Nintendo Patented Switch Joy-Con With Different Buttons & Sizes That Never Released
Nintendo patented in August 2016 several Joy-Con models for Switch that show that they had in mind to sell controls of different sizes and with different button configurations (even with crosshead), according to the Dutch media LetsGoDigital.
The aforementioned website has shown several models that replicate how the Nintendo Switch we know with those different Joy-Con would be, always based on the information provided in the patents.
In addition to the Joy-Con that ended up arriving at stores around the world on March 3, 2017, Nintendo thought of a wider one with the same button configuration, more appropriate for those players with the biggest hands. Obviously, this design makes the console in a portable mode larger. In the patent, it is mentioned that this controller would have analog triggers (such as those of the PS4 and Xbox One controls) instead of digital.
Another of the patents replaces the analog sticks of the Joy-Con with two crossheads, but the D-Pad buttons remain intact. It is a viable control method for two-dimensional, fighting and platform games, but it does not seem like a method for playing 3D exploration or shooting titles.
That is precisely what could be solved with the fourth type of Joy-Con registered by Nintendo. On the left Joy-Con would be the crosshead, the stick and the A and B buttons vertically; on the right, another crosshead, another stick, and the X and Y buttons vertically.
The problem with this design is that access to the buttons is uncomfortable. In addition, the patent mentions that the stick of this version would not be like the current one, but more similar to the Nintendo 3DS sliding button.
Finally, Nintendo opted for a single Joy-Con model that ended up being marketed in several colors: blue, red, yellow, orange, purple, green and gray, among others. Third-party manufacturers have marketed unofficial Joy-Con with crossheads. A crosshead has been included in the new Nintendo Switch Lite, but the Japanese company says it has no plans to launch a Joy-Con with that control method.