Nintendo Switch 2 could feature a big controller change that few saw coming
Another day, another new Nintendo Switch 2 rumor – and this one is interesting
👀 Nintendo Switch 2 might include a new control method
🤔 The shoulder buttons could be scrollable, like a mouse wheel
🤷♂️ It’s unclear how this would be utilized in games
🥲 We’re still waiting for Nintendo to reveal its next console
The Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to be a fairly familiar device, iterating on the current console’s design instead of being a radical overhaul. However, Nintendo could change how the console’s shoulder buttons work by using a new input method.
The latest Nintendo Switch 2 leak, courtesy of Reddit (thanks, Nintendo Life), suggests that Nintendo may replace the typical clicky shoulder buttons we’ve grown accustomed to over the years with those that scroll, similar to a mouse wheel.
The buttons will be sturdy enough that you won’t accidentally scroll when you mean to click and vice versa, and users will feel a satisfying “tick” feeling when the button is rotated. However, it’s unclear how games would utilize the functionality.
The Redditor, ‘Adjacent-Adjunct’, claims to have held a dummy model of Nintendo’s next console, and said the buttons feel similar to a store conveyor belt.
"Now here's the cool part, the shoulder buttons could spin! I sat there playing with it in my hands and staring at it for like 2 or 3 straight minutes before moving on, spinning these wheel-like things in my fingers because it was so strange but satisfying. It reminds me somewhat like a mouse wheel where it spins as you run your finger along it but still clicks like a button.
These also still clicked in like L and R do. Each step of the rotation made a satisfying tick feeling in your fingertips as it moved, like a mouse wheel again, but a very heavy one that takes a bit of force to make move. Otherwise they were sturdy enough to not spin when just clicking the buttons in. They weren't like normal wheels because they were not circular shaped, they were more squared off like the current Switch shoulders shape is. Instead it felt more like a rubber material-type band that was over a track that allowed it to spin.
"To help visualize, the best comparison I can think of that people see every day is somewhat like the conveyor belt at stores during checkout. I guess this lets it have that rectangular shape and not be a huge circle internally. I'm personally excited to see what Nintendo does with this!"
Nintendo isn’t afraid to reinvent traditional control schemes. It was the first to introduce analog 3D movement with the N64, the Nintendo DS introduced touch and stylus controls, and the company pioneered motion controls with the Wii. Even the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Con controller is packed with technology like NFC support, gyro, an IR sensor, and HD Rumble.
Nintendo has said it wants the Switch 2 to stand out from the competition, especially now there’s a long list of portable PCs to contend with and possibly an Xbox handheld and PSP 2 releasing in the future. Nintendo will be consciously aware it could use a unique selling point, and maybe these clever shoulder buttons will do the job.
If the scrolling shoulder buttons do turn out to be real, expect Nintendo to create games that take full advantage of the new input method in clever and ingenious ways.
We’re still waiting for a Nintendo Switch 2 reveal, which could take place in October now that September has all but ended. Nintendo had held a Direct presentation in September for the last eight years running, but that streak is now over.
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.