The Switch is no stranger to an arcade racing game or two. While it’s fine to play them with standard Joy-Con or Pro Controller settings, this latest dock prototype from Far East Pinball has left us firmly convinced that games like Out Run shouldn’t be played any other way.
Is it a pure innovation? Could be. But an arcade-inspired add-on from an indie manufacturer seems to be at least the most authentic way to capture that cockpit feel from the comfort of your own home (albeit on a much smaller scale).
The dock does away with the usual input buttons and replaces it with a miniature steering wheel and shifter. As you can see from the demo video below, the prototype (which was shown at Game Antique 2024 in Nishikujo, Osaka last weekend) has a wheel that takes care of directional commands while a lever is used to change gears. In this model, the buttons on the wheel control acceleration, although the manufacturer has confirmed that it plans to leave this to the gear lever in a future mode.
True, the 3D-printed prototype might not be the flashiest piece of gear out there, but in principle, this looks really sweet — and we can’t help but be reminded of SEGA’s Out Run tabletop edition.
In addition to the spicy Switch accessories, Far East Pinball also recently introduced a lightweight gun-style accessory for Mega Drive Mini 2 Cyber Stick (which you can read about at Extension of time). Neither this nor the racing settings are currently available for purchase, although the manufacturer plans to make both available for purchase soon.