During April’s big Switch 2 Direct, where the console was revealed in all its glory for the very first time, Nintendo showed off an in-house game that supported the new console’s Joy-Con-as-mice feature. Drag x Drive, a wheelchair basketball game, was a complete surprise, and things have been pretty quiet since. But it’s now been announced that this August, subscribers to Nintendo Switch Online will get access to a limited-time demo.
I remember feeling pretty emotional during the livestream that Nintendo had chosen to use a disability-forward concept to highlight one of the Switch 2's very few new features. Then, at the same time, concerned that this game might not be more than a gimmick, an in-house experiment to see if the company could sell the Joy-Con 2's mouse-like abilities to itself.
Wheelchair basketball makes so much sense as a gaming concept, given how much easier it is to offer tangible controls for wheels rather than feet. Even putting aside the mouse controls, Drag x Drive looked like something akin to Rocket League, with those tech-future vibes in a Battle Bots-like arena, and that seemed really promising. It’s odd that it’s when factoring those controls back in that the concerns this might be a game to support a feature, rather than the other way around, kick in.
Come August 9 and 10, we’ll definitely have a much better idea of what’s on offer—well, if we have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription we will. The multiplayer game is going to have a “Global Jam demo event,” which will offer a “sneak peak” of what will be on offer. Eurogamer reports that the demos will be available in sessions, running 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, while Sunday has two slots, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. to midnight. That crazy early start on Saturday is likely to make things a little more amenable to UK players, where it falls from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The three-a-side competitive game plays as a simplified version of wheelchair basketball, with hoops thrown by a Joy Con gesture, although pretty much nothing else is known at this point about the specifics, game modes, tournaments, and so on. The full game is out August 14, so just a few days after the free demo event. It’s set to be priced at $20, and will only be available as a download from the Switch 2's eStore.
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