During the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, it was officially revealed that the Switch 2's joy cons can be used as mice of the computer variety. It demonstrated this with a handful of gameplay clips from the oddly priced Welcome Tour, Mario Party Jamboree DLC, and the new and already forgotten experimental title, Drag X Drive. All of these did a good job of illustrating the purpose of adding a mouse-like functionality to the Nintendo Switch 2, although there was something that caught my attention that made me second-guess it all.

Just like with the extremely disappointing Switch 2 Direct, I'm not convinced that the mouse-like functionality of the joy-con will have much use, at least outside a particular genre. There is a major flaw with it, one that not only completely negates the point of including the feature but also makes me question why Nintendo bothered to invest time and money into making it work. While it isn't the end of the world - after all, the more features, the better - I feel like it does point to potential feature bloat that could be elevating the console's already sky-high price.

The Switch 2's Mouse Functionality Is Too Restrictive

It Needs Certain Requirements To Be Used

Out of all the Switch 2 Direct's biggest reveals, the fact that the joy cons can be used like mice wasn't particularly surprising. After all, it had already been leaked long beforehand that they would have this functionality, and Nintendo even teased it in the original Switch 2 reveal trailer. Of course, it was nice to get confirmation, but the important part about the announcement was how it functions. Unsurprisingly, players flip the joy con on its side and slide it around on a surface, clicking the L/ZL and R/R buttons as mouse prompts.

This makes sense under certain circumstances, such as playing strategy games, as they require a degree of concentration that could justify the need for a table or surface area. However, it comes undone the moment you want to just laze on the couch and play Mario Party Jamboree with friends. The greatest problem with the Switch 2's mouse feature is that it requires a surface area to work, and that really isn't conducive to the experience Nintendo is selling with its handheld. I don't know anyone who would actively crowd around a table to play Mario Party Jamboree, for example.

The party-like experience is interrupted any time a mouse-based minigame pops up, and players have to get up, find a surface on which to slide around a controller for a bit, only to then sit back down. While motion controls made sense for the joy con, as they're doable in any environment, mouse-like controls stop being functional the moment you're away from a stable surface. This would then render any minigame or full-blown experience useless during those moments, which could make playing something like Jamboree challenging if they're inherently baked into the experience.

Of course, it is a minor inconvenience at best, but one that nevertheless illustrates a lack of foresight. Nintendo is wont to include gimmicky features in its hardware and games, often shoehorning them in even if it isn't needed. This mouse-like feature has one clear use as far as I'm concerned, but Nintendo saw fit to attempt to include it in more than it needed to. It even designed an entire game around it, one that, among the sea of Switch 2 game announcements at the Direct, flew under the radar: Drag X Drive.

I Hope You Can Switch Off Mouse Controls

It Should Be An Optional Feature

Mario Party Jamboree already lets players switch motion-control minigames off if they want, something I feel is perhaps an indication that Nintendo itself is aware of the inconsistencies of the joy con's motion-control technology. So, it seems relatively reasonable to assume that the mouse-based minigames can also be switched off for those who don't have the capability to play them. However, for a game like Drag X Drive, where the entire game is built around these mouse controls, it becomes harder to imagine simply switching to another control scheme.

The Switch 2's third-party games could also start utilizing this feature, either being built from the ground up to incorporate it or being ported with it solely in mind. It isn't clear whether one can develop a game with that control scheme exclusively, but it doesn't seem entirely out of the realm of possibility. Again, this all centers around a rather minor inconvenience, one that simply requires people to have a stable surface around at all times if they wish to access these games.

However, it nevertheless poses a problem if this technology suffers from the same issues as the motion controls in the original Switch's joy cons. It often doesn't work, with the controller not ing certain actions or the sensors being wildly inaccurate, twisting to the right instead of left or pointing in the wrong direction. It isn't always the case, but it is frequent, and should the Switch 2's mouse controls struggle to work on uneven surfaces, then people will really need to find specifically suitable surfaces to play any of these games, and that could be challenging in certain environments.

The Switch 2's Mouse Is Great For Strategy Games

It Allows For More Games To Come To The Switch 2

Of course, as alluded to, I do believe that these mouse controls work perfectly with certain strategy games, and its inclusion means that experiences tailored specifically to PC controls now have the opportunity to have a console launch, thus boosting sales. This is particularly true of indie games that are designed with a mouse in mind, as, outside a handful of PC handhelds, such as the Steam Deck, which features a trackpad, there's no other console with in-built mouse functionality like the Switch 2.

However, the inclusion of a mouse doesn't necessarily mean we're getting complex MMOs or RTS on the Switch 2 any time soon. Any game that requires both a mouse and keyboard would still need to be completely redesigned for the Nintendo Switch 2, just as it would for any other console. A mouse works great for Civilization, where everything can be controlled with a simple click, but using it would then remove the traditional control scheme of the Switch, which would render any other button inputs impossible.

The joy of the Switch is that it can be played anywhere, and constraining the Nintendo Switch 2 to one location completely contradicts that freedom.

Ultimately, I'm somewhat fascinated by Nintendo's inclusion of mouse controls for the Nintendo Switch 2, although the many Switch 2 hands-on previews seem to have enjoyed them thus far. I worry that its use case will be limited and restricting and that, as a result, if Nintendo utilizes it too much, I may not be able to enjoy its games to the fullest extent. It isn't that I don't own a table, but rather that the joy of the Switch is that it can be played anywhere, and constraining the Nintendo Switch 2 to one location completely contradicts that freedom.

Source: Nintendo of America/YouTube