Switch 2 is 'filled with various ingenuity' Nintendo insists, amid lack of innovation claims

(Credit: Nintendo)

• 🤔 Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has responded to claims that the Switch 2 is nothing more than an iterative upgrade over the original console

• 💪 In a recent Q&A in an earnings call, he responded to questioning, stating that the console is a lot more powerful and innovative than some critics have suggested

• 🍌 He cited both Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World as examples of the console's increased power, enabling players to find new ways to play

• 👏 Game devs have previously heaped praise on Nintendo for the console's increased power and clever new features

Some people believe that the Nintendo Switch 2 is more of an iterative upgrade over its predecessor than an outright innovation. Even ex-PlayStation president Shuhei Yoshida believes the Switch 2 didn't offer enough 'surprises'.

However, in a recent interview, Nintendo's president Shuntaro Furukawa has weighed in with his thoughts, which is altogether a much more positive take.

In a recent Q&A session as part of a financial results briefing, Furukawa stated that the new console is catering to the need of developers to have “higher hardware processing power in order to realize one of Nintendo’s most important values, ‘proposing new ways to play’", with both Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World cited as two examples.

He went on to argue that the hardware and peripherals of Switch 2 have been “redesigned from scratch” and that it is a “very Nintendo-like product, filled with various ingenuity and the attention to detail of Nintendo’s development team, who develop hardware and software together.”

Perhaps that didn’t apply to the Nintendo Switch 2’s UI, though, which is almost identical and means Nintendo Switch 2 is making the same simple mistake as the Xbox Series X.

As much as the original Switch has been a smash hit for Nintendo over the last eight years, according to Furukawa, it was developers who cited the need for more power to create new, innovative games.

It seems as if Nintendo's move to make Switch 2 more powerful, with a larger 7.9-inch Full HD screen with 120fps support in selected games has paid off, as developers have been quick to praise its increased power and clever features, such as the Joy-Con 2's mouse mode.

• Up next: Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order warning: make sure you don't fall for this easy trap

Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.