Further details have surfaced surrounding the mysterious C button on theNintendo Switch 2. The Switch 2’s C button is located on the right Joy-Con, directly below the Home button. It was obscured during the initial review, overlaid with a blank square button, but has since been revealed to much speculation. We still have no real idea what the C button might do, but Nintendo has revealed one small but important detail.
In a post on Nintendo Today, shared to Reddit byJoseki100, Nintendo provided a much-needed hint as to the C button’s function,revealing the sound effect it emits when pressed. The four-toned noise, composed of what I can only describe as a collection of beeps, chirps, and squeaks, has sparked endless debate, with players guessing it has to do with everything from live chat to dual-screen connection. The post is only available in regions where the current date and time is already April 2 - not-so-coincidentally the date ofNintendo’s planned Switch 2 Direct.
What Could The Switch 2 C Button Do?
Fans Guess At The C Button’s Function
Still, despite this major reveal,the C button’s actual use is anything but confirmed. Another important clue is the text on the button itself: “C” has to stand for something, and it’s almost certain to be a word that starts with C in English. A very common theory, reiterated here byfinguhpopinon Reddit, is thatthe C button may be used to activate a chat feature- either as a sort of dedicated push-to-talk button, or opening a dedicated voice/text chat client as an overlay.
This comment also touches on another popular theory, which stems fromSwitch 2 leaksand holds thatthe C button stands for “Campus,” the rumored name of Nintendo’s hypothetical chat client- a sort of Miiverse/Pictochat revival. But C could also stand for any number of chat-related words, like “communication” or “call.”
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Other fans insist that the C stands for “capture,” but the original Switch already has a capture button - it’s unlikely Nintendo would make such a big deal over the C button if it didn’t have something to do with a new feature. Another popular theory, then, claims that"C" could stand for “connect,“allowing players to mirror the Switch 2’s screen on another device, like a TV with a compatible dock plugged in - or, indeed, another Switch 2.
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Personally,the Campus theory makes the most sense to me. That’s mainly because it’s internationally applicable: “C is for chat” could be a tough sell to anyone who doesn’t speak English. The sound effect itself, with its rise in pitch, certainly gives “connected.” It vaguely reminds me of the sound a Windows 11 PC makes when you plug in a USB device.
The original Switch was lacking in social features, andthe Switch 2 looks to be setting itself up to be a legitimate competitor to consoles like PlayStation and Xbox, which have robust voice chat, text chat, and party systems. It all seems to line up a little too well.
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Still, there are a lot of theories out there, and some of them are pretty compelling. Thankfully, we probably won’t have to wait long to find out. The Switch 2-focused Nintendo Direct streams live tomorrow - April 2. Withouttoo many Switch 2 games to reveal, I suspect that most (if not all) of its 60-minute runtime will be focused on the console’s new features, and I’d be shocked if a deep dive into its new Joy-Cons wasn’t one of them. Less than 24 hours from now, we may know a whole lot more about theNintendo Switch 2’s C button.
