Patent Confirms Donkey Konga 2 for Nintendo Switch?

Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct event wasn’t all that exciting. We learned a little more about the mechanics in Mario Tennis Aces and they announced that the demo for Kirby Star Allies is up in the eShop. Oh, and then there was the bombshell at the end confirming Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch before the end of the year. That was kind of big. But now we’ve got ourselves another story brewing already, because a Nintendo patent is showing off some Donkey Konga drums for the Switch too.

This was understandably not a part of yesterday’s video showcase, but the folks at Resetera have spotted a couple of very telling patents from Nintendo.

These patents were originally filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on August 28, 2017 and now they’ve been made public. The drawings display at least two different accessories for the Nintendo Switch. The first is a set of barrel-shaped drums that look almost exactly like the Donkey Konga drums from the GameCube in 2003.

From what we can gather, this provides a rather clear indication that Nintendo is at least considering the possibility of a Donkey Konga 2 for the Nintendo Switch. Strangely, the patent drawings seem to show someone playing Diddy Kong racing with the drums, which makes no sense at all. It’s also possible that this could be part of the next set of Labo cardboard accessories too.

The other major accessory being shown is a full keyboard for the Nintendo Switch. The online capabilities on the console are currently pretty limited, so using the on-screen keyboard for searching through the eShop isn’t the worst thing in the world. If they are exploring the possibility of a proper keyboard, we might be seeing an expansion of online capabilities to include a web browser, social media functionality, and who knows what else.

In an ideal world, what would your next Switch accessory be?