Nintendo patent potentially adds click wheel and crank accessories to Joy-Con

As spotted by Nintendo Patents Watch (via Bluesky), Nintendo has submitted 2 new patents that might eventually add a crank and a clickable wheel to the Switch 2 Joy-Con. 

First submitted in February 2024 and made public on 7th August 2025, the crank appears to use a rotary disk tracked by the Joy-Con 2's mouse sensor to turn rotational movement into something that can be tracked on screen. Likely designed as an accessory to leverage the popularity of fishing games in Japan, it's hard not to draw comparisons with the Playdate. Especially when Nintendo's legal team is so active in protecting its own intellectual property, yet apparently has no issue ripping off other companies ideas.

While the purpose of the crank might be obvious, the click wheel accessory seems more of a mystery. If the intended purpose is to add functionality to the mouse feature of the Joy-Con, it seems counterintuitive to add it to the side of the controller that faces down on the table when used in mouse mode. Perhaps this accessory could be used as a miniature steering wheel for racing games, or integrated into some sort of minigame.

Nintendo is no stranger to weird and wacky accessories, and there is no guarantee that either of these patents will make it into actual products. Nevertheless, given Nintendo's litigious nature, it seems a little unfair to be replicating features of one of the most unique handhelds in recent memory.

David Devey - Magazine Writer - 89 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2023

Ever since being introduced to Manic Miner on the ZX spectrum I have been an avid gamer and technology fan. Sucked in by UMPC’s and the promise of big power in small packages, I have wasted too much time and energy jailbreaking, flashing and overclocking anything that has an electrical pulse. A staunch advocate for the right to repair, I resent any company that dictates how I can use something I paid for.