We’ve seen the first in-depth look at the “Joy-Con” controller for Nintendo Switch, and I think while we got a ton of answers (and some surprises), we’re still left with a few questions. Let’s dive in with what we know from yesterday’s presentation:
- Amiibo Compatable – We saw this one coming with the Breath of the Wild launching with Switch and the corresponding Amiibos. In the presentation we see them hover an Amiibo over the right controller and state that it will support Amiibos.
- Motion controls – Again, no big surprise as both the Wii and Wii U supported this, but it looks as if this will be an integral part of several of the new games.
- HD Rumble – The presentation mentioned this new HD rumble feature and showed how the rumble could make the player feel the difference between the number of ice cubes in a virtual glass as well as a difference if that glass were filled with water. I’m very curious to see where this goes. Since the rumble pack debuted for the N64 it feels like this feature hasn’t improved over the decades, but leave it to Nintendo, to challenge the way we actually sense the game through touch.
- Capture Screen Shots – I’m super excited for this feature! The ability to capture a moment in the game and share it via social media with the press of a button is a smart move in the right direction for getting the word out on how fun a game is or in this case, the console in general.
- Removable Wrist Straps – Let’s not forget the days of the Wii where someone didn’t secure a wrist strap and broke the family tv or hit a fellow gamer if the controller happened to slip. These wrist straps can attach to the left and right Joy-Cons to secure them to the player during active game play. If playing in a non physically active mode, they simply slip off the joy-con and out of the way.
- Motion Camera – Built in to the Right Joy-Con is a motion camera that senses hand movements and gestures as well as detecting objects in the environment.
- Price – If you want to buy more Joy-Cons, they will be $49.99 each or $79.99 for a pair. And the grip will be $29.99.
These exciting new features make gamers and game developers dream of hundreds of new uses for such an innovative controller that can make the player interact with the games and each other in a whole new way. We’ve seen that you can detach the Joy-Cons from the console itself and share one with a friend for co-op or competition and each side (Left or Right) is its own full controller reminiscent of the Super NES controller complete with L and R buttons.
Gamers will have the option to purchase the console with grey Joy-Cons or Neon Red and Blue. Personally, I’m looking forward to the neon colors and the fact that my favorite color is blue may have a strong influence on that. They announced that more colors would be released in the future.
Finally some questions: How many will we need? Just the ones that come with the console? Extras to attach to other Joy-Con Grips? We will have to continue to wait for more Nintendo announcements in the coming weeks.
