A modder named Kouzex has built a working Wii Remote Switch 2 mod that slots Joy-Con 2 electronics inside an original Wiimote shell, magnetic rail and all, so it can physically attach to the Switch 2 console. The result is a fully functional hybrid controller that keeps every button, trigger, and B-button wired up correctly, and looks, from the outside, exactly like the Wiimote you remember from under the Christmas tree.
Why a Wii Remote Switch 2 mod makes sense
The Joy-Con has always had a complicated relationship with human hands. Hackaday noted that the click-on Joy-Con controllers are not especially ergonomic, ‘barring you having very uniquely shaped hands,’ which is a polite way of saying that a lot of people find them fiddly. The Wiimote, by contrast, was designed to sit naturally in one hand, with its simple button layout and the satisfying heft of a television remote. For motion-controlled Wii games, that shape was the whole point.
The Switch 2 Joy-Cons are genuinely impressive pieces of hardware, with more advanced technology packed inside them than the Wiimote ever had. But there is something about waving a Wiimote-shaped object at the screen that a Joy-Con, however capable, does not quite replicate. Kouzex clearly felt the same way, and decided to do something about it.
Tearing down Wiimotes to build something new
Nintendo Life describes Kouzex as a YouTuber who has ‘manually created a fascinating hybrid, combining the Joy-Con 2 with the Wii Remote.’ The build involved dismantling both controllers and wiring their internals together, all while making the finished assembly fit inside a genuine Wiimote casing. That last constraint, keeping the original shell rather than printing a custom enclosure, is what makes the project genuinely difficult. The tolerances inside a Wiimote were designed around Wii-era hardware, not a Joy-Con 2 PCB, so getting everything to sit correctly would have required considerable patience and no small amount of solder.
Kouzex noted that ‘no Switch 2 Joycons were harmed in the making of this video,’ which is reassuring given the price of the things. The decision to work with original Wiimote casings rather than bespoke printed parts is one of the more appealing aspects of the build. It stays honest to the hardware in a way that a custom shell simply would not.
The project sits in similar territory to WeskMods working through large quantities of old Wii consoles to produce a build called the Kawaii. These are not beginner projects. They require a thorough understanding of both the donor hardware and the target platform, and the confidence to keep going when the solder joins refuse to cooperate. For anyone who has spent an afternoon trying to reflow a tricky joint on a ZX Spectrum keyboard membrane, the level of commitment involved will be immediately familiar.
The case for bringing Wii controls to the Switch 2
The practical application is straightforward. Titles like Super Mario Galaxy, which were built around the Wiimote’s motion controls, benefit from a controller that replicates that feel. If Nintendo continues expanding its Nintendo Switch Online back catalogue and adds Wii software to the platform, a magnetic Wii-style controller that clips directly onto the Switch 2 becomes considerably more than a curiosity.
Every button and trigger is wired correctly, the magnetic rail attachment works, and the shell looks like original hardware because it is original hardware. For anyone who wants to revisit Wii-era motion gaming on modern equipment, Kouzex’s video is well worth watching in full to see exactly how the build came together.
