It should be no surprise to anyone alive right now that the economy isn’t doing great. Things on a global scale as out of wack thanks to a certain elected official, and with big tech’s push for AI in all facets of life, the cost of hardware across the board has been rising to ridiculous levels. This has wreaked havoc on the gaming industry, which has seen all three major console manufacturers raise prices on its devices despite being more than half a decade old. This has led many to claim that the next-generation of consoles should be held back, a sentiment that former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida seems to agree with.
In a recent interview with The Verge, Yoshida told the outlet, “I think they should try to keep the current generation as long as possible, because I think people are very happy using PS5 and Switch 2.” His statement came after discussing potential avenues the console manufacturers could go for getting consoles into homes right now. In Yoshida’s mind, Sony and Nintendo are the only ones that matter as Microsoft is in the middle of a big shake up with Xbox and will potentially “need” to sell another console to correct the ship. It doesn’t help that Xbox Series X|S are lagging behind PlayStation 5 by a fairly big margin, and Nintendo Switch 2 has practically caught up to its overall sales in less than two years.
That doesn’t mean he thinks prices aren’t a concern. “People have finite budget, and it feels like PC and consoles, the components very specific to these devices have increased the price way more than all the other forms of entertainment,” Yoshida said. “People who have systems like PS5, Switch 2 or good enough PCs, probably will be happy to play games on them, and not necessarily consider replacing them.” He also doesn’t believe gamers are looking for “more power,” which tracks. Nintendo consoles have typically done incredibly well despite being “underpowered.”
“I don’t think lots of people are asking for ‘more power, we need more power’. Or even developers, I don’t think developers are asking ‘we need better hardware,’” he said, “or [anything] like that. So I think that means that the current generation, Sony and Nintendo, are going to do pretty well for many years to come, still.”
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
