'When I First Saw That Line-Up, I Scratched My Head a Little Bit': Former Nintendo Exec Reggie Fils-Aimé Shares His Thoughts on Switch 2

Former Nintendo of America brag Reggie Fils-Aime has said helium "scratched his caput a small bit" aft seeing the company's archetypal line-up of Switch 2 software.

Speaking to The Game Business, the ex-Nintendo seasoned shared his thoughts connected the company's handling of the Switch 2 this year, arsenic good arsenic Nintendo's presumption successful the video crippled marketplace wide compared to Microsoft and Sony.

Discussing the dominance of PlayStation, Fils-Aime, who near Nintendo successful 2019, said helium expected the institution to proceed to thrive alongside Nintendo arsenic the second would ne'er presumption itself arsenic a nonstop competitor. As for Xbox, Fils-Aime expressed astonishment that Microsoft hadn't already released much games for Nintendo's caller console.

Reggie Fils-Aimé. Image credit: Samantha Burkardt/Getty Images for SXSW.

"From a concern perspective, erstwhile I archetypal saw that line-up, I scratched my caput a small bit," Fils-Aime said of Nintendo's determination to capable Switch 2's archetypal six months with Donkey Kong Bananza, Kirby's Air Riders, a caller Hyrule Warriors crippled and 2 cross-gen titles: Metroid Prime 4 and Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

It's not a threadbare line-up by immoderate means, but it lacks the large one-two punch of a caller 3D Mario and Zelda that the Switch received during the aforesaid clip period, alongside a breakout caller franchise: Splatoon.

"Certainly, what I underestimated was the enhanced Nintendo Switch 1 content, which I deliberation has been compelling," Fils-Aime continued. "The worldly that you get for escaped arsenic portion of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription, I deliberation that has helped thrust immoderate of the momentum. And past certainly, [Donkey Kong] Bananza was a cardinal operator for them."

Fils-Aimé was much complementary astir Switch 2's imaginable to enactment arsenic a level for the biggest third-party games, though said that Nintendo needed to guarantee it was enabling different developers to instrumentality vantage of its hardware imaginable successful the aforesaid mode it did — squeezing tremendous games similar Tears of the Kingdom onto a tiny cartridge done intimate cognition of the Switch's innards.

"But let's beryllium clear," Fils-Aimé stated, "Nintendo, successful my opinion, volition ne'er presumption themselves arsenic a nonstop rival to PlayStation. It's not successful their DNA. It's not however they deliberation astir the concern opportunity. However, would they invited immoderate of the latest halfway gamer-type of content, whether it's the latest Assassin’s Creed oregon Call of Duty, onto their platform? Absolutely. Do I deliberation that there's a subordinate basal determination for those games? Absolutely.

"The key, and this is thing that the squad determination thinks astir each day, is making definite that third-party developers person the instrumentality sets truthful that they person the afloat capableness to bring the champion of their games onto Switch 2."

One institution that has notably held backmost from going all-in connected Switch 2 is Microsoft, which launched a mates of games connected Switch 1 (including Grounded and Pentiment) but is yet to sermon immoderate aboriginal plans for Nintendo's platform.

"I'm amazed that Xbox has not yet afloat embraced Switch 2 from a bundle perspective," Fils-Aimé noted. "Certainly immoderate games could easy beryllium ported implicit to Switch 2. And I'm amazed that we haven't seen much of that. I thought determination would beryllium overmuch more, particularly during this timeframe starring into the Holiday. All done the fall, I was afloat expecting immoderate dedicated announcement," helium continued. "And I'm amazed it hasn’t happened."

After bringing Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush to PlayStation 5, Nintendo fans person been waiting patiently for Microsoft to corroborate those games, and others, for Switch 2. There's besides the tiny substance of Microsoft's erstwhile pledge to motorboat Call of Duty connected Nintendo hardware — though there's nary motion of that happening for this year's Black Ops 7. Perhaps 2026 volition yet spot Microsoft marque its intentions clear.

Ultimately, Fils-Aimé said helium had "enjoyed" playing his Switch 2 truthful far, though noted: "the institution did not nonstop maine 1 for free."

Image credit: Samantha Burkardt/Getty Images for SXSW.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social