OPINION: Even with talks of the first new iPhone variant in years, and previous Xbox exclusives slowly making their way to the PS5, the Nintendo Switch 2 is by far the most exciting tech development of 2025.
From our extensive coverage, including a recent hands-on with the console from our very own Editor Max Parker, you’ve no doubt heard about all the biggest changes found within the Switch 2.
It now boasts a slightly larger eight-inch display with 120fps, 4K output when in docked mode and a whole new magnetic design for the Joy-Con controllers.
There’s plenty to sift through, and this is before even mentioning upcoming titles like Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong Bananza, but the real allure for me is something that I think a lot of people have overlooked: the ability for the Joy-Cons to be used like computer mice, a feature that’s not only impressive in its own right, but also for its implications on the type of titles we see arriving on the Nintendo Switch 2.
PC greats just lying in wait
Way before the Switch was even a twinkle in Nintendo’s eye, I spent most of my teenage years playing classic PC games like Half Life 2, Counter Strike: Source and Left 4 Dead 2, games that, despite having ports in one way or another, were only truly at home with a keyboard and mouse set-up.
Even though I’ve largely moved over to console gaming in the time since, I’d be lying if I said that multiplayer titles like Overwatch 2 or Marvel Rivals felt intuitive on a controller.
Whenever I’m trying to aim a weapon during more chaotic moments, I find myself yearning for the precision that only a mouse can offer, but now… potentially the Nintendo Switch 2 also.
While Nintendo is using Drag x Drive as the game to show off how the mouse controls can be used by developers who think outside the box, the big allure for best understanding if the new Joy-Cons can truly mimic the feeling of using a PC lies in the mouse mode of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
After all, Metroid Prime 4 is the only first-party FPS that Nintendo has in its upcoming release schedule, but if it can prove not just to players but to developers that it can successfully recreate the feeling of PC gaming, then I think you’re going to see titles long synonymous with PC, finally start to make their way out of Steam’s walled garden.
A better way of playing
Just imagine finally being able to play games like The Sims, the way they were meant to be enjoyed, but this time with the portability that the Switch brings to the table, and not the relative clunkiness of a gaming laptop.
Plus, you also have to think about how the introduction of mouse controls might completely reinvent existing Nintendo properties. Imagine, for a moment, how much easier it would be to decorate your home or town in Animal Crossing with the precision of drag and drop.
While it’s certainly a pipedream (although partly based on the ever-strengthening relationship between Nintendo and Microsoft), I would love to see World of Warcraft finally make its way to a home console. Sure, you’d have to figure out a workaround with the absence of a keyboard, but having mouse controls would help to bridge one of the biggest gaps.
Just the very presence of these mouse controls leaves my head spinning with possibilities, but it means that Nintendo has me exactly where they want me – desperately eager to try out the Switch 2 from day one.
