Summary
- Shuhei Yoshida, a veteran of PlayStation, revealed he is a huge Nintendo fan.
- Yoshida was influenced by Nintendo games throughout his career at PlayStation.
- Yoshida shared friendly interactions with Nintendo execs like Miyamoto and Iwata.
Recently retired PlayStation lead, Shuhei Yoshida, has revealed that he is a “huge Nintendo fan” and was also influenced by the latter’s games during his decorated career. The Japanese veteran bid farewell to PlayStation on January 15, 2025, after working there for over three decades.
Being a veteran of the industry, Shuhei Yoshida is a very popular figure and one of the members of the team that worked on the original PlayStation console. Throughout his 31-year-long spell at the console maker, he contributed to the company in different roles, from being the SIE Worldwide Studios’ president for more than a decade to being the head of PlayStation Indies in his final role. In the latter role, he consistently gave shout-outs to various indie games across his social media channels and, more importantly, led “Hero Project” incubator programs across countries, such as India and China. Yoshida first announced his decision to depart PlayStation in November 2024, before officially leaving earlier this month. Since then, he has been in a few interviews, the latest of which highlighted his adoration of Nintendo.
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In a MinnMax interview, Yoshida shared that he “grew up playing” Nintendo games, describing himself as a big fan of the Switch maker. He revealed the influence Nintendo games had on him during his time at PlayStation and said that they “helped” him understand “what’s important” in the action platformer genre. Moreover, he talked about “friendly” relations between the two console rivals, expressing his fondness of legendary Nintendo figures, such as former president-CEO Satoru Iwata and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto.
Ex-PlayStation Head Shares Memorable Interaction with Nintendo Leads
Revisiting a few of his memorable past interactions with Nintendo execs, Yoshida revealed discussing the showcased games with Miyamoto at an E3 event and talked about another instance where the latter played a demo of Horizon Zero Dawn. Further, he shared his “really good” experience of attending a keynote by Iwata at one of the GDC events. Amusingly, the PlayStation veteran also shared playing a game of 1-2-Switch with a Nintendo exec around the time of the Switch launch. When asked about the chances of collaborating with the Legend of Zelda owner in the future, Yoshida said that he’d be “very happy” to do so but doesn’t think they need the help, showing his confidence in the new generation of Nintendo leaders.
While Yoshida may not necessarily partner with Nintendo in the next phase of his career, he has already kicked off with new gigs post retirement. The PlayStation legend is set to make his voice acting debut in a UK-developed indie game, releasing in 2025. Given the fanfare around Yoshida, it’s safe to assume people will be looking forward to the projects he becomes part of going ahead, whatever they may be.