If you've been feeling let down by the Nintendo Switch's four detached directional buttons and miss the classic D-Pad, worry not, as gaming accessory manufacturing company Hori will soon be releasing a Joy-Con that has a real D-Pad. Hori's official Japanese site already has a picture of what it'll look like, as well as the technical specifications of the controller. Of course, there are a few drawbacks to this; you can only use it in portable mode as it has no wireless support, there's no HD Rumble or gyro, and there are no SL or SR buttons on the inside of the Joy-Con. This third-party left JoyCon will be hitting retail in Japan sometime this July, will come in a dark blue color only, and will cost 2,480 yen, which is equivalent to about $24.99.

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[Deleted User]

The whole "no wireless" thing is a bit of a letdown, but it definitely seems a whole lot better than the default d-pad.

 

[LuigiXL]

Well N aren't going to like that! E3 announcement?!

 

[kumikochan]

It's missing a ton of features. Why not just buy a D-Pad attachment for your left joycon wich you can click on or off wich is way cheaper and more convenient then this and even having all the extra features wich the Hori is missing

 

[Bu2d85]

What games actually use the “d-pad”? Anyone asking for this is purely wanting it for that old school look and not for gameplay.

If it was a fully functioning controller licensed by Nintendo I would be all for it, but it’s not.

You can buy a modified and it will do everything a joycon is supposed to. Sometimes the price is worth it.

 

[Bonestorm]

What games actually use the “d-pad”? Anyone asking for this is purely wanting it for that old school look and not for gameplay.

If it was a fully functioning controller licensed by Nintendo I would be all for it, but it’s not.

You can buy a modified and it will do everything a joycon is supposed to. Sometimes the price is worth it.

Hori makes better controllers than Nintendo.

 

[Arras]

Aren't there joycon shells you can install that change it to a dpad while preserving all the functionality of the regular one? Personally I wouldn't really want one - the default buttons may not be as comfortable as a dpad, but they function perfectly and are better for precision IMO. I also use single joycon for multiplayer occasionally and that would be weird with a dpad on the right side.

 

[MajinCubyan]

Thats cool but the lack of wireless is a shame. I prefer playing docked with the joy-con grip myself. Hopefully Nintendo will announce their own soon or Hori will release an updated model.

 

[ToonGoomba]

It will feel odd if rumble is coming out of 1 Joy Con...

 

[Bu2d85]

Hori makes better controllers than Nintendo.

When they don’t have most of the features of the official controller?

 

[AdamFX990]

This seems like it'd be something I'd like to use even with the missing features. Though I don't quite get why they wouldn't consider wireless to be an essential feature at least.

 

[DarthDub]

I'll pass, thanks.

 

[Deleted User]

Over at Nintendo Life translated with Google translate:
When using this product, please update the system of Nintendo Switch to the latest version and use it.
A bummer.

 

[Reploid]

wow, revolution is here

 

[Frexxos]

...there's no HD Rumble or gyro, and there are no SL or SR buttons on the inside of the Joy-Con.

ehh? And this for 25 Bucks? Hell No!
For that money you can grab a really nice joycon Shell, buy "used" or new joycon and make yoursef a fully functionally custom joycon WITH a D-Pad!!!! And Rumble, and Wireless etc.
Like on this picture. The shell cost around 11-15 €...

 

[BvanBart]

Over at Nintendo Life translated with Google translate:
When using this product, please update the system of Nintendo Switch to the latest version and use it.
A bummer.

So that confirms that the third party support for controllers has ben expanded from 5.0.0. It is a bummer but also good news

 

[jefffisher]

Sounds good cheap enough and all the features it's missing are fine since we have pro controllers for when we aren't playing in handheld mode.

But I can't help but think that this means Nintendo isn't letting any offically licensed products use wireless. The wired third party pro controllers kinda made sense but this doesn't unless Nintendo told them specifically no wireless which means if we ever do get real third party joycons they'll be some fishy off brand.

 

[migles]

only works in dock mode (can he even be used with a cable\extention or something?)
missing HD rumble which can mean no rumble at all, or just not the fancy trademarked nintendo rumble
no gyro, i guess since it's a dock only controller, putting a gyro is pointless

for a "propper d pad" why did they even botter?
the lack of wireless it can't even be 2nd player aftermarket controller your younger bro gets to play with

 

[The Frenchman]

Hori makes better controllers than Nintendo.

I wouldn't call globe tops PCBs and cheap plastic better... they are decent products, better than most third parties but Nintendo builds far supperior products when it comes to build quality.

 

[BORTZ]

I find it weird that Nintendo wouldn't do this themselves.