A new patent suggests that Nintendo is working on a Switch 2 Joy-Con accessory that's notably different from its Switch counterpart.

When Nintendo first unveiled the Switch 2 last month, we (and everyone else) noticed something peculiar about the new Joy-Con controllers. Now, some recently unearthed patent filings more or less confirm all the theories.

Newly-published Nintendo patents show that the company has been exploring a version of its Joy-Con controllers that can work like a computer mouse, a feature Nintendo has hinted will be coming to the Switch 2. In its Switch 2 teaser video last month, Nintendo showed two Joy-Con controllers sliding along the ground, much like you’d move a mouse.

Nintendo’s recent innovation hints at upgraded controllers for Switch 1. If that happens, the old console could stick around for another eight years.

Interestingly, the patent also seems to conceive of a mouse mode for a more traditional controller. While the design of the device is rudimentary and still split in two like a Joy-Con, it is clearly one-half of a traditional gamepad with an optical sensor on the inside surface.

Nintendo Switch 2 was first revealed by a trailer from the company last month. Now, multiple patents from the company, which were published recently, suggest the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons will attach to the handheld body via magnets and could be even used like a mouse.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons appear to double as a mouse, leading me to believe that the creation game Mario Paint might make a comeback.

When the Nintendo Switch 2 was officially announced, it was hard to feel like it wasn’t just more of the same. With no weird 3D gimmicks and no absurd naming scheme, did it even really feel like a new Nintendo device?