Hori’s first officially licensed third-party Joy-Con has a D-Pad

Since the Switch was first revealed to the world, some players have showed disdain for the Joy-Con’s d-pad alternative. While the four separate buttons are fine for most games, some genres — like fighting games — benefit from a proper d-pad. There have been unofficial case mods before now, but what if you wanted something a little more official? Enter Hori.

Hori, a Japanese company known for providing a wide range of accessories for the Switch, has revealed that later this year, they’ll be releasing the first officially licensed  Left Joy-Con alternative with a proper d-pad — but there’s a catch. Hori’s Joy-Con is only usable in handheld mode; it features no wireless connectivity, no HD Rumble, and no gyro sensor.

That means you won’t be able to use it in docked mode, and some games may not play too well with only having one gyro sensor, though most only use the right Joy-Con’s sensor anyway. It also means that there are no SR and SL buttons on board, which really isn’t much of an issue since it has to be connected to the Switch to use anyway. But hey, it’s also cheaper than a regular Joy-Con, coming in at just over $30AUD.

Hori’s Left Joy-Con alternative is scheduled to release in Japan in July, though a Western release has not yet been confirmed. For those who can read Japanese, you can see the page listing on Hori’s website here.