While Nintendo has already revealed its forecasts for the sales of the Switch 2 for the next fiscal year, president Shuntaro Furukawa also spoke about the original Switch during an investor Q&A. As caught by GamesRadar, Furukawa mentioned that one of the main reasons for Nintendo to create the Switch 2 was so that developers could work with upgraded hardware.
Answering a question about whether the Switch 2 would just be a stopgap console release sandwiched between the original Switch and a more radical new offering down the line, Furukawa spoke about why Nintendo made the choices it did with the upcoming console. In his answer, he said that offering new gameplay experiences was one of the key reasons for the new hardware.
“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 said. “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.”
Furukawa also spoke about the company’s plans for games going forward, and how it will ultimately make the upcoming Switch 2 the “new standard” for the kind of hardware that developers and customers can expect from the company.
“Going forward, we will develop a variety of new titles centered on Nintendo Switch 2 and offer new gameplay experiences,” he said. “We aim to make Nintendo Switch 2 the new standard for Nintendo Switch, as hardware that continues to provide fresh surprises to our consumers.”
During the same Q&A, Furukawa had also spoken about the company’s target of selling 15 million units of the Switch 2. He also noted that the conservative forecast for the new console largely came about because of its higher cost, which in turn is expected to add more hurdles when it comes to wider adoption by the player base.
“We’ve set projected sales for the Nintendo Switch 2 in the ongoing fiscal year at 15 million units,” said Furukawa. “This figure is based on a target comparable to sales of the original Nintendo Switch during the 10-month period from its launch in March 2017 to the end of December the same year.”
“Since the Switch 2 is priced higher than the original Switch, we recognize that there will be considerable hurdles in achieving the console’s widespread adoption in the early stages,” he continued.
While Nintendo is gearing up for the June 5 launch of the console, in its recent earnings report, the company also noted that it will continue to support the original Switch with more game releases down the line. Some of the games noted to be coming out for the older console include Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Rhythm Heaven Groove, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, and Pokemon Champions.
The company has also noted that the $449.99 price tag for the Switch 2 might get affected down the line because of the affects of the US’s tariffs on imported goods.
