Nintendo's Switch 2 has finally been revealed and it seems some of the features of this successor system have been years in the making.
One of these happens to be the magnetic connection for the Joy-Con controllers, which replaces the physical rail system on the original system.
Former Nintendo Minute hosts Kit and Krysta have highlighted an interview they did with Nintendo's Yoshiaki Koizumi back in 2017, who revealed then and there, Nintendo was already considering magnets to connect the Joy-Con on the original Switch hardware.
Unfortunately, at the time, there were some design problems and so the team opted with mechanical rails:
Yoshiaki Koizumi on Switch's Joy-Con rail system: "We tried a lot of different things in terms of connecting the Joy-Con to the console and one that I was particularly excited about at the time was using magnets, which was like snap it right to the console, but as you would play sometimes it would just fall into your lap, but because we still wanted to have something that was sturdy enough for you to hold on to the console but also gave you that kind of satisfying snap that the magnets did, that's how we came up with the mechanical rails that give you a click."
Ultimately, these magnetic connections have now shown up on the Switch 2 - with Nintendo showcasing in its announcement trailer how you can press the button on the back of the Joy-Con to release the controllers from the main panel.
Nintendo will reveal more about the Switch 2 hardware at its upcoming Direct broadcast, taking place on 2nd April 2025.