Nintendo may be hiding a Switch 2 secret in plain sight

Summary

The Nintendo Switch 2 appears to simulate mouse movements with the Joy-Con controllers as a new control option.
Nintendo’s first Switch included features to make it easier to port or emulate Wii games.
It’s possible Nintendo is doing something similar with mouse control and the DS.

At first blush, little of Nintendo’s recent Switch 2 announcement was unsurprising. The new handheld was thoroughly leaked beforehand and isn’t radically different from the previous Switch. The body is a different shape and the screen is a little bigger, but the standout, genuinely new feature lives inside the console’s detachable controllers; it looks like the Switch 2’s version of Joy-Con controllers can be used as a mouse.

That could open up all new ways to control Switch 2 games and new kinds of ports — more games for what’s rumored to be an even more powerful console. But the real reason why Nintendo is exploring this control method at all could be even simpler: the company wants it to be easier to emulate older handhelds.

Nintendo just revealed more about the Switch 2 than you think

Nintendo’s teaser this morning confirms some major upgrades for the Switch 2 that you might have missed the first time around.

The Switch 2 isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel

Nintendo’s first Switch was all about flexibility

If there’s one defining quality of the original Switch, it’s that Nintendo designed it to work anywhere. From the beginning, the company focused on emphasizing the benefits of a handheld that could also be docked as a home console. The Switch’s launch video highlighted how adaptable it is, showing people docking it in their living room, propping it up on its kickstand to play outside, or just using it as a handheld.

That flexibility is why so many people expected — and eventually, demanded — that games get ported to the Switch. It made titles that were traditionally chained to a TV able to be taken on the go for the first time. The Switch wasn’t always powerful enough to run those games well, but the fact that it made playing Skyrim on a bus possible was no small feat.

Over 146 million Switch’s have been sold, which is evidence enough that the idea worked, and that’s not even taking into account the explosion of handheld PCs that took the idea even further that followed. Mouse support, or at least using a Joy Con more like a mouse, would make it possible for a whole new grouping of games to make the jump to Nintendo’s new handheld. Traditional PC games that thrive with mouse and keyboard support are a lot more attractive on the Switch when you can control them with a pointer rather than clumsy sticks and buttons.

Another reason the Switch 2 might support mouse-like input is to entice indie developers, which frequently targeted the first Switch and typically launch on PC first.

If the Steam Deck includes trackpads for games that need the fine control of a mouse, the Switch 2’s updated Joy-Con controllers could simulate a mouse for the exact same purpose.

Did all the Nintendo Switch 2 leaks spoil the reveal trailer for you?

At long last, Nintendo has officially unveiled its next-generation video game console to the world, which it calls the Nintendo Switch 2. The Kyoto, Japan-based gaming giant unveiled its new two-in-one hybrid device in the form of a short first-look trailer, which is available to watch on its official YouTube channel.The Switch 2, which will be getting its own in-depth conference event on April 2, 2025, appears to be a fairly iterative release overall. As a direct followup to the immensely successful Switch, this successor platform appears to build on the same strong foundations pioneered by Nintendo back in 2017.The core elements of the original Switch are all present here, from the dockable nature of the device, to the card-based physical game media, to full-blown backwards compatibility with original Switch software. Detachable controllers and a kickstand for tabletop gameplay have also made the cut once again.Ahead of this much-anticipated teaser video, there was an abundance

There’s an important handheld Nintendo hasn’t emulated

Nintendo’s DS used a stylus that effectively worked like a mouse

A hand holding a black Nintendo DS Lite with its screens off.

There might be an even simpler reason Nintendo is exploring this new control method. Besides online multiplayer, the big benefit of being a Nintendo Switch Online member is access to a series of emulation apps Nintendo introduced over the course of the Switch’s life. The company got as far as emulating N64 games in terms of the company’s home console, and the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance before it introduced the Switch 2.

There might be an even simpler reason Nintendo is exploring this new control method.

The most popular handheld Nintendo has ever sold is the dual-screen Nintendo DS. By 2016, Nintendo says it had sold over 154 million units of all the various DS models combined. It would make a lot of sense if Nintendo tried to emulate DS games on the Switch 2, and the “mouse” controls of these new Joy-Cons could be the way it happens. For most games on the DS, stylus input worked a lot like a mouse, letting you drag things around the bottom touchscreen, interact with menus, and move your character around.

Almost all of those could be replaced by dragging a controller around instead.

The company would have to find some way to bring the information that was on the bottom screen of the DS to the Switch 2’s single screen, but that’s that hard to address. The strongest argument that this is Nintendo’s plan is that it already did something similar for Wii games on the original Switch. Each of the original Joy-Con controllers had built-in accelerometers for motion controls, something that the company used sparingly for new Switch games, but frequently for ported games from the Wii and Wii U.

What game would you like to see on the Switch 2?

This morning. after months of speculation, Nintendo finally took the wraps off the Switch 2, giving gamers their first official look not only at the new hardware, but also a forthcoming Mario Kart title, which is rumored to be launching alongside the new console later this year.While details around the new Mario Kart title have not been shared, rumors are swirling about new titles that could appear on the Switch 2, including Metaphor Re:Fantazio, an untitled Halo game featuring Master Chief, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, and even the upcoming GTA VI. With that in mind we’d love to know, what games would you love to see on Nintendo’s newest console? Sound off below!

There’s still going to be Switch 2 surprises

We know a lot, but also very little

Nintendo

That I can even speculate about what these new Joy-Con controllers can do shows how much control Nintendo still has over the Switch 2 information environment. The hardware might have leaked, but we know next to nothing about the software that will actually run on it (and what it will let that hardware do). It’s backwards-compatible with the vast majority of original Switch games, but that’s about all I know.

That makes this short wait until Nintendo shares more about the Switch 2 all the more exciting. Those new controllers could be meant to replace a mouse, or they could do something entirely different. We won’t know until Nintendo tells us.