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Doug Bowser to retire, Devon Pritchard to succeed as Nintendo of America president
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Doug Bowser to retire, Devon Pritchard to succeed as Nintendo of America president

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Nintendo has announced the retirement of current Nintendo of America president and COO Doug Bowser. He will be succeeded by VP of revenue, marketing, and consumer experience Devon Pritchard.

Satoru Shibata will take on the role of CEO, while continuing his positions as managing executive officer and corporate director. He joined the firm in 1985, and was previously president of Nintendo of Europe.

The leadership transition will occur on December 31, 2025.

Bowser joined Nintendo in 2015 as vice president of sales and marketing, becoming senior vice president a year later. In 2019, he took on the role of president and COO following the retirement of Reggie Fils-Aimé.

“Leading Nintendo of America has been the honour of a lifetime, and I am proud of what our team has accomplished in both business results and the experiences we’ve created for consumers,” said Bowser.

“Now it’s time for the next generation of leadership and Devon’s track record speaks for itself. She is an exceptional leader, and her promotion is a testament to her strong performance and strategic contributions to the company’s growth. I have full confidence that she will guide the company to even greater heights.”

Pritchard, who will become Nintendo’s first female president, joined the company in 2006 and was previously executive vice president of business affairs and publisher relations.

As well as her role as president, Pritchard will join the Nintendo of America board of directors and become an executive officer at the Japanese firm.

“I am humbled and excited to take on this new role,” said Pritchard. “Doug has been a fantastic mentor, and I look forward to building on the incredible foundation he has helped establish.”

“My focus will be continuing to build on Nintendo’s legacy of surprising and delighting longtime fans, while at the same time welcoming new players to the Nintendo family.”

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa added: “During his tenure, Doug made numerous contributions to bring smiles to the faces of people connected to Nintendo. I would like to express my gratitude for his strong efforts.

“Devon, who will become the next president, has also made many contributions to Nintendo over the years. I am confident that, like Doug, Devon will continue to support Nintendo’s important mission of creating smiles.”



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Doug Bowser Retiring From Nintendo Of America, Devon Pritchard Named President And COO
Game Updates

Doug Bowser Retiring From Nintendo Of America, Devon Pritchard Named President And COO

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Nintendo of America president and chief operating officer Doug Bowser has announced his retirement from the role, effective at the end of the calendar year. Devon Pritchard, who joined Nintendo in 2006 and has served as the leader of the Sales, Marketing, and Communications division since 2021, has been named as Bowser’s successor.

Bowser joined Nintendo in 2015 as vice president of sales and marketing, before receiving a promotion to senior vice president of sales and marketing in 2016. In 2019, then-president and COO Reggie Fils-Aimé announced his retirement, and Bowser was named his successor. Although Fils-Aimé ushered Nintendo of America from its disappointing Wii U era into the prosperous Switch era, Bowser oversaw the tail end of the Switch era, which also saw rapid expansion into the film and theme park industries, as well as the start of the Switch 2 era. 

“Leading Nintendo of America has been the honor of a lifetime, and I am proud of what our team has accomplished in both business results and the experiences we’ve created for consumers,” Bowser said in a press release. “Now, it’s time for the next generation of leadership and Devon’s track record speaks for itself. She is an exceptional leader, and her promotion is a testament to her strong performance and strategic contributions to the company’s growth. I have full confidence that she will guide the company to even greater heights.”

Pritchard, as executive vice president of revenue for marketing and consumer experience, is currently responsible for managing physical and digital sales growth, and oversees all aspects of marketing, advertising, events, social media, and original content. According to the press release, Pritchard plans to build on the ways fans can connect with Nintendo’s characters and worlds.

“I am humbled and excited to take on this new role,” Pritchard said in that same press release. “Doug has been a fantastic mentor, and I look forward to building on the incredible foundation he has helped establish. With characters and worlds that offer something for everyone, my focus will be continuing to build on Nintendo’s legacy of surprising and delighting our longtime fans, while at the same time welcoming new players into the Nintendo family.”

Doug Bowser addressing the media at the Switch 2 reveal event in April 2025

In addition to Bowser’s impending departure and Pritchard’s upcoming promotion, Satoru Shibata will join Nintendo of America as chief executive officer in addition to his roles as managing executive officer, corporate director, and member of the board at Nintendo (NCL). Pritchard will also join the Nintendo of America board of directors and become an executive officer at NCL.

“During his tenure, Doug made numerous contributions to bring smiles to the faces of people connected to Nintendo,” Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said in the press release. “I would like to express my gratitude for his strong efforts. Devon, who will become the next president, has also made many contributions to Nintendo over the years. I am confident that, like Doug, Devon will continue to support Nintendo’s important mission of creating smiles.”

Bowser’s retirement is effective on December 31, 2025.



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Larry Ellison Is a ‘Shadow President’ in Donald Trump’s America
Product Reviews

Larry Ellison Is a ‘Shadow President’ in Donald Trump’s America

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“Maybe 10 years ago, he was like, ‘I want Marco Rubio to be president,’” the same source says.

Many players first started hearing of Ellison in the lead up to the 2024 Republican presidential primary. At that point, after years of donating to both parties, Ellison was seen internally as doing Trump a small favor by pledging his financial support to senator Tim Scott, a Republican of South Carolina. My sources considered Scott to be a solid VP contender, if a slight longshot. He was seen as harmless at worst, and at best a potential insurance policy in the event of a prolonged primary campaign—a potential spoiler candidate capable of pulling support from rivals, particularly fellow South Carolinian Nikki Haley.

“His involvement with GOP politicians like Tim Scott was the appetizer,” a second Republican familiar with Ellison’s political activities tells me, “and Trump is the main course.”

TikTok, Paramount, AI—Oh My

Ellison, who’s almost two years older than Trump, has been setting the groundwork for the successor to his family empire. The weight of his legacy falls on the shoulders of his 42-year-old son, David.

Once an aspiring actor, David played a key role alongside James Franco in the 2006 WWI drama Flyboys—which he also partially financed. When his on-screen career didn’t take off, he figured he would be better not just behind the camera, but up in the C-suite.

David’s known political donations have been entirely to Democrats. But he is not known for having the same tactical nous as Larry.

“This is the exhausting part of it,” a campaign staffer with knowledge of donor outreach involving the Ellison family tells me, describing David as someone who carried himself with the confidence of a business tycoon despite, at the point they interacted, only having been born to one. “I’ve dealt with a lot of people through my career who are nepo babies. Some of them feel like they’re moguls in their own right.”

This source—who, like others, requested anonymity to speak candidly about the political influence of the Ellison family—said the nepo babies of the ultra wealthy tend to fall into two camps: There are those with pet policy issues and a desire to shape their legacy through some notion of making a difference, and there are those who want to accumulate power and influence for their own sake.

“He was always part of that latter group.”

Representatives for Larry and David Ellison did not return requests for comment.

While my Trumpworld and Republican sources who have dealt with Larry Ellison’s political activities say they take him to be more or less a true believer on most of their key issues at this point—most notably seen in his support for the Israeli military, a focus on improving “blue cities,” and his financial interests in the AI industry—far less is known about his heir apparent.

With a still vaguely described domestic iteration of TikTok and scores of TV channels from news to entertainment coming into the family’s portfolio, it remains to be seen whether David Ellison will become a Murdoch-type figure, setting the agenda for the modern GOP and in control of properties occupying the top spot in the conservative media ecosystem in the way Fox News did for the past three decades.



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Crypto Trends

Tether Coming to America: Reveals ‘US-Regulated’ USAT Stablecoin, With Its Own CEO

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Stablecoin giant Tether furthered its push into the United States on Friday, announcing a previously teased U.S.-specific stablecoin designed to comply with new laws. 

The token project, dubbed USAT, will be led by Bo Hines, former executive director of the White House’s digital assets working group. Hines will serve as USAT’s CEO from Charlotte, North Carolina, where he and his family are based. Hines left the Trump administration last month, and immediately signed on as Tether’s strategic advisor for U.S. policy.

The token will be issued by Anchorage Digital and is expected to launch by the end of this year. USAT will be headquartered in Charlotte, Hines confirmed to Decrypt, with an office that will likely feature a “lean” team.

Anchorage Digital will be a shareholder in the  new U.S. company operating USAT, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said.

Tether invented the stablecoin. Now we’re bringing it home 🇺🇸

Meet USA₮ — the digital dollar for creators, earners, and everyone left behind. Made for America. Fast. Borderless.

Tether is powering digital dollars for the next generation.

Coming soon.. pic.twitter.com/1ANlhR1oqR

— USAT (@USAT_io) September 12, 2025

Ardoino previously told Decrypt at the White House in July that the company intended to create a U.S.-specific stablecoin, which will cater to different use cases than USDT, the company’s flagship stablecoin.

“We have built the most popular distribution channel for the United States, but also for the United States to reach the world,” Ardoino said Friday. “With USAT and USDT together… we can [bring financial services] to the rest of the world and also the underserved communities in the United States.”

For years, Tether has avoided a major U.S. presence. Its $170 billion stablecoin USDT token has not yet had its reserves audited by a Big Four firm, and the token has also faced criticism in the past for its use in criminal activity. Tether, handily the largest stablecoin issuer in the world, is currently headquartered in El Salvador. 

In the wake of Donald Trump’s re-election last year, though, the company has aggressively pushed to establish itself stateside and openly compete with rival firms pitching themselves as more regulatory-compliant Tether alternatives.

The company is intimately connected with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a major Tether booster. Lutnick’s Wall Street firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, says it custodies billions of dollars worth of U.S. Treasuries backing USDT.

Following the passage of the GENIUS Act in July—which for the first time established a legal framework for issuing and trading stablecoins in the United States—Tether CEO Ardoino told Decrypt the company intends to make USDT compliant with the new law, and thus accessible in the U.S. market. 

Compliance would involve obeying stringent U.S. anti-money laundering laws and undergoing intricate audits. Ardoino said he fully intends to have USDT meet those standards.

On Friday, Ardoino doubled down on Tether’s commitment to get USDT greenlit in the United States via the GENIUS Act’s pathway for foreign issuers.



When asked by Decrypt what the difference in appeal will be between USAT and USDT, if both tokens are eventually made available in U.S. markets, Ardoino said Friday that USAT will be designed as an “America-first” product branded to speak to the needs of U.S. users. USDT, which is established in the global market, will serve as “the distribution channel for USAT abroad,” he added. 

Ardoino specifically pushed back on the prospect, however, of USAT or its partners offering yield to holders, similar to rival stablecoin issuer Circle’s lucrative arrangement with Coinbase. 

“We’ll see,” Ardoino said of such plans, “But I’m not a huge fan of that part of the stablecoin business, because I think it will make stablecoins less sustainable.”

He elaborated that Tether uses the yield it generates on its massive U.S. Treasury reserves to invest in the company’s distribution channels, which he said are unparalleled and key to Tether’s dominance.

“Sharing the yield is done by our competitors because they don’t own the distribution network,” he said, “but we own the distribution network, and we still believe we can bring the same utility and same returns to users through different means that are more established [and] crypto-native.”

The company announced the news today at a spy museum in midtown Manhattan. The event, decked out with patriotic Tether paraphernalia and American flags, was attended by prominent D.C. movers and shakers including Hines’ White House successor Patrick Witt, chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), former GOP Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, and numerous prominent industry lobbyists.

On Friday, Ardoino also teased Tether’s other endeavors, including expanding its Bitcoin mining capabilities.

“Tether is going to become the biggest Bitcoin miner in the world by the end of this year,” he said.

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to add comments from Ardoino and Hines along with further details.

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The original PlayStation turns 30 years old in America today, so here are some nice stories about it
Game Reviews

The original PlayStation turns 30 years old in America today, so here are some nice stories about it

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Feeling spritely? This shouldn’t help: the original PlayStation console was released 30 years ago today in the United States, on 9th September 1995. It was a machine that would change gaming forever.

We celebrated the 30th anniversary of PS1 last December because that’s when it was first introduced, in Japan, on 3rd December 1994. Sony’s debut console was released in Europe at a similar time to America, on 29th September 1995.

We love an indulgent 90s nostalgia binge here, and Jim’s video on the legacy of WipeOut 2097 and the PS1 is a great watch to scratch that particular itch with. He’s really funny and handsome too.Watch on YouTube

It’s such a momentous milestone we dedicated a week to it, writing a collection of articles about the grey, oversized Discman-style box. The articles ranged from love-letters to WipEout and Tekken, to interviews with former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden, who was there at the time (which is why his photograph is in black and white).

We also asked for your memories of PS1, which you provided in abundance – there were more than 300 comments. And I read them all. And they’re all lovely; funny, heartfelt, poignant. Prepare yourself: it’s an emotional ride.

As the regional reverberations of the PS1 anniversary are felt again, I thought I’d resurface some pieces you’ve maybe not read.



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Product Reviews

Porsche and Audi’s EVs can now recharge on any Tesla Supercharger in North America

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Starting September 9, Porsche and Audi will be the latest non-Tesla brands to utilize the Supercharger network. The two automakers announced that some of their owners will get adapters that allow them to charge via the NACS port, which Tesla developed and opened up to other automakers. The rollout comes after the Volkswagen Group, which owns both Porsche and Audi, announced that it would implement NACS compatibility for Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and Scout Motors in December 2023.

Porsche is kicking off its NACS adoption with a “soft launch,” where existing owners of Taycan and Macan Electric models have to reserve a free NACS to DC adapter with the My Porsche app to connect to the Tesla Supercharger network. During this initial phase, drivers of compatible Porsche EVs have to use the Tesla app at Superchargers, but will eventually be able to charge with the My Porsche app in “the coming months,” according to Porsche. Like Porsche, Audi is getting its own branded adapter that will arrive with newer 2025 model year options, including its Q6 e-tron, A6 Sportback e-tron and e-tron GT. Notably, Audi said its Q4 e-tron won’t currently have access to Tesla Superchargers.

For Porsche, any Taycan and Macan Electric from model year 2026 onward will include a free NACS adapter. However, Porsche EVs from model year 2024 or older will have to buy the adapter from Porsche’s online shop or dealerships, which will go for $185. Porsche and Audi are also working on software updates to show Tesla Superchargers on their navigation systems. Despite Porsche and Audi now gaining access to the Supercharger network, Volkswagen Group’s other subsidiaries, including Lamborghini and Bentley, still haven’t committed to adopting NACS.



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President Donald Trump and Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek
NFT Gaming

Tokenization Is ‘Mutual Fund 3.0,’ Bank of America (BAC) Says

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Bank of America (BAC) sees tokenization, the creation of a virtual investment vehicle on the blockchain linked to a tangible asset, as the next phase in the evolution of investment products, describing it as “mutual fund 3.0,” the Wall Street bank said in a Friday report.

Just as mutual funds first emerged in 1924 and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) reshaped investing in the 2000s, blockchain technology could underpin a new generation of financial vehicles, analysts led by Craig Siegenthaler wrote.

Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization is advancing quickly. The bank noted that firms like Securitize are working with managers including BlackRock (BLK), Apollo, KKR and Hamilton Lane to issue tokenized funds. Asset manager WisdomTree (WT) built its own tokenization engine, giving it the ability to offer more than a dozen tokenized funds.

According to data provider RWA.xyz the value of real-word assets represented on-chain exceeds $28 billion, largely in private credit and Treasuries.

Still, regulation remains a headwind. The GENIUS and Clarity Acts address stablecoins, but leave many questions about tokenized funds unresolved. Still, the bank argues, the advantages of tokenization will drive adoption over time despite limited access for U.S. investors today.

The case for tokenized equities is weaker because U.S. brokers already offer commission-free stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) trading after Robinhood’s (HOOD) disruption in 2019, the analysts wrote.

That shift pushed firms toward monetizing client cash and order flow, making tokenized versions of these assets less compelling, the bank’s analysts said. But tokenized money market funds, powered by smart contracts, could upend those cash sweep economics and open new revenue models.

Distribution is still the bottleneck. Platforms offering tokenized funds remain rare, though online brokers like Robinhood, Public and eToro (ETOR) are well positioned given their crypto businesses and younger, self-custody-oriented client bases. Coinbase (COIN) may also emerge as a partner as it expands beyond pure crypto, the report added.

Bank of America expects tokenized money market funds to lead adoption thanks to their attractive yields relative to stablecoins, which cannot pay interest under the Genius Act, with private credit and high yield likely to follow.

Read more: Boerse Stuttgart Unveils Pan-European Settlement Platform for Tokenized Assets



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Latam-GPT: The Free, Open Source, and Collaborative AI of Latin America
Product Reviews

Latam-GPT: The Free, Open Source, and Collaborative AI of Latin America

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Latam-GPT is new large language model being developed in and for Latin America. The project, led by the nonprofit Chilean National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), aims to help the region achieve technological independence by developing an open source AI model trained on Latin American languages and contexts.

“This work cannot be undertaken by just one group or one country in Latin America: It is a challenge that requires everyone’s participation,” says Álvaro Soto, director of CENIA, in an interview with WIRED en Español. “Latam-GPT is a project that seeks to create an open, free, and, above all, collaborative AI model. We’ve been working for two years with a very bottom-up process, bringing together citizens from different countries who want to collaborate. Recently, it has also seen some more top-down initiatives, with governments taking an interest and beginning to participate in the project.”

The project stands out for its collaborative spirit. “We’re not looking to compete with OpenAI, DeepSeek, or Google. We want a model specific to Latin America and the Caribbean, aware of the cultural requirements and challenges that this entails, such as understanding different dialects, the region’s history, and unique cultural aspects,” explains Soto.

Thanks to 33 strategic partnerships with institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean, the project has gathered a corpus of data exceeding eight terabytes of text, the equivalent of millions of books. This information base has enabled the development of a language model with 50 billion parameters, a scale that makes it comparable to GPT-3.5 and gives it a medium to high capacity to perform complex tasks such as reasoning, translation, and associations.

Latam-GPT is being trained on a regional database that compiles information from 20 Latin American countries and Spain, with an impressive total of 2,645,500 documents. The distribution of data shows a significant concentration in the largest countries in the region, with Brazil the leader with 685,000 documents, followed by Mexico with 385,000, Spain with 325,000, Colombia with 220,000, and Argentina with 210,000 documents. The numbers reflect the size of these markets, their digital development, and the availability of structured content.

“Initially, we’ll launch a language model. We expect its performance in general tasks to be close to that of large commercial models, but with superior performance in topics specific to Latin America. The idea is that, if we ask it about topics relevant to our region, its knowledge will be much deeper,” Soto explains.

The first model is the starting point for developing a family of more advanced technologies in the future, including ones with image and video, and for scaling up to larger models. “As this is an open project, we want other institutions to be able to use it. A group in Colombia could adapt it for the school education system or one in Brazil could adapt it for the health sector. The idea is to open the door for different organizations to generate specific models for particular areas like agriculture, culture, and others,” explains the CENIA director.



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Mamoru Hosoda's 'Scarlet' Gets Bumped to 2026 in North America
Product Reviews

Mamoru Hosoda’s ‘Scarlet’ Gets Bumped to 2026 in North America

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Mortal Kombat II isn’t the only movie leaving 2025. Scarlet, the next film from Studio Chizu and anime director Mamoru Hosoda, is now arriving in early 2026 for North American audiences.

Sony’s opted to push the film out of its initial December 12 slot. It’s still expected to release on November 21 in Japan and screen at film festivals in Venice, Toronto, and New York through their respective film festivals in early September and early October. The press release calls these festival screenings “qualifying runs,” which may help explain the delay: previous Hosoda films have won local and international awards and get well-received by critics, making it look more enticing to audiences.

First announced this past April, Scarlet centers on the titular young princess who escapes across time and space after witnessing her father’s murder. After her first go at revenge ends in failure, she winds up in the Land of the Dead, a limbo for those who fail in their quests for payback. But Scarlet’s not giving up just yet, and she crosses paths with a modern-day man named Hijiri.

For those living outside North America and Japan, Sony’s international subsidiary will handle the film’s release in other territories. But like with North America, there’s no hard date for the film in those territories quite yet—expect to wait a while before we hear or see more from the film.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.



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Sony Raising Price On PS5 Consoles In America Tomorrow
Game Updates

Sony Raising Price On PS5 Consoles In America Tomorrow

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Sony has announced that it is raising prices on all versions of the PlayStation 5 in America. The increased prices go into effect on August 21, giving folks little time to plan ahead of the price hike.

All new PS5 consoles will now cost $50 more in the United States. Here are the new prices:

  • PlayStation 5 – $549.99
  • PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – $499.99
  • PlayStation 5 Pro – $749.99

“Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment,” said Sony in a very short blog post announcing the news. “As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price for PlayStation 5 consoles in the U.S. starting on August 21.”

This is a developing story…



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