At the time that this video is being published, we’re about three weeks away from the official worldwide release of the Nintendo Switch 2, and while the console is still a little way away from release, I’ve seen a lot of people starting to pick up accessories in advance of the system’s launch date.
One aspect of the Switch 2 we’ve talked about in some depth on Access-Ability is the fact that each Switch 2 Joy-Con can be turned on its side and used like a mouse input on a PC, with certain games allowing for pointer controlled input rather than motion controls or traditional analogue stick inputs.
While there’s not a lot of launch day software that makes notable use of the Switch 2’s mouse mode functionality, with known support currently limited to Civilization 7’s Switch 2 Edition, minigames in Switch 2 Welcome Tour, and Switch 2 System UI usage, there are companies already producing plastic mouse grip peripherals designed to better support the hand and be more comfortable over time than the thin design of holding a sideways Joy-Con in the palm of your hand during gameplay.
I want to take some time today to talk about one popular design of Switch 2 Joy-Con mouse grip that I’ve seen for sale in the run up to the console’s imminent launch, and why I would recommend against buying grips of this particular design, as someone who has gone hands-on with the console.
So, this is the basic design being sold under a few different brand names currently, and at first glance it looks pretty decent. For launch day usage, I do think it will be a pretty functional option for the ways that mouse mode is supported, for the most part on day one.
The grip is designed to look like a fairly standard PC mouse, with a slot for the Joycon in the centre of the oval shaped grip, and small cutout spaces for the analogue sticks on each controller.
As stated, these should work okay for Switch 2 launch day gaming use cases as we currently understand them. Any games using the Joy-Con in mouse mode simply to move a cursor and make use of the bumper and trigger as a left and right mouse click should work great with these particular grips. In addition, the analogue stick cutout *should* give space to still move the analogue stick forward and back while in mouse mode, which is important as it acts similar to a scroll wheel in some applications. When on the Switch 2 System UI the analogue stick can be moved to scroll up and down dropdown selection menus, and in games like Civilization 7 the same analogue stick movement can be used to zoom in and out your view of the game map.
So, why am I recommending against people picking up *this* style of Mouse Grip for the Switch 2? Well, because there’s at least one high profile first party mouse mode game releasing in 2025 that won’t be playable using this grip – Metroid Prime 4.
I suspect it won’t be the only game that can’t be played with this design of grip.
So, if we look at the design of these grips, you’ll notice that several buttons on the Joy-Cons are inaccessible when placed into the mouse grip. On the left JoyCon all D-Pad buttons are unavailable, hidden behind plastic when docked into the grip. On the right Joy-Con, the Y button is obscured.
When playing Metroid Prime 4 in Mouse Mode, players are required to press the A, B, X, and Y buttons to jump, dodge, transform between morph ball states, and access their scan visor. With the Y button obscured, at least one of those functions will be inaccessible without removing the JoyCon from the grip mid combat.
While Metroid Prime 4 is the only game I can currently point to making use of controller face buttons during Mouse Mode play, I doubt it will be the last. I suspect first person shooters offering Mouse Mode support will likely treat the Joy-Con like the type of gaming mouse that has side buttons pressed with the thumb, not wanting to sacrifice four key controller inputs. I fully expect more complex and action heavy mouse mode games to require pressing controller face buttons periodically during play. As a result, games like Metroid Prime 4 aren’t really playable when using this design of mouse grip.
This is mainly a warning to try and help prevent people from purchasing these grips, and then needing to replace them a few months into the system’s launch when something like Metroid Prime 4 comes out.
There are other designs of mass produced mouse grip accessory available cheaply online currently that, while more deeply buried in search results, do avoid this issue. Take for example this reversible design, which keeps the entire button side face of the Joy-Con available during play.
A few months back, I worked with a 3D model designer to produce a free 3D printable mouse grip peripheral for the Switch 2 Joy-Con, to help with this same issue of comfort during play. While I am glad we were able to produce this freely available resource, this video isn’t me trying to discourage people from purchasing alternative devices without a good reason. The second style of mass produced Mouse Grip I showcased looks great – it’s really cheap, and should arrive before the console’s release date if ordered at the time I’m posting this video. This is not me trying to push people toward my 3D printed solution, it’s simply me trying to push people away from a design that isn’t informed by the currently known use cases for mouse mode on the console.
Whoever designed the mouse mode grips that cover the face buttons on the controller made a design that is appealing, and will work at launch, but was not informed by hands on experience with Nintendo’s 2025 Switch 2 mouse mode lineup. These grips are cheap enough that replacing them when Metroid Prime 4 releases wouldn’t be a huge issue, but if I can point folks toward a better design of grip, and help people to understand the pros and cons of each design type before launch, my hope is that I can save at least a few people from needing to double dip on such a simple peripheral during the first year of the console’s life.
I don’t personally mind which grip you get, but I think you’re better off looking for an open faced design, long term, if you want to make sure you’re not going to have to get a replacement for certain games.