Back in January, Nintendo gave a brief look at the upcoming Switch 2 hybrid console. The screen is bigger, the joy-cons have a mouse-like mode and it'll presumably be a huge step up graphically from the original eight-year-old hardware. And, there's one small feature that really caught my attention: an unlabeled button.

As you can see in the image above, the plus, minus, screenshot and home buttons from the original Switch are already accounted for, so this button is doing something else entirely. But what?

Until Nintendo releases more information during the scheduled in-depth reveal on April 2, 2025, the best we can all do is guess about this odd addition. I have absolutely zero insider information, but I have a theory about what it could be.

Before the Switch took the world by storm in 2017, Nintendo had three platforms that utilized two screens. The Nintendo DS in 2004, the 3DS in 2011 and the Wii U in 2012 — all enabled primary gameplay on one screen while a secondary display contained a map or other useful UI elements. That's the key.

If we want to be able to properly play classic games from those older platforms, or even return to this dual screen utopia for new releases, we're going to need a second screen beyond the Switch 2. Where is it? It's attached to the dock, silly.

My hope is that this button enables a streaming solution between the handheld Switch 2 and the dock that will allow the TV and the portable screen to be used in tandem. Wii U classics like "Nintendoland" and "Mario Maker" benefit from this double display set-up, and it allows for all sorts of interesting asymmetrical gameplay opportunities where not everyone can see the second screen.

Of course, the Switch 2 is still designed to be workable when you're not sitting in front of your television, so I'm betting that this button could work as a simple toggle to connect or disconnect from the dock as needed.

Have your own idea of what Nintendo is cooking up for its new console? Drop a comment below, and we can all blindly throw darts at the wall for the next few months. We definitely need the distraction.

[Image: Nintendo]