New And Improved Nitro Deck+ Announced For Switch, Pre-Orders Live

Dang it. I thought that was the switch 2 in the thumbnail.😅

I'll get one because I love the first iteration and have been eyeing another one anyway. The first Nitro Deck already has hull effect sticks. I'm not sure about that "sidekick" button. Seems like it is placed a little precariously to the right stick and definitely not something I will ever use (same as the back buttons...just why?).

I’m sorry…right thumb stick ABOVE the face buttons? Who thought that was a good idea? That sounds so uncomfortable for the right thumb.

Finally a Wii U config controller. The fact that it doubles as a dock is a sweet bonus. I've found the Wii U style to be the most comfortable for 3D games.

Much better than the original design, that eject button will be so much helpful. Definitely getting one this time.

Now that's tempting, looks really good AND a portable dock!

@Serpenterror There is an eject button on the original. And turbo mode. And Hall effect sticks. This press release is weird.

@TrueBlueYoshi Almost had me for a second, but it looked too much like an OG Switch to the point where I immediately questioned it until my brain saw the title.

Yup, this isn't the hardware announcement we're waiting for.

@Shepdawg1 Wii U gamepad/Pro controller had the right stick above the buttons and both felt great. That pro controller is one of my favorite controllers ever made

To be fair I'd never even heard of the first version till just now.

@larryisaman The difference here is ergonomics. The Wii U GamePad and Pro Controller were designed so that your thumb never needed to bend when jumping between stick and buttons, with the buttons being diagonally off-center from the stick. With this Nitro Deck, however, it looks like the buttons are directly below the right stick. What this means is that, in order to use the buttons (which are going to be used more frequently than the right stick in most games on Switch), you’ll need to keep your thumb bent to hit them (or pull your palm away from the shell to keep your thumb straight, which then tweaks your wrist). You can even see this in action in one of the promotional photos on their website.

For a comparison, imagine you’re playing handheld on your Switch with the standard JoyCon. Do you enjoy using the D-Pad buttons on the left JoyCon for extended periods of time, or do you find your thumb cramping up or getting stiff? If so, I imagine this shell will do the same thing, but to your right thumb.

Now granted, this thing hasn’t been released yet, so only time will tell. But, based on what I’m seeing, it appears that they’re simply repeating the same design issue that Nintendolife themselves criticized with their first version of this product, only with the much more important face buttons.

This is why I don’t think this product will be very comfortable and why I’m critical of the stick’s placement.

Edit: I mistakenly wrote that you could see the bent right thumb in action in the trailer. I intended to say you could see it in a promo photo on their website for this product.

I am a bit perplexed. How do you use the side buttons when your thumb is on the thumb stick? Do you “click” it with the inside of your hand? Or I guess, the side buttons cannot be used at the same time as the thumb sticks cause your need to use your thumb for both.

@Shepdawg1 it looks fine to me , since nintendo switch itself joycon is like that

This thing looks kinda great, it keeps the Switch somewhat "compact" design compared to a huge beast like the Steam Deck, while grip comfort seems to be superior compared to stock joy cons.

@graviton

It already have underside-buttons. Id say these two extra could come useful in certain games with too complex control schemes for stock joy-con controller button-layout. Basically, so that you got dedicated buttons for more game functions instead of one button being used for several functions in games like Company of Heroes collection etc.

They need to flog this before a switch 2 announcement.

Does look sexy though.

@SearchingS The difference there is that it’s the right stick that’s on bottom of the right JoyCon. The games that benefit the most from having the right stick in the more ergonomic position are shooters. The Switch isn’t exactly known for shooters, meaning the right stick, in most games, is hardly going to be used outside of brief camera control. The stick placement on the right JoyCon isn’t ideal, but with how little the stick is usually used in most Switch games, it being in that spot isn’t the biggest hassle. Not to mention, it was designed that way so that the stick and buttons would line up when the JoyCon is used on its side.

On this Nitro Deck, it can never be used like a sideways JoyCon, so it makes no sense to keep that same form factor. And since the right stick is not going to be as widely used on Switch as it would on other consoles, why waste the more ergonomic position on the stick rather than the face buttons?

@Shepdawg1 This is a strange assessment. I constantly use the right stick. I mean, yeah, I play a lot of Quake...but also third person games.
...huh?

My heart dropped and I legit thought this was a switch two announcement lol! Not dropped in a bad way in a really, really surprised way.

@Shepdawg1 if put to wide, then the size will looks like a Steamdeck type Widesize , also u mention Nintendo Games less using on right stick so is a point they keep to same design like joycon , they also make a extra L3 R3 button on the back.
I spend alot time on Resident series , Doom ,crysis, GTA ,WWZ
This type design looks can improving my gameplay

@TrueBlueYoshi base Switch 2 with a D-Pad? Split joycon multiplayer has left the chat.

I'm not spending £70 on an accessory when I can just buy a new pair of Joy-Con for circa £40 - IF the issue even arises.

Nothing is going to be more ergonomic than the original hardware, and I get £30 back in my pocket.

@Shepdawg1
The Wii U Pro has symmetrical sticks, one above the dpad and one above the buttons and it's one my favorite controller ever. Way above the switch Pro or the dual sense.

The symmetrical sticks is actually something I really hoped was going to be a way for Nintendo to differentiate themselves when it comes to controllers after the wii U as it was a real improvement imo. Ninty would have had upper symmetrical, Sony lower symmetrical and Xbox asymmetrical. Unfortunately they opted for xbox stick placement and that's a shame as the placement on the Wii U Pro felt perfect for both 2d AND 3d games. And that's something no other controller has achieved even though the dual sense is a close second. In general the dual sense is a great controller which is really Sony getting their act together considering where they come from.

The switch Pro is an okay controller but it falls short of Nintendo standards especially with the dpad that is just not good. I mean even the 64 had an excellent dpad and you almost never used it. Nope, this gen playstation and ninty both win but none of them is really definitive and xbox comes second but is still good. I'd say they're all good controllers, very standard, none of them is great and the controller should not really factor in reviewing systems against one another this gen.

Anyway, I talk way too much about controllers in my life I should probably stop at some point.

I'm actually interested in this one, I like to play my switch on portable mode but the console is too big and back of the console is flat making it slippery.

@nocdaes right? Whose had to buy new joycons???? Pfft. What a silly idea that is.

@mlt The symmetrical sticks isn’t one of my issues with this product. It’s that the face buttons on the right side of the deck are directly beneath the right stick as opposed to being off-center. If you look at the Switch Pro Controller, Xbox Controller, Dualsense, and even the Wii U Pro Controller and GamePad, you’ll notice that the face buttons and DPads on all of them aren’t centered directly over/under their side’s respective stick. The reason for this is ergonomics. If the sticks/buttons were directly above/beneath, it leads to either you having to cock the palm of your hand off the controller to keep your thumb straight or keeping your thumb sharply bent at all times when using them. It’s not ergonomically sound. In fact, if you read Nintendolife’s own review of the first version of Nitro Deck, they note pretty strongly that the right thumbstick’s placement directly under the face buttons was wildly uncomfortable to use on games that require heavy use of the right stick (mainly shooters); so much so that they didn’t recommend it to people who played games that made heavy use of the right stick. Sure, it mimics the JoyCon, but the JoyCon were also designed to be played sideways, hence why the sacrifice to ergonomics was made. Without needing to be played sideways, it makes no sense to me why the Nitro Deck would mimic the Joycon so closely when all it does is be needlessly poorly designed.

Of course, the first version of the Nitro Deck gets away with that design flaw because of the Switch itself. The Switch’s library is prolific, but not so much in terms of games that require heavy use of the right stick (mainly shooters). Hence, it makes sense why the face buttons take the more comfortable spot on the right JoyCon and Nitro Deck: because they’ll be used more than the right stick. With this revised Nitro Deck, however, they made the horrible mistake (imo) of swapping the positions of the right stick and face buttons while keeping the face buttons directly beneath the right stick. That sounds like a nightmare. To show this, ask yourself: do you enjoy using the DPad buttons on the left Joycon for extended periods of time or does it get uncomfortable? In my experience at least, keeping my thumb bent to be in the optimal spot for those buttons is not comfortable. My thumb will cramp up and feel stiff after a while. Now imagine that discomfort on your right thumb as it strains to hit the face buttons. Sounds miserable, yeah? Well, my guess is that’s going to be what happens to people who buy this product.

Anyways, I’m with you on the game controllers talk. I need to stop. I blame Scott the Woz for doing this to me. Heck, I cut some text from this comment because it was too long.

I just think this bulky Nitro-Deck idea is a flawed design in general – and a joke compared to a new option out there – I have a Mobapad M6 HD set of grip Joy-con alternatives.

Best purchase for my Switch OLED I've made (outside of games). They have Hall Sticks, Giro, NFC, HD Rumble, Marcos, are dockable, they sleep from wake, have wireless use, mechanical buttons etc... Basically everything the official controllers have but with much, much better buttons, sticks and ergonomics.

It makes it feel like a new generation device (Like a high-end AyaNeo or something). And they are the only third-party Joy-con replacements that offer true HD Rumble.

Honestly @Liam_Doolan NintendoLife should do a feature on the Mobapad M6 HDs. And I'm just a player btw – I just think these are what we needed 7 years ago and people need to know very high-end 'joy-con' exist now.

@brunojenso
I also heard about hyperion nixy I think it's called? I'd be interested in Nintendo Life pitting one against the other.

I've had a look at pictures of the mobapad and well, how do you reasonably end up opting for this kind of dpad? That's highly suspicious and chances are I'd still take the separated buttons dpad of the og joycons over this. What are your thoughts?

@mlt The NYXI Hyperion (Pro version) looks good – probably the second best option out there, and has RGB lighting if that's your disco, and comes with a charging 'bridge' that I wish came with the Mobapad – but it also has no HD Rumble or NFC. If it wasn't for HD Rumble and the xbox-like transparent glossy face-buttons (which I've never liked) I'd be tempted by the Hyperion Pro version. I like that everthing is matte on the Modapad.

Regarding the D-pad it is interchangeable and comes with an excellent 'normal' d-pad - as well as a xbox-elite style disc thingy. That's probably what you saw. For some games it's actually quite good as an option – but the standard D-pad stays in mine full-time, and is very good. They did themselves a marketing disservice showing that disc thing in photos. Maybe try to find photos with the normal d-pad in place.

The only caution would be if you really don't like very clicky buttons – because the Mobapad use mechanical buttons that are similar to mouse clicks. I find them to be just fine – even though I generally prefer soft membrane style buttons (like on the Switch Lite, DS Lite and OG GBA).

@nhSnork

"base Switch 2 with a D-Pad? Split joycon multiplayer has left the chat."

don't let the door hit you in the arse 😅

the more i look at it... the more i like it!
I do think it's good!

Didn't think I'd be into this sort of thing but the Gamepad-like ergonomics has my attention. I play my Wii u regularly mostly because I just love that thing. And it's the ultimate way to play DS Castlevania.

hmmm interesting the "Turbo" feature is what I am interested in.

All I'm concerned about is whether or not this will scratch/scuff up the back of my console like the original did. If so, then no improvements make a difference if it still scuffs the Switch's backplate.

Was curious about the nitrodeck .. i primarily like to play handheld and use my pro controller for the dock or the 8bitdo sn30 pro .. for handheld i have the hori split pads , the split pad compacts and some Chinese binboks (only ones with gyro, rumble and battery) and all of them get uncomfortable playing laying down after some time .. not sure about that right thumbtick placement...having to relearn a controller for that seems like a pain .. here's hoping the next joycons or whatever are much more comfortable

@1TrueBlueYoshi
Bro same TT u TT
I got all excited and stuff too.

@brunojenso hmm they don't seem much different than the binboks..my main complaint with those is the backs of them are very rounded out and they get uncomfortable after awhile and cramp very easily if im gonna lay around and play

@ParadoxFawkes Binboks (which I've never heard of before, but just looked up) look like they are differently branded/named versions on the NYXI Hyperions - exactly the same basically.

The Mobapad HDs are quite different, including the shape of the backs) and have HD Rumble. But roughly speaking yes, they are the same kind of product.

If anyone is in the market for truly awesome Joycon replacements that don’t skimp on any features, get the Mobapad HD S6 or whatever there called. Super premium, have HD rumble, Gyro and Amiibo support. They are pricey but so worth it.

@brunojenso
Thanks man, my older pair of joycons is getting really old and dysfunctional. From what you are saying I'll probably give the mobapad a go. Now that I know of the interchangeable dpad and also I've seen the option for an octogonal shaped basis for the sticks if that makes sense, I'm just dying to try all of these out tbh.

I kind of hate this comes out after the persona 4 special edition one, I'd have gladly gotten one if they were announced around the same time.... I also still kind of hate these swappable thumb sticks on handhelds, the things fly off the joystick with minimal interaction and have you looking for them more than using them sometimes.

@Shepdawg1
In that case I completely understand your point. The buttons being right under the stick is probably not a great idea unless they really worked on how your hand is placed by default when holding this thing. My guess is that they might have done that so that the unit ends up being more portable, less wide and also so that the overall look does not differ too much from a standard switch for familiarity.

@brunojenso yea i just noticed the nyxi controller looks like a similar build to the binboks...lately I've been using the split pad compacts the most... That mobapad looks intriguing but I am probably done investing into my switch as who knows what is gonna work with the next switch thats incoming this year or next

Preorder where??? I don't see links or what other site to find this at?

That looks very nice. I've already swapped out my included oled joycons on day 1 and put them back in the box for a Hori Split Pad.

My joycons have, yet again, started to go on the fritz, so if this turns out to be good, I might have to check this out.

@Shepdawg1

i find the right stick being directly below the button cluster to be the most uncomfortable. and it's quite a rare arrangement, so can we just have this one please?

"there are dozens of us!"

ill add that a convex joystick, in 2024, is rarer than hen's teeth, as well. this combined with the U style controls has me very interested to see how this one turns out 👍👍

@NeonPizza (whoops i grabbed the wrong reply, your comment was totally fine 😅😅 -ED)

@brunojenso
someone is spamming all over reddit with glowing perceptions of this Moba controller, as well.

not that your moba spam is overly glowing. 😅

@-wc- Might be me on Reddit too – maybe I need to take a chill-pill on talking about them. I did put a review up on reddit about a couple months ago. I just really like them compared to the standard joy-con I guess.

But to balance things up @NeonPizza a few comments up clearly disliked a fair bit about them. I would probably have preferred quieter membrane buttons myself – but none of the things NeonPizza mentioned bothered me particularly. The best conclusion is we are all different people and no one product suits us all

haha! i thought maybe it was 😊 thanks for playing along, i was hoping you wouldnt take my joking around as finger wagging. ✌️

to be fair, it very much looks like with the Mobas, "they've thought of everything!" I'm genuinely glad you you've found something you like so much that you want to share! it clearly comes from a good place. 👍👍

cheers.

Reading some major issue on previous version ..This thing will drain your switch alot battery

This is cool but the first nitro deck is so good I dont really need to get a new one. Besides we got less than a year left before we all move to the switch 2 and leave the switch behind so theres no need. This is cool though if anybody does not have a nitro deck for their switch its a MUST BUY so you might as well buy this one.

For me the nitro deck fixed not just joycon drift but also the issue of my rails failing with the joycons so they kept getting disconnected (rails on the system not the joycons) also it fixed the joycons feeling super wobbily in handheld mode like there not perfectly connected to the switch

I just hope we dont need a nitro deck for switch 2. Hopefully whatever joycon type thing the switch 2 has is not as horrible as the current joycons.

@LikelySatan Yeah but the one on the original isn't an eject button, it just release the hold on the Switch tablet. You are required to take the tablet out yourself. At least with this new one it will not only release the hold but had a push mechanic that lift the tablet up a bit for easy eject of the system.

@Serpenterror that sounds like an improvement. I've just not had an issue with the eject button. Like, even a little. But that's going into accessibility things that I can't speak about.

Looks like the D-pad is still awkwardly located which was the one thing that kept me from getting the original

I appreciate this as I fell in love with NitroDeck...

But then Mobapad M6 HD joycon released and I fell out of love just as quickly as the new king of joycon took the crown and has no intention of letting go any time soon.

https://www.mobapad.com/products/mobapad-m6-hd

Literally every official joycon feature except the IR sensor on right joycon, and 2x more extra. HD rumble, NFC, gyro, 15 hr battery, independent joycon wireless with system wake, HALL Effect analogs, mechanical buttons using Omron switches, swappable d-pad with rocker d-pad, swappable faceplates with round or octagonal gates, swappable analogs, macros, turbo, rear mappable buttons, best d-pad I've EVER used, no hyperbole. 6 Zangief pile drivers back to back. Yeee-aaah come get some!!!

At $80, same price as official joycon, but way more ergonomic, twice the features and feeling equally high quality in terms of materials and production assembly... I never wanna use anything else ever again. Even bought a 2nd pair to use as a Pro Controller with a disassembled charge grip. It's THAT good.