A Revised Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Has Been Spotted In Stores

the old dpad is the worst ever

I also think the original Switch Pro Controller has a rather terrible D-pad. It's fine for for some Games that only require you to walk left and right, but playing something like Celeste or Tetris 99 with this Controller is a real Nightmare.

I need to get this. The ‘D’ has changed to ‘E’

@Auenegheps It really isn't great eh! I expected better. It's a nightmare for Tetris 99 at least. Other than that though (and the absence of a headphone port) it is a quality piece of kit.

But what about all the girls (and some boys) that like the "D"? This change is definitely not an upgrade.

@frabbit for Tetris, music games etc I use joycons.

If it means the “old” ones will go on clearance I might just have to pick one up.

A quality controller that would rank as Nintendo's best if not for one thing,the absolutely atrocious D-pad. You can't even navigate the Eshop properly with that thing.

My Pro Controller's D-pad has consistently been a point of frustration. There's a noticeable decline in Nintendo's hardware quality. The rate at which Nintendo are self-sabotaging their brand of "Nintendo polish" is impressive, if nothing else.

@OorWullie Joy stick deadzones have also been an issue

@OorWullie I don't even use the Pro Controller anymore when navigating the eShop because the D-Pad seems to have a mind of its own.

Most Systems in the 3DS Family had very reliable D-Pads, so i don't get why they constantly screw it up with their Home Consoles recently.
It's hard to believe now that Nintendo basically invented the D-Pad in the past.

@Nagi I gotta say I thought 3DS d-pads were the worst d-pads ever and don't understand why people liked them at all - lose, overly clicky and sat too low in the shell. I simple couldn't use the thing, feeling utterly disconnected from the game – plus ergonomically they were positioned too low.

Loving the Switch Lite's one fortunately. It's not perfect but it's working even with SF special move consistently.

I've never bothered much with the Pro d-pad. I think we all need a SNES NSO pad or a 8Bitdo for 2D docked play.

I've never had much of an issue with the Pro controller's d-pad, I've certainly never had an issue navigating the eshop with it. I wouldn't say it's the best I've ever used (Megadrive/Saturn take that crown) but it's far from the worst and I would always use it ahead of the joy cons

@Auenegheps True story. Nintendo used to have some of the best D-Pads. Then I tried this with "Street Fighter" and was appelled by how imprecise it is. Because of this and the directional buttons not being a much better alternative some genres, especially fighting games, are practically unplayable on the Switch, unless you have an arcade stick. But try to put that in your pocket.
Hope this revision of the Pro Controller fixes this issue.

I have no issue's with the DPads at all of the Pro Controller or the Switch lite. And yes, I still have my day one Pro Controller. Works perfectly.

I notice someone is going down the list disliking every comment that points out how bad the d-pad is on the Pro Controller, which has been proven many times in numerous YouTube videos and articles. I am a huge Nintendo fan, but these raging fanboys that can't deal with anyone pointing out the not so good things Nintendo do too really need to get a life.

@brunojenso Totally agree with you on the 3DS d-pads. They just don't feel right at all.

8bitdo has been my savior and now I own three of their controllers, plus they double as PC game pads for me! Win-win!

Now what really makes me hate NIntendo is that they have these highly modular controller parts with the Joy-cons and all they do with them is release different colors instead of different types with proper dpads/etc. Sure they have 3rd parties release their own versions but they are highly gimped and not worth my time and money.

That really really angers me tbh.

The dpad on te current pro controller is not ideal. I hope it more similar to the xbox one dpad now. I have to use that on the switch for serious games such as celeste and cuphead.

@wazlon

I find that odd as I have never had any issues with my 3DS dpads. They have been 100% serviceable in many a hardcore game (including super hard songs in Miku and other music games)

I've refunded three Switch Pro pads and will never buy another one.

I played Breath of the Wild with the pro controller. Really liked the gyro aiming but the d-pad would often think I'm pressing up when I press right, it was very irritating. Tetris 99 with a pro controller is also a nightmare.

I have 2 launch day Pro-Controllers. Both have same issue with D-pads which I only discovered when playing Zelda 2 on the NES online service earlier this year. Basically, you end up changing direction when you press up sometimes. Or go up when pressing left or right. Great considering I'd never used the D-pad for any other games.

When I tried going up the vines in Mario 2 the game was pretty much unplayable as you'd veer off either left or right.

Sending them in to Nintendo for Repair they admitted they were both faulty but refused to take any responsibility for this being a design issue. So, I just got them returned. £34 per controller to fix a known issue was a bit much.

So now I use an 8bitdo SF30 for D-pad games.

@Nagi yea.. I never even knew that was an issue until I started playing Crystal Crisis and Tetris 99 and was wondering why dafuq or HOW dafuq it would register as Up when I pressed Right or Left.. I thought maybe BOTH of my pro controllers were broken from wear n tear (not like they were put through the wringer or anything), and then I saw online that there were tons of complaints with the D-pad in terms of accidental Up presses

@TurboTEF For me the issue with 3DS d-pads is because they're too close to the shell and I find it uncomfortable to hold because of the position being quite low. Doesn't stop me playing 3DS though and the XL models are a bit better.
Glad you get on with them though.

@dazzleshell I wonder if we could all make complaints like people did with the joycon drift issue. If most of us are having the same problems then surely it's a design fault despite Nintendo denying it.

Count me in on the D-pad hate bandwagon!

If it hasn't fixed the drift, what is the point in this?

I think it's too early to say the dpad isn't better. 1 mm isn't a lot, but the original is like only something like 6 mm. So it's actually a pretty big adjustment to the original. You'd have to play some of those dpad games to make a conclusion. A better conclusion would be that there are small adjustments that may or may not make any noticeable changes in games. I'm actually surprised they don't seem to play test it since they had it long enough to take apart.

@Nagi My previous comment is pretty much identical to yours, just realised. Wasn't a copy job, just an identical opinion!

@brunojenso Some people just prefer clicky D-Pads to soft ones and vise versa. That's nothing out of the ordinary. I just prefer D-Pads more in line with those on 3DS, PS Vita and Xbox One.

I'm fine with soft D-Pads, but there are so many better alternatives on Switch compared to the Pro Controller.

Lot's of people really seem to dislike the Switch D-pad. I've had zero issue with it. Even with games like Tetris 99.

Why nintendo doesn't just copy/paste the super nintendo dpad into all of their controllers is beyond me

I don't have a Pro Controller but it sounds like it's the new Xbox 360 controller- a fantastic design except for the d-pad which registers phantom inputs.

@Nagi yeah we all have favorites of course - it's very personal. PS Vita and Xbox One I'd agree are fantastic but I wouldn't say they are of a similar vein to the 3DS ones. PS d-pads have always been consistently excellent imo - but very different from the classic Nintendo feel.

I never had any issue with the D-pad either.
While I also think that Nintendo used to make better D-pads in the past, I still like this one far more than any of the competitors, this includes all third party controllers I have ever had my hands on, for any system.

But the difference in opinion about this seems to be so extreme that is somehow interesting. Is there maybe a difference?
Maybe it depends on how you hold the controller or something? Or quality of the controllers veries?
Because if I read stuff like "pressing 'right' but the controller registers 'up'", it is just completely beyond me how this could happen with the Pro Controller, I just never had any problem like that at all.

I love the pro. Had it since launch day; no problems. I may be alone here, but I don’t think I’ve once used the d pad but I get why people do.

It’s called the +Control Pad.

I heard that the center piece on the Xenoblade one is longer, so if this one is even longer than that then this might finally be worth picking up. I still don’t like the giant Control Sticks though.

I'll have an 'E' please Bob!

Meh, had the old one for years now, still works as well as the day I opened the box. Never used the d-pad on it for much, but if it's better and you don't have one, then naturally it's recommended. But for Dark Souls, Isaac, Mario and Zelda, no need. Save yourself some bob and get the old, hopefully cheaper model.

Maybe I'm just odd, but I had mine for a little under a year now and I mainly use the D-pad as much as possible in games and I've had no discernible problems with it. People call it the worst D-pad ever and maybe they are feeling something I just can't because it seems like any other D-pad to me. I've never been tied to any specific controller so that could be it. In Smash 4 Wii U my preferred controller was my 3DS so I'm not really one to judge controllers.

@DonSerrot I think it just depends on the game. I absolutely love my pro controllers (I have 4) but it's incredibly infuriating in games like Puyo Puyo Tetris, especially when playing competitively. A random quick drop mixed in occasionally is "game breaking" even if the D-Pad feels fine 99% of time otherwise.

@ItalianBaptist don’t hold your breath waiting for any clearances of the older revision due to this release. Seems to be a minor and silent revision, the sort that’s relatively frequent for any hardware that sits in the market for any period of time.

More likely to get some Black Friday sales in a months time.

NO MORE DRIFT?!

There have been two different Pro Controller Dpads for quite a while... I have one of each... The first Pro Controller Dpad I bought along with my Switch in September 2017 has a Dpad with almost no center pivot... my second one was purchased in December 2017 and has much more center pivot. The later model still has false inputs, but not quite as bad and at least feels better.

I wonder if this new silent revision fixes things a little more to at least be serviceable? Either way, I am still stuck with one terrible Pro Dpad and one below average.

My pro-controller had the d-pad issue. A little tape beneath the pivot point fixed this. Found the fix on YouTube.

I haven’t had any problems since then (but I shouldn’t have had to fix it).

I made an account just to make this comment. The Pro Controller D-Pad is garbage. I've been playing games since the Atari2600 era and I've NEVER had to take apart a NEW controller to make it function properly until I bought the Pro Controller. There is absolutely no denying that the Dpad will register miss-presses. After modifying the the contact points with some Scotch Tape, I was able to get the D-Pad to work as intended. Like others have mentioned, Tetris99, the eShop menus, Shovel Knight and other precision games will highlight the flaw and make you tear your hair out in frustration. No Pro Controller is free of this defect without user repair.

The horrible D-Pad aside, does the white powder from the Analog Sticks drive anybody else crazy? I've never seen sticks create so much debris!!! I am constantly cleaning them

The new one says "Bilk All the Game Fans", right?

This is really the second update though. The first was a stealth update without a new part number, but the post XC2 "Pyra red" model has had updated D-Pads fixing the original flaw, and a slightly different feel. Those original ones should be recalled...they were simply fully defective.

@4ormal All analog sticks do that. It's actually supposed to, the stick vendors call it "self-lubricating" - it decays into a graphite-like substance to lubricate stick traversal around the gate. Doesn't hurt to clean it now and then so it doesn't build up too much, but don't clean it too often, it's a necessary part of it's functionality and doing it too much means more friction, and wearing a groove into the stick, or wearing the gate wider much faster. Think of it as just adding graphite or dry Teflon lube to the shaft.

@NEStalgia Yah, I'm aware and actually first place I noticed this was the n64 analog stick way back in the day. I would say a little bit of powder is normal, but all the Pro Controllers I've seen seem very excessive.

@Eddyson replace the stick module with a ps4 one, it'll save you a lot of time and is better quality.

@Nagi Super Metroid on the SNES app made me realize just how bad the "Pro" d-pad is. I can't wall bounce at all, and I can do it effortlessly on every other console I own that game.

I have had no problem with D-pad and I own 6 Pro controllers. Two black, xchron, splatton, two SSB. And since there is no history of user claimed problem that in itself is a problem. As for drift without know it was maintained or used that is hearsay already now.

I don't think this amount of dust/debris is normal for an hour or two play session. https://i.redd.it/myhndc72emqz.jpg

@SwitchForce have you gone into the controller calibration screen and actually tested the D-Pad by pressing it Right to Left? You will see how often it registers an Up press. You might be shocked at the results.

@4ormal I think it just seems worse on the black controller. PS sticks are grey so you notice the powder less. XB controllers are light gray, so same thing. WiiU black was a little different because of the octagonal gates, so the wear pattern was different.

8bitdo solves this issue for me

@princezorldo The initial launch ones had genuine defects they never acknowledged. It was very very common for left or right presses to register as diagonal up/down. Sticks also had a higher than normal failure rate. It may be partially regional, but at least for the NoA region it was pretty epidemic. Starting with the XC2 LE version they quietly updated them to fix that. My original one had that problem, then the one stick failed with enormous drift. The replacement one has a D-Pad that feels much different and does not have the problem.

my pro controller dpad wasn't so bad per say it would sometimes say I pressed left or right when pressing up or down or vice versa but I narrowed down what was causing it.

@Auenegheps yes it’s a disgrace

@Auenegheps lol it's the same d-pad no changes

@CodyMKW well. The pro controller dpad sucks

@edgedino

Wasn't so bad? Was the issue the actual D-pad then? What magic fix did you find?

@CupidStunt Honestly there is nothing wrong with the d pad. It works as intended perfectly fine. Maybe it's the fact that most people have no idea how to use a dpad anymore with the whole joystick thing dominating now. Maybe it's the fact that everyone fat fingers everything now as they all play games that don't need precise movements anymore. Maybe people just like something to complain about.
Me myself I find it better than a ps or Xbox dpad is. I find the pro controller itself right up there with Xbox controllers being the best quality out there right now. Of course PlayStation controllers are just mehhh

All I see in the change is maybe some structural upgrades that may hold the center spoke more secure in place instead of allowing to to possibly bend. This would allow the pad to move more uniformly making button movements more flow.

@dazzleshell it was it but to deal with it I did some experimenting on where the parameters of its errors were and it prevent it I had to directly press at the center of a direction to prevent it from doing a different direction then what I wanted but ya the problem is probably around the same for most just test out how far or where at causes the alternate direction, in my cause it was the left and right sections of each direction, like the corners.

I got a new Pro Controller in June or July (had a sticker on it so I hope itd was more recent). Dpad was like 60 percent better, but weirdly stiff and still missread inputs. Almost usuable. Cant believe they sell something expensive with such a garbage dpad pad.

@princezorldo Glad it isn’t all pro-controllers, but the problem is real for some (myself included). As I mentioned above, a YouTube video helped me fix it myself.

@BulkSlash The D-pad from the Xbox 360 controller was WAY worse in my opinion. Actually I don't have any problem with the pro controller, but the D-pad sure could be better.

@Dirty0814 Actually there is somehing wrong with the d-pad. Google it and read the many, many articles, and watch the many videos on it. You press up or down and it also registers right and left and vice versa. I know how to play games, and I have been using a d-pad since the NES, and no other d-pad in any console does this happen. Please take your patronising comments elsewhere to people such as yourself who are unable to look at evidence and facts to form opinions.

@Auenegheps to you maybe but not everybody else

@ryancraddock
Um, you do know that the d-pad on the Pro Controller has a flaw (misfires in the wrong direction - especially noticeable in BotW - there are tons of videos about it) that Nintendo fixed in all special edition Pro Controllers?
This is probably just the same fix for the regular Pro Controller.
And it was long overdue.

But what about the joystick drift? It's not joy con exclusive.

But what about that flat 8bitdo controller coming out to match the Switch Lites? How odd is it going to be doing stick clicks on a d-pad?

@shani The d-pad was not fixed.in the special models, just slightly improved.

@RootsGenoa That's good to know, the 360 d-pad really was terrible, so if the Pro controller isn't as bad I might get one at some point.

@BulkSlash People don't seem to get the same experience with the Pro controller, though. I find it a bit 'floaty' but it never registered the wrong direction for me - or at least I didn't notice it.
On the other hand, my 360 controller d-pad ALWAYS registered two directions at the same time. So if I wanted to press up to shoot with a secondary weapon in Volgarr for instance, the character would turn around (left) at the same time. Characters would also go left after climbing a ladder, etc. Pressing down would also press right, etc.

@Bunkerneath
So true... my pro controller drifts, my joy con drifts, I'm not entirely convinced that a new controller from Nintendo or a third party isn't going to drift also.

They should've just added the Wii U Pro Controller to be compatible with Switch.

@Auenegheps you haven't used an Xbox 1 d-pad then...

@4ormal i have a 104889A since launch & it's tied at least for the best controller I've ever owned (x360 halo reach controller is what it is tied with, or may surpass). So, you're statement is false. I've only been able to use my pro since the garbage joy cons drifted & stopped connecting a while back. That's the only widespread problem i had heard about. This thread is first I've heard about a pro controller issue & i visit lots of gaming sites & know about 13 people who own these since launch like me. I'm in US so maybe it's only a UK problem?

@princezorldo same here

@RootsGenoa that's every Xbox d-pad ever. My pro controller is amazing. I like the joysticks tighter like a 360 controller (PS4 my fav this gen, but i wish it had ps4 sticks & face buttons with xbox 360/x1 triggers). The pro is still FAR above what i expected when i bought it, especially after playing the joycons. I've never touched a Wii u controller FWIW.

@Jayofmaya How would you go about to do this?

@Eddyson Search reddit for "Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Analog Stick PERMANENT Fix". All you need to know is in a link in that post. It's even easier than joycon stick replacement.

Spawnwave is gabage