Perhaps the most noticeable difference between the original Nintendo Switch and the Switch 2 – besides the more expensive price – is the new Joy-Con controller and its come-out-of-nowhere mouse functionality. I got the chance to demo them at a hands-on event and damn are my shoulders and wrists sore.
There were several games at the event that showed off the new mouse functionality and I tried a couple of them, specifically Drag x Drive (pronounced drag and drive) and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Let’s start with Drag x Drive, the 3v3 wheelchair basketball game that essentially exists to just show off the new Joy-Con mouse features.
But before I dive in: at the hands-on event, every game that showed off the mouse features was set up with a nice flat table, but the developers of the Switch 2 understand that most people don’t play console games with a handy table nearby ready to go. From the hardware developer roundtable that took place at the event, I learned that you can use your lap as a surface, but not on bare skin – the controller also might have issues with certain fabrics but at the very least, you gotta wear pants.
From the very first time I flipped a Joy-Con on its side, I knew using it as a mouse was going to be a problem. Holding a Joy-Con in the configuration required to use it as a mouse forces my hand to contort at an angle that is just off enough to feel awkward. To get at the buttons, my fingers can’t lay in a flat, neutral position like they would on a mouse, but have to curl, forcing my wrist to pivot up in an unnatural position.
It’s not immediately painful but after moving my arms up and down across the table to mimic powering a wheelchair, I could feel tension shooting up my wrist all the way to my shoulder. After the short demo session in which I practiced moving the chair and passing and shooting the ball, my right arm burned with an unpleasant sting and I don’t have a history of carpel tunnel syndrome or other pains of the wrist and shoulder.
Metroid Prime 4 was a better experience in terms of how the Joy-Con mouse felt in my hand, but worse in terms of function. For the demo, I held the two Joy-Cons in each hand and I could choose to use my right hand as either a mouse or hold it normally. I will say that it was neat that I could seamlessly transition between mouse-mode and regular mode with the twist of my wrist – the game automatically sensed which way I was holding the controller and responded accordingly. But neither felt good to use. The right hand controlled Samus’ aiming and shooting and in both modes I missed 90 percent of her shots because it was so hard to aim precisely.
I don’t know how some of y’all played the previous Metroid Prime titles, first person action adventure games, with a Wiimote and this felt like the Wii’s “waggle physics” – a term that describes the Wii’s imprecise and oft times janky motion controlling – resurrected from the dead. I know I would have enjoyed the demo way more if I had the option to play with a regular-ass controller.
Mouse functionality is one of the biggest differentiators between OG Switch and Switch 2: Electric Boogaloo, but I simply don’t care for it. There’s nothing I saw at the hands-on event that really demonstrated the use case for this feature. It’s awkward, the novelty it introduces does not improve gameplay and frankly it hurts to use. I hope that there are more games coming, like Civilization VII for which the mouse functionality actually makes sense, that’ll convince me this is cool. But for now, I don’t see it.