If anyone could do it, it would be Nintendo…right?

Just a bite sized but oh so delicious thought to serve up for your pleasure today, and one I thought was definitely worth sharing, even if I didn’t have a more elaborate article idea servicing the notion. An idea that gestates within my noggin, and one I continue to mull over with great consideration, as I bemuse the possible ramifications of the Switch 2, and it’s Joy-cons being capable of being utilized as mouse support for games that support the feature.

Obviously, this goes for any game that will be released as multi-platform experiences, ensuring that any game developed for PC could see a 1:1 support capability with the Switch 2 being able to service the mouse as a viable option, but this also goes for any Nintendo native game that just happens to be a genre where a mouse is preferred. The big PC native genres usually associated for mouse preference as such with the platform would be RTS titles, shooters, point and clicks, and very much within the vein of my post yesterday, in hyping up the Mario Paint re-release for the Switch 2, any non-traditional title, as well.

Of course, just like it is on the PC, where even die-hards of the platform who swear by its usage over consoles, most PC gamers I know still prefer to use controllers for games like platformers, fighting games, and racers, as there is something to be said for having appropriate options at the ready. It’s not as if this is a PC vs console debacle after all, which is part of my point, as it’s nicer to see a greater breadth of options for console support, as the capabilities have always been hypothetically there, it’s just that no one has ever really tried to take advantage of them, in really opening up the market to service a greater demographic in the process. Continuing to think about genres that would continue to benefit, I even left out MMOs, MOBA’s, and even survival titles to some extent, three huge cash cows in the PC space that could most certainly benefit from greater support on the consoles, and mouse support is of course only the beginning.

I’m aware that there are a number of restrictions beyond just controller functionality that make some of that support possible, but as I was reading about Gearbox talking about mouse support via the Switch 2 for their upcoming release of Borderlands 4, I was kind of struck with the funny notion of how ironic it would be, that arguably, the most consoley of game console manufacturers, with Nintendo being the name one thinks of when considering the space, being the one who opens up the Pandora’ss box for mouse support, a maneuver both Sony and Microsoft could have chased, but just kind of decided to leave the money on the table in regards to.

Ultimately, it depends on what sells, how developers react, and what the masses opt for, but the possibility is there. Considering the Joy-cons come standard with the console, and PC devs would no doubt be psyched to be able to deliver the option to console users as a standard alternative, in picking up an even larger audience, it looks like there’s a ton of potential at the ready. All it would take is one massive game property to prove the viability of it, and everyone else would come running. Hell, considering how huge Minecraft continues to be, and how insanely popular it remains within the space, it very much could be a prime candidate for helping to convince the industry at large that mouse controls are going to be an optional standard on consoles moving forward, helping to tip the scale and pushing Microsoft and Sony to follow suit.

I think if nothing else, Nintendo is about to make a lot of people realize what they’ve been missing out on, and help to deliver a new optional standard in a low-key but impact full way. Most console gamers enjoy good control schemes, whether it be accuracy or ergonomics, and usually only cite cost and accessibility as reasons why they don’t opt for PC gaming more. If you take away both barriers, you end up creating a lot of fans in the process, and I absolutely see this happening with Joy-con mouse support moving forward.

Time will tell.

-Pashford