I always have a spare pair of Nintendo Joy-Cons on hand, and now you can do it for less thanks to a new price cut.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve needed another pair of Nintendo Joy-Cons in my seven years of handheld ownership. Whether it meant having enough games to play a full Mario Party Jamboree or being able to continue playing on my favorite handheld device when drifting took over (which happens more often than I’d like to admit), having a second set is a lifesaver.

You can now purchase a new pair of Joy-Cons for $69.99 at Walmarta full $10 off MSRP. Even though the Switch has been in production for almost eight years, its controller prices haven’t seen any significant price cuts in that time. This is why many, including me, are looking for best nintendo controller alternatives instead. Even last Black Friday, peripherals rarely dropped much from full price, so even this small 12% discount is worth noting. As I type, every color combination on Amazon is still priced at least above the $78 mark. With that in mind, picking up a new pair of Joy-Cons at the currently low price won’t be too difficult before Black Friday.

Are Nintendo Joy-Cons Worth Buying?

Nintendo pastel Joy-Cons — (Image credit: Nintendo)

Whether you have the classic red and blue controllers or the awesome versions that came with the official Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Edition OLED console, having another pair of Joy-Cons is a must. Yes, there are plenty of third-party accessories available now, like 8BitDo’s Ultimate C, that take the Pro controller design and integrate it with amazing drift-free Hall sensors. However, purchasing one of these means you’re missing out on what makes the official Joy-Cons so special.

I’ll be the first to admit that I often took the Joy-Cons for granted. However, the ability to use them in handheld mode and then easily turn them into one single controller using the included handle is still as impressive as ever. What really sets the Joy-Con apart from other Switch controllers is the ability for a pair to become two controllers for local co-op play. For a Mario Party fan spending a few hours at the Jamboree, the best thing is to be able to play with one or two people on a whim. There’s no need to even charge the second controller anywhere else, all I have to do is pull the right one out of the console and hand it to an unsuspecting friend who’s about to lose every minigame we play.

Alternatively you can pick up Hori Slot Pad Pro which is currently $49.99 on Amazon. They add ergonomics to existing Joy-Cons and are more comfortable to hold. Like the official controllers, they slide easily on the tracks. Unfortunately, they can only be used when connected to the handheld device itself, without NFC, vibration, or wireless technology, so I’d still advocate for more Joy-Cons in your arsenal. However, they tend to be more affordable even without the discount and come in a variety of colors and designs, including those based on Pokemon and Zelda.

Having a spare is a must if you want to keep playing on your favorite Nintendo console even after you’ve suffered a terrible drift. My original controllers broke repeatedly, even after several trips to Nintendo for repairs, so I bit the bullet and bought new ones instead. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to avoid any problems ruining the game. The fear of it happening again was still there, and I was confident that I wouldn’t be so hard on my sticks even when I was going to be second instead of first in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. What’s even better is that as an official controller, they’re easy to set up and still offer the same benefits of NFC reader technology for your massive amiibo collection and that lovely capture button.

It’s reasonable to worry about investing in additional Joy-Cons this late in the Switch’s life. Ninty itself remains silent about the upcoming Switch 2 and its new gamepads. However, the very late arrival of the Joy-Con dual-way charging pad could be a hint that backwards compatibility will become a reality. Until now, rumors had been circulating that the handheld’s successor would have controllers similar to the Joy-Cons, which would attach magnetically rather than using a rail system as is currently the case. Hopefully, with a charging stand, this will mean that purchasing another set of controllers will still be worthwhile since you’ll be more than prepared for anything. Nintendo Switch 2 throws it at us.