The Nintendo Switch continues to be a hot seller, and no wonder — it scratches two totally different itches. It’s a home console for Nintendo fans. It’s a portable console for Nintendo fans. Because Nintendo has always produced weaker hardware than its competitors (save for the N64 generation), everyone is pretty used to playing the big N’s games with lesser graphics. But wow, is the lack of Pro Joy-Cons ever obvious. Out of all the sacrifices Nintendo made for the Switch, the Joy-Cons are the worst — but also the easiest to fix.
I get why the stock Joy-Cons are terrible. Nintendo needed to keep the system svelte. It needed to retain some degree of pocketability. The Joy-Cons that exist now keep the shape of the console intact without adding bulk, and they do so while enabling portable gaming at its most basic level. Mission accomplished.
But why, pray tell, does Nintendo not have Pro Joy-Cons? The Joy-Cons for those who don’t care if the system is a little larger? For people who are used to playing games with real thumbsticks and not flimsy nubs? Something exactly like what Hori made with the Split Pad Pro, except Nintendo manufactured and inclusive of all the Joy-Con features (like rumble and NFC).
Why does such a thing not exist? For some reason, Nintendo thought enough to upgrade the display in its latest OLED model of the Switch. But the Joy-Cons are exactly the same? And Nintendo never thought to roll out some Pro options as well?
I, for one, am pretty over it. In handheld mode, it’s just too annoying and difficult to play 3D games that aren’t Mario. Geralt is frustrating to maneuver in The Witcher 3. Aiming Link’s bow in Breath of the Wild is way more difficult than it should be. I shouldn’t have to buy a Fixture S1 and clamp it to a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller to play the Switch properly on the go. There has to be a better way.
That better way is Pro Joy-Cons. I hope Nintendo sees that this is the correct path forward and puts some out. We need them.
