Following today’s hour-long Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, the company has continued to post new information about the console and its upcoming games. This post-Direct news feed included a series of interviews with the people behind the creation of the $450 console—launching in June—and from those, we learned that the upcoming hybrid gaming device wasn’t always called Switch 2.
In a newly published interview on Nintendo’s official website, Switch 2 producer Kouichi Kawamoto and Switch 2 director Takuhiro Dohta discussed how they settled on the upcoming console’s name. And they revealed that at one point they almost called it the Super Nintendo Switch.
“There were a lot of ideas for the name, and we really struggled to find the right one,” said Kawamoto.
“We even considered ideas like ‘Super Nintendo Switch.’ However, Super NES, which came out after the NES, couldn’t play NES games. Since Switch 2 can play Switch games, it didn’t feel right to use the same naming convention as Super NES.”
Kawamoto further explained that Nintendo doesn’t want people to focus on the console’s specs but rather to simply “think of it as the latest system developed by Nintendo” and added that the company hopes it becomes the “new standard.”
“From the beginning of development,” said Dohta, “We wanted Switch 2 to be a system that can be enjoyed by a wide variety of players. This hasn’t changed from Switch to Switch 2. I also wanted to create an experience that as many players as possible could enjoy, rather than an experience made specially for those who prefer high-performance hardware.”
Dohta says Nintendo’s plan is that the Switch 2 name will “communicate simply” to customers that if you want a Switch, well, the Switch 2 is the newest and best version.
“We really struggled because there were so many different ideas,” admitted Dohta. But in the end, after lots of back and forth, we all agreed that it should be Nintendo Switch 2 after all.”
You’re reading part of Kotaku’s ongoing coverage of the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct. Check our roundup for more news from the showcase including launch games, pricing information, release date, pre-order information, and what that mysterious C button Nintendo keeps teasing actually does.
We’ll be continuing to update stories with news and analysis throughout the day as Nintendo pulls back the curtain on its most anticipated console launch ever. You can find more details about today’s Switch 2 Direct and Nintendo online Treehouse Live demos going on throughout the week here.