While Nintendo's latest home console, the Nintendo Switch, may be a machine of many controllers, there's been one question on everyone's mind since it was first announced - just how small are those Joy-Con controllers? Attached to either end of the machine itself, the Joy-Cons can clip on and off the machine at will, letting you enjoy some local multiplayer fun no matter where you are - but like many others, we couldn't help but feel they looked a little bit on the small side for our hands.
See how tiny they look?
So, it was with bated breath that we first grasped the controller at the official Nintendo Switch reveal event in London, expecting to dwarf it under our gargantuan digits - but we're pleased to say, it's a lot more comfortable than you might think. In terms of weight, button placement, and the overall size of the controller itself, everything feels just about right - at least, from our fairly brief hands-on. Unlike the picture above, the controllers on show at the event were all made chunkier by the now-bundled wrist strap, which adds around a centimetre to the controller's bulk, making it feel a lot more substantial when it's in your hands, and helping prevent your fingers from cramping up.
Still, it's one thing to hear us say "it's not that bad", but it's another to be able to try it for yourself at home - so here's a handy comparison anyone can have a go at.
Coming to the event prepared, we'd smuggled a load of Nintendo-related paraphernalia in with us in our bag - 3DSs, Wii Remotes, Nunchucks, all sorts of Nintendo gadgets and gizmos - but there was one thing we brought with us that was a better match than them all - the Orange Club biscuit.
Please excuse the fingers - the Nintendo demoers were very keen to make sure we have some fingers in the picture. You'll just have to trust us that it lines up.
Speaking very roughly, the Joy-Con is the same sort of size as an Orange Club biscuit - just a little bit longer, a little bit wider, and a teeny tiny bit slimmer. If you grab a Club and hold it sideways, that's a pretty good approximation of what a Joy-Con's like to hold - only the real thing's even more comfortable, thanks to the added bulk of the wrist strap.
To be honest, we shouldn't really have doubted Nintendo in the first place. If there's one thing the Big N have always taken incredibly seriously, it's ergonomics. This is the company that seems to spend an ungodly amount of time trying to make a controller that everyone will feel is "just right" for them whenever they launch a new machine, from the NES all the way through to the GameCube's seminal gamepad, and the console defining Wii Remote. Perhaps the only real missteps have been the slightly awkward three pronged N64 controller (and even that wasn't that bad), and the sheer bulk of the Wii U's GamePad - but the Joy-Cons, at least now, are looking pretty impressive.
While it's always hard to gauge how comfortable these things will be for long play sessions from these kind of rapid-fire events, at least now you can try it out for yourself in your home, and get ready for the Switch launch. And if you don't have any Club biscuits in your home, as Reggie would say...
