Written by 
Summary
- Switch 2 may feature Joy Cons that act like mice, based on rumors and a trailer preview.
- Joy Cons as mice may not be ideal, but having universal mouse support on Switch 2 would be beneficial.
- Mouse functionality would enhance gameplay for various genres on the Switch 2, promoting new game development.
While it’s unconfirmed as of this writing rumors as well as Nintendo’s own reveal trailer for the Switch 2 suggest that there will be a sort of mouse mode for the new Joy-Cons. If that’s the case, I think Nintendo should go all the way and support any mouse.
The Switch 2 Is Rumored to Have Joy Con Mice
Various leaks on the internet that purport to reveal the details of the Switch 2 include the idea that the Joy-Cons will have a feature where they can act like a mouse. While Nintendo has not confirmed it yet, if you look at the official first-look trailer, there’s a section where the Joy-Cons attach to some sort of adapter and then zoom across the table like a pair of bikes from Tron.
A lot of people take this as tacit confirmation of this mouse feature, and I’m going to work on the premise that this is the case for my purposes here, but Nintendo being Nintendo, it could be something else entirely.
But They Might Not Be Great
While the Joy-Cons are certainly bigger now, I don’t think they’d make particularly good mice. So I do wonder how they’d work. My Lenovo Legion Go also has a feature where you convert the right-hand controller into mouse mode, and then you can play first-person shooters and other games that benefit from mouse control on practically any surface.
So, I expect the Switch 2 might let you do this in tabletop mode for games that support it. However, the truth is that I barely ever use this mouse feature with my Legion Go, because it’s not very ergonomic. However, it’s almost certainly better than trying to use a Joy-Con as a mouse!
Universal Mouse Support Would Rock
Whether I turn out to be right or wrong about the usability of a Joy-Con mouse, I hope that Nintendo allows us to use any mouse with its new console. If mouse functionality is already going to be in the console and in its games, then it makes sense to give us access to mice for when we don’t have to rely on a Joy-Con.
Both Xbox and PlayStation support mouse and keyboard, and the original Switch supports USB keyboards (for text input), though not mice. So it would be reasonable for Nintendo to at least match this feature set.
So Many Games Would Benefit
Playing certain games on my Switch often reminds me how much better a mouse can be for certain types of games. While gyro-aiming on the OG Switch is generally well-implemented, nothing beats a mouse for playing first-person shooters. Likewise, there are plenty of CRPGs on the Switch that could certainly benefit from having mouse support as an option.
I’ve bemoaned the lack of RTS games on consoles before, but that’s just one example of a game type that would now be feasible on the Switch 2, which wasn’t on the first Switch. So, not only would many existing games play better with this option, creative developers could make new ones. Since, presumably, all Joy-Cons will have the mouse feature, developers can design games around them, which should extend to any mouse.
I Already Do This With My Handheld PC
While I never use the controller mouse feature on my Lenovo Legion Go, I do use a mouse and keyboard with it all the time for PC games that don’t have controller support, or are simply terrible to play with thumb sticks.
It’s a great solution, if not exactly a “handheld” solution, and if nothing else, the cynic in me hopes Nintendo lets us do this for no reason other than the opportunity to sell more Mario-themed peripherals.