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Although it's been a feature teased by Nintendo since the Switch 2 was first announced, I couldn't imagine sliding a Joy-Con on its side across a desk would ever be a meaningful way for me to play Nintendo games. Nintendo has made Switch 2 mouse controls a headline feature for its new console, demoing plenty of games as part of the upcoming Switch 2 games that make use of the functionality, but it wasn't until playing Metroid Prime 4: Beyond that the whole thing started to make a lot of sense.
I was lucky enough to spend around four hours with the Switch 2 and a whole host of the Switch 2 launch games, with several setups showing off just how the Joy-Con 2 mouse works. I started with Civilization 7: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. This is a game that's already on Switch, with this new edition bringing – as far as I can tell so far – just mouse support.
As part of the Nintendo Direct, developer Firaxis called it a "more intuitive gameplay experience", and it's not wrong. Flipping the Joy-Con 2 on an edge and moving it like a mouse is intuitive. The shoulder buttons become left and right mouse buttons, and the control stick still sits under your thumb for – at least in Civilization 7 – zooming in and out on the map.
However, it just feels like a desk experience. I was sat in front of a large monitor, at a table, with a mousemat. For a second, I actually forgot I was even playing a Switch 2, but realistically I'm never going to play the Switch 2 at my desk. If I did, I'd just boot up my gaming PC and play Civilization 7 there instead.
I'm not dismissing that there are many gamers who will have the Switch as their main – or only – gaming platform, so this may well not be an issue for them. But, for me, the Switch is a living room console plugged into the TV or best played in handheld mode on a sofa or while travelling.
Danger mouse
There's also the very long-titled Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV. While Jamboree TV introduces Switch 2 Camera-related additions like putting your own face / self into the game, the Switch 2 Edition part takes advantage of the mouse more specifically. There's a bunch of new mini-games that use the mouse, including one that has you sorting letters into different folders (or putting any from Bowser straight in the trash), another using the mouse to pull back little toy cars to propel them down a track, and elsewhere you use spray paint, shaking the mouse to refill, to cover as many Bob-ombs as you can with your paint color, Splatoon-style.
The frenzy with which those multiplayer party games intend you to use the mouse feature on Switch 2 just didn't click with me at all. Maybe it's more of a reflection of my intense competitive nature, but trying to use the mouse in this kind of environment just didn't feel smooth at all. After all, it's not a mouse – it's not ergonomic, and using it like this for Jamboree started cramping my hand. I also can't see my family and I gathering around the coffee table trying to play like this.
FP(oint)S
But then came Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and threw those considerations out the window. Playing on a TV (taking advantage of the new Performance mode that runs the game at 1080p full HD and 120fps), I was told that the game offers mouse controls and the more traditional Joy-Con control scheme simultaneously. To use mouse mode, all you have to do to move from holding the Joy-Con normally is simply turn the controller so that the edge sits on the desk. I'll admit it broke my brain a little at first trying to get used to the idea, but within minutes it felt completely natural to go from using it normally to explore and interact with doors or turning on the visor to scan, then flipping to mouse mode for combat mode.
In fact, later I added motion controls to the mix too, wafting the Joy-Con to guide the gun reticle to blast four points on a locked door. Suddenly it felt so simple and natural to use three control schemes almost simultaneously, and more importantly, it was really fun. It's almost making me reconsider whether I'd ever play Metroid Prime 4 in pure handheld mode, knowing that this is an option.
There are still some questions on the practicality of how this will work in reality. According to the Switch 2 hardware leads, the mouse functionality has been specifically designed to be used "on your pants" (or trousers for my fellow British friends, although who am I to dictate your Switch playing attire), so I'm really hoping that extends to the arm of your sofa too.
As with so many things with Nintendo over the decades, the mouse addition was certainly a surprise, and I just hope that more games continue the kind of control innovation that Metroid Prime 4 feels like on the Switch 2.
For more titles heading to Switch 2, check out our comprehensive round-up of the upcoming Switch 2 games confirmed so far
