So if you are like me and have had a Switch since day one there has been one thing that you’ve grown to miss, an official D-Pad on a Joy-Con. With the amount of indie games that are side scrolling tributes to the retro era and the releases of the NES and SNES apps on the Switch, a true D-Pad that you can use in portable mode is greatly missed.
Whats sparking this grumble is the release of the Nintendo Switch Lite, the latest console just came out and its directed solely at the portable gaming market, meaning this console has a longer battery life, it is a little smaller and lighter, and most importantly a D-PAD!!!!!
A D-Pad and Rad colors!?!!?!? C’mon!!!!
There are no Joy-Cons to disconnect from this unit, it is one solid piece. I mean I understand why they haven’t released an official Joy-Con with a D-pad and that is for the simple reason it would make using that Joy-Con in detached mode near obsolete, the D-Pad would replace the buttons and make it very difficult to play anything using the Joy-Con in its mini controller configuration. But honestly who cares? Can anyone here really tell me they enjoy using those tiny controllers for anything more then a novelty? I didn’t think so. So Nintendo please hear our pleas and give us what we want, A left Joy-Con with a D-Pad!!!
This is a real thing… not doctored at all
But fear not gamers, there are solutions to get us through until Nintendo folds to our pressure, and I am going to share some of them with you.
First Solution – the HORI Real Arcade for Nintendo Switch
This is a very popular solution because it is by far the easiest, but with easy doesn’t always come peasy. It comes in 3 flavors Pokemon, Zelda, and Mario and is going to set you back approximately $32.99 CDN.
Pros
- Just slide it on and use
- Has a “squishy” style D-Pad similar to the NES and SNES controllers
Cons
- Can only be used attached to the Switch
- None of the guts of a Joy-Con, no Bluetooth, Battery, or Vibration
- Many reports that the shoulder buttons aren’t as responsive as a Joy-Cons
For our next option we have a replacement Joy-Con case.
These look great, but are a lot more work and require a little bit of technical know how to replace your current Joy-Con case. The color choices are many, there is clear grey, ice blue and white just to name a few and the price isn’t bad at around $16.99 CDN
Pros
- D-Pad is “clicky” style, really just a cross that pushes the buttons on an existing Joy-Con
- Retains all the abilities of a regular Joy-Con Bluetooth, Battery, and Vibration
Cons
- Requires a little techy know how and the proper tools to take apart your Joy-Con
- Will most definitely void any warranties
- D-Pad is “clicky” style (this is a personal con)
So Gamers lets unite and tell Nintendo what we really want!!!! Official Joy-Con’s with D-Pads!!!! Wait I’ve got a great idea lets start a Facebook Group to meet on the front steps of Nintendo of America’s Redmond, WA office and we will storm the building because they can’t stop us all….. wait this seems familiar. Shrug. People lets keep talking about this because they can’t ignore this forever.
But in the mean time…. Get off my Lawn!!!!!!!!
The Grumpy Old Gamers 
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