Rumour has it that Nintendo may want to cover the trickle torrent of Switch 2 leaks in three days, with an official reveal of the Switch’s successor console on 8 January 2025. If it doesn’t, it will be pieced apart by others, as has been the case all December and into the new year.
The latest leak looks very credible and true, showing what the new redesigned Joy-Con will look like on the Nintendo Switch 2 out of the box. And why does it look real? Because, first of all, it matches several previous leaks of the production moulds, and it also matches the unofficially known details about these controllers. Namely, the Joy-Con 2 aims for better ergonomics by increasing the size of the units and their buttons and sticks, adding a more pronounced rear protrusion for resting the finger hearts vertically, or innovating with a magnetic attachment system to the console, to connect them easily even if it loses the characteristic ‘switch’ click.
But take a look at the images and judge for yourself:
The second reason these photos look real is because most of the previous ones were concerned with ‘obfuscating’ the image using AI to disguise its origin, whereas these look like more blatant, ‘bare-bones’ shots.
The photos come from Chinese social network Tieba Baidu and have in turn been picked up on Reddit, the unofficial compiler of leaks for the West. They show an alleged Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con, specifically the left controller, showing the edge and back. The edge is blue, but the controller doesn’t have to be, as this colour is said to distinguish the Joy-Con between L (blue) and R (red) at a glance.
The most obvious difference apart from the bulge and size of the unit are the SL and SR buttons, which are much longer and therefore easier to press for adult hands, which usually end up getting stiff with the current units. Being a left and not a right controller, it is not known whether Nintendo will keep or improve the IR sensor on the latter, another point of interest as there had been speculation of a more advanced sensor with LiDAR technology.
Finally, the wireless pairing button or the logos and licenses are visible. This is the last reason to believe this leak: if you enlarge the image of the edge of the controller you can see the now popular serial number HBW51004401430, a reference already recognised by Nintendo’s US customer service database, according to several sources at X and as verified by Gamereactor.
What do you think of these very credible photos of the Nintendo Switch 2’s left Joy-Con, and when do you expect the manufacturer to unveil the new console between now and 31 March?