Gamer Finds Way to Play Music on Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons

The creativity and skill of the gaming community never ceases. Many draw inspiration from the likes of Nintendo and other video game entities, but sometimes the imagination of artists and programmers is simply remarkable. The Nintendo Switch has sold over 75 million units, but there are likely very few who have turned the Joy-Cons into music devices the way that one recent Reddit user did.

Nintendo has long been known for its music. Whether it be the Super Mario Bros. theme, music from The Legend of Zelda, or tunes racing through tracks in Mario Kart, a part of the nostalgia of Nintendo is the music itself. That is likely why so many artists pick Nintendo music as a backdrop for creativity, and why someone can go viral simply recreating the Mii Channel theme, for example. This recent example goes beyond simplistic creativity, however, as this person used some serious programming know-how to make something special.

Reddit user u/Sarossilli recently posted a video on r/NintendoSwitch over on Reddit. The video shows music being played using the Joy-Con Rumble technology. Using a program that Sarossilli created, they are able to play any .midi song file through the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con. The video itself is the well-known Mario theme song. And although it is imperfect, some may argue that it sounds a better than some Wii Music.

The comment section is filled with a combination of amazed users and jukebox-esque requests. And because Sarossilli created the program to be able to play any song in which they can find a .midi file, those requests can often be granted. The theme for Marble Madness was one of those wishes, as was Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance.

A running joke within the modding community is "Can it play Doom," as someone recently was able to get Doom running on an old DSLR camera. So with that in mind, one commenter asked to get the Doom music playing via the Joy-Con rumble, and again that wish was granted.

The Nintendo Switch is perhaps one of the more flexible video game consoles. To be able to take a handheld console on the go for hours of tranquility with indie titles like Stardew Valley, then take the same console back home for Apex Legends fun online with friends or open-world beauty with a game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild all on the same console is something that other systems cannot provide. But the Switch is all of that. However, the gaming community has the ability to tap into a level of creativity for even more. There are very few--if any--who ever considered the Nintendo Switch to be a musical instrument.

The Nintendo Switch Pro is seemingly one of the worst kept secrets from the Nintendo community at the moment. It seems like with every new day there's new leaks or speculation on the rumored upgrade to Nintendo's highly popular hybrid console. Whether it's news that Samsung is producing the system's OLED screen, or that it will have Nvidia tech capable of putting out 4K graphics, it seems like one of the only things missing about the Switch Pro is an official announcement. For all of the rumors on the Switch Pro, there is one thing that still remains a mystery, and that's the console's price.