The Nintendo Switch 2 was almost called the Super Nintendo Switch – though the name was ultimately dropped in order to separate the console from the SNES naming convention.
The Nintendo Switch 2 was almost called the Super Nintendo Switch.
Fans got a closer look at the upcoming console at yesterday’s (02.04.25) Nintendo Direct, and Switch 2 producer Kouichi Kawamoto has revealed it could have been called the Super Nintendo Switch name – but the name was ultimately scrapped because it “didn’t feel right” to use the same naming convention as the SNES because of the Switch 2’s backwards compatibility.
As part of discussions for ‘Ask the Developer Vol. 16: Nintendo Switch 2 – Part 4’, Kawamoto explained: “There were a lot of ideas for the name, and we really struggled to find the right one.
“We even considered ideas like ‘Super Nintendo Switch’, However, Super NES (25), which came out after the NES (26), 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.”
The developer added Nintendo didn’t want fans “to focus on the specs” of the Switch 2, but should instead “think of it as the latest system developed by Nintendo”.
He continued: “Switch 2 is a new system with improved performance, but we’d like players who get their hands on it not to focus on the specs, but rather to think of it as the latest system developed by Nintendo.
“So, in the hope that it becomes the new standard for Nintendo Switch, we named it Nintendo Switch 2.”
Nintendo Switch 2 nearly called Super Nintendo Switch
