8 years in, Nintendo president admits Switch 1 just isn't powerful enough for "new gameplay experiences" so it's time to move onto a "new standard" with Switch 2

The Nintendo Switch 2 has been highly anticipated for years now, and while the Nintendo Direct only furthered everyone's excitement. But one of the biggest complaints about the system (outside of the pricing, obviously) was its perceived lack of innovation, something that's now been addressed by company president Shuntaro Furukawa.

Every Nintendo system since the DS has had some form of central gimmick or innovation, with the likes of the Wiimote, the Wii U GamePad, or just the general concept of the Switch. The Switch 2, however, represents the first time since the GameCube that Nintendo has mainly just made a console, but it's better.

This was a question given to Furukawa during a Q&A with investors after Nintendo's recent financial report. When asked if the Nintendo Switch 2's lack of a major overhaul like previous Nintendo consoles positions the Switch 2 as a stopgap between the Switch and a new system, Furukawa says that the biggest reason to move on from the Switch was in service of the games.

"Over the course of these eight years and counting, it has become necessary to increase hardware processing performance in order for software developers to realize one of Nintendo's most valued tenets: offering new gameplay experiences." Furukawa says.

"Thus, this time we decided to design the hardware with enhanced processing capability. We believe that Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza offer new gameplay experiences that could not be realized on Nintendo Switch," he continues. Presumably, he could be referring to Mario Kart World's open world and Bananza's terrain deformation.

Nintendo's president affirms: "Going forward, we will develop a variety of new titles centered on Nintendo Switch 2 and offer new gameplay experiences. We aim to make Nintendo Switch 2 the new standard for Nintendo Switch, as hardware that continues to provide fresh surprises to our consumers."

If you're keeping up with all the latest Nintendo Switch 2 news, be sure to keep an eye on our list of upcoming Switch 2 games, too.