With the Switch 2 set to launch soon, fans are naturally curious about whether or not Nintendo has any plans to implement AI into its next console. After all, artificial intelligence is the trend of the day, and every tech company, from Apple and Microsoft to Google and Meta, is shoving AI bots and features into every app and device they make.
In a recent interview with The New York Times at the soon-to-open Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto discussed the company’s overarching philosophy and why AI might not make sense for Nintendo right now.
“It might seem like we are just going the opposite direction for the sake of going in the opposite direction, but it really is trying to find what makes Nintendo special,” he explained. “There is a lot of talk about A.I., for example. When that happens, everyone starts to go in the same direction, but that is where Nintendo would rather go in a different direction.”
In other words, if everyone in the industry is chasing one thing, it’s likely not of great interest to Nintendo. That was certainly the case with the Wii’s idiosyncratic motion-sensing controller, the touchscreen on the Wii U GamePad, and the hybrid nature of the Switch. Every other company was chasing performance while Nintendo was innovating the experience.
In all likelihood, that will be the case for the Switch successor as well. We’d be rather shocked if Nintendo abandoned the hybrid model altogether, but it wouldn’t be a Nintendo device if it didn’t bring something new and surprising to the table.
This isn’t the first time Nintendo has discussed AI plans this year, either. Back in July, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa was asked about the company’s efforts to utilize AI during a Q&A session with shareholders, and his response was similar to Miyamoto’s.
“In the game industry, AI-like technologies have long been used — for example, to control the movements of opponent characters — so I believe that game development and AI technology have always had a close relationship,” Furukawa said. “Generative AI, which is becoming a big topic recently, can be used in creative ways, but we recognize that it may also raise issues with intellectual property rights.”
In the end, Furukawa is more interested in “delivering value that is unique to Nintendo and cannot be created by technology alone.”
