Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida wasn’t completely won over by the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal feeling that it’s just a better version of the current console going as far as to say ” I think Nintendo is losing their identity, in my opinion.” Obviously both Sony and Microsoft consoles are just more powerful versions of the previous and Yoshida was seemingly expecting a bit more than that.
“To me it was a bit [of a] mixed message from Nintendo,” Yoshida explained. “In a sense, I think Nintendo is losing their identity, in my opinion. For me they are always about creating some new experience, like designing hardware and games together to create something, [an] amazing new experience.
“But Switch 2, as we all anticipated, is a better Switch, right? It’s the larger screen, more powerful processor, higher resolution, 4K 120fps. They even had a hardware person starting the stream, like other platforms do, right?
“And because it’s a better Switch, the core premise of the whole Switch 2 is ‘we made things better’, and that’s something other companies have been doing all the time.”
“Of course it’s a more powerful Switch, so it’s great if your gaming was only on Nintendo hardware, [and] it’s the first time for you to be able to play amazing games like Elden Ring for the first time,” he explained.
“But for us, the ‘core’ gamers who own multiple hardware and play games on PlayStation, Xbox, PC, the games they showed off, especially from third parties – in theory, it’s amazing to have all these all-stars of industry games on Nintendo hardware – however, what they showed was like… ‘ooh’.”
He doesn’t know it is 60fps at 4k maximum.
It can do 120fps if at 1080p….maybe 1440 but I’m sure the 120fps won’t be available at that resolution.
This is kinda how Sofiona used to think during the switch 2 leaks. How are your thoughts now Sofiona?
I still think the same thing… Nintendo surprised me with its new switch because their success is based on innovation and not continuity…
2 times, Nintendo chose continuity (wii u and 3DS) and 2 times it went badly (failure of the wii u, the least sold portable console and the first where its price was lowered due to its low sales at the beginning: 3DS)
We’ll see with the new switch but I admit that I’m less enthusiastic and several things bother me like for example: its paid upgrade dlc
I see, I feel less hyped too, but that is because are a bit too high right now, think I’ll wait a year before buying this, right now Mario kart is the only game that interest me.
*because PRICES are a bit too high
Are you planning on buying a Switch 2 at launch?
Hold on a sec….. The switch was so successful that Nintendo wanted to keep the same hybrid set up going forward with their next piece of hardware. It just makes sense and to create a more powerful version was definitely the next step from switch.
Obviously Nintendo are well known for innovation and I’m sure that will continue in the future, but right now I want more of the same, but more power in the palm of my hand and that’s what Nintendo are doing + there is the new mouse feature and finally a better chat system.
They do need to sort out the eshop though, thats absolutely hideous for todays standards!
Weak comment from him and I’d expect better from someone with his stature in the industry. Maybe other companies, like his former one, should innovate more instead of just relying on Nintendo to do it.
Yoshida is way more salty towards Nintendo success with the Switch compared to the surprisingly positive Shawn Layden based on the numerous public statements they’ve made. You can feel it.
Meanwhile PlayStation has completely incinerated their identity by icing the Japanese branch and betted half their self-worth into nine Live-Service games that they had to cancel when Concord crashed and burned.
I’m not saying Nintendo can’t be legitimately criticized (the $80 for certain games, $70 for most is debatable, and selling the “Welcome to Switch 2”-thing for ~$5/$10 is objectively bad) but if you’re PlayStation-affiliated, now might not be the time to throw stones in your own glass house.
Mouse controls for a home console that also can be played as a handheld… also motion controls… all with the base system and joycons (no extra purchase necessary). AND it finally has enough power to platform other games.
Sounds like Nintendo at their best imo
Any games can run perfectly on Switch 2 since the system has great higher resolution and 120FPS. Every system that most console manufacturers like Nintendo always introduce something new that they create for their gen system. Nintendo has wants to keep making stuff related to the hybrid console for as long as they wanted it be. Creating a console isn’t cheap on the market.
I do think there is some accuracy to this. I think Nintendo thought showing all the third party games they did would impress people the same way seeing Skyrim on Switch in the Switch reveal did. But we’ve been playing “home console games” on portable hardware for 8 years now. Seeing Cyberpunk on Switch 2 is just not the same.
This doesn’t necessarily have to be a problem for Nintendo because there is still a demand for playing such titles portably and if Switch 2 is the best option then people will use it. But it definitely lacks wow factor. Hopefully Nintendo have got a lot of great first party titles lined up because that’s the part of their identity that Yoshida didn’t mention. I know people have worries about Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza for various reasons so let’s just hope those worries are unfounded and they prove to be stunning games. Topped off with the upgraded Zelda games which do look excellent the Switch 2 could honestly look like a very appealing prospect at that point.
since when that was Nintendo’s identity? what is he talking about?
NES to SNES to N64 to GC… plus the handheld… these are all evolution in power, just because the Wii, WiiU and Switch were all different from each other, it doesn’t mean that’s the company identity.
To me, their identity is the games themselves.
Yes they have always been about innovation but with Switch 2, the brief is simple. Play it safe (and add power) !
People complain if they have a gimmick, they complain if they don’t. Can everyone take a break complaining about fucking everything.
This guy is way more salty towards Nintendo success with the Switch compared to Layden based on the numerous public statements they made. You can feel it.
Sounds to me it’s more like he’s bummed that Nintendo didn’t come up with more stuff for Sony to steal.
Nintendo’s identity hasn’t been appreciated for a long time.
It’s because Reggie and Iwata are no more as the new CEOs make prices sore.
Let’s flip the dime to the other side. If Nintendo had announced a wildly innovative console, in the same vein as the Wii for example, with unique peripherals for new gameplay experiences, what would the reaction have been? I can’t imagine it would have been met with positivity, shots would have been fired about leaving the Switch’s great formula behind. People would have grumbled about ‘what could have been’ if they hadn’t just made an upgraded version.
Additionally, it would have left Nintendo further behind in the power department, as has been seen before. R&D for innovation is expensive and time consuming, and whatever that imaginary console would have been would likely have been on roughly the same power level as the NS1. And yeah, people have snarked at Nintendo for decades for being underpowered and lacking in 3rd party support due to low spec machines.
Bringing the NS2 up to spec while still adding and refining to the NS1’s hardware features was the correct call in all respects.
I feel worried when I hear Shuhei Yoshida say that, because Nintendo used to be a monument to creativity and difference. Like playing Drift Boss , if you lose direction even a little bit, the car will fly far away, easily losing control. The fact that Switch 2 seems to be going in a “safer” direction makes me afraid that Nintendo will gradually lose the uniqueness that made their name. You have to keep drifting in the true sense, not running in a straight line like everyone else!