Nintendo patents reveal the silliest Joy-Con accessory yet, but it's not entirely original
Newly unveiled Nintendo patents have given us a sneak peek into two fresh accessories for the Joy-Con 2 controllers, with the standout item appearing to draw heavy inspiration from an indie handheld device.
The journey of the Nintendo Switch 2 has been somewhat rocky thus far, yet it's already been marked by some truly stellar games. Admittedly, the Nintendo Switch 2 2025 games line-up hasn't offered much as of now, but titles like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza have been an absolute delight for those lucky enough to get their hands on them.
However, for many, the upgrade is hard to justify at present, especially for owners of the original Nintendo Switch. Nintendo is ready to show fans what they're missing out on, with recent events such as the Partner Showcase and Nintendo Direct Indie World showcases demonstrating that there's plenty more in the pipeline.
What gamers probably didn't anticipate at this point, however, was the introduction of more accessories, particularly after the lukewarm reception of the console's camera. But it seems that's exactly what we might be getting, as Nintendo has lodged new patent applications hinting at some fun new gadgets to experiment with.
Nintendo goes on a Playdate
Thanks to the eagle-eyed Bluesky account ninpatentswatch, we've got a sneak peek at some fresh patents from Nintendo, hinting at potential new accessories in the pipeline – including a novel crank wheel and a clickable wheel. As unveiled in recent posts, these patents are accompanied by illustrations that demonstrate how these add-ons would enhance the Joy-Con 2 controllers. The crank operates on a rotary disc tracked by the Joy-Con's mouse control, while the wheel is similarly tracked, albeit with a gear train.
It's tricky to pinpoint exactly what Nintendo has up its sleeve here, and this patent doesn't necessarily mean we'll see these accessories materialise in any significant way. However, it does highlight Nintendo's readiness to inject a bit of whimsy into the second Switch's lifespan. This isn't the first time a crank wheel has made waves in the gaming sphere; the indie-driven Playdate features a crank wheel on its right-hand side, a fun idea, designed for fun's sake, that has actually led to some brilliant mini gaming experiences.
If these accessories are indeed in the pipeline, we might be waiting a while for them to become reality. However, following the first Switch's experimentation with its Labo systems, this seems like a continuation of Nintendo's readiness to embrace a bit of fun and further appeal to children's perception of gaming consoles as toys.
It's a charming touch regardless, suggesting that we might see more whimsy from the gaming giant. Amidst the doom and gloom pervading the gaming industry, you can always count on Nintendo to inject some light-heartedness.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
6 hours ago
- Metro
Games Inbox: What's the best way to play Nintendo Switch 2?
The Monday letters page is impressed by the Battlefield 6 open beta, as one reader regrets not getting into Codemasters racing games earlier. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ How do you play yours? Seeing all the arguments about the Nintendo Switch 2's future I notice that nobody really seems to have a problem with the console itself. It is well made, don't get me wrong, but I've found myself playing it a lot more at home, on the TV, than I did with the Switch 1. I'm not normally the sort of person to complain about tech specs but I wonder whether subconsciously I've been put off by talk of the screen not being as good as the old OLED model. I don't think it's that though, I just think it's that Donkey Kong Bananza has too much going on visually, to be peering at a relatively small screen and, ironically, the Switch 2 is too big to comfortably play Mario Kart World. It's good that the Switch 2 is portable, but I've only been using it that way as a last resort. Enough that I would actually consider getting a Switch 2 Lite, because it'd be smaller and I'd prefer that for the games that do suit portable play. I probably won't, because it'll be expensive, but maybe I can convince my wife to do it as a shared purchase. The best of both worlds! Rusty Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. Unofficial inspiration The similarity between that Nintendo patent and the Playdate is pretty unreal. I'm not actually sure I've seen Nintendo copy anyone before. They probably have but this is the only one I remember seeing. Although I can imagine how maybe it's just supposed to be the handle on a fishing rod, but the optics are not good. But don't get me wrong, I'd like them to make it. I miss the days of the crazy peripherals, in the days of the Dreamcast and, to a degree, the Wii. I'd actually like to see how Nintendo would use the controller to make non-fishing games, like the Playdate. I haven't got one of those and frankly it's too expensive, so I'd like to see some of the same experimenting on the Switch 2. Assuming the add-on isn't stupidly expensive, which it may well be. Laggard Late to the party Perhaps it's a sign of my advancing years but I've become really enamoured with the racing game genre recently, having mostly steered clear in the past*. I feel a bit guilty though, as I'm playing games that I could've supported at the time: Race Driver: Grid, DiRT 3, DiRT Rally – and we'll probably never see another entry in some of those series. It's also given me such huge appreciation for Codemasters, who should be given protected status by the government for their services to gaming. From their contributions to the nascent home gaming scene of the 80s to their absolute mastery of simulation and simcade racing games they should be one of the most venerated developers in the world. Hopefully they get back on track before EA is tempted to consign 40 years of gaming history to the scrapheap. Magnumstache *exceptions being Gran Turismo 1, although my brother did the licences for me; the Rollcage games; and V-Rally 2 for four-player split screen on a tiny CRT with my brothers. Email your comments to: gamecentral@ Mini racers I've found a good free Netflix mobile game I now play every day. I use my ancient iPad Mini as the steering wheel in first person mode but other control options are available. It's Asphalt Extreme; it's a loot box game but hear me out. You can only buy them with in-game currency – no options to use real cash exist. I would describe it as similar to FlatOut, with elements of Ridge Racer. There are loads of tracks with multiple routes. All tracks have jump ramps and nitro cannisters to pick up. You can also top up nitro (can also be chained together) by drifting, jumping, wrecking opponents and also smashing through objects. There are multiple vehicle types, which all compete on the same track. The slower trucks and monster trucks can wreck the other cars easier and usually there are extra shortcuts only they can open. My favourite race mode is Infected, after a time your car becomes green and drives at maximum speed if you hit another car or they hit you they are also infected. There are also multiplayer races, populated, it seems, with mostly better players than me with maxed out cars. I have a few cars at level 45; 50 is the max and I win occasionally. I find the racing action fast and exhilarating, which keeps me coming back for more. Johnny Alpha SD Currently playing: Mad Max and Halo infinite Butterfly lifespan Great Reader's Feature by Mike. Loved Shenmue and the Dreamcast too, obviously. Can't believe it only lasted (according to GC) two years, seemed much longer. Roaming the back streets of Yokosuka – think the marbles game in Squid Game – one day, when the local mean girl and her lackies shoulder barged me outta the way, then told me to 'Kiss off schoolboy.' Yes Kiss! Could never manage to trigger that scene ever again on subsequent playthroughs. Phenomenal! Did I imagine it? big boy bent GC: The Dreamcast launched in Japan on November 27, 1998 (October 14, 1999 in the UK) and was discontinued on March 31, 2001. So, two years and four months at a maximum. Battlefield mentality Great review in progress of the Battlefield open beta GC, that I completely agree with. I have enjoyed every second of the beta so far. Have to say was a little overwhelmed jumping back in and it took me a good few games to get back into that Battlefield mentality from playing Call Of Duty. I started playing Domination, which are infantry-only smaller maps to get used to the mechanics again, before then playing Breakthrough, which has been amazing. Cover is most definitely king and spotting a sniper scope and quickly diving for cover and crawling towards the target makes for some tense battles for sure. The graphics and the destruction are as good as they have been in a long while. It's certainly convinced me to pre-order and that this will be my go-to first person shooter once it's released. Saints Stickman GC: Thanks. Cheap entry I'll actually be mildly surprised if GTA 6 does end up being £100 for the standard edition, because Take-Two must surely know that they're going to make far more money from microtransactions on GTA Online 2 than they ever could on the based game, no matter how high they jack the price. So the easier they make it for people to get the game, and start spending big, the better for them. If they do try to go for £100 I think that will be the last hope of any common sense in gaming. It'd just be greed for the sake of it, with absolutely no thought of the wider impact. I like GTA as much as the next person but £100 is a step too far for me. Especially as, unlike some other big franchises, GTA games do go on cheap. Vendo To do list I'm cautiously optimistic about Battlefield – I used to really enjoy it, but the steady decline since Battlefield 4 has been hard to ignore, so I'm certainly waiting on reviews. I think part of the issue is with the game's perceived strengths. Destruction in Bad Company 2 was restricted to specific buildings, with some being indestructible. In the more recent games, the level of destruction was widespread – which turned out to be no fun whatsoever. A game with bombers and tanks and no cover lacks any kind of nuance or tactical options. Planes, choppers, and tanks were also far too hard to take down compared to previous games. And the huge numbers of players in single games hurt matchmaking and meant you felt like what you did mattered less. I would: Primarily focus on map design, weapon balance. Often this has been secondary to spectacle. Ensure good matchmaking. If this means no private servers, or limited mode or map selection then so be it. Ideally players are winning and losing around 50% of the time. Strong players might want to be rewarded by winning more, but when players are losing consistently, they won't stick around. Limit game modes. Battlefield has always spread itself too thin, which makes it harder to find a game, particularly as more maps are added later in the game's life cycle. Limited, but interesting and relevant destruction. Razing everything to the ground might sound great, but it doesn't play that way. Vehicles should both require teamwork and be more vulnerable. No more 50 kill streaks for the bomber pilots. No more queues for an overpowered option. Reward playing the objective. Distinctive and necessary classes. Cheers Matt (he_who_runs_away – PSN ID) Inbox also-rans If you have time will you be reviewing the expansion for Chained Echoes? It was one of my favourite games of the year and I'd highly recommend it to any fan of old school type Japanese role-players. Liam GC: Probably not. We don't generally review expansions. Although we might cover the Indiana Jones And The Great Circle one, if it proves interesting. Hexen? Now there's a name I haven't heard since, oh… that time Phil Spencer pretended he was going to greenlight a sequel. Bligh More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: When will Switch 2 get a new 3D Mario game? MORE: Games Inbox: Do adults still play Fortnite? MORE: Games Inbox: Will Battlefield 6 outsell Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7?
Metro
a day ago
- Metro
Why is Nintendo trying to make the Switch 2 seem so unexciting? - Reader's Featu
A reader admits that while he's satisfied with his Switch 2 so far, he's frustrated at Nintendo's secrecy about its upcoming games. Like many other Nintendo fans, I have had the feeling that things are not quite right ever since they announced the Switch 2. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what but, although I have the console, and Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, I'm happy with it. But I'm also worried I don't know what comes next and I'm concerned that there's still no sign of an all-time classic yet. Two great games in two months is an achievement, and I'm probably just being entitled, but there's this weird feeling that Nintendo is doing the absolute minimum, without compromising on game quality. When I put it like that there seems like there's not really anything to complain about, but while I am optimistic about the future of the Switch 2 it's a much milder feeling than I was expecting. Maybe I'm not making sense, I don't know, but the obvious examples are the last two Nintendo Directs, which were awful. The Partner Showcase managed to make me less confident about their third party support and the Indie World was almost completely pointless. As a result, I'm very quickly beginning to prefer Nintendo when they were on the back foot. The first Switch was an amazing console, but it had to be because after the failure of the Wii U Nintendo were in a very bad place. But with the Switch 2 they're coming off the back of one of the most successful consoles ever and I think it's very obvious they're holding themselves back. Maybe that's the right idea, it probably is given how long games take to make now, but it's not… exciting. I really don't see why they didn't announce the Switch 2 with teases of all the games they've got coming, rather than wasting so much time on that basketball game and Hyrule Warriors. All they needed was a second or two of pre-rendered footage, but why not tease Zelda and Animal Crossing and Pokémon and 3D Mario and all the rest? If the argument is we all know they're coming anyway then what's the problem in admitting it? I get Nintendo don't like to give away secrets but it's not like they'd be revealing release dates or showing any real gameplay. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. It's simple stuff like that which would've made so much difference, but they didn't even try to do it. Don't they see how annoyed people get with Sony and their boring State of Plays? Or do they look at the sales of the PlayStation 5 and think that's actually a good idea of how to do it? Or consider Metroid Prime 4, where we've still seen almost nothing of it and it has no release date, but they say it's out this year. They're clearly going to give it its own Nintendo Direct but why do we have to wait until then for a date? It just makes people think it's been delayed. They spent a year polishing Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, so there's no way Metroid Prime 4 isn't already finished and, at worse, just undergoing a bit of fine tuning. So why the secrecy? Do they think someone's suddenly going to make a Metroid Prime clone in the four months before it's out? Or that Activision is going to move Call Of Duty because of the date they pick? We all know this is the way Nintendo always does things, but something feels different this time and none of their actions seem to make any sense when you analyse them. Like hiding the developer of Donkey Kong Bananza… why? Surely knowing it was by the Super Mario Odyssey team was a good thing that would've made more people want to buy it? And it was only a secret for two months anyway, so what was the point? I guess other companies would figure that means they don't have a new 3D Mario coming out soon, but so what? What did keeping that knowledge from them, for two months, gain them? Especially compared to the mild anger it caused for Nintendo's fans. More Trending Like I said, maybe it's just me, but I've heard similar things from too many other people to think it is. In terms of end results Nintendo hasn't really done anything wrong so far, but in terms of vibes… something just doesn't feel right. There's too much mystery and not enough excitement, and I really hope they do something about that soon. By reader GlobalHen The reader's features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro. You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@ or use our Submit Stuff page and you won't need to send an email. MORE: The video game that made me fall in love with gaming - Reader's Feature MORE: Sony should stop making PlayStation consoles while they're still beating Xbox - Reader's Feature MORE: Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor is the best game that's never getting a remake – Reader's Feature
Metro
2 days ago
- Metro
I took my family on a digital detox holiday and something extraordinary happened
It was a Thursday evening and, with the day's work behind us, my family and I settled in to watch TV together. But just a few minutes after Race Across the World started, I looked up and saw that every one of us was glued to a different screen. Alex, my husband, was staring at his phone, 14-year-old Ted was playing on his iPad, Coco, 12, was texting her friends, and Alfie, 9, was on the Nintendo. If I wasn't laughing at celebrity death pranks on my laptop, I would have been really cross. Everyone was in a completely different world. Yet this behaviour is also completely normal. As a nation, we are addicted to our devices, to varying degrees. The average Brit loses a weekend a month doomscrolling; that's 96 minutes a day, and for Gen Z, that jumps to 143 minutes, according to recent research from global technology brand OnePlus. So, I proposed a digital detox, and amazingly, everyone agreed. Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here. We started with the parameters. Can I listen to music on my phone? No. Can I text my friends? No. Does the screen ban begin in the car? Hell, no. As a journalist, I am perpetually online, and my gen-alpha kids have never known a time without the internet. I have first-hand experience of a primary-age boy showing girls porn on his phone, vile misogyny and bullying on unmonitored WhatsApp groups and through my work I've spoken to too many bereaved parents left with unanswered questions about social media's role in their death to allow my family to sleepwalk into unfettered phone use. So I want the family to experience a few days offline. Researchers at Heidelberg University and the University of Cologne recently conducted a study that shows that just 72 hours without a smartphone can significantly alter brain activity. So we pack our bags and head for the Mole Valley Resort in the heart of Devon. As soon as we arrived, we put all our screens in the safe. But Alfie has a realisation. What will happen if the teenager who was feeding our cats needs to get in touch? He quickly comes up with a solution: 'Couldn't he call us on one of those phones on racks?' He meant a landline. We head straight to the hot tub, which is glorious, and I find my frazzled popcorn brain immediately soothed by the beautiful surroundings. There was more than enough to keep us occupied at the resort, which had outdoor and indoor activities, a gym, pool, walking routes, a games room, a lovely restaurant and a gorgeous lodge that even welcomed our ridiculous dog. There were play areas and outdoor games, and the shop was far enough away that I could buy a bit of peace by sending the kids off to buy sweets and milkshakes. It didn't take long for us to forget about tech. Digital detoxes are having a moment. The fact that there is now a market for phone jails, lockable boxes that house phones because adult willpower is insufficient, is deeply concerning. Fortunately, society is coming around to the addictive qualities of phones and an increasing number of schools – including my son's primary – are banning smartphones. The Offline Club in London promotes phone-free cafes and pop-up events, music nights, reading and puzzle parties. Further afield, a host of companies now offer off-grid cabins, Wi-Fi free zones and silent retreats. An increasing number of families are now exploring screen-free Sundays. This sounds perfect to me, but I'm not sure 80% of my family would agree. And, I confess, there was one point during our digital detox where I found myself pleading for the sweet release of screens when I desperately wanted to separate myself from the hectic brood to decompress. I felt hot panic when we got back to our lodge after a busy day and realised I couldn't make it all stop by dolling out devices. Instead, we played charades and the fishbowl game and, cheesy as it sounds, I laughed so hard my belly ached. All of us slept well; whether that was because of the lack of blue light or the clear Devon air, I don't know. But it was nice to chat to Alex in the morning, rather than the top of his head as he habitually reads the news while drinking his coffee. We filled the day with pool, table tennis and air hockey, did a pub quiz and explored the local area. As the day wore on, we connected more than we ordinarily do in our busy lives. And without the lure of his iPad, I found Ted was more aware of what the family needed, taking Alfie to play at the playground, which as a busy teen, he wouldn't normally be compelled to do. An unexpected benefit of ditching our phones was that the days felt longer. After spending the morning immersing ourselves in activities, we were shocked to learn it wasn't even lunchtime. You don't realise how much time can be drained by tech until you don't have any. I loved not knowing what the time was, what was happening in the world or what the weather was going to be. Which is good, because it rained a lot. Alex said he didn't find himself reaching for my phone out of habit, which he thought he might. But he was mildly frustrated about not being able to search what the capital of Cameroon was, or how much a pigeon weighs. (Yaoundé, 300-500 grams.) And, without being able to Google the rules to Pickleball, the game quickly descended into a ludicrous kick-the-flipflop championship. More Trending Ted, who did a great job despite being a hormonal teen, missed being able to chat to his friends and find escape from his parents and siblings. Coco and Alfie loved it, and I really enjoyed the opportunity to unplug. We packed up, got into the car, and plugged ourselves in. While the others gleefully reached for their devices the minute we drove off, I looked wistfully out the window, wishing we could stay another week. The first thing I did when I got my phone back, was Google the resort's Christmas availability.
