In Third Person

As much as I love my Switch, my biggest gripe with it to-date is the lack of a d-pad on the left-hand side. It’s the reason why I can’t play Ultra Street Fighter II on the go and why I haven’t bought the otherwise excellent Puyo Puyo Tetris. Thankfully, it seems like Nintendo and Hori have heard our prayers, as a left Joy-Con with d-pad is headed to Japan in July, retailing for about $25 US.

Beyond the fact that it’s not scheduled for release locally at this point in time, there are some other caveats to note. You can only use this in handheld mode. Won’t work independently or within a Joy-Con grip. It doesn’t have rumble, gyroscopes, or SL or SR buttons. Also, it only comes in blue at the moment.

Yes, that’s a lot of shortcomings, but for a reasonable price, you fix one of the most glaring issues with the Switch by having access to a d-pad on the left. If you need a wireless Joy-Con, the regular ones would suffice. If you want a d-pad on a standalone controller, use the Pro Controller.

Odds are, this will eventually make its way to the west. When it does, I’ll buy it day one. If it doesn’t, I’ll import it. Take my money!

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