Let's Go! Nintendo Switch 2 Gamers Are Getting Good Old USB Mouse Support
Long-lived game studio Koei Tecmo uploaded an official gameplay stream of its upcoming grand strategy title Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening CE, releasing on June 5th for PS5 and Switch 2. You can use a joy-con as an intuitive mouse controller, but during the demo, game director Michi Ryu demonstrated the use of a regular USB mouse as well.
Game director Michi Ryu demonstrates the use of a USB mouse on the Switch 2.
This is obviously a game-changer for strategy game fans who wish to play on consoles, because having to push around the on-screen cursor with an analog stick is a huge pain in the butt. Being able to flick the cursor around with a mouse or trackball is much more convenient. There's an argument to be made that developers should work on writing custom UI that doesn't involve a virtual cursor, but that's neither here nor there.
We could reasonably expect that the Switch 2 will support USB keyboards, as the previous three generations of Nintendo consoles have done so. In fact, the Gamecube also had a keyboard for use with Phantasy Star Online. In Wii, Wii U, and Switch games, a keyboard can be used for text entry whereever appropriate, as long as the game developer implemented support, and a few games even support keyboard input for gameplay.
Support for USB mice on game consoles is much less common, though. Some competitive FPS games, like Fortnite, Wargroove, and the modern Quake port, have been known to add mouse support for more accurate aiming, but support in a title like Nobunaga's Ambition is pretty unusual. Arguably, the Switch 2 is the platform where this is least-needed; hopefully the PS5 version of the game also supports USB mice.
Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening CE is a launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2, releasing along with the console on June 5th. That's just twelve days away, so make sure you've got the funds stashed away if you're keen to pick up the latest Nintendo hardware.
