Newly Published Nintendo Patents Seemingly Demonstrate Switch 2’s Mouse Functionality
Posted on February 07 2025 by Charles Xavier
Yesterday, a patent filed by Nintendo back in August 2023 was published publicly, seemingly confirming mouse functionality for the Switch 2 Joy-Cons. This feature was rumored a month prior to the actual reveal of the console, and was briefly teased in the reveal by a short animation of the Joy-Cons sliding across a surface. While not outright confirmed by Nintendo, this patent lays any doubt that this will be a feature to rest.
The abstract of the patent notes the “mouse operation” in the final sentence. Here are the full details:
“This input device comprises a front surface, an upper surface, a first side surface, a second side surface, a direction input unit, a first upper surface button, and a sensor for mouse operation. The first side surface is on one side in the left-right direction. The second side surface is on the other side in the left-right direction. The direction input unit is provided on the front surface. The first upper surface button is provided on the upper surface and can be pressed around a first rotation axis extending in a direction in which components in the left-right direction are included. The sensor for mouse operation detects reflected light from a detected surface, the light changing by moving over the detected surface in a state in which either the first side surface or the second side surface is placed on the detected surface.”
Some of the illustrations accompanying the patent are very interesting. The trigger buttons seem to work like standard mouse buttons, and I imagine based on these illustrations that the control sticks will work as both the scroll wheel and a third button if pressed down on. Granted, this is only speculation on my part regarding how the control sticks work in this setup.
One illustration showcases the right Joy-Con being used like a mouse while the left Joy-Con is being held upright, which could be an interesting setup for FPS games.
Additionally, the patent gives us a look at the new Pro Controller. It showcases that the controller can be split apart to utilize the mouse feature with it as well. The image does unsettle me a bit, as the controller’s ZL and ZR buttons look like downgrades compared to the Switch’s Pro Controller, and even the Switch 2’s own Joy-Con triggers. Rather than having a D-pad, it appears to split them into buttons similar to the Joy-Cons, which makes me feel conflicted on if that’s a good idea. The hand grips are extended out with this Pro Controller similar to Sony’s DualSense controller. I suppose this could improve ergonomics, so I’ll hold off judgement on that until I can test it for myself. Hopefully it only looks this way because it’s an early design, which tend to be heavily simplified compared to the actual final product. The original patent for the Switch comes to mind, it looked very different from what the console ended up being.
Overall, I’m excited to see what possibilities the mouse feature can open up besides the obvious application for FPS games. It will also be interesting to see if it will be a fully realized feature throughout the Switch 2’s lifespan, or something where its potential isn’t fully leveraged (like the Switch’s gyro controls.)
Are you interested in the mouse features the Switch 2 will have? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: World Intellectual Property Organization (via Stealth40k, My Nintendo News)
Charles is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. He is a Visual Development artist focused on enviroments and pitch paintings. Check out his Instagram and Twitter to see his latest artworks, a lot of which is Zelda fan art! His favorite candy is Skittles – he feels the world should know this.
