The Switch 2 is a slam dunk in many ways for me – I've already got my pre-order in the bag, and there was basically no doubt in my mind that I'd be signing up for one as soon as they became available. The week or so we've had to digest the console since it was properly unveiled in a Nintendo Direct has yielded some interesting hands-on impressions, too.
I'm all the way invested in a follow-up Switch that brings a bigger display, more powerful specs, and some great software fixes to make using it easier, but there's one addition this time around that I can't quite get my head around.
Nintendo has been shouting from the rooftops about how its new Joy-Con 2 controllers can work in "mouse mode", letting you basically put them flat on a surface to move around like a traditional computer mouse, and I just don't buy that we needed this.
Don't get me wrong, just like how I like the addition of camera support, even though I won't use it, part of me is impressed by the technical wizardry that has set Nintendo up to make mouse control work. Squeezing in a little optical sensor will have taken some engineering nous, and no mistake.
However, I really would lean on the "I won't use this" part – there's a reason that gamepads have become so wildly popular in the console space. PC players can quite rightly talk about more precise controls when sitting at a desk with a mouse-friendly surface in front of them, but that doesn't apply to most Switch 2 use cases.
Rather, you'll probably be on a sofa in front of your TV or on the move with a minimum of space around you – neither of which are conducive to getting out your Joy-Con 2 and running it on a table as a mouse. Seeing clips of people playing Metroid Prime 4 with the new control scheme, it doesn't look terrible, but it doesn't look necessary either.
I don't have an issue with Nintendo adding quirky features I won't use (it's done it before and will again), but I also think it's fair to call that out when it happens. I'm going to absolutely rinse my Switch 2 when it arrives in June, but you won't catch me pretending that I actually use that mouse mode.
