HORI’s Arcade Classic Pro turns Switch 2 into an arcade
The licensed arcade controller swaps between a joystick, trackball, paddle and loop lever, and Japanese orders close on 2 October.
Hori has revealed the Arcade Classic Pro, an arcade controller built for the Nintendo Switch 2 under Nintendo licence and also compatible with the original Switch and its OLED model.
Four units, any layout
The board arrives with four interchangeable input units modelled on real arcade cabinets: a stick that handles eight directions and can be locked to four, a trackball for mouse-like rotation, a paddle dial for left-and-right movement, and a loop lever that combines the stick and the dial. Any unit can be fitted on either side of the board.
Hori has also built in a rapid-fire function with two modes — one that fires while the button is held and one that keeps firing after your finger comes off — at a choice of 5, 10 or 20 shots per second. An assign button lets players move a button’s function onto another.
What you give up
The controller is not wireless and needs a USB Type-A connection, and PC players will need Windows 11 with XInput support. Hori warns that it has no gyroscope, accelerometer, motion IR camera, player lamp, vibration, notification lamp, amiibo reading, headphone microphone socket or wake-from-sleep function. Some Switch and Switch 2 titles may not be compatible.
Hori lists the Arcade Classic Pro at ¥39,980, with orders open until 2 October and a release date of 28 February 2027. It measures roughly 50cm wide, 29cm deep and 11cm tall, weighs about 2kg without a unit fitted, and comes with a 3m cable and a hex wrench for swapping components.
Our opinion
There is something quietly wonderful about a licensed controller that treats a trackball and a twist paddle as first-class inputs in 2026. Hori has been building this kind of hardware for decades, and the Arcade Classic Pro looks like its most committed swing yet — exactly the sort of thing that turns a stack of Arcade Archives downloads into a small cabinet. The compromises are honest ones: no vibration, no gyro, a cable, and a price that will climb well past ¥200 once duty and shipping land. For anyone who has grumbled that modern pads are all triggers and no feel, that is a fair trade.