Newly-published Nintendo patents show that the company has been exploring a version of its Joy-Con controllers that can work like a computer mouse, a feature Nintendo has hinted will be coming to the Switch 2. In its Switch 2 teaser video last month, Nintendo showed two Joy-Con controllers sliding along the ground, much like you’d move a mouse.

Furthermore, Nintendo refers to the new Switch 2 Joy-Con as the "first embodiment" of the input device, the mysterious new controller as the "second embodiment", and the original rail-system Joy-Con as the "third embodiment", suggesting that, yes, these are indeed separate devices.

It's been a month since we first heard rumors that the Switch 2's new Joy-Cons could be slid across a flat surface to function like a computer mouse. Now, a newly published patent filed by Nintendo seems to confirm that feature and describes how it will work.

A recently published patent gives audiences a deeper insight into the teased mouse functionality of the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons.

In it, the pair of Joy-Cons briefly raced each other across a hard surface Tron-bike style, trailing their wrist straps like tails. The whole thing made them look a lot like computer mice, and it was broadly assumed that this hinted at mouse controls for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Who better to ask about that supposed Switch 2 mouse functionality than the producer of a popular RTS franchise with deep PC roots?

It’s all adding up

If you watched the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal video, you’ll have spotted what looked like a ‘mouse’ mode for the Joy-Cons. During the reveal trailer, there's a moment where a pair of detached Joy-Cons are lowered onto a surface,