When Nintendo teased the Switch 2 in January the company partially revealed the larger, re-designed Joy-Con controllers that connect to the console with a new mechanism, possibly electromagnetically.
Now, the controllers slot into the console via an indentation on each said, eschewing the rail connectors of the original Switch.
A newly discovered patent (via VGC ) that was apparently filed in January 2023, seems to suggest that the Joy-Cons 2.0 can potentially be attached to either side of the console.
There’s no wrong way
The patent seems to suggest that you can flip the console around and still insert the controllers. Combined with the new USB-C port on the top and bottom of the Switch 2, it appears you can use the sequel console in whatever orientation you need.
This is something you couldn’t do with the original Joy-Cons as flipping the console round would mean your controllers would be slide in turned over.
Reading the patent, it notes that you could orient the lone headphone jack on either the top or bottom according to your preference. Presumably, the display would flip according to how you slot in the Joy-cons.
For example, the user can use the game system so that the upper and lower sides of the main body device are opposite to each other, such that the voice input/output connector on the upper surface of the main body device is located below the main body device. That is, the user can insert the earphone into the voice input/output connector from the preferred direction,” the patent reads.
Hidden features?
The additional USB-C port hints at a future with new peripherals that could be plugged in during both docked mode or handheld.
Our hope is that the ability to flip the Switch 2 every which way is one way that Nintendo is hiding the weird in the new console, alongside the much hinted optical sensor on the Joy-Cons that suggest mouse-like capabilities.
To be fair, this is only a patent and does not mean that these capabilities are actually in the Switch 2, though, it seems highly likely that some kind of function like this will be available.
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