Hidden Details: My Bowser is Ready (Patreon)

This week's comic is basically a tribute to Reggie Fils-Aimé. In case you don't follow the video game industry as feverishly as we do, allow me to give you some backstory. Reggie Fils-Aimé has been the president of Nintendo of America since 2003. Last week, he announced his retirement. He's isn't ill or anything (as far as we know), so this news could have been A LOT more devastating, but we'll still miss the guy a lot.

Reggie is, and I think we can all agree on this, kinda weird. He is responsible for a lot of memorable quotes and memes and he always seemed kinda self-aware, but oblivious at the same time. That made him kinda adorable, especially for a high-ranking businessman. It's the perfect amount of weirdness and adorableness for a company as Nintendo, which is why I feel like Nintendo is losing an icon.

So I thought his retirement would be a great excuse to create a comic as a tribute to Reggie...

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

In the video that Nintendo released, Reggie not only announced his retirement, but his successor as well! It's a long-time Nintendo executive called Doug Bowser.

Doug. BOWSER.

This comic writes itself! I couldn't ignore Doug and his amazing surname, so I decided to create a hybrid comic between a goodbye/tribute to Reggie and a welcome to Doug Bowser. And this comic was the result!

There are very few hidden details in the foreground. Almost every reference and joke is happening in the background, which is supposed to represent Reggie's office at Nintendo of America headquarters. But I'll point out the few foreground-hidden details first, okay?

First one: I flipped it so you could see it better, but you can get a peek at Bowser's resume in the first panel. He has misspelled his name as BWOSR and he drew a little portrait of himself and clarified that he is, indeed, a human being. Nothing suspicious here, right?

I also like to point out that the suits I drew in this comic are based on suits that Reggie and Bowser actually own, as you can see in these pictures. At least I think they still own them. I have no idea how long high-ranking executives keep their suits.

And the last detail in the foreground category: there's a Nintendo 3DS and an Animal Crossing New Leaf box on Reggie's desk. This is the first reference to a "Reggie meme", and there will be a lot more to follow. Allow me to explain.

In a promotional video for Animal Crossing: New Leaf from 2013, Reggie says he "has to get back to playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf on my Nintendo 3DS". It's an extremely awkward line and Reggie doesn't even seems to try to make it believable. Here's a Know Your Meme page about it. So ever since, "playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf on your Nintendo 3DS" has been referenced here and there. And that's why there's a Nintendo 3DS and a copy of New Leaf on Reggie's desk in this comic!

Now, let's dive into the background. I've exported a picture that only shows the background, without all the lightning and stuff, for your viewing pleasure:

I'll start at the top left!

This is a framed championship belt and a picture of Reggie's Mii next to Satoru Iwata's Mii. It's the second-place belt though. Reggie earned this belt by fighting Satoru Iwata in the reveal trailer for the Mii Fighters that was released during E3 2014. It's a great (and adorable) trailer and I recommend watching it if you've never seen it, to get a good sense of how adorably funny Nintendo can be. Iwata wins the match in the trailer (with Mario's help), so that's why Reggie has the second place belt. Reggie is not a sore loser though, so he is still proud of the second place and he isn't too ashamed to hang a silver belt on his office wall.

Next to that, there's a little framed picture of a cute-looking Reggie as a purple Pikmin. Another Reggie-meme. He said "I feel just like a purple Pikmin" during the Nintendo E3 Press Conference in 2012. Please forgive me for copypasting, but Know Your Meme once again does a better job of explaining than my broken English will ever do:

The quote was said after the announcement of "Pikmin 3" By Shigeru Miyamoto at the beginning of the conference. After Miyanoto left the stage, Reggie stepped up and said the quote "I feel just like a purple pikmin". The phrase quickly began to spread on many video game related video game sites and forums, such as IGN and GameFaqs. Within the first day, many image sharing sites had photo's of Reggie fils-aime's head pasted on a Purple pikmin body, with the following quote "I feel just like a purple pikmin". YouTube has video's showcasing the quote being said, or a remix of the quote. Meme generator also got many photo's posted as well.

So I couldn't omit a little purple Reggie Pikmin in the background, could I?

This is my favorite part of the comic. And it's also a reference to one of my favorite Nintendo videos ever. It's the Nintendo Digital Event @ E3 2015. Nintendo was in a very bad place back then. The Wii U was selling horribly and they had virtually nothing to announce that year, except for Star Fox Zero. Still, they created one of their cutest intros ever. Puppets of Satoru Iwata, Reggie Fils-Aimé and Shigeru Miyamoto make their way to the stage and transform into Star Fox characters (as a reference to the puppet-like design of the characters in the original Star Fox game). Please watch it, it's freaking adorable. As a reference to this video, I put Reggie's puppet on top of his inbox in this comic.

Next to that, there's another framed picture! This one depicts Reggie and Hungrybox, one of the best Smash players in the world. During the Nintendo World Championships of 2015, Reggie challenged Hungrybox to a match of Smash.. It was a great moment, with lots of trash talking and Reggie getting owned. His defeat is, of course, also the reason why Reggie looks so angry in this picture. Hungrybox is wearing a green headband by the way, which is a reference to the green headband his main, Jigglypuff, wears in Smash.

As we move along to the upper right corner, you'll see YET ANOTHER framed picture. This is a picture that actually exists, as you can see here! It depicts Iwata, Reggie and Miyamoto having some fun and posing with a giant Donkey Kong statue during E3 2013. I love this picture, it's yet another testament to the wholesomeness of Nintendo's corporate top. Such a shame only one of these three guys will be left now that Reggie is retiring.

We're finally moving down!

We've had references to Nintendo at E3 2013 and E3 2015 now, but we haven't had 2014 yet! Until now! Nintendo announced their E3 2014 plans with this video, featuring a robot Reggie (appropriately called the Fils-a-Mech). In this comic, the Fils-a-Mech is recharging, since it can only run for 5 minutes after being charged for six weeks. Not a very efficient machine, but it looks cool as heck.

Continuing with E3 2014! Or, rather, every E3 for the last few decades. As many of you may know, there are three games in the Mother/EarthBound series: Mother, EarthBound and Mother 3. Mother 3 was never localized in the west, and fans have been bugging Nintendo for YEARS to finally release it. Nintendo acknowledged this in their Digital Event during E3 2014 in a great sketch (made in collaboration with Robot Chicken!). Ever since, people kinda decided all the Mother 3 requests should be aimed (and always had been aimed) at Reggie directly. And lo and behold, Reggie's "Mother 3 request" inbox is completely full with letters from angry fans!

Mother 3 still hasn't been localized by the way. It's kinda becoming Nintendo's Half Life 3.

Another, more direct reference to the Robot Chicken-Nintendo mashup is the Fire Flower right next to the inbox.

And lastly, a reference to what might be Reggie's biggest meme ever: "My body is ready". Reggie said this during a demonstration of Wii Fit during E3 2007. Reggie told the world his body was ready when he was about to step on the Wii Balance Board. For some reason, it took a while for the internet to recognize the art in this quote, but by 2010, this quote had become the best known Reggie quote ever.

And that's it!

The background in this comic was SO easy to fill. I didn't have to think hard at all to come up with objects or photo's I could use to reference Reggie's tenure as president of Nintendo of America. And I think that says something.

Thank you Reggie. Enjoy your retirement. And good luck Bowser!!

Cheers,

- Abel