Switch 2 is around the corner, but Nintendo announces a new Switch accessory anyway

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  Nintendo's Joy-Con Charging Stand (Two-Way) seems useful, but it's coming out at a strange time in the console's lifecycle. [credit: Nintendo ]

Nintendo's Switch launched in March 2017, and all available information indicates that the company is on track to announce a successor early next year. It's that timing that makes the launch of Nintendo's latest Switch accessory so odd: The company has announced a first-party charging cradle for Joy-Con controllers, which up until now have been charged by slotting them into the console itself, via Nintendo's sold-separately Joy-Con charging grip, or with third-party charging accessories.

The Nintendo of Europe account on X, formerly Twitter, announced that the charging accessory—formally called the "Joy-Con Charging Stand (Two-Way)"—will be released on October 17. It will work with both Joy-Cons and the Switch Online wireless NES controllers, and the charging cradle can be separated from its stand (where it looks a lot like the Joy-Con charging grip but without the grip part).

Power is provided via a USB-C port on top of the stand, which can either be connected to one of the Switch dock's USB ports or to a separate USB-C charger. Other Switch controllers, including the Pro Controller and the SNES and N64 replica controllers, are charged via USB-C directly.