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Switch 2 Video Reveals How Snappy Joy-Con Removal Works

Magnets, how do they work?

4 Comments

Last week's official reveal of the Switch 2 confirmed several new features of the hybrid Nintendo console, including a new approach to Joy-Cons that'll attach to the device using a snappier method. But how does it work exactly? On the Switch 2 website, Nintendo showed off this design in slightly more detail, revealing how the controller attaches and detaches from the console.

Similar to the first iteration of Joy-Cons, hitting a dedicated button will detach the controller. It's not entirely clear which mechanical function this button affects, but judging by the design of the Switch 2, the animation suggests that the magnetic charge is switched off.

This little button will quickly detach the Switch 2 Joy-Cons.
This little button will quickly detach the Switch 2 Joy-Cons.

In comparison, the original Switch Joy-Cons used a rail system to slide the controllers in, which were kept in place by a small plastic anchor point. These rails did tend to break down over time--one of several flaws of the Joy-Con alongside the common issue of joystick drift--so it is hoped that the reported magnetic attachment system provides a stronger and longer-lasting method of keeping the controllers in place.

While we've still got several burning questions for the Switch 2, it won't be too long before new details on the console are revealed in a Nintendo Direct that's scheduled for April 2. Fans are eager to find out when the Switch 2 will be released, how much it'll cost, and what's under the hood of the device.

One thing we do know is that there'll be a chance to try the new system ahead of its launch through "Experience events" hosted by Nintendo. Anyone lucky enough to have their name drawn can head to one of several spots across the globe to check the console out for themselves.

Darryn Bonthuys on Google+

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nintendians

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seems quite obvious.

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Gaticus

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"...the animation suggests that the magnetic charge is switched off." Is this sentence supposed to be satire? I'm asking that genuinely.

I'm gonna go ahead and say that I DOUBT they will be using electromagnetic attachments for joycons... ever.

There is a "peg" that extends from the middle of what looks like the magnetic area at the top of the joycon's attachment area. Please watch the reveal video, at .25 speed, at the one minute mark (or just near it) you can see the blue "rail" of the joycon being "made" and the little peg is extended. This peg will push the joycon separate from the magnetic hold and then you will pull the joycon off. How many magnets have you used that you can "switch the charge off" and the magnet stops being magnetic?

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MigGui

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@Gaticus: I don't think we have any evidence that the "peg" extends and draws back. the button seems to detach the joycon from the top, not the middle. and I don't understand what's the problem with "switching the charge off", it would not be an inert magnet, it's powered. if you remove the power of an electromagnet, it turns off.

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Gaticus

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@MigGui: Please, watch the reveal video at the 59 second mark (use .25 playback speed) and you will absolutely see the "peg" extending from the inner top portion of the joycon, a small round area surrounded by the upper magnetic attachment; also at the bottom of the joycon attachment area there is a recessed spot, I think that the joycons will attach by inserting the bottom first. They would absolutely NOT use an electromagnet for this setup, for a couple of reasons, but mainly for cost and battery usage issues. You can use two opposing neodymium magnets to create a good magnetic hold on something, you just need a mechanism to push the magnets apart for detachment, i.e. the peg that retracts to the area inside the upper magnet attachment plate. It would be an "inert" magnet, for a simple reference see the magnetic attachments for iPad/MSsurface keyboards... inert magnets, not electromagnets.

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