Have you ever wished the Joy-Cons attached to your Nintendo Switch came with a full-fledged D-Pad on the left side? I know I have.
And I’m sure others would love to see a GameCube-style button layout on the right. Or maybe we could replace both sides with a split keyboard design. But let’s not get too carried away, because unfortunately, none of these wild designs are currently in development for the Switch.
However, the General Manager of Nintendo’s Entertainment Planning and Development Division, Shinya Takahashi, recently told IGN that the company might introduce some “very different” Joy-Con designs in the future:
“One of the great strengths of the Nintendo Switch is that though you can play it as a console, you can also separate these two controllers from the hardware. This gives us a lot of possibilities that we could consider for the future in terms of what you could attach,” Takahashi said. “I think that that would be a really good time for us to think about some very different colors or designs applied to [Joy-Cons]. That might be interesting.”
Nintendo’s dedicated fan community has already stepped up and produced some interesting Joy-Con designs, and Takahashi specifically cited this enthusiasm as inspiration for where Nintendo might take the console in the future:
“There’s a lot of joy to be had from handmaking something yourself or having all of those customizable possibilities, and we absolutely embrace that. We love to see that,” he said.
Just one little D-Pad, Nintendo. That’s all I ask.
