There’s a lot we still don’t officially know about the Nintendo Switch 2, but we can speculate on what could happen thanks to Nintendo’s numerous patent filings. One of these patents, published on January 23, suggests the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons may be able to predict what buttons you’re going to press ahead of time.
Pre-cognitive controllers sound a little like science fiction, but the patent details a software feature that would learn from your gameplay. Over time it seems like the Switch 2 would learn from your gaming patterns and use that information to speed up button presses and other input.
It sounds a little unbelievable, but with AI on hand it might not be that unrealistic. However this sort of tech has the potential to cause problems.
The first big problem is that this feature would have to track and analyze all your gameplay in order to make these predictions. Which is something that a bunch of people may not want to see happening. There’s also the question of what happens if the console gets it wrong, and tries to initiate a button press that you didn’t intend on making.
Pre-cognitive controllers sound a little like science fiction, but the patent details a software feature that would learn from your gameplay.
It’s unclear what kind of advantage such a system may have in competitive or online play.
The idea that the console could predict your actions and initiate it more quickly could give some players an unfair advantage. It would all depend on who their opponents are, what console they use and whether they have this predictive input feature switched on or not.
Of course having a patent for something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to actually be used. Who can forget the infamous Sony patent, which would require users to stand up and shout the name of a company to close pop-up ads? That never happened, and it’s possible that the same could be true for Nintendo’s predictive input feature.
Nintendo may just have an idea, not knowing whether it’s actually feasible or not, and wants to make sure someone else doesn’t get there first. The fact that the illustrations feature what looks like the Switch 1, rather than its successor, suggests this may just be an idea that isn't intended for any specific console.
We’re just going to have to wait and see what Nintendo actually has planned for the Switch 2. Fortunately the Switch 2-centric Nintendo Direct is happening on April 2, and that date is getting closer all the time.
