There’s one side of the Swap 2 {hardware} that makes me probably the most excited, but in addition probably the most involved.
Ever since leaks urged the Swap 2’s Pleasure-Cons would have mouse controls, I’ve been cautiously optimistic. As a lot as I’m a proud apologist for movement controls (lengthy reside the Wii) I’ve by no means been an enormous fan of gyro controls once they’re used for aiming or pointing.
I play Splatoon video games with twin-stick controls though I do know squid-shooting purists would vomit ink into an open sewer ought to they ever discover out about my sacrilegious ditching of the collection’ trademark gyro aiming.
And whereas I used to be excited to listen to that the traditional variations of Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 and a pair of had been launched on Swap, the considered taking part in a mouse-based sport with button controls and even utilizing the touchscreen (given how small the sprites are) meant I opted out of shopping for it, and purchased the PC model on GOG as an alternative. It’s what its creator Chris Sawyer would have wished. I imply, he’s nonetheless alive, besides.
The concept, then, that Swap 2 might obtain a primary for console gaming and launch with mouse controls as normal was one which crammed me with pleasure(con). Think about all of the point-and-click video games that could possibly be ported to the factor with their authentic management scheme in thoughts! Monkey Island Assortment? Sure please! Lemmings and Mario Paint on Digital Console? Sure please! A Leisure Swimsuit Larry comeback? Umm… I suppose so. And I assume the pun was supposed.
And but, as eager as I’m to play a bunch of mouse video games on my TV or seem like a correct deviant rubbing my Pleasure-Con 2 controller on my leg on a busy prepare, having gone hands-on with Swap 2’s mouse controls final week it seems Rollercoaster Tycoon is one of the best analogy for it, as a result of its excessive and low factors are fairly excessive.
It’s necessary to acknowledge the great factors first, as a result of they’re superb. This isn’t a half-hearted try and emulate mouse controls, this can be a correct mouse and an correct one at that. One of many Welcome Tour mini-games has you guiding a small spaceship by way of an limitless torrent of falling spiked balls, and squeezing it by way of the tiny gaps of open area was an absolute breeze. Relating to purely transferring the factor round, the accuracy is immaculate.
The most important shock is one thing that addresses a remark / joke lots of people have been making since Swap mouse controls have been identified – what, does Nintendo count on everybody to have a desk with them always once they’re sitting on the sofa? Are we anticipated to simply apply it to our leg?
In reality, the tutorial for Drag x Drive actually suggests you attempt transferring the mouse in your leg to see the way it works. I used to be sporting denims and might report that it labored surprisingly flawlessly.
I don’t essentially advocate it for enjoying that individual sport as a result of utilizing each legs to maneuver your wheelchair will make you seem like Vic Reeves in Taking pictures Stars, however in any other case I can fortunately affirm that sure, the mouse works completely properly in your leg (at the least on denims: different materials and shorts to be confirmed).
The addition of power suggestions can also’t be understated. Mouse controls are hardly a brand new factor to most individuals, however what number of of you’ve gotten tried mouse controls with rumble? Once you’re pulling again a toy automobile in Mario Celebration Jamboree and you may really feel it clicking as you pull it again, that’s one thing you possibly can’t get on PC. Granted, that’s a trivial instance, however you possibly can think about the way it can enhance immersion in different video games – stronger suggestions each time you hearth a shotgun versus a pistol in an FPS, for instance.
The opposite huge plus level for the Swap 2 mouse controls is how seamless the method is, to the extent that you just don’t must actively choose them. Metroid Prime 4 options twin-stick controls however helps you to swap to mouse controls at any level by simply inserting the proper Pleasure-Con 2 down on a floor.
On this approach, you possibly can discover with twin sticks then immediately swap to the mouse for those who want accuracy when taking pictures, then swap again to twin sticks by simply lifting the controller up once more. There’s no must pause and alter your management technique, it’s excellent.
Right here’s yer man utilizing the mouse controls in Metroid Prime 4 pic.twitter.com/atRxG0PA3f
— Chris Scullion (@scully1888) April 11, 2025
There’s no escaping the plain adverse, nevertheless, and that’s consolation. Despite the fact that the Pleasure-Con 2 controllers are noticeably bigger and extra comfy than the Swap’s authentic Pleasure-Cons, for those who flip one on its facet and use it as a mouse it’s nonetheless considerably smaller and thinner than a regular PC mouse.
As such, whereas Swap 2’s tiny Pleasure-Con 2 mouse is completely high quality for video games that require nothing greater than transferring and clicking with the ‘left mouse button’ (i.e. the L button), video games like Metroid Prime 4, which nonetheless require you to press the Pleasure-Con’s face buttons for issues like Morph Ball activation, might end in a claw hand scenario.
“Whereas Swap 2’s tiny Pleasure-Con 2 mouse is completely high quality for video games that require nothing greater than transferring and clicking with the ‘left mouse button’ (i.e. the L button), video games like Metroid Prime 4, which nonetheless require you to press the Pleasure-Con’s face buttons for issues like Morph Ball activation, may end up in a claw hand scenario.”
There are caveats right here. That is my opinion primarily based on a single day spent at a Swap 2 occasion, the place I performed a complete of 4 video games with mouse controls and solely had actual points with one in all them. It’s completely potential that in my own residence atmosphere, with a bit extra time spent taking part in Metroid Prime 4 (and with Pleasure-Con 2 controllers that aren’t hooked up to a desk to forestall folks stealing them), I can discover a place that’s extra comfy for longer play classes.
I must also level out that as somebody who’s been writing about video games professionally for 19 years and who writes a full guide yearly on prime of that, my arms – specifically my wrists – are affected by their justifiable share of damage and tear. I could make them make a clicking noise on demand, and I genuinely must soak them in ice water earlier than and after protecting massive occasions that I do know would require quite a lot of typing. I admire, then, that I’m extra inclined to others with regards to utilizing something aside from an ergonomic mouse.
That mentioned, I can’t assist feeling like there’s cash on the desk ready for both Nintendo or a third-party peripheral producer to give you one thing that can make the set-up extra comfy for gamers who plan on taking part in sure video games with mouse controls for prolonged durations of time. I can’t think about taking part in Civilization 7 for hours on finish with my hand like a claw and never struggling for it the following day.
The issue is, it’s not essentially the easy answer it might initially seem like, for the explanations detailed above. This isn’t a case of simply making a plastic mouse shell that you just match the Pleasure-Con 2 into, due to the opposite options that make it greater than a regular mouse. You possibly can’t simply raise a mouse and switch it on its facet to immediately flip it right into a controller with a stick, and a mouse doesn’t have Swap 2’s diamond of A, B, X and Y buttons which video games like Metroid Prime 4 nonetheless require.
It’s going to want both a extra elaborate shell that also gives entry to buttons, then, or – and that is most likely extra preferable – a standalone mouse controller that’s suitable with Swap 2 and has L and ZL mapped to the left and proper mouse buttons, together with the Swap face buttons positioned in strategic locations much like a gaming mouse with additional buttons. If Nintendo was to launch a separate, full-sized mouse that solely works for mouse-supported video games – in the identical approach that its retro controllers are solely supposed for its retro library – I’d fortunately purchase that, and I dare say I wouldn’t be the one one.
In reality Nintendo, make it seem like the SNES Mouse that got here with Mario Paint and also you’ll have turned a muddle right into a masterstroke.
