When the Switch 2 was announced, a number of industry pundits were concerned that Nintendo had played things too safe. In the past, Nintendo has taken wild swings with its hardware and done outlandish things like include motion controls or force people to play with a tablet. The Nintendo Switch, and by extension Switch 2, are mostly just portable consoles with nothing else going on. That might change soon, especially if this patent for a crank wheel attachment for the Joy-Con 2 is anything to go by.
As noticed by social media account Nintendo Patents Watch, Nintendo recently filed a patent for some type of clickable crank wheel attachment for the Joy-Con 2. My first reaction is that this is similar to the Playdate device, but it’s hard to say what this will be used for. The attachment reportedly connects via the magnets in the Joy-Con 2 and utilizes the optical mouse sensor for tracking movement. Players will be able to click it via the SR and SL buttons, which have a secondary placement on the new attachment for ease of use.
A new Nintendo patent shows two novel Joy-Con 2 attachments—a crank and a clickable wheel.
In the first embodiment, the crank features a rotary disc (#803), which is tracked by the mouse sensor (172) through a window (807). Two magnets (511 & 512) secure the attachment. 1/
— Nintendo Patents Watch (@ninpatentswatch.bsky.social) August 7, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Now, just because a patent has been filed doesn’t mean this attachment will ever make it to market. Nintendo, and any company for that matter, files patents for applications so that it can copyright and/or trademark specific devices. Nintendo has filed this so that other manufacturers can’t get to the idea first. They would need to make significant changes to release similar attachments, though a crank wheel is hardly a new invention. Even still, it’s fun to think about Nintendo introducing this as some official, wildly new way to experience Switch 2 games.
More Switch 2
Mina the Hollower is getting a native Switch 2 port, release set for October
A collection of Sanrio Switch 2 cases are coming to Japan soon
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
