Nintendo Announces Official Switch Joy-Con Charging Stand

Great for the NES controllers actually. Perfect for the NES championships game to keep two NES controllers charging and ready to go

This is a good product.

Too bad they announce it 7 years too late.

Either way, my current 3rd party cradle charges four at once, so I will not need this.

I already have one of these by power a, I haven't ever used it, but I was considering doing that for the new warioware, because you need two charged sets of joycons for Max enjoyment, and the one I have charges two, so it's sitting under my TV right now.

Er. So it's this charge dock already which was already in the Nintendo store for years but for only two joy cons. Am I missing something? https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/joy-con-charging-dock/

Cool! Not sure why it wasn’t a thing around Switch’s launch, but better late than never!

@Coalescence I don't get it either. That thing has been around if not since launch, then not long after.

i got an unoffical one. little late nintendo? still really cool looking ngl

What a bizarre development.

I already have an officially licensed one that does four at a time, so I see absolutely no point to this.

@SillyG
Maybe you could use this as a controller though. While they're charging? Or almost like a second grip if you take the bulky part off. That would make it different than the four charger one.

@speedracer216 : I suppose, but there is already a charging Joy-Con grip for that purpose. I guess this works as a cheaper all-in-one solution, but Joy-Con have relatively long battery life as it is, so, being short of usable Joy-Con at any given moment is usually not an issue.

Why the cable connector is on the upper part of the charger? it looks ugly.

Unless the switch successor also has detachable controllers that are compatible with this - what's the point ?

ROFL seriously Nintendo?!? Releasing this 7. 5 years after the Switch came out, and in Japan only? This would have been smart years ago, not at the END of the Switch's life cycle.

I love Nintendo, I really so, but they tend to do a lot of stupid things that make no sense.

Cool if you keep multiple joycon around for use i guess? Would've preferred if they kept the grips just for the sake of comfort if you wanna play em while its charging, this feels niche enough as is

An official charging stand for Joy Con? That settles it, I might have to finally get a Switch!

@JHDK they have already done several...

This is either 7 years too late,
or Nintendo's never releasing another console.

Such a weird company sometimes.

@Savage_Joe - I had the same thought when I saw this, that the next console will be compatible with Switch 1 joycons and chargers.

i have the amazon basics one so idk why id need this im guessing its like that scene in home alone where the mom yells "KEVIN" on the plane but instead of them being a few hours too late its 7 years

I though we already have this at launch, when playing docked I play with pro controller so I never think about charging the joycon. I hope nintendo release pro joycon for switch 2, with dpad and full big analogue joystick (like pro controller).

I just buy new ones when the battery dies.This will save me a lot of money!

I get that this is the first Official product of this kind, but wow this is seriously late to the party. It feels like a throw away product just to try to get some added revenue for the holiday since system and game sales are likely to be weak. Actually, I wonder if this might have been planned the whole time. Maybe there was a mortarium on such 1st party accessories to support 3rd party ones? That's like the only think that comes to mind why introduce this now at the end of the life span of the system. Such an odd decision. I wonder if maybe it's actually being made by someone like Power A just under Nintendo's brand. That would actually make the most sense.

Wow, what even is this? I mean now of all times? I really don't see much of a point.

Been after something like this for the NES NSO controllers for a while, especially as the PowerA equivalents I'd been looking at were out of stock. Hope this comes to the UK.

A little late, don't ya think? I know that they make a Joy-Con grip that allows you to charge the controllers that way, but this should have been a feature Day 1. How many people are seriously going to buy this with the successor to the Switch right around the corner?

Didn't the Switch have a chargeable JoyCon grip accessory you could get at launch? Isn't this more or less the same thing?

Very late on in the Switch 1's life. Hmmm....

Mmm this means switch 2 can use it also 😋

Really could have done with these when the switch released. Like when the PS5 released Sony released the sweet of products to go with it like the official charging dock.

Unless Switch 2 can use these then no thanks Nintendo a bit late in the day like the release of the switch 2 console in my opinion.

@Not_Soos Yes, it had a dog-head controller that had a USB-C port on it. They discontinued it shortly after launch, though.

@Liam_Doolan @Coalescence Also it looks like you might be able to charge while playing with the new one.

The fact that they’ve bothered to release this so late in Switch’s life might indicate JoyCons will be hanging around for a while ie they will be compatible with the super ultra switch and we will need an official way to charge them if they can’t attach to the super ultra switch.

I'm surprised it's took this long to get something so basic on the market.

@Coalescence Yeah that's the one I was talking about. I've had it since 2018, and haven't used it yet, but just got it out after move for WarioWare.

@JHDK This is what was always keeping me from buying one

Given the timing, does this hint at joy con's sticking around with the new hardware, maybe?

Never once had an issue with my joy con controllers' battery running out. The battery would last all day and charge overnight.

But good for people with multiple pairs.

@Uncle_Franklin Or it's compatible with the Switch successor and they just release it early.

This suggests to me that they still see Switch being around for the long haul. Rightly so.

It's a secret accessory for the Switch 2. If you don't have it, your Switch 2 will never turn on and Raven Beak will come to assassinate you.

Since the rumour is that the Switch 2 will be compatible with the Joycons, my assumption is that this means they're compatible wirelessly but don't slide on to the side of the device. So this is Nintendo giving us a place to store them while they're connected to the Switch 2? Otherwise you'd put them back onto the sides of your Switch to store them when you're done with them, thereby disconnecting them from the Switch 2. Like... maybe.

It's just the charging handle with a bit of plastic stuck on the back, what a waste of time.
At least put is so the cable comes out the back. Who signed this off?

...I mean are we going to just pretend that the superior charging power grip didn't exist 7 years ago? I use it to this day to charge my joycons while playing.

Why all the negative comments? Releasing a new official accessory means they intend to support the joy-cons for several more years. That is good news. The Switch is not dead.

Did somebody at Nintendo R&D just wake up from a coma?

I will probably get one of these. I always prefer official chargers to 3rd party.

Edit: Tough crowd.

https://store.nintendo.co.uk/en/nintendo-switch-joy-con-charging-grip-000000000002510566

We’ve already had this for years, but with the added functionality of grips.

If this new device charged multiple sets of Joy-Cons then I might be tempted, but I can’t see what this does that a charging grip doesn’t!

EDIT: @Not_Soos Yes!

ANOTHER EDIT: Oooooh! You can’t stick the Famicon controllers in the charging grips! I imagine that’s why this is being released now, and currently only in Japan*.

The Japanese physical edition of the Famicon World Championships comes bundled with controllers that won’t fit the standard grips. This provides a charging option other than directly connecting them to the device itself. Standard Joy-Cons have had better charging alternatives for ages (which is why I don’t think this comes ‘late’) so it must be the expected uptick in Famicontrollers that has caused this rather niche product to be released.

YET ANOTHER EDIT: *This is now also shown to be false.

I’d have snapped this up in 2017, but not now.

Something people here haven't considered. The current rumours suggest, and the probability is fairly high, that all Switch controllers will be compatible with the Switch 2 but only wirelessly. The current JoyCon won't fit in the Switch 2 "rails" or whatever its equivalent is

So the Switch 2 is out and you pick one up. You then pick up a NES themed JoyCon via NSO but.... how do you charge them? On the JoyCon rai.... oh, you have a Switch 2. You can't. And that's probably why this product exists

So, am I right in thinking, this isn't compatible with the 3DS Circle Pad Pro??? Then it's not for me I'm afraid.

What a good idea !
Super Mario Jamboree is going to be released and lot of users now probably have a few sets of joycon and Nintendo make the decision to released an accessory to charge up only one couple of joycon at a time !!?? So before playing Mario Party, be sure to prepare all of your Joycons to not have to pause the game and wait an hour or more for some couples of joycon to charge one after the other !!

This isn't the new hardware we're wanting to see, Nintendo!

@NintendoLife you let me down by saying you'd let us know if you hear anything about a local release i just shared your article only to immediately discover it was shared by Nintendo UK on X at 9am ! 🤬

@jco83 I just came here to say the same thing!

The release of this suggests to me that JoyCons will still be relevant for "Switch 2".

@mlfowler X comment: "thoughts: this accessory is being pushed so late as the next system will require this to charge old joycons as the new system wont be compatible with this mechanism. why not release it now and they can probably make more money when they rerelease it for the next system"

Strange this didn't release in 2017-Feel like these would have been extremely useful to have these last seven years.

@__jamiie lmao it's okay I've time traveled before too. It's very hard to believe but we're in the year 2024 and the circle pad pro has not really stuck around. Check back in like four years when it's more nostalgic and I'm certain every household will have a couple wedged in their couches.

This all but confirms that Nintendo will still support the Switch and its Joy-Cons for a good while longer. You know, the massive install base that won't just be erased when Switch 2 launches. And if this works for the new system as well, all the better!

@FishyS Why didn't you just get a 3rd party charger? Lol

Have they remade unsold charging grips which were available day one?

Took them like what 7 years to finally make this happened. Even so it's still feels inferior to most of the third party ones which are cheaper and could charge at least two pairs of Joycons at a time rather than just one pair. Seem like they saw the dollar signs and finally say why didn't we do that before. Too late now but good for those who had just recently got introduced to the Switch I suppose.

Loving the more speculative comments. I share the theory that this is likely a strategic move for an upcoming product.

I want nothing to do with Joy Cons in the next gen, crappy piece of hardware they are.
This news just makes me afraid that they could somehow be recycled/used on the next console.
Only thing they need to do is make these things durable/implement hall effect. But they are too cheap to do it.

As a minimalist charging grip, I like it. As a charging stand the wire coming out of the top is horrible. also, I’m sure the base doesn’t weigh enough to keep it in place. Fail.

Might have to consider this.

I have tried several joy con charging stands (including the officially licensed one from PowerA) but they've all suffered from the same issue: once the joy cons reach a full charge, the joy cons start to discharge over the next few days all the way to a dead battery, but the charger doesn't detect this nor does it try to charge them again unless they're removed from the charger and put back in. Meaning if I don't use them immediately, it's like they were never charged in the first place.

This is an issue I've only ever experienced with joy con chargers, all my other experiences with other controllers/chargers is they keep them at a full charge.

I wonder if this one will finally address that.

Lots of people saying this is 7 years too late and not thinking about how it's 1 year early!

@Shepdawg1 yeah I got the same kind so I’ll pass on this

Well jeez, I always kinda wanted one of these (but didn't really NEED it), and after looking at the pictures I was like "hay you could use it as a controller!" Then I was like, "wait... why didn't they just put a charging port in the contoller-attachment-thing that came with the system in the first place??? Still, it might be nice to have a 1st party charging option I guess.

@CapitalQ Yeah, I was wondering that, too... if we can use current Joy Cons with the next Switch then releasing this now would make a lot of sense. Sort of.

Switch Lite XL with oled screen confirmed ( otherwise how can u charge joycons with Lite ? )

@kurtasbestos One of the launch-day official Switch accessories was the Joy-Con Charging Grip. It's still around $30 and lets you play while charging 2 Joy-Cons.

This would be nice... if I didn't already have a plugin that charges 4 JoyCon and 2 Pro Controllers at a time lol!

@Not_Soos @WhensDinner It's still readily available on the UK online store.

It's called the Joy-Con Charging Grip and this just looks like that without the handles on it?

I could see me using this, if only to ensure I have a pair ready to go if they ones on the system decide to stop working again. They've been desyncing on me and it's driving me crazy. I'd be using my lite full-time if the battery life wasn't so terrible.

I would like some kind of stand that melts my joycon down to scrap and then mails it back to Nintendo, so they can use it to manufacture good controllers next time.

Oh, so they FINALLY created the thing that 3rd parties have been selling for years...does this imply that the joy-con design won't change, or at least the rails/charging design won't change on the Switch 2 and this accessory will carry over? Otherwise, why put this out so late in the cycle??

Seems obvious why this is coming now and not years ago. The Switch 2 won't have the ability to attach Joy-Con, but they will be compatible to use wirelessly. So you'll need a way to charge your old controllers. The new console will most likely have magnetic attaching versions, as rumoured. This this does heavily imply the new hardware will have backwards compatibility with Switch games. Why would would they want people to keep their old controllers around?

Nintendo exec in 2017: "Okay everyone, we have the console, the joy cons, and a handful of games all ready to go. Oh and we're gonna chuck in this joy con charger as the final thing."

Nintendo minion: "Right, wait til the end of the console's lifespan and release the joy con charger as the final thing, got it!"

Charge only 2 joycons, and I bet it will cost 40$ USD

Wow! Where was this like 5 years ago? Finally I'll be able to charge the NES Switch Online controllers w/o having to connect them to the console...

@FishyS There are like 5000 different external joy con charging docks for less that this device costs. Most plug into the USB port on the switch dock and charge up to 4 joycons at a time.

Here is a link to an amazon search for this type of device:

https://www.amazon.com/joycon-charging-dock/s?k=joycon+charging+dock

I have had the Hori version for about 5 years and it works great!

A little too late and looks super boring. Shape it like a Triforce or something or it would have been nice to have some interchangeable faceplates with Nintendo characters and way to charge a pro controller too.

@poudigne $21US it literally says that in the second paragraph of this article:

"This new accessory will be arriving in Japan on 17th October 2024 for 3,300 Yen (around $21 USD)..."

@Andee You forgot something...

Nintendo Exec: "Brilliant! We can literally sell hundreds by doing it that way."

@Unit_DTH And you really think it will be 21$ USD?

A switch OLED in japan is 37,980 yen (which is around 280$).
A switch OLED In US is 349.99 USD.

I stand by what I said.

It should have been released years ago, but now is good too. They'll be selling Switches for a very long time. The thing is selling great at the moment and they haven't even had a price cut. They'll probably release another Switch model (a mini) too to get rid of spare parts. Just because the new system is around the corner doesn't mean people won't also buy Switches or Switch games.

Looks like NoA recently announced it too. Strange it took Nintendo this long to put out a product like this. I feel like there's already dozens of third-party accessories that already do exactly this, or even charge more than just two Joy-Con.

I mostly use Pro Controllers anyway so I'll likely skip on this product.

I bought a standalone joycon charger grip from aliexpress for $3 so I could easily use them with my laptop for emulation. Works perfectly so no need to get this.

Ugh already sold out on amazon japan.

They should've announced this years ago!

@Coalescence also, the NES controllers don't fit well into it either. Wish they would have made something like this a while ago, but better late never.

Official product? $90 then?

Damn I was looking for exactly this for ages to dock my mobapad joycons and finally bought a third party solution that's okay but not great. If only I had known.

Either way I'll probably get those when they're available. That also explains why charging grips were pretty much impossible to find this last couple months.

Also better late than never I guess. Considering this won't be used for switch 2, according to rumors at least, it's surprising that they even bother this late in the console cycle.

Then again it is a good thing anyway. Considering all those people who were looking to detach the middle piece of their grip or charging grip, this product here is pretty obviously what they should have released from the get go.

@poudigne I doubt it will be less than $24US. But why waste your money or time on this and not just go and get one that can charge up to four(4) Joycons and that works just as well if not better?

@Unit_DTH Hoo that I agree... I have mine that charged 2 pair that I paid 12$ CAD 2 years ago...

the charging cable coming out of the top makes this thing DOA for me. I would LOVE to have that NES controller + dock setup 🤤 but not with that cord situation

Up next, Internet Browser. Can anybody hazard a guess why it took so long for business known for their planning and careful releases to be so late?

@-wc- : I do actually understand cable coming out of top.. especially if you're playing while charging. No different to xbox controller then? (I dont own a ps5 controller to see how they charge). But I'd have thought a cable coming out of bottom while playing would be weird... Dreamcast did that, and it was my least favorite part of the system (which I loved back then)

My biggest problem is I know this will come with a nintendo tax, and cost WAAAY more than they to.

I’m so confused by these… they legit sold official 1st party charging grips early in the switch’s life that you can stand up, charge, and have grips so you can use them to play. These just seem like the same thing minus the grips to use them while you play. I would’ve at least expected the charging thingy to be on the bottom so the cord can be just hidden tucked in nearly behind a gaming setup

Isn't there a possibility that they are releasing this now because the follow-up to the Switch might not be able to charge joycon, but might be able to use them?

Just a thought.

curious move, why release new hardware peripherals for a system that is singing it's last refrain? Well I guess this is nice for people who mainly play in docked mode and don have the pro controller.

Other than that, it's probably a nice way for joycon collectors to showcase their collection of joycons (even if it's a bit pricey)

@Clammy

ive heard people complain about the DC cord situation for going on 25 years now (💀) and I just dont get it! theres a little groove on the back of the controller that accepts the cord, and orients it forward. with the cord in the groove, it's like any other controller. 👍

OTOH i have my own sensitivities when it comes to gaming and especially controllers (nobody understands why i hate the 360 controller so much lol) so in some level I get it. ✌️

as far as this dock goes, i suppose if someone is dedicated to always using the same pair of joycon even while docked, even while charging... well OK, but a wired controller is really a better solution for this odd (and rare, for me) situation. 👍 I've got a powerA wired "pro con" that I bought when I first got my switch for like 20 bucks, and it's been perfect for this.

this dock should have its own power cord built into the stand, and if anything, a usb port on top like there is now for occasional use in play "while charging." trying to act like the cord sticking out the top while docked is totally normal is pretty wack, imo. 😆

TRANSLATION: we are stuck with these F****** joycons forever.

@SnackBox

"Can anybody hazard a guess why it took so long for business known for their planning and careful releases to be so late?"

IMO they haven't been that company for almost a decade. 😔

@-wc- : yeah, I know. I had one, sigh

@Clammy

past tense?? you gotta get one again! 😄 best console ever imo.

(full disclose my OG DC is not currently in working order 🎻)

seriously though the way to play dreamcast is with an arcade stick, driving wheel, flight stick, light gun, fishing controller... i used my agetec DC stick for every game i possibly good and just loved it 😊 i miss that thing.

Yeah, i sold it along with my copy of samba de amigo - which netted me a tidy sum

@epicgamner That's funny as I literally just watched that a couple days ago lol

@Savage_Joe yes excactly what i thought. This is in preparation of a backwards compatible switch 2

@KingBowser that movie is a classic its such a power move to watch christmas movies in july

@CapitalQ WHaaaaAaAAAAaa how did I not know about this until just now?!?!? I swear I've never heard of it before, but sure enough an inter-netto-search showed me I'm dumb. Thanks for the info, though!