Topic: Switch Pro Controller issue? Are all D'Pads too sensitive or is mine broken?

@HefHughner ah, my apologies if I got anyone's hopes up. I misunderstood the full issue. Thanks for the clarification. I tried out your suggestions and think I am seeing the issue. If I press up a bit on the left or right direction pad the input is registered as 'up' which shouldn't happen on a precise d-pad. Pressing in a downward direction, at least for me, on the Left or Right direction seems to be much more precise and registers as left or right even though I'm pressing downwards. If that's the case, I am having the same or close to the same issue.

I called Nintendo support back and the person I spoke with said this was the first report he had received and encouraged others to call in so they know that it is a wider issue. They offered for me to send the Pro Controller in for repair but I'm going to wait a bit but I will send in within the 3 month warranty. I might as well send it in for some hope of repair but I'd like to give them time to test things internally and have a proper solution, if possible.

Has this been an issue on other systems' directional pad? I haven't played many games using the d-pad in awhile and/or didn't notice the issue if it existed.

@upsidedownjim I think the Wii U GamePad has the same issue, but I don't know if it is as severe.

Glad i haven't bought the Switch. Seems there is some trouble with the system and even the controller...

@BearHunger @upsidedownjim I never had this problem before. At first I thought I am overly sensitive, because this is new hardware. Some people said the problem exists with all D'Pads. So I looked at the input of other controllers (Xbox One PC pad and Wii U Pro controller) on pc (the same way the Switch controller menu displays the button presses) and all I can say is: there is a major difference between how the Switch and these other controllers handle D'Pad inputs.

@HefHughner I downloaded the Puyo Puyo Tetris demo and definitely experienced what you described in your first post. Using the control stick I didn't have that problem. Have you contacted Nintendo support? It may be worth at least trying to get a repair/replacement and if the issue persists beyond the 3-month warranty, hopefully, Nintendo would still be willing to replace if it takes awhile for a hardware fix to come about.

My first Xbox One controller's right analogue stick went wonky after about a year. In Far Cry 4 the camera would just drift on its own with no input from me. That was annoying since it was outside of the warranty and I didn't put a ton of time on the system over that year.

@BearHunger I'll see if I notice it on the Wii U next time I boot it up. I got the system at launch and haven't noticed an issue but I don't use the d-pad often. I have heard of "dead zone" issues but figured that was high-level Smash players needing ultra precise controls.

I want to love this controller but I can't justify paying $70 for a controller with D-Pad issues. It feels bad because other than the D-Pad issue, I think it's a great controller. I play better in BotW with it. It helped me kill so many Silver Lynels in the game. It also helped me die some in the game. I would be in the middle of a hectic battle and my sword breaks. I press right on the D-Pad and I get the runes three consecutive times instead of the weapon change that I wanted. That gets very frustrating and puts me out my zone.

Yeah, looks like the first run of switch merch is a bit on the wuh-oh side.

Im sorry you guys ended up getting the short end of the stick. I definately think ill hold off until this is all sorted out.

Wii U never had a Tetris game, but I don't remember any D-pad problems and I recently put in 63 hours into Zelda on my Wii U between 2 different Wii U Pro controllers and never had a problem with the D-pad bringing the wrong thing up on either of them. I definitely don't believe the Wii U D-pad is as awful as the Switch one is, unless I just happened to get lucky with my Wii U Pro controllers yet get an absolute dud for my Switch.

@iphys Yeah, the Wii U Pro Controller has a different, better D-pad. I was talking about the GamePad. Last time I used it, I was accidentally jumping around a little in Noitu Love Devolution. I think I could get it to register an up+right by pressing on the high side of the right D-pad prong, but at the time I wasn't trying hard to see if that was really the case.

I bought a pro controller today. Have no issue with the dpad. I tested it in the system settings. I had to force it to register left and right as an up - to the point I actually pressing both buttons at the same time... Literally a normal dpad.
I feel bad for you guys that you always get a faulty controller. =/ Mine is actually one of the first wave of Pro Controllers. The retailer had anything Switch related in stock since launch, but they had a big reorganisation and renovation that month. Now they finished and put a massive amont of Pro controller and Switches on the shelves. :'D Sorry for the story I just had to.

It is good to hear that it isn't a universal issue with the Pro Controller's D-Pad. I was going to wait a bit to send the controller in to Nintendo for repair/replacement but will call them up today and get that process started. I'll report back once I can test out that repaired controller. This will give me a chance to use the Joy-Cons and grip which I haven't tried yet.

Did anyone, having the d-pad issues, not have or notice the problem right away? I only started noticing the problem in Zelda (press right for weapon, registers as up for runes), about 80 hours into playing. So, I'm wondering if the issue crops up when the d-pad gets worn in and looser over time. Not trying to worry those with working d-pads but trying to suss out scenarios when this issue crops up.

No issues here.

When it does happen with other controllers, I find its due to how you press down.

You cant tell the edge of your thumb to not apply force, and if your thumb is near the centre of the pad, there WILL be overlap.

Its also because a dpad, even on PS4, is one singular unit of plastic. It moves left and the rest goes with it. Underneath is one pad for inputs to be registered.

I imagine a combination of how the mechanics have to work and the fact that most people using the Switch apparently have large hands, is resulting in a good portion of the issue.

Aldo remember this: No amount of product testing can prepare for real worlf usage scenarios. This will almost always happen with hardware. Most consoles and thrir controllers have teething troubles. The best you can do is give feedback rather than exploding, and the issue will be resolved.

But this is a hardware problem thats only ever a problem because Nintendo. Any product will have flaws. Give your feedback and it will be fixed.

Merry Christmas and all that jazz. Logic out

@BLP_Software

Agree with a lot of your points. I hope people aren't exploding at Nintendo for this or other issues. From talking with Nintendo Support (Canada) they have been easy to get a hold of - almost no wait to speak to a rep - and indicated that Switch repairs are being accelerated (5-10 days instead of the usual 10-15). All good but understandable if people are frustrated when a repair or buying multiple controllers doesn't resolve the issue.

I've been assuming that people who have indicated that they aren't experiencing this issue have tried putting pressure more 'right and up' on the right d-pad and are not having the runes triggered in Zelda or blocks automatically fall in Puyo Puyo Tetris. So, that, I think, would indicate a hardware issue and not just how people are pressing the button. On the other hand, they may just be more precisely putting pressure only in the intended direction.

So, is a D-Pad more precise if it has a more limited tolerance of where pressure is applied (ie, right is right and up is up) or is the controller more 'precise' if any button press along the intended direction registers correctly (ie, right with some pressure up is still right)? I think I'm starting to over think this issue

Someone opened up the Pro Controller and was able to diagnose the issue (and fix it).

So, again: No, this not how all D'Pads behave and this is not incompetent handling of the controller. It's an issue of the hardware itself. Maybe it's limited to some controllers, but some of us have been able to try two or even more and they all had the same problem. So this is either a problem affecting all or very large number, but it's a problem. I will contact Nintendo support via Mail - if thats possible - and link them the discussions and the link above.

@HefHughner Okay, so its a hardware problem.

Note people like myself never denied it was, but there was a possibility based on lack of evidence that something else was at cause. Now we know, it can be ruled out.

@HefHugner - nice find! Good to know there is a hardware fix. Also, I wasn't disagreeing with what you had said about not all d-pads behaving this way. I was thinking, perhaps, it could be seen that a d-pad is precise if it registers in a specific area. For competitive matches it might be good for players to know exactly where they need to input to differ from right/diagonal/up. OTH, being too "precise" could create the problems we are facing. I'm just curious if, in fact, there is a preference for competitive players or those who notice things like that. Anyway, just idle speculation.

Thanks again for the find on the hardware fix. I'll include the link in the description note I send in with my Pro Controller for repair.

Finally managed to exchange my Pro controller, and it's even worse. Having the exact same problem of diagonals only registering the up/down component, up or down registering as left, and left or right registering as up. But now the D-pad is making weird clicking sounds pushing up or down, and both C-sticks are overshooting the centre and sometimes registering the opposite direction when you let go of them. Absolute garbage! Tried to call Nintendo, and their support line won't even let me through because it's claiming I have caller ID blocked, which I don't.

I recently got a Switch Pro controller and was playing Super Bomberman R online.

The issue that I have, is that when I am moving the character to the right using the analog stick, sometimes the character will continue moving to the right forever, even when the analog stick is centered (until I change the direction). This happens occasionally and only when I am moving to the right using the analog stick. No issue when using the D-pad.

Now, the weird thing is that this happens only in online matches. In local play it works great, just as expected.

The other weird thing is that this happens only when using the Pro controller, it doesn't happen when using the Joy-cons.

Any ideas what might be causing the issue? I went to settings to try to re-calibrate the controller, however, the analog sticks respond normally in all directions, so actually there wasn't any reason to re-calibrate.

Sounds like a desync issue. Were you using headphones when playing Bomberman online? I had a really weird thing happen during the Splatoon test fire, where my Joy-Con would freeze up on me even though they were physically connected to the Switch, and my Joy-Con were only showing as 1 connected on the home menu and refused to reconnect both of them in controller settings. Happened 3 matches in a row, and I restarted my system each time, and finally I took the headphones out and the thing played perfectly. I thought there was something wrong with my headphone jack, since that was the first time I had ever tried to use it, but I haven't been able to replicate the problem with the headphone jack now that the test fire is over.

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I wasn't using headphones. It might be a de-sync issue (since several users have stated the the Pro controller frequency interferes with the Wi-Fi frequency), but wouldn't that cause a disconnection or maybe the same issue in more than one buttons? Currently it only happens with the analog stick and only in online matches. Can't figure out whether this is a Bomberman issue or a controller issue (since Joy-cons work fine).