the naming of Nintendo’s Switch successor might seem like pretty straightforward choice, but developers say they spent years during the development process, brainstorming names and scrapping them. Eventually producer Kouichi Kawamoto, director Takuhiro Dohta, and technical director Tetsuya Sasaki landed on what was, for them, an unconventional route: the Switch 2.
They first discussed calling it the Super Nintendo Switch, Kawamoto told media during a private event held in New York City, paying homage to the jump from the original Nintendo to the Super Nintendo console—but there was an important distinction. The NES and SNES do not share compatibility between their games.
“We wanted to make sure that the name really reflected the idea that this is the latest Nintendo Switch, this is the latest standard, a new standard for what Nintendo Switch is,” Kawamoto said.
After a few hours spent with the hybrid handheld during a hands-on event, that description feels appropriate. The Switch 2 is not a leap forward, as the original Switch was from the Wii U, but rather a product of iteration. It’s a collection of ideas and designs, refined, to create a product that feels both familiar and improved from its predecessor.
Mario Kart World is the Switch 2’s key launch game.
Photograph: Julian Chokkatu
