PSA: Remember To Update Your Joy-Con Today, As Well As Your Switch

It would be nice if this fixed controller issues.

Done!
I have updated just now. 😀

My joy cons have been rage inducing the past weeks. The only thing I can still use them for is Aninal Crossing. Things like Asphalt 9 are impissible with them. Hopefully this helps. Probably not...

It would be nice if they said what these updates did at the very least.

I guess they're just for making them more stably attached to the switch.

@Kalmaro Yes, that would be nice. The Pro controller keeps on disconnecting by motion when I play games such as Crash Team Racing.

@stuntz0rZ Article says the Pro controllers don't have an update

I remember when mario odyssey came out the motions didnt work correctly with the joycons and one of these random updates fix them

@stuntz0rZ The minus button doesn't work very often on my joycon for some reason, maybe I can just remap it now :/ ?

No idea what these updates do...but they feel like they do something.
It's like a placebo update to distract me from my real Joy Con issues..

@RickD
N64 controllers say hi.

So drift is solved now? 😂😂😂😂

Wow, I've had the console for nearly three years, and I didn't know updating JoyCons was a thing. I hope it makes them more accurate for Taiko no Tatsujin. I need all the help I can get in that game.

The controllers are really a surprising flaw on the Switch. After they had issues with the Wii controllers they had a fix for them and continued to update them in manufacturing and software updates.

The Switch has little to no meaningful updates and still we suffer with drift. Do we have to kidnap Mario and hold him for ransom to get this fixed?

With regards to the system update, now I can dash with the ZL button in Mega Man X - X3 and the Zero and ZX games...and I can disable the rewind feature in the first Mega Man Legacy Collection which is seriously hard not to use when it's right there at the push of a button. Hot damn!

Prior to this update, my Neon Blue Left JoyCon keeps randomly disconnecting when in handled mode. Imagine playing Tetris99 with 10-man standing and it happens. It works just fine if JoyCons were used wirelessly which makes it even more puzzling.

That problem vanished today after the update.

@Daniel36 Opposite for me, I've never noticed any drift in my left joycon in 2 and a half years of owning it except when playing Animal Crossing. Frustrating when trying to aim my fishing rod then it decides to do a half turn, or my guy decides to start walking to the left when I'm stood still.

Drift is a hardware issue, so if anybody is hoping that a firmware update will fix it, they've got unrealistic expectations. The most you could hope for in a firmware update is a bandaid to get an extra month of use out of your sticks. Anyway, if you are careful and you look at online guides, it is not a hard repair to perform yourself.

Separately, I'm not going to deny that joycons have a problem, but anyone who thinks N64 controllers were durable is deluding themselves. A single game of Mario Party could cause noticeable damage to an N64 joystick, particularly the tug of war mini game.

@Kalmaro,

Never had any issues, and the amount of time I have sunk into animal crossing, it surprises me.

@Frontiersmann Well, yes it is a hardware issue but control sensitivity tweaks could probably at the very least alleviate the issue a little.

My right Joy-con has packed in all together, totally dead. Before that happened, it was frequently disconnecting when attached to the console. The left one is working but refuses to work as a single controller. It's also had flirts with the dreaded drift.

What gets me is, I don't even use them that much. 90% of my Switch time has been with the Pro controller.

It's really hard to justify buying another pair.

(Sees that photo of a glass full of JoyCons)

Could you guys spot me a JoyCon L? My 4 year old shredded mine

@Daniel36 Me too. I sprayed canned air under the black flap, under the analog joysticks.

That seems to have sorted it.

Shouldn't the controllers auto update when connected to the Switch? What is this, 2002?

well, i can't update unless i go lurk outside a place with public wifi

@Shadowmoon522 Why not use whatever connection you just used to post your comment?

will these updates fix the battery issue that two of my Joy-Cons are having? or will i be stuck with two great batteries that can last for days at a time without the need to be recharged and two other batteries that need to be charged daily (even if they are not being used)

either way, i haven updated my Joy-Con Controllers since the v3.x or v4.x firmware updates for the nintendo switch. besides, who knows how many updates that the Joy-Cons have received since the system was first released.

@Daniel36 If it’s control stick joy con drift, Alex did a step by step video guide on how to clean them 👍🏻

I thought my joycon was suffering from drift as I noticed if I moved North-East, my character would just keep walking, but I recalibrated my analog stick and it solved it, thankfully.

Why doesn't the Switch do this automatically when it detects that the firmware of a connected joycon is lower than that of the Switch itself? I'm absolutely sure 99% of all Switch owners don't even know joycons can be updated in the first place. Then again, what do these joycon updates even do? Joycons that were bought at launch and never updated still communicate perfectly with a fully up to date Switch.

If only my joy-cons weren't in UPS limbo....
They were on the way to be repaired when Nintendo closed down shop because of COVD-19. Better to keep the employees safe, though I do miss my joy-cons.

@RickD
Tough and rugged? Finding an original N64 controller with a good-condition analog stick is nigh impossible.

Oh yeah, joycons exist don't they?

The N64 console was rugged. The controllers could barely survive a couple rounds of Mario Party. And don't get me started on the controller paks.

My right Joy-con is drifting pretty badly after just 50 hours of BOTW. I'm not even a rough player; I'd even call myself a dainty player with how I ease into camera turns and character movements.

Nintendo, seriously fix this. I don't care how ugly or cartoonishly large the next joystick looks on a Joycon2.0; just design a control stick that is durable above all else. I refuse to buy a single overpriced Switch accessory that may or may not drift in mere weeks. Now I even consider buying PS4 versions over Switch versions, because at least my PS4 controller works.

@KitsuneNight you say that but I still have my original N64 pads and they work better than my joy cons do, which are possibly the worst controllers I've ever used and stupidly expensive too. I will say that the best analogue controller from back then is for the Saturn and the pads I have feel exactly the same today as they did back in 1996, it even has analogue triggers, something the Switch badly needs

@NotoriousWhiz this is why I only used cheap 3rd party pads for Mario Party, it's also funny to think that I can buy better controllers for the N64 today then I could back when it was new

Playing games that heavily rely on pressing down L3 & R3 puts pressure on the stick then causes it to start drifting overtime.. this issue is a hardware problem and needs to be fixed with feature hardware release.. can't believe an expensive controller like the joy-cons can be this fragile 🤮🤮🤮🤮

@nukatha imagine my face when I stumbled upon 2x unused N64 control pads in my wife’s old bedroom at her parent’s house. My jaw hit the floor. Needless to say they are getting some use now.

@TheFox i wish i had the little drum kit it because past easy its almost impossible with the motion controls. Do you think a new guitar hero would be welcome these days... A really well made version with a bucket load of songs and say a twin guitar online duel or playing in same band! 🤔🎸

@StevenG because of this issue where random web pages redirect to https://noaccess.verizon.com/bwg/ thing that i can't deal with as i'm not the one with the account info & the one who has the info is a stubborn idiot. so while i can use this internet on my pc, i can't really do so with my switch at the moment.
now that i think about it i might be able to set up a wifi hotspot with this laptop to by-pass this issue... but it's past 4 am & i need sleep...
Edit: got the issue resolved by finally getting the account info & talking to a stir crazy verizon employee.
also my joy con drift issue seems to be gone with the update, but i haven't had enough time to get around to playing enough to be sure

Thrifting can't be solved. It's an hardware issue most common with people who push the analogsticks to hard or in most cases eat crisps while gaming, its just dirt.

The most iritating problem are joycons that keep disconecting, i hope the update solve this.

@carlos82
Yeah, but where is motion controll on a n64 controller.

Best thing you could do is to buy a usb bluetooth transimiter and use ps4 controllers.

I prefer those even above the pro controller, wich has a rumble function (its not adding something to gaming IMO) and just dont like the bulky layout. Also it suports motion controll

@PALversusNTSC why would I need motion controls for an N64 pad?

As for the Switch I just use the Pro Controller if I need analogue sticks. For others I use the retro bit Saturn pad which is brilliant for fighters and Mario Kart with a much better dpad than pretty much anything else and I can happily live without motion controls or rumble for that matter.

Also drifting can be solved by better hardware design, I have near 25 year old analogue controllers with no drifting whatsoever and a huge amount of use, yet I have joycons with very little use by comparison with drifting problems. Nintendo just used poor quality parts for the Switch and continue to do so

Note that you don’t need to attach joy cons to update them, wireless detection is enough.

@RickD Sounds like a lovely romantic meal.

@Frontiersmann

Not delusional at all homie. All four of mine still work just fine after all these years. We played a ton of matches of WCW vs N.W.O.,& No Mercy along with some StarFox64 dogfights about 3 weeks ago. Not to mention that there's 2 bars that we hit (well did before you know who 19) that have game nights doing the week with fully working N64 consoles & controllers. So yeah man, hardly delusional.

@KitsuneNight my perfectly working N64 controller from 1997 says hi back.

Yeah the Joy-cons are terrible, i have had drift issues and issues when I attempt motion controls. It's shocking how little their motion controller accuracy has not even changed since the Wii days.

I did hear that the ring fit kit is a lot better for that though.

Still the Joy cons are overpriced defective junk. I put it up there with the Red Ring of death from the Xbox 360 in terms of goof ups and at least they took strives to fix that.

@Rpg-lover

You can say that about any controller breh. My Xbox & ps systems have both had issues. My XB1X came with a crap pad out the box where it seemed like the stick was hard pushing to the left or something. SoI just synced my OG XB1 pad & used that. They supposedly fixed it, sent it back, and then shortly after it was drifting. The crazy part was that I barely used it because of the old pad I already had n use. Even now it is out of commission. So I just went out & brought a new one from Walmart because I didn't wanna wait. Pllus it's out of warranty & they wanna charge which is BS.

And good lord the issues I've had with sony's controllers. From a sticky L2 button & having to replace one simply because of s*** battery to sticks wearing down fairly quickly even though they don't get close to the use of my other controllers. Not to mention that while more comfortable than their prior pads they still feel kind of cheap & are creaky. Such is life in gaming I guess.

@PALversusNTSC

Drifting isn't caused by dirt or crisps. People who get drift aren't dirty gamers. It's caused by the way the sticks work.

There are two contact strips inside the stick, and two metal clips that rest just above them. One set each for X and Y coordinates. When the metal touches the strip, it sends the signal back to the motherboard. Depending on where the strip is contacted, it will have a different level of electrical resistance, indicating the coordinate value of the input and telling the motherboard which direction you are pointing the stick.

It would be pretty ingenious, except that the contact strips need to be made of graphite in order to work. It's basically pencil lead. Sliding or slamming the metal along the graphite will cause it to scratch, which permanently changes its electrical resistance and allows more voltage to reach the motherboard. This makes the controller register an input even when there isn't one.

If you play games like super smash bros or any rigorous platformer that requires quick reflexes and aggressive controller use, chances are good you will wear out your controllers faster.

@Razer

Lucky sod all my N64 controllers are floppy.
..ahem

I had to resort to the Hori ..."remakes"
Cause there is no way I will pay 120+ for an actual Hori

@carlos82

Some people have all the luck.
I usually end up with floppy N64 controllers
To the point I bought "fake" Hori's

The 3D pad is a great controller though
Kinda wish sega just kept that formfactor for the Dreamcast.
The thumb stick for that controller is in a really awkward place and the d-pad is rubbish.

@gameboy1975 I've got the exact same experience as KitsuneNight^^

Having purchased six N64 controllers and loved my N64 nearly to death, none of my joysticks are in great condition. The dead zone for my yellow and red controllers are huge. Green and grey are tolerable but not in good shape, and I don't remember the other two off the top of my head.

@KitsuneNight it seems you might finally get your wish regarding the Dreamcast, retro bit are making new Dreamcast controllers but they look to have the Saturn dpad and 6 face buttons

I dont remember the last time I used them. Pro controller all the way.

@Frontiersmann
That sounds plausible and may be an explanation for some but my original pair started drifting within a month and drifted on and off for a few more.....but then they stopped drifting. Haven't had a problem with them in maybe a year.

That always led me to suspect something non-physical. One reason is that certain games it happens often and with others never once.

For example, Rocket League made it happen like crazy, but other games nada.
And now, with a new pair, never had an issue with them until playing Animal Crossing, and it very rarely happens with any other game.

Just my own experiences.

@carlos82

Oooh, links ?
I was wondering yesterday if anybody was going to make any new controllers for the Dreamcast.

@KitsuneNight https://twitter.com/RetroBitGaming/status/1248989231902531587?s=19

@carlos82

Thanks.
Looks good I'll be keeping an eye out on that.

@IANVARIVS Thanks for posting this! I've had the exact same problem for over a year. Jumped out of bed this morning to grab my Switch as soon as I read your comment. I finally have my handheld back after about a year!! YESS! Celebrating with you (from a distance, of course)

@Crono1973 - I'm assuming mine did, since there's no "update controllers" option on my menu. I think this is for any joy-cons that weren't connected during the update.

@Frontiersmann

Well, I'm cettaienly not disputing that you or anyone else may have had issues with a man made product. As I'm confident that the possibility is there. Just saying that my anecdotal evidence & personal experience with said controllers between myself & others greatly differs from you two considering that none of us seem to have or have had such problems.

And also reiterating that what you folks are talking about can be said about ANY company & their controllers. like I said I had problems with my Xbox1Xpad right out of the box. Not to mention original Xbox controller that I sync to play my system with while the other was gone had a left bumper that broke off. Which I taped back on & it worked for quite a while before taking a deep dive.

And again, my sony controllers have seemed to be the most unreliable out of the bunch. Even though they often get the least amount of use. And heck, while I think that they've been mostly garbage petsonally, I have yet to go through 6 of them for one console. Yet there have been reports of people doing just that. Doesn't make it the status quo though. Maybe you guys just have or had a spate of bad luck my friend?

@SuperToe Nope it is for all joycon, including the ones which come with your system, for all users. Find it in:

System Settings > Controllers and Sensors > Update Controllers

@Petraplexity how's yours? mine's still working fine after 5 charging cycles.

@maxington26 finally Tetris 99 again, got my 5th Tetris Maximus now

@Frontiersmann drift "repairs" are only temporary, it is like you said a hardware issue, the problem will come back.

The reason some games are affected differently is because they apply different deadzones. Apparently the deadzone in AC is very small so the tiniest drift will be noticed.

@Blackice when i say "repair" I mean it is relatively easy to unscrew the joy cons and literally replace the joysticks. $8 and 30 minutes for another year or two of use.

@Kalmaro i updated then recalibrate my pro pad and the drift was gone! Now can play without falling to my death in mario. Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!

@KitsuneNight My N64 controllers work fine to this day, and that's after tons of times dropping them as a kid.

I haven’t had any drift issues yet. Then again I barely use the joy cons. I have two sets (My originals are gray; I found the extra Yellow set on sale for 40.00 bucks for a pair and had to have them for that steal of a price) but they rarely get used. This is mainly because 90% of my playtime is docked. I very rarely play handheld or tabletop. I’ve had my Switch V2 since December.

I beat Mario Odyssey with the grey joycons mainly because that is how that game is meant to be played. Every other game, I use the Pro Controller (except for Super Mario Party but I only own it because of that Mario sale back earlier in the year).