Players who feel the ‘HD Rumble’ feature on Nintendo Switch is too noisy will be happy to hear that, according to Nintendo, Switch 2 will be quieter.
When used at its highest intensity, the rumble in the Switch Joy-Cons can sometimes get quite loud, particularly in some action games where developers have chosen to use full-force rumble when landing attacks.
However, a small note on one of Nintendo‘s Switch 2 pages appears to suggest that this issue will be lessened with the new console.
On its page about Switch backwards compatibility, Nintendo lists a number of first-party games that will play on Switch 2 but either require the original Switch Joy-Con or play differently without them.
For example, because the Joy-Con 2 controllers are larger they don’t fit in the Ring-Con accessory for Ring Fit Adventure, but players can still play it on Switch 2 if they wirelessly connect the original Switch Joy-Cons instead.
The list includes party game Everybody 1-2-Switch, which features a mini-game called Joy-Con Hide & Seek. Here players hide a Joy-Con somewhere in the room, then others have to find it by listening for its vibration.
According to Nintendo, while Everybody 1-2-Switch can be played with the Joy-Con 2 controllers, the game will be harder because the HD Rumble has been made quieter in the new controllers.
“The volume of the Joy-Con 2 controllers’ force feedback vibrations has been reduced compared to the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers, so it may be more difficult to find hidden Joy-Con 2 in the minigame Joy-Con Hide & Seek,” Nintendo says.
This will come as great news for players who felt the Switch’s vibration was too noisy, but it could also have a potential effect on one of the more unique uses of HD Rumble on Switch.
A small number of games, mainly Nintendo-developed ones, use the HD Rumble’s vibrations to create sounds. For example, when playing Super Mario Bros Wonder, the controller will sometimes make musical sound effects when the player walks on music blocks or uses grind rails. If the rumble has been made less noisy in Switch 2 Joy-Cons, theoretically this means the few times where the rumble is used to make sounds will be quieter too.
Nintendo Switch 2 is released on June 5, in a standalone version and a bundle including a digital copy of Mario Kart World.
