Your Joy-Con Can Now Have a D-Pad if You’re Brave Enough

Intrigued, but scared, haha.

We need real D-Pads and real/bigger control sticks. Hopefully, Nintendo will release such Joy-Cons in future...

One of the main reasons now I"m waiting to get a Switch is for them to revise the controllers and add a D-pad.

D-pads can be very, very hit and miss. They all LOOK good, but very few, other than--for example--8Bitdo's pads, can approach the quality and feel of Nintendo's pads.

Come on, Nintendo! There's a pile of money to be made by releasing "proper" D-pad L & R Joycons as accessories.

@XCWarrior The reason the Joy-cons don't have a D-pad is that they can only be used as separate controllers this way.
Also, I've tried playing 2-D games with the built-in "d-pad". It's not bad at all, I don't really see why some people say it's unusable.

I dunno, the D buttons have never bothered me. They've always worked great for me. I do wonder why Nintendo can't just produce a D-pad variant for people that want it. I bet a D-pad joycon set would sell like crazy.

@XCWarrior I didn't wait for that. Because a) the wait can last until next gen, b) I can already use alternatives to play games NOW and c) whenever the solution comes, I'll only will have to replace the joy con.

I was afraid having no D-Pad would've been a problem for me but so far I haven't had a need for one. Would it be nice to have a Joy-Con variation with D-Pad? Maybe, but it's a trade-off. Then the controller becomes ill suited for "sharing the joy".

@Krisi This! The whole point of the joy-cons is that two players can play - and the directional buttons are absolutely fine once you get to used them for everyone bar elite fighting gamers - who would almost certainly be better off with a Pro controller or Hori stick anyway if they want to battle seriously.

Ya the Dpad is not an issue. I knew it wouldn't be, and it's not.

In fact, 2D games are even easier to play with the button type layout. Ultra Street Fighter II was a little harder to play but, not by much. Can always use a Pro Controller, 8bitdo controller or arcade stick though.

@Late "Sharing the joy" was always a half-baked solution. Playing Mario Kart with this small thing in your hands is okay for one race but that's it. Thankfully, we could now switch to GameCube controllers

I want to order the White shell replacement for Switch.
Any website link to order ?

This is the only reason why I haven't bought Ultra Street Fighter yet. Fighting games are best played with a D-pad imo.

Or, or, now bear with me on this radical idea, Nintendo could make an official Joy-Con with a D pad.

@JaxonH as much as I'd love a dpad joycon for easy portable 2D gaming, I currently have an 8bitdo for tabletop out of the house platforming/fighting. I luckily had one laying around from trying to get it to work on an older computer for emulated games.
The Pro controller is excellent for my home and both feel much more comfortable and natural for me for USFII and Shovel Knight. Love the joycons for BoTW and Odyssey though. They're great for 3D gaming.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I agree. Its not like they'd gather dust on shelves and Nintendo would cry about nobody wanting them. I'm sure they'd be rare for the first few months like pro controllers were. That's why I bought mine day one.

@JaxonH I'll never understand those complaints, I guess. 2D platform games? I've beaten VVVVVV using a Vita analogue stick, for Pete's sake, and that's coming from a relatively lame gamer more used to grinding stats than polishing tactile skills. Ditto with fighting games - somehow all the arcade machines I've seen first-hand have had sticks instead of D-pads, and considering many classic titles' love for "lowerleft-down-lowerright toward the opponent" or "go clockwise through all directions" combos... Did Street Fighter 2 use distant relatives of Konami Code instead?

@Chandlero the Nintendo wheels are ultra comfy despite looking undersized.

@nhSnork it's about personal preference and comfort. I find Dpads more relaxing to use than joysticks or 4 seperate buttons for fighting games and 2D platformers. Also, arcade joysticks and modern day joycon joysticks are very different in size and feel. I'm just a dinosaur who will pay extra to be able to game the way I prefer.

@Alikan: I am not willing to buy for each game another plastic case, controller or other things to fill up the gaps Nintendo gave us with its controller design.

I see the Nintendo Switch as an awesome portable device but having poor control sticks and no D-Pad on the go is a huge disadvantage.

The good thing about the Joy Cons is that they could release different versions to suit different people. A D Pad is nice but a GameCube style joy con would be awesome!!!

Bring on the Z button and analogue triggers!

@Kimyonaakuma: I totally agree and I hope that Nintendo will use it

@Chandlero I've loved wheel controllers since Mario Kart Wii, so it was a must purchase for me. When family and friends are over, our 4 person configuration is my wife and I with wheels, my brother with a joycon grip, and my friend with my pro controller. No fighting about who gets what, everyone is using their favorite configuration. Nights like this were worth the extra $ to buy a bit of extra plastic-to me at least.

The current controls on the joy-cons are too uncomfortable for me. A proper d pad is just one of a number of revisions I would suggest. Judging by the other comments, I'm not alone here. I hope Nintendo will produce alternative joy-cons, specifically a design that is comfortable for people with large hands. Now I'm sure there are gamers with large hands that don't experience much discomfort with the setup. And to that rebuttal, I'm envious of you.

@JaxonH this is the internet. You're supposed to virtue signal to vocal minority masses so you can duck away in the illusion of group acceptance. Why are you not whining about the d-pad?

In fact, why are you stating an opinion on something based on honest experience? And sensible evaluation? This is the internet! You may have lost your way.

@sas0ng
I agree this is definitely the case, the only thing greater is an arcade stick, for portable solo play, the lack of a d-pad breaks things up quite badly. I wonder to i get a fellow commuter to hold my switch on the train while i bust out my pro controller ?

Nintendo could just release a left Joy-con with a D-pad (fighter joy-con/ classic joy-con or whatever they with to call it and release its and go laughing all the way to the bank), carrying a small left joy-con, i don't believe would be that big a deal.

It's absolutely ludacrous for Nintendo not to make a special JoyCon with a D-pad just because it defeats the entire purpose of the JoyCon dual design and would sacrifice practibility for something fairly frivolous the grand scheme of things. Sure they already the offer Pro Controller as an alternative with a D-pad... But Nintendo is just crazy!

I guess a D-pad would be nice, but what about using the joycons as separate controllers in multiplayer? One would have buttons while the other would have to do with the D-pad for button inputs. If my kids were old enough they would go batpoo crazy on the internets over that.

While I would love a D-Pad release eventually, (preferably as part of a set with a grip), I'm honestly at a loss as to think of any games other than fighting that would actually improve. For puzzle games, the extra control over a d-pad is a blessing, and most other things use those buttons more like buttons, such as pulling up maps and the like.

Just give me some PRO JOYCONs that are ergonomical and feel like the grips on a real controller. I essentially can’t even use the Switch in handheld mode because it’s just too small, the joycons are too flat, and the button/stick placement is just all wrong for large hands.

Point of the joy con is multiplayer on the go, a D-pad on the joy con takes that away. They make pro controllers for that. What's the big deal? I have a pro controller myself because I prefer d-pads for precision 2-d platoforming.

While you can use other controllers, the issues would be ergonomics, ease of setup, & use, & limitations of (what you can use) docked vs. handheld.

Further still, I don't even know how the joy-cons (would) feel (specifically in my hands); I truly wish Nintendo, or retailers would have a playable NS kiosk. It's harder to decide if I would enjoy playing a console/handheld, when I can't actually try it. Not the end of the world, but really an issue that needs to be addressed.

I would personally prefer a D-pad so if Ninty made joycons with one I'd be in...

I had ordered the white joycon shells back in the summer, but they got lost in the mail. When I contacted the company 2 weeks ago, they offered me the white with Dpad, so hopefully be recieving these soon

Nintendo should have just made the D-pad similar to the one on the Playstation D-Pads. Where it's still 4 separate buttons but contoured to feel more fluid. Putting buttons just like the original 4 as a D-pad was a mistake in my opinion.

Not a big deal to me, if I want d-pad support I had a pro controller or many of those 8Bitdo wireless controllers already handy.

Kind of a side-step to the main topic but .. has anyone had a problem with the right joystick? I notice it times (normally Zelda) that after moving Link still moves on his own.

I've recalibrated it & it appears sluggish when moving from bottom to centre, resetting the whole Joy Con helps but hasn't fixed it fully.

@ICISAZEL yeah a fighting joycon would be cool! or maybe some kind of accessory like a detachable rubber/silicon d-pad we can put over the four buttons on the original joycon

@MaSSiVeRiCaN

And how do you use that nice pro controller in handheld mode? Sure, I could use it in Tabletop, but that is not handheld!!! Tabletop isn't always available to me in the train.

I am mostly a portable gamer, and prefer to use the Switch in Handheld mode. As most people do, according to latest research. I also prefer a real d-pad for my 2d games, and would love the idea of Nintendo releasing some pro d-pad joy cons!

All you people using the Switch in docked mode mostly, couldn't probably care less. Just use your pro controller. But this doesn't help me.

@LiberatedAnimal agreed. When I saw the leaked switch documents, I immediately was hoping that it wasn't true that they were ditching the traditional dpad. Unfortunately it was. From my point of view, if I want a second controller, I'll buy another one. I'd much rather have a traditional dpad than built in co op on a tiny controller, no matter what Nintendo's marketing and others on this site tell me

This is barely what I would call a 'solution'. Also, an over emphasis is placed on d-pads lately, what with most modern games requiring joysticks. Sure, some Indie games favour a d-pad, but those are few and far between - and in those instances the Pokken Tournament pad is a beast.

The lack of a proper D-Pad is still one of the reasons why I'm on the fence about getting a Switch in the future.

@Mintendo

No one forces you to buy these extra peripherals, if Nintendo decides to release such pro Joy-cons with d-pads.

I think everyone agree, that the current Joy-cons are a great concept for multiplayer, and should still be the standard setup for Switch.

But releasing extra controller options for customers who request a more specialized setup, can never be a bad thing. Not if demand is high enough.

I’m absolutely the minority, but I prefer the cardinal buttons to a traditional D-pad.

Joy-Con controllers are just fine with the buttons they have. Besides, even the pro controller's D-pad seems to only work on the same X,Y axes method as the joy-con buttons.

Before I used the Switch I said one of my biggest gripes with the system was lack of D-pad. Then I bought one, along with a Pro controller and realised it really is a non issue. The Joy-con are great and I find I hardly ever use the Pro,its a Splatoon controller and that's about it. Everything else I'm happy using the Joy-con. The short length of the analogue sticks means they work great for 2d games so I don't understand why it's always the split buttons being crap that's brought up. If you don't like using those then try the stick,never let me down yet.

I have one. It doesn’t feel quite right (as it’s doesnt have that ball underneath to roll between directions) but I find it much more comfortable for old school or platform games. If you check my reddit history (same username), you’ll see my post with photos.

I heavily prefer using a d-pad but that's a bit much.

Stop whining about not having a D pad!! Get over it people! Using the buttons is NOT that bad. I used the split directional buttons for shovel knight and It was completely fine. Nintendo is never going to make a d pad joy con. Get over it and start playing some games!

Seeing those translucent purple Joy-Cons really make me wish to see an official Atomic Purple Nintendo Switch Set. Now that would be amazing.

@Anti-Matter It looks like they sell them on eBay. It looks like it will ship to your country. Here is the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/BASSTOP-DIY-Replacement-Housing-Shell-Case-Set-for-Switch-NS-NX-Console-and-/132343749695#shpCntId

I have been playing games with the d-pad for close to thirty years. I play a ton of platformers, and I really appreciate the utility of a good d-pad in that type of game. So I really expected to absolutely hate playing with the Switch’s split d-pad buttons. But for whatever reason, I actually really like it. Is it an improvement or a better alternative to the traditional solid cross button? No, probably not, but it hasn’t been a problem for me whatsoever.

The right stick, on the other hand, is the bane of my existence when I’m playing Odyssey. I don’t know why people were so excited when Nintendo moved the right stick down below the face buttons, but it is constantly in the way and as a result I’m always inadvertently moving the camera in platform-heavy sections. It’s obviously not a problem on the pro controller because it’s offset, but on the joy-cons it’s directly below the buttons and it’s the worst. For me, anyway.

I would much prefer the joy-cons to have a proper d-pad, I might try this but that 20-40days delivery though. >_>

@Wayoh2002 I disagree that Nintendo will never make a d-pad Joy-con. While I do agree that it wouldn't be necessary, and while I personally haven't noticed any difference between the buttons on the Joy-cons, the d-pad on the Pro controller, and the d-pad on earlier controllers, it's clear that enough people think there's a difference (whether or not there actually is doesn't matter) for there to be a demand for a d-pad Joy-con, which means there's profit to be made. They may wait a while, until the market fully understands the Switch and understands it would be an optional add-on, but I expect it to come eventually.

Would definitely a d-pad equipped Left Joycon Pro; however to be honest the smaller analogue sticks actually do a decent job for 2D games for me. So not exactly a high priority requirement.

@Krisi I agree, my joy cons controller setup is fine with me. To me, it's a non-issue. I think it would make a good market for those that want them though, so it makes sense for Nintendo or some aftermarket company to make joy cons with d-pads instead of the buttons for the people that would like it. I just personally haven't ran into any problems using the buttons on my left joy cons for any games.

@BAN I'm sure Nintendo themselves agree with you, as do I. For the Wii U gamepad and Pro controller the analog sticks were both on top, and clearly the stick was moved so that the right Joy-con would have the proper orientation when detached and used individually. But for that necessity I'm sure it would still be where it should.

I've been brave enough to open up my left Joy-Con and fix the disconnection-issue, but not enough courage for an undertaking such as this... Although I did successfully replace the entire shell and all buttons of my old DS Lite years ago and gave it a neat blueish transparent look. ^^

@Ash_Anne
Ah.... Thank you so much for the link.

@JimmySpades Yeah that’s a good point, but I don’t think that’s the only reason. Nintendo’s competition have pretty much always had the right sticks below the face buttons on their pads, and it’s supposedly become the desired layout for most gamers. I’ve seen a fair amount of complaining about the Wii U’s stick position, and I don’t understand it.

Not only are the buttons on the left joycon more than adequate for playing 2d platformers and the like, they're superior to the D pad on the pro controller. Fact. People complain entirely too much over stupid things.

@daveh30 Adding "fact" after making a completing subjective statement doesn't help your case. I'll say that there are some things I much prefer buttons for (Puyo Puyo, especially) and others that a D Pad would be much preferred.

I'd love a Joy-Con with a D-Pad, but I don't think this is the way to do it. First, it's a small D-Pad, similar to the 3DS, which is adequate but by no means great. Second, my biggest gripe with playing 2D games with the Joycon buttons isn't that the buttons themselves are somehow drastically inferior to a D-Pad (Which, again, in my opinion it depends on the game) but rather the placement of the buttons. If I know I'm about to spend a couple hours playing retro games, 2D platformers, fighting games, etc... I want the stick & direction buttons placement swapped. If they were swapped, and had a D-Pad, even better.

@GC-161 My backlog is pretty bad across many platforms. So far, the Switch only has Odyessey as a must have EXCLUSIVE. If I end up skipping this generation, I won't be that sad.

That being said, there will be a revision, Nintendo revises their handhelds, and that is what this system is being treated as.

@daveh30

You are ignorant. That's a Fact!

Not your silly subjective claim about the joy-cons buttons are better than the d-pad on the controller. Not for all games and all people.

Some people have other preferences than you. Stop telling others how they should play their games.

man this dpad thing is getting annoying. of course people have their tastes but the joycon was meant to be functional vertically and horizontally, and having buttons close together instead of a dpad has not hampered my platforming game experience at all whatsoever. I kind of like the clicky response as I play games like shovel knight

@AirElephant I've used a lot of D-Pads over the years and the only ones that are any good are: NES, NES Dogbone, SNES, N64, Wii, Wii U, GB, GBC, GBA, GEN, and Saturn.

Awesome!
I already got the DIY dock from Myriann and it was a piece of cake, the build quality is also quite decent.
Ordering/importing from stores like aliexpress, gearbest and banggood is also pretty straightforward (people on mydealz do it all the time).
Although it wouldn't surprise me if that article shows up on Amazon UK and DE soon as well, it was the same for the other Myriann stuff.

@Anti-Matter You can find them on Amazon and Ebay, they're available on both for quite some time now.

@Broosh That was the original intent, yes. And that's still the functionality you get out of the box. But isn't giving people more options always a good thing? Even if it were special order, I'd love to see a proper D-Pad (Or even buttons) that swapped positions with the joystick, or a gamecube button style layout. The fact that Joycons are so easy to pop on and off opens the door for a bunch of awesome custom controllers and layouts. I think that's a great thing.

@NTELLIGENTMAN I'd also say the Switch pro controller has a great D-Pad with one caveat - both of mine seem to have sensitive up buttons. Not a problem for 99% of my games, but when playing Puyo Puyo Tetris, nothing is more infuriating than the accidental quick drop. Oddly enough, this same problem existed on the Wii U pro controller as well. Otherwise, I think it feels solid. One of these days I'll get around to ripping my controllers apart to see if I can "fix" them.

@Riff-the-Don Based on what you are describing, it sounds like it's not a problem with the joystick. If you are tilting it and then letting go but the controller takes a second to stop registering the tilt input, your controller is probably disconnecting momentarily. It could be the very common (at launch) joycon disconnection issue.

I got Breath of the Wild and a Switch day one and had this disconnection issue. Sometimes I would be running and let go of the stick and Link would continue running for a second. Or I would be scrolling around the map and let go of the stick but the camera would continue to pan. The controller reconnects before you can even check to see if it disconnected in the first place. Nintendo will repair the issue if you contact them

@XCWarrior Whenever people say that they'll just wait for a revision of the Switch, they often fail to put that theory through some common sense scrutiny.

Number one - The Switch didn't start failing out of the gate such as the 3DS did. So with the Switch, there won't be people at Nintendo's R&D working overtime to come up with ideas for a revision to boost said console's sales. Why? Because it doesn't need one.

Switch is selling at almost Wii levels and Ninty can barely keep them on store's shelves.

Number DOS: In order for Nintendo to do a revision, they would need to retool their factories. Which is EXPENSIVE TO DO. Never mind that before even doing that, they would need to invest cash into researching potential 'side-effects' of the revision. What would be the failure rates? (They would need to drop cash for some testing) will it be compatible with peripherals already on the market? Will the hardware changes affect game development? If the revision is significantly more powerful or adds or eliminates a feature, that will affect how games are being developed for Switch right now - Nintendo probably doesn't want to affect devs like that. Especially during the console's early lifecycle.

But again, WHY WOULD NINTENDO DO A REVISION FOR A CONSOLE THAT IS SELLING LIKE CRAZY?

So you keep waiting for that revision, lil' dewd. But I'm telling you, there won't be a repeat of the 3DS with the Switch. If anything, it is clearly becoming more similar to what happened with the Wii.

And when the Wii got a revision... LOL .... when the Wii got a revision.... LOLOL.. I say, I say, when the Wii got a revision 5 years after it launched, THE REVISION TOOK AWAY FEATURES.

Oh, you forgot about that? Well let me remind you... Wii revisions didn't made the console stronger or better. It made it weaker and less functional. It no longer played Gamecube games. It no longer had ports for Gamecube controllers.

I won't even mention the garbage that was the Wii Mini...

So yeah, keep waiting for a Switch revision and hope Nintendo forgets said console is selling great.

@NTELLIGENTMAN

You need to try 8Bitdo's stuff. They really do make terrific bluetooth controllers. The buttons are nearly indistinguishable from Nintendo's.

No. No I am not. 😐

I like this solution,

I have a problem where I cannot play 3D games with D-Pads, or 2D games with analog sticks. So this will be helpful.

@GC-161 I'm going to say again. Backlog = Very bad, I have tons of games to play.

I don't care if the revision isn't for 3 more years. I'll get it then, and I'll still have games in my collection that are unbeaten. It's about 700 games total, about 200 not finished. I'll survive.

@XCWarrior With that backlog, you're going to be waiting for a revision of the PS6, Xbox Threepio and the New Nintendo Switch XL (Switch's 3rd revision).

I have a backlog, but yours sounds more like a "I can't help buying all these games despite having no time to play 'em beyond the screen title".

No, thank you. It's not worth the effort. A proper D-pad could be nice but it is not that big of a deal, the current D buttons work surprisingly well, to the point that a dedicated D-pad is not necessary at all.

It ain't that serious for me. That's why I got a pro controller for when it is that serious. I've gotten quite used to the divided dpad at this point when I do choose to use it.

I’ve never even used the joycons yet, all docked and Pro-controller for me so far.

@GC-161 Can't argue with that. I'm too good at finding games on clearance, and then PC Humble Bundles... I'd say about 33% of the unfinished games are PC, but there are some good Nintendo 1st and 3rd party games I need to get to.

I'm OK missing out/waiting on some Switch titles. It will be revised, better controls and better battery life is coming eventually.