It's no secret that when it comes to game development, Nintendo is all about fun. We all know this firsthand, of course, but it's still interesting to get a peek behind the curtain and find out how this mission statement works its way into development itself.

At the recent GamesBeat Next 2026 event, former Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser provided exactly that. Joining fellow former industry higher-ups Peter Moore and Shawn Layden on the 'Game Legends' panel, Bowser discussed how Nintendo's ultimate objective, "We make smiles", carries through into game development and internal reviews.

Bowser recalls sitting in on a strategy session with legendary Nintendo producer Shinya Takahashi, in which the dev wasn't interested in how the testers were playing the game, but rather how the game was affecting the testers. "He wanted enough people in the room that you could see their faces and see their eyes, but he didn’t want any more than that," Bowser said. "He would sit there and literally watch your expression. He never watched what your hands were doing on a controller. He never watched what was happening on the screen. He watched your eyes and your facial expression."

This would continue into session feedback. "He wanted to see, are you having fun?," Bowser continued. "If he didn’t see it, he would ask you directly. 'Why is it not fun?' That was direct feedback that you got."

It all sounds like a pretty strenuous ordeal (there's no magic dev button to 'add fun', after all), but hey, it clearly works for Nintendo — the house behind some of the funnest games in history.

Even though Bowser is no longer heading up NoA, having been replaced by Devon Pritchard earlier this year, he said to the panel that this smile-first approach is still important today, particularly considering new generations' needs "are fundamentally different than ours are."

Pointing to the likes of Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft, Bowser argued that younger gamers "do want fun, and they want it to be easy to get to fun," but it's increasingly about self-expression in gaming. "It’s important for us to keep an eye on those cohorts as we build our next games."

Elsewhere in the panel, the former game leaders discussed AI in game development (something they all seem rather positive on), the console wars, exclusives and more. You'll find the full transcript on Games Beat.

What do you make of Bowser's smile-first story? Let us know in the comments.