Yesterday Nintendo released all the details about the next console, the Nintendo Switch 2. Today I became one of the first people to go hands-on in Paris, and there is an important function that really surprised me.
That would be the option to turn the Joy-Cons on their side and use them as a traditional computer mouse. When I saw this function on the direct live stream, it didn’t immediately jump out as something that I would get use of a lot.
But after playing the Switch 2 editions of Super Mario Party Jamboree, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Drag x Drive, I did a complete 180.
Hannah Cowton Barnes/Foundry
I regularly play Jamboree at home with my friends (although that game certainly tests friendships), so I was familiar with the types of mini -games that were offered. Six demos that the mouse used were available for testing. These include a game in operation style, where you have dragged a bad path through an electrified maze and a virtual version of air hockey where the controller acted as the puck.
The controller reacts impressively and slides smoothly. I used it on a mouse pad, which is worth investing if you are planning to buy the Switch 2, although you may have to reconsider the setting of your console. A coffee table for your TV would be a good way to use the Joy-Cons to their full potential.
My Demo guide also called them on my legs for the title Drag x Drive, which worked better than expected. However, a smooth, flat surface is the most optimal.
Hannah Cowton Barnes/Foundry
Jamboree has really given this function a new life of life, but it feels like the beginning. More mini -games come to the game later, and some are honestly hilarious, even if they can evoke the wrath of your neighbors. One minigame encourages you to scream as loudly as possible as you can – I thought someone died when I first heard it in my demo of the room.
Moreover, that camera costs extra (£ 49.99/$ 59.99), so not everyone will be able to benefit from those specific modes. But that is not the case for the mouse function on the Joy-Cons for the Switch 2.
I also used the Joy-Con as a cursor on a new game, Drag x Drive, played a game of wheelchair basketball and pushed each controller on the surface to control and turn the wheel bottleneck. The last game I tested was Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, where I just used the right-hand Joy-Conn to arrange the placement of the camera and kept the left-handed as normal.
Hannah Cowton Barnes/Foundry
The Metroid experience reminds me that this could be the first switch to leave some special PC gamers to the dark side. Although computers will always be king when it comes to power, this new cursor element can appeal to players who did not consider the switch before for them.
Kouichi Kawamoto, a producer for the Entertainment Planning and Development department of Nintendo, had a similar idea during his own test process: “… When I played a PC game with a mouse, the idea that the Joy-Con controllers could also be used as mice.
“Switch 2 was originally designed to support a wider range of games by improving the processing speed of the system, so in mind I thought it would be better to play interesting games that require a mouse. Mouse control element that is nowadays used a lot in the Joy-Con-Controllers is not that expensive, and I think” and I think “and I think” and I think “.”
After playing the Switch 2 editions of Super Mario Party Jamboree, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Drag x Drive, I did a complete 180
The most important question I have about this position is, which other games can this support? If a die-hard animal crossing fan (I still keep hope for a new announcement of installment in the following year), the mouse can save tons when it comes to construction and adapted designs. I would also like to know if third -party titles will assume this new playing style.
Ultimately, whether you like this function or not, amounts to the kind of games that you like. But with a few very different titles that use it later this year (Super Mario Party Jamboree and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond), these are already two unique groups of gamers that can benefit from this unique function.
And you can try it out later this year, when the Nintendo Switch 2 is launched on 5 June 2025 for £ 395.99/$ 449.99.
Nintendo organized my trip to Paris. I accepted it because there were no alternative ways to get hands-on time with the Switch 2 at the launch. There were no conditions about what I write or how I evaluate the device.
