Shuhei Yoshida, the former PlayStation executive of 30 years probably best-known for his run as PlayStation Studios president during PS3 and PS4 eras, was disappointed by the recent Switch 2 Direct.
"I wanted to see more new game announcements," he told MinnMax (via PushSquare) in a recent livestream (timestamped here.) " There are a couple of games, but mostly remakes or ports."
When asked what he would rate the Direct out of 10, Yoshida gave a pretty brutal assessment.
"I would say 6... until the FromSoftware game came out. I would give it a 7." Yoshida is referring to The Duskbloods, the new PvPvE game from FromSoftware mastermind Hidetaka Miyazaki.
Yoshida did admit that he found the Switch 2's camera peripheral "really nice" and "neat" and said that "getting to see other people's gameplay even if it's a different game is really nice." He also praised Welcome Tour, which looks like Nintendo's answer to Astro's Playroom, although it'll be sold separately while Playroom was bundled in with the PS5.
I think it's safe to say at this point that the Switch 2 Direct didn't land the way Nintendo was hoping, with a price point higher than many had expected and a relatively slim launch lineup headlined by Mario Kart World and The Duskbloods. That said, many developers have been expressing optimism about the new hardware's potential, comparing it to a mid-tier PC rig, which sounds impressive for a mobile console.
I played The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker on Nintendo Switch 2, but it's a bittersweet reminder that we're not getting the game at its best.
