The best reveal during the entire Switch 2 showcase (other than The Duskbloods) was that you can use the new Joy-Con as a mouse. Aiming with a controller has always felt awkward, and seeing Metroid Prime 4 played like a traditional PC shooter was incredibly exciting – reading about it on TheGamer was even better. But I’m a little wary of how comfortable it’ll feel, especially as a lumbering 6’2” they/them with gorilla hands.
During game nights where you split the Joy-Con up and pass them around among friends and family to play Mario Kart, it always feels like I’m trying to manoeuvre a tic-tac. Normal controllers are already quite small in my hands, but the combined Joy-Con is even smaller. Snap it in half, and I’m left dangling on the edge with my pinky, trying desperately not to swallow it in my palm. The idea of using that thing as a mouse terrifies me.
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Mice have a standardised design that has worked perfectly for decades, with a curved, wide surface that is easy to grip and feels comfortable in your hand. The Joy-Con is trying to be two halves of a controller and a mouse all in one, and since they don’t look all that different (they’re just as narrow, but a little long) to the first iteration, I can already tell you how it will feel – bad.
It’s too thin, my hand cramps after a few minutes, and two of my fingers are left dangling like spider legs with nowhere to hold onto. A vertical Joy-Con does not a good mouse make. But I love the idea. Moving with a joystick does feel more natural than WASD, so combining the two worlds with a smaller, left-handed controller sounds like the perfect hybrid. I just hope I can plug in an actual mouse.
Finding The Right Mouse Is A Key Part Of PC Gaming
Aiming with a mouse allows for far tighter precision, hence why online shooters never allow for console and PC to mix in ranked mode, and why console shooters always have aim assist. Even a cheap supermarket mouse trumps a controller, but you’ll want something catered to your tastes if you want to keep improving. Trust me, I climbed out of Silver 1 in Counter-Strike, and I didn’t do it with a £3 piece of tat.
Like Goldilocks (future FaZe Clan Hall of Famer, I’m sure), you need to find the one that’s just right. Some mice come with little metal counters so you can adjust the weight, others have a honeycomb pattern to make them lighter, allowing for more rapid-pace movement and responses, and some are loaded with extra buttons on the side for macros in MMOs. There’s a mouse for every kind of gamer.
If Nintendo is trying to merge the two worlds by bringing mouse-aim and controls to console, a Joy-Con isn’t enough. It either needs to be compatible with third-party mice so that the entire breadth of PC is available (ha, good one), or it needs a few of its own peripherals that accommodate different players.
Let’s be real, it’ll be an awkward Joy-Con attachment like the Wii Golf Club adapter.
As it stands, the Joy-Con will be a cute gimmick for a few minutes, and then I’ll get fed up trying to wrangle the clunky oblong just to shoot my target.
- Brand
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Nintendo
- Operating System
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Proprietary
- Storage
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256GB internal / MicroSD
- Resolution
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1080p (handheld) / 4K (docked)
- App Store
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Nintendo eShop
- Wi-Fi
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Yes