Looks like the Nintendo Switch 2's Joy-Cons double as gaming mice, which is neat but I can't help think about how I basically never use the Legion Go's same feature

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I didn't expect to be spending today writing about a console, but here we are. The Nintendo Switch 2 is officially announced in a teasingly slow-to-start video, and hold up, did those Joy-Cons just start slipping and sliding around like the rodents we PC gamers are so used to?

A mouse mode for the Switch 2 wouldn't be completely out of the blue, given there have been rumours for a while that the Joy-Cons might each be able to be used as a mouse thanks to a sensor on their inside, just like on the bottom of a mouse.

Who knows what such a feature could be used for? To browse around the operating system, sure—but that doesn't seem like a massive necessity given the Nintendo Switch OS. There might be some games where mouse control would help, such as Civilization VI or level design modes such as Super Mario Maker.

Apart from that, though, I'd bet Nintendo has some uses up its sleeve that we couldn't guess at, which is an exciting thought.

Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con dropping into an attachment — (Image credit: Nintendo)

Assuming the slip-n-slide functionality demonstrated in the video is, indeed, mouse functionality, we'll also have one more mark in the "inspired by handheld gaming PCs" column that I mischievously alluded to earlier today. That's because the Lenovo Legion Go already has this functionality.

And regarding this, despite initially thinking I'd make much use of it and still thinking it's kind of neat, I must admit that I find the Legion Go controller's 'FPS mode' (i.e. mouse mode) to be a tad gimmicky and unnecessary.

I use the Legion Go quite regularly and there's a lot about it that I love, but I can't remember the last time I snapped off its right-side controller to use as a mouse. The touchscreen or trackpad serves my needs well enough in almost all cases, and I'm not playing competitive shooters on my handheld anyway.

Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons skating across a surface — (Image credit: Nintendo)

And speaking of trackpads, there's been a lot of wonder over the enigmatic blank "button" on the right Switch 2 Joy-Con. But—hear me out—doesn't that look a little like a trackpad nub, the likes of which you see on the new Lenovo Legion Go S? If that's what that "button" is, then I hold even firmer to my "inspired by handheld PC" line.

We'll have to see how all these features actually pan out, of course. I can't help but wonder how stable a Joy-Con would feel to use in mouse mode, underside attachment or not.

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Jacob got his hands on a gaming PC for the first time when he was about 12 years old. He swiftly realised the local PC repair store had ripped him off with his build and vowed never to let another soul build his rig again. With this vow, Jacob the hardware junkie was born. Since then, Jacob's led a double-life as part-hardware geek, part-philosophy nerd, first working as a Hardware Writer for PCGamesN in 2020, then working towards a PhD in Philosophy for a few years while freelancing on the side for sites such as TechRadar, Pocket-lint, and yours truly, PC Gamer. Eventually, he gave up the ruthless mercenary life to join the world's #1 PC Gaming site full-time. It's definitely not an ego thing, he assures us.