The reveal trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2 had a real focus on the new Joy-Con sticks, which hopefully means the original console's drift issues have been fixed.
The Nintendo Switch 2 was officially revealed today after months of leaks and rumors, and we got a really good look at the new hardware. The screen is bigger, the dock is smaller, and the aesthetic has been redesigned to a sleek black with some pops of color around the sticks. There's a lot of focus on the sticks, actually, and if I were Nintendo, I wouldn't highlight them unless I'd fixed the stick drift issues that plagued the original Switch.
The trailer zooms in on right stick and shows a pop of red coloring the base. We then get another similar shot of the left stick and its baby blue. They're lovely shots, incredibly smooth, which gives the impression they'll feel like butter to play on, too.
The stick drift issue got so bad that Nintendo actually responded to complaints back in 2019. "We are aware of recent reports that some Joy-Con controllers are not responding correctly," it stated at the time.
It doesn't seem the issue was every properly rectified, although you can try to fix stick drift yourself. I always used the Pro controller because I was a bit of a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate try-hard in my uni days, but my PS5 DualSense has it, as does one of my Xbox controllers. Real first-world problem.
So, the Switch 2 trailer showing off the new Joy-Cons and honing in on the sticks gives me some hope that the drift issue has been fixed. After all, why would the company want all our eyes on a part of the hardware that many of us experienced faults with previously unless the underlying problem had been solved?
We also spotted a mysterious new button on the right Joy-Con, just below the home button. It could be the rumored C button, but it's blank, and no one has any idea what it does.
The new Joy-Cons also have IR sensors on the left and right parts, whereas the previous Switch only had them on the right one.
On the software side of things, we got some gameplay of the first official Switch 2 game, what looks to be Mario Kart 9. Donkey Kong has undergone a redesign that makes him look more like his movie counterpart.
To keep up to date with all the latest information, be sure to check out our Nintendo Switch 2 live blog.
