Summary
- After today’s Switch 2 reveal, some fans have expressed concern about a specific port on the console.
- The port that connects the new Joy-Cons to the console looks flimsy, according to observers.
- Nintendo has likely done extensive stress testing to child-proof its design.
It’s been a day of excitement for Nintendo fans as the long-awaited reveal of the Switch 2 has arrived at last. The first-look video primarily gave us flashy shots of the console’s hardware, along with a brief teaser for what appears to be Mario Kart 9.
Although fans are overjoyed with what Nintendo has shown: a bigger screen, a sleek black aesthetic and non-sliding Joy-Cons, there is one piece of the hardware that has drawn some concerns. During the video, you can see the Joy-Cons connect to the Switch through a protruding connection port.
Child-Proofing
A Reddit thread by Salesmunn voices a concern about this particular port, saying “I really hoped the controllers would charge and communicate wirelessly. I can tell that this little nub on the Switch 2 will be bending and cracking immediately. For parents of young kids, rest in peace this controller nub.”
Now, the people expressing this opinion are likely not hardware experts, nor do they know the inner workings of the Switch 2. A sensitive piece of hardware that protrudes out of a device doesn’t sound ideal, but the Switch 2 itself does have plastic barriers that should protect the port in the event of an impact.
As debikon in the comments points out, this hardware is designed to be child-proof: “There used to be a thing Miyamoto said – when creating a Nintendo console, they used to drop it from average child height. This was their approval test. I hope the same thing happens with this connector,” they write.
It might not be falls and impacts that people have to worry about, however. As Ace0spades808 writes, “The connector looks like it wouldn’t hit anything due to being recessed. But kids are going to fiddle with it or jam controllers on and that’s what will break it over time.”
In fairness, anyone could stick anything in a port, so that’s not something you can design around. Nintendo has long offered repairs for its consoles so the company likely has the foresight to design something that’s reasonably durable.
We don’t currently have a release date for the Nintendo Switch 2, but it’s suspected the console may release in June or July.
Nintendo Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch 2 is the successor to Nintendo Switch, scheduled for release in 2025. Confirmed as backwards compatible, it will play both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games. A full reveal is pencilled in for April 2, 2025.