Former PlayStation boss wishes that Nintendo Switch 2 wasn't just a better Switch: "Nintendo is losing their identity"

Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida thinks "Nintendo is losing their identity" after the Switch 2 reveal.

Say what you want about Nintendo, but playing it safe on hardware is one of the things it rarely does. Since the GameCube, every bit of hardware released from the company has taken a wild swing, like the wild swinging controls of the Wii, the actually really cool but painfully misjudged Wii U, and, of course, the handheld hybrid of the Switch. Even the more iterative ones, like the jump from DS to 3DS, had a big gimmick. But for the Switch 2, the philosophy feels a bit more 'the Switch, but better.'

Some people have lamented that for the first time in 20+ years, Nintendo is playing things safe with its new console (it's the first system with a '2' suffix in its history). Among those is PlayStation legend Shuhei Yoshida.

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During a podcast with Easy Allies, the former Sony boss told them, "I think Nintendo is losing their identity." He elaborated, saying, "For me, they are always about creating some new experience, like designing hardware and games together to create something that's [an] amazing new experience."

Yoshida talked about the recent Nintendo Switch 2 direct, mentioning that it was presented by Tetsuya Sasaki – the hardware design lead for the console – saying that having this hardware focus is something "other platforms do."

He highlighted the concept of the new console as 'we made things better', which is something else the likes of PlayStation and Xbox do. While he did say it was good that Nintendo-only players will finally get to experience the likes of Elden Ring, it's less exciting for those who have multiple systems.

On one hand, I get where Yoshida is coming from, but on the other hand, if there was ever a time for Nintendo to do 'this thing but better,' it's with the Switch 2. Plus it's not like the system is completely devoid of innovation; I can see the seamless mouse controls being a godsend when Pikmin 5 eventually comes out, and things like Game Share are a solid upgrade that we aren't seeing anywhere else on consoles.

In other Switch 2 news, Nintendo has finally bowed down to the cowards who didn't like the weapon's breaking in the new Zelda games – but only via the mobile app.