Yes, the Nintendo Switch 2's mouse feature will work on your pants

(Credit: The Shortcut/Nintendo)

• 🐭 The Nintendo Switch 2's Joy-Con 2 controllers can work as a mouse, and you don't need a desk or hard surface to use them

• 👏 Kouichi Kawamoto, the console's producer, has shared that it will also work on your pants for proper living room play

• 🏀 The new mouse mode is heavily featured in Nintendo's Drag x Drive wheelchair basketball game

• 👉 Various third-party games – including Civ 7 and Borderlands 4 – are also set to take advantage of it

According to Kouichi Kawamato, the Nintendo Switch 2's producer, the console's new mouse feature will work on your pants, which is a relief.

When questioned about the new control feature, Kawamoto even went as far as to say that the members of the Drag X Drive development team – Nintendo's flagship game that has been designed around the new mode – preferred to use the Joy-Con 2 controller on their legs as opposed to a hard surface.

Kawamoto said he was inspired by the idea of using a mouse in PC games, and wanted to bring the feature to Nintendo Switch 2. The only problem was that tables and desks are far away if you're using the Switch 2 on your lap or when playing on a TV, so it made logical sense to make sure the mouse mode worked when used on your pants.

One of the new gameplay aspects of the Nintendo Switch 2 is that each Joy-Con 2 has an optical sensor inside, like an actual computer mouse, fitted to the controller's flat edge. The shoulder buttons act as a clickable mouse button for a somewhat familiar but novel experience for a console.

The likes of the wheelchair-focused Drag x Drive, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and Mario Party Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition are two of Nintendo's core games that demonstrate the functionality, and both Joy-Con 2 controllers can be used in mouse mode at the same time.

The option to use the Joy-Con 2 as a mouse is also present in third-party games, such as Borderlands 4, Civilization 7, Hogwarts Legacy, and more.

• Up next: Nintendo Switch 2 price is a 'crisis moment', say ex-employees

Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.