Do the twist —

Finally, a portable solution for those “vertical” Switch games

Upcoming accessory lets you simply capture that classic arcade aspect ratio

It's a bit surprising Nintendo didn't add controller grooves for this Switch orientation on the system itself.
Enlarge / It's a bit surprising Nintendo didn't add controller grooves for this Switch orientation on the system itself.

It has been about a year now since the first Switch games started appearing with a vertical orientation option, letting players turn the undocked system sideways for a more authentic classic-arcade aspect ratio. Today, these "TATE mode" games are still something of a hassle to play, requiring players to detach the Joy-con controllers and use some sort of carrying case or kickstand to prop the system on a flat surface.

Now, video game collectible house Fangamer is apparently working on a solution to this problem: a Switch grip/holster that lets you easily hold two controllers and a vertically oriented system right in your hands.

Retronauts podcast cohost and classic gaming expert Jeremy Parish revealed in a tweet yesterday that he has been working with Fangamer and mechanical engineer Mike Choi on the vertical holster. An attached photo shows two small clips that seem to attach to the top and bottom edges of the system (or the sides, in vertical mode), allowing players to simply clip their Joy-Cons into place.

While he's taking action now, Parish has been publicly mulling the prospects of this kind of Switch accessory for a while now. "Some sort of snap-on cradle to enclose the screen and slide the Joy-Cons into seems like a pretty simple and inexpensive thing to create," Parish wrote last April. "I doubt this peripheral would see a ton of use, but I also suspect we'll be seeing enough classics with TATE mode support to make it worth many people's while."

Many months later, we've seen roughly a dozen Switch games that support play in a vertical orientation, from Namco arcade classics and vertical shoot-em-ups to virtual pinball simulations and a port of a mobile Mega Man clone. We've also seen a number of homebrew, 3D printed holsters that let you hold the Switch vertically in your hands. But Fangamer's clips seem to be the first mass-market effort to sell a vertical-play solution for retro-obsessed Switch owners out there (Parish promises more details on pricing and availability "in the near future.")

In the wake of experiments like Nintendo's own cardboard Labo playset, we'd love to see more accessory makers play around with inventive ideas for how to improve on the Switch's portable experience (à la those often-ridiculous Game Boy accessories). A lot of that experimentation, though, would require Nintendo to release its grip and start allowing for third-party controllers that can slide into the system's side-mounted Joy-Con slots. We'd kill for some detachable Switch controllers that mimic the classic Gamecube button layout or the ergonomics of the NES' classic "dog bone" controller. How about it, Nintendo?

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Channel Ars Technica