've seen many struggles across the rest of the industry. A lot of other video game companies are facing layoffs or budget cuts and things of that nature. So as you turn your attention towards transitioning your audience to Nintendo Switch 2, what is Nintendo's strategy to protect itself from the hardships that so many other video game companies are facing? And how does expanding awareness of your IP and diversifying your business – through things like the store or the theme parks – kind of all play into that strategy?
Bowser: A few thoughts on that topic. First of all, I'd go back to what we just discussed around just being an entertainment company and increasing the number of touch points we have as consumers. Just there with that strategy, we're able to build that affinity that we just talked about. And hopefully, as people engage in our content, whether it's inside the video game space or outside the video game space, there's a desire to continue that relationship and that engagement. As we look at Nintendo Switch 2, we believe by having a next generation platform with very, very strong gameplay capabilities, social capabilities with GameChat, and with strong content like Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong Bananza – which we talked about during our Direct last month – we have this ability to bring consumers in and really build a longer term relationship with them through their gameplay experiences and through their other experiences.
IGN: I do have a few more questions about the store, but while we're here, I'd like to dig a little bit more into Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo's latest financial report forecasts 15 million units shipped in its first fiscal year. Will Nintendo be able to meet demand in the U.S. at launch?
Bowser: [Nintendo President] Mr. [Shuntaro] Furukawa last week announced that we'll have 15 million units in our forecast for Nintendo Switch 2 and 4.5 million units for Nintendo Switch during the fiscal year. That forecast was really driven by wanting to match, if you will, what we accomplished with Nintendo Switch in the first 10 months of its release. As we look at our plans here in the U.S., we do believe we'll have production and supply that will allow us to meet consumer demand. We know there's been strong positive reaction to Nintendo Switch 2 early on and we've seen that through our preorders, but we do have a plan to have a continuous flow of product that'll be available through the holidays.
IGN: So that's availability, which is one huge factor, and obviously the other big factor is price. And Mr. Furukawa has raised concerns about possible impacts of tariffs on Nintendo Switch 2 and the American people's spending power, while also noting that the forecast was not affected by tariffs or production limitations. The tariff situation is constantly changing in the United States, and with all this uncertainty, I think that some consumers are worried that if they can't find one at launch, the price will have gone up in six months or a year when they do find one. So I'm wondering, to what extent can you commit to Switch 2's $450 price tag for both launch and beyond?
Bowser: Well, we made a commitment by announcing the pricing of both the single SKU at $449 and then the bundled SKU with Mario Kart World at $499. And we really thought it was important that we established that price point, even after further tariffs were announced, to give consumers that comfort that they would be able to purchase at that price point. Obviously, it's still a very fluid situation and it's difficult to determine what may be happening in the upcoming months or weeks. But our commitment is to find ways within existing market conditions or changing market conditions to make our products, including Nintendo Switch 2 hardware, as obtainable as we possibly can.
IGN: Was that part of the strategy, when you had the preorder delay, and you kind of went back to the drawing board and talked about prices for all these things, you come back, the console stays the same, accessories go up a little bit, and the more niche hardcore things like amiibo go up a lot. Did that kind of play into that? You want to leave the ground floor as accessible as you possibly can for people and kind of charge up elsewhere?
Bowser: It was part of many considerations. First of all, and Mr. Furukawa talked about this during his earnings announcement, our production for U.S. supply is in Vietnam, so much less impacted by tariffs as, say, China. However, some of our accessories are produced in China. And as a result, there was a need to take some pricing on those accessories as we looked towards launch and beyond. But that is a bit of the strategy is to really understand one: market conditions, two: origin of production, as we make those pricing decisions.
IGN: And you're right, you mentioned earlier that the preorders showed how high demand is for Switch 2, and that's been a very positive story for you guys over the last couple of weeks. But prior to that, about a month ago, I think undoubtedly one of the biggest talking points following the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct was some backlash over the software pricing, specifically Mario Kart World costing $79.99, a price that did not change coming back after the preorder delay. Internally, were you all expecting that level of backlash over the price, what were those conversations like?
Bowser: Really, the conversation centered around, “What is the right price to charge for a software experience?” We look at things such as the content, we look at the extended amount of play that would be provided through the gameplay experiences, we look at a number of different factors as we consider what the pricing may be. And so we felt that the price that we charge for Mario Kart World really does equal the value of the gameplay experience. But as you also saw, that was one price point. For Donkey Kong Bananza, our price point was set at $69.99.
IGN: So back to the original question, were you expecting that level of backlash over the Mario Kart World pricing announcement?
Bowser: I think any time you take price, make pricing decisions, there's a level of backlash. But I'd love to focus now on the store.
IGN: Okay, yes, understood. Well then I will ask, I noticed on the top floor of the store, you can customize your Nintendo Switch as you can, I believe, at a Japan store as well.
Bowser: That's correct, yes.
IGN: Can fans expect similar customization options at the Nintendo San Francisco store for Switch 2 in any capacity?
Bowser: Yeah, well today obviously we're offering fans the ability to customize an OLED model, whether it's through the docking station, through the Joy-Con selection, and even through the strap selection. As we look forward, right now with Nintendo Switch 2, there's only two SKUs that are being offered right now, and one color of Joy-Con being offered right now. So the customization abilities would be somewhat limited, but that's something we've looked for in the future.
IGN: Okay. And then in this decade, as we've talked about, you've expanded into movies, theme parks, more dedicated retail like Nintendo San Francisco, and beyond. So what's next? More retail locations like Nintendo San Francisco? Are there other avenues Nintendo is exploring to continue to expand its reach as an entertainment business?
Bowser: So I think you touched again on a couple of important points. One, as we look to expand into other forms of entertainment, whether it's movies, theme parks, or stores, for us what's important is that we offer unique experiences. So even if you look at Nintendo San Francisco, while you mentioned there's some similarities to the Nintendo stores in Japan, there are also some differences. And we look at each location to be able to offer different experiences in the store, also different merchandise within the store, such as some of the exclusive merchandise that you can find here, that you wouldn't be able to find in other stores. And so we're always looking to make sure that each one of those experiences is somewhat unique in nature. And I can't speak to what future projects may be, I would just say stay tuned. But obviously there's a host of opportunities that we have available across all those various forms of entertainment I mentioned.
IGN: I noticed in the store there are a lot of physical games for sale for Nintendo Switch. And I look at your business reports every quarter, and I see that physical is still roughly half, sometimes more, sometimes a little bit less, of your software sales business. And there's been big changes to physical and digital game management recently, with Virtual Game Cards, and Game-Key Cards as we see upcoming on Nintendo Switch 2. Moving forward, is physical still going to be a big part of your business, or do you see the Game-Key Cards – where the actual game itself isn't on the cartridge – as kind of the future?
Bowser: In the immediate future, physical games are still a key part of our business. And we value our relationships in particular with our retailers, and want to make sure we have products available for them to sell to their consumers. When you look at Game-Key Cards, for us, our goal with Nintendo Switch 2 – similar to what we were able to accomplish on Nintendo Switch – is to have the broadest and deepest library of content we possibly can. And that includes our publishing partners. And Game-Key Cards are a way that our publishing partners are able to bring more content onto the platform, deeper and larger, more immersive content on the platform.
IGN: Another thing I noticed in the store is right now, it is very Nintendo Switch focused. I think the only mention of Switch 2 that I saw was on a TV screen, there was a commercial for it playing, and that makes sense, it's not out yet. But you mentioned that you’re forecasting still to sell roughly 4.5 million Nintendo Switch consoles in the next fiscal year. As we move forward, you also have a couple of Switch games announced for this year, and a couple scheduled for next year with Rhythm Heaven Groove and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. For those who aren't ready to adopt Nintendo Switch 2 yet, will 2026 mark the end of Nintendo Switch as a big focus of the business, or will these two pillars – Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 – continue to coexist alongside each other into 2027 and potentially further than that?
Bowser: I resist putting time parameters around it. I think what Mr. Furukawa talked about last week was, we will continue to support Nintendo Switch including – as you mentioned – bringing new games onto the platform. The other thing I would mention is, as you look at Nintendo Switch 2, one of the benefits of Nintendo Switch 2 is that ability not only to play the new content that we'll bring into the platform, like Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong Bananza or the host of publishing partner titles that we've already announced, but you'll also be able to play content from Nintendo Switch on the platform. So we're really looking for an opportunity for consumers to engage with us in a variety of different ways and a variety of different platforms.
IGN: Here’s a fun one to end on, what's your favorite thing for sale in the entire Nintendo store?
Bowser: [Laughs] I'm wearing it. It’s the reversible The Legend of Zelda bomber jacket, it is absolutely one of my favorite items.
IGN: Nice.
Bowser: But there are a host of other items. I'm gonna have to restrain myself a bit as I walk through the store and shop.
IGN: Yeah, I know that some of my coworkers walked out after buying bags and bags full of stuff.
Bowser: There's a couple of things as we think about the shopping experience. I mean, first of all, there is some of the exclusive merch. You noted the smaller figurines that match the statues that we have throughout the store. There's also obviously very exclusive Nintendo San Francisco merchandise, whether it's T-shirts, hoodies or caps. But the other product lines that I really enjoy are kind of the unique takes on some of your favorite IP. Whether that's some of the Super Mario kitchen wear or the one that I really enjoy is the backpack for Splatoon that looks like an ink tank. So there's a lot of very unique variations of products based on gameplay experiences.
IGN: Yeah, that actually leads to another question here. I was at the Nintendo New York store a couple of weeks ago. I noticed most of what's in Nintendo New York is also available online on the My Nintendo store. Much of what's available at Nintendo San Francisco is not currently available online. This inventory here of things that were previously exclusive to Japan that have now come over to the States, are there plans to list those products online on the My Nintendo store?
Bowser: We plan to use all of our retail locations, whether it's Nintendo San Francisco, Nintendo New York, or the My Nintendo store, to help us share a lot of variety of merchandise with our consumers. But we may not share all of the same variety of merchandise. So for instance, for Nintendo San Francisco, there will be unique merchandise that you can only purchase here. The same would apply to Nintendo New York, and it may also apply to the My Nintendo store. So it really provides consumers this opportunity, if you will, to treasure hunt at the various locations to find those products that they're really excited about.
IGN: There are a lot of amiibo at the Nintendo San Francisco store as well, in some cases, ones that have not been in print for many years.
Bowser: Many years, yes.
IGN: Are there plans to put those out into wider retail, at other retail partners, or is it the idea that you come to the Nintendo store to find these now, kind of rare, Nintendo products?
Bowser: We wanted to provide an experience for consumers here at Nintendo San Francisco that would be unique, and allow them to engage in our content, and particularly find those amiibo, maybe that they haven't been able to round out their collection with. But nothing to share regarding any plans with retailers at this time.
IGN: Last question, it's not about the store, but I hope you'll humor me, because we’ve bonded over this. The partnership with the Seattle Mariners, you're the first jersey patch for the Seattle Mariners, and this partnership between Nintendo and the Mariners dates back to the 1990s.
Bowser: Yes it does.
IGN: I would just love some insight into how that came together, who approached who, and how did this partnership reach the next level with this collaboration?
Bowser: Well, as you noted, our relationship with the Mariners goes all the way back into the 1990s, and we're quite proud of that relationship. And we were approached by the Mariners with this opportunity, and as we both sat down and started to talk about it and the possibilities, it just seemed like a natural fit, a perfect fit for us. So we're really excited to be associated with the team, and we think it's a wonderful opportunity to share our passion for the city, and at the same time, really help fans learn more about Nintendo and Nintendo Switch 2.
IGN: Any plans for more collaborations beyond the jersey patch, maybe something at the ballpark?
Bowser: Nothing that we're gonna talk about today.
IGN: Thanks so much, Doug. I appreciate the time.
Bowser: Thanks, Logan, I appreciate it very much.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.
Parts of this interview were edited for clarity.
Logan Plant is the host of Nintendo Voice Chat and IGN's Database Manager & Playlist Editor. The Legend of Zelda is his favorite video game franchise of all time, and he is patiently awaiting the day Nintendo announces a brand new F-Zero. You can find him online @LoganJPlant.