Doug Spencer Bowser is an American businessman, currently serving as the president of

Nintendo of America is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards. ...

. He succeeded Reggie Fils-Aimé as president in 2019, having previously worked for

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational Final good, consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter (industrialist), William Procter and James Gamble (industr ...

and

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

Early career

Bowser graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1984, going on to work at

from 1984 to 2007, which included serving as the director of customer marketing for the Latin American region from 1998 to 2004, and the company's Safeway customer team from 2004 to 2007. Bowser worked at

from 2007 through 2015, serving as vice president of global demand planning.

Nintendo

Bowser joined in Nintendo in 2015 as the vice president of sales and marketing, and was promoted to senior vice president of sales and marketing in mid-2016, where he oversaw the promotion and release of the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

within North America. In February 2019, Nintendo of America's president and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if th ...

Reggie Fils-Aimé announced his retirement, and Bowser was named as his successor for the company's president in April 2019. In addition to these duties, Bowser represents Nintendo for the

Entertainment Software Association The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the trade association of the video game industry in the United States. It was formed in April 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) and renamed on July 21, 2003. It is based i ...

. The fact that Bowser shares his surname with the main

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, ri ...

of the ''Mario'' franchise,

Bowser , or King Koopa, is a fictional character, the primary antagonist in Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. In Japan, the character bears the title of . Bowser is the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race. Despite ...

, drew interest when he was first hired by Nintendo, and was the subject of further humorous reactions online upon his promotion to president. The BBC referred to the case as "one of the most charming cases of

nominative determinism Nominative determinism is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that fit their names. The term was first used in the magazine ''New Scientist'' in 1994, after the magazine's humorous "Feedback" column noted several ...

ever". Nintendo jokingly referenced the name similarity during their

E3 2019 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2019 (E3 2019) was the 25th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

Nintendo Direct Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentation or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began i ...

presentation. Bowser said he had no issues when such jokes are made, stating "It's a signal to me that we have an amazing, passionate following, and our fans are embracing it. It's ironic that we share the same name, and there are times when it'll be fun and we'll play with it, but we're two very, very different characters. I'm not tired of it at all though."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowser, Doug 1965 births Electronic Arts employees Living people Nintendo people University of Utah alumni Video game businesspeople Procter & Gamble people People from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn