Nintendo President Apologises For Joy-Con Drift, Can't Comment Further Due To Ongoing Lawsuit

Admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery.

I’m glad it’s at least been acknowledged, all 4 of my joycons now experience drift and I’m in no position to be able to buy more.

Didn't have any drift with mine for 2 and a half years, now I can't use it because it drifts left so bad. I have had to resort to only using my pro controller which in the last week or 2 has started to stop registering up on the left stick momentarily every couple of seconds.

What caused the drift ?
Flimsy materials ?

I just returned my pair of joycon right before the 2 year EU mark. I got them fixed originally during the 1 year manufacturers warranty but after getting them back they started drifting after a while again and I figured it to be too late. Then I remembered about the 2 year consumer warranty and was in luck (I had 7 days left xD) so I got the 80 euro refunded by the store

My old pro controllers stick also is messed up (doesn’t go up all the way anymore even after recalibration). But that one is about 3 years so I just bought a new one of the 80€ refund

Strangely my original (Launch unit) black left joycon drifts only very slightly but not anything nearly as bad as the one I bought later...

Edit:
Nintendo of Europe doesn’t offer the free out of warranty repairs the US has because we have consumer warranty, if you get any problem with them return them to the store, that way Nintendo also finds out this is a serious problem

One of my JoyCons drifts too. It is annoying.

My set that came with my system got drift and were repaired for free by Nintendo AU. Good to see the issue acknowledged.

It doesn't want to give us Directs or games, it doesn't want to own up to their disgustingly broken POS hardware. I don't like Nintendo while they're printing money. I like Nintendo much more when they have to prove themselves.

I have 2 left joy cons currently with nintendo for repair. It has left me unable to play certain games and us very disappointing. I am also concerned that they will repeatidly get this drift issue!

Experienced desynching issues with my first 2 joycon set so never had them long enough to drift. Of the next 2 sets bought, 1 experienced drift a year after purchasing them, while the other lasted 6 months. Sent both in for repair and one set started drifting again after 4 months. Unfortunately that set of joycon I had given, with my old Switch (the older battery version) to my girlfriend and her kid. Due to quarentine I had to buy and send them another set because we dont visit. Really mad about all of this. Ive blown so much money on the Switch. Also, their sticks on the Pro controller...while they dont drift they wear out pretty fast depending on the kinds of games you play. Ive gone thru 3 of them because of Fortnite.

is a lawsuit a bit much? Say if Nintendo loses out and half to pay out millions dollars in compensation won't that hurt the consumer more?? 'We would love to fix your controllers and make more games but we've got no money' (I am joking to the severity, no need to bite), however, as with all these things it is only the 'caring' lawyer that will benefit.

My original switch suffered from it, my nieces switch had it and my nephews switch was unplayable due to drift. It's a major problem which I don't understand why Nintendo hasn't owned up to earlier and properly offered a solution or repair service. I fixed them all myself with an earbud and isopropyl alcohol, this is the best solution, plenty of information on the internet about this (Nintendrew has a good video on it).

In addition to what ive said above and ganes just not running well on the system...Im going to be thinking hard about whether or not Im getting their next system or jumping over to a Series X or Ps5. Nintendo makes my fav games...when they actually come out. But the system has gotten boring for me in addition to all the maddening hardware and peripheral issues.

Qtip, cleaning alcohol and off you go.

I didn't find it difficult to fix at all. No need to take things apart either. Like you clean your keyboard and mouse every now and then. But I suspect many have never.

my original joycons went back to nintendo 3 times and are back to drifting.
luckily the daemon x machina joycons dont drift at all, atleast

edit: for those saying just clean it, it works for like 10 mins or doesnt work at all still after cleaning, its a design flaw

Whenever my joycons start drifting i just give the sticks a squirt of contact cleaner under the plastic plap thingy. It works pretty good but eventually you gotta do it again. Beats the hell outta taking the whole damn controller apart or paying 70 dollars for a new pair.

Knock it all you want but hey i can save alot of money this way and it gets the job done. I'm not buying new joycons everytime they drift.

I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for them to do anything about it.

I experienced drift in both my joy cons after barely 6 months. I bought a small set of tools and two sticks (unofficial ones) on amazon for not even 10€, changed them and never experienced the problem again (drift free for almost two years now). I can’t recommend enough to do the same if you have this problem.

@Medic_Alert
I agree, this has been one of the worst consoles when it comes to hardware quality. I think the biggest part of the issue is that Nintendo had to quickly come up with a solution to the bad sales of the Wii U and cut a few too many corners. I am not defending that of course! Just think this is the biggest contributor of the issues.

While it is an issue that should not be occurring, I cringe every time I see someone post they bought new joycon because their originals drift. They are incredibly easy to fix. If you are capable of removing screws you can do it. I replaced the sticks in 2 of my left joycon over a year ago with no problems since. I have 2 replacement sticks in my drawer for when it starts again. Watch a video, get what you need (less than $10), and just fix them. It beats buying new joycon or waiting weeks for Nintendo to do it.

They should just stuck with circle pad’s.

Last night was playing Yacht on 51 Clubhouse Games and my opponent's controller was clearly drifting. Helpful for me because it was selecting the wrong cell to put their score in. But imagine producing a controller that can't even be used to play a turn based dice game properly then producing a console with the controller attached to it !?!

I remember the N64 sticks being pretty crappy as well. Also they were hell on the thumbs!

I have 2 pairs of joycon that are unusable due to drift. I don't really understand the rules around Nintendo of Europe fixing them. Does anyone have any experience with this?

@JasonLee99 but I'm a consumer! What do you mean I can stitch the button on my coat that came off myself? Gimme me a new one for free NOW!

All my joycons have had the drift problems, but sent them back to UK repair and they have come back working again.
Also my SL and SR buttons stopped working and the R button too, but once again sent it in and comes back working.
Also, everytime you send one in you get extended 12 month warranty from them,
So win win for me

@Grot there is a difference with doing their job or having a controller fail 95% of the time.

stop defending nintendo with a shoddy product.

if they build their controller competently, we wouldnt have to send em back to em in the first place.

my snes, n64, gamecube all are still in working condition, controller and all.

I trashed a gamecube controller once just playing Luigi's mansion. All that jerky motion you gotta do when catching ghosts wears the crap outta the stick! I still have Nes and snes controllers that work like new though. Now those things were built to last!

Do any naysayers want to apologize now for denying that the issue existed? Or for injecting those immortal, Philistine quips, into countless comment sections?:

"You slobs just abuse your controllers!"
"It doesn't happen to me - there must not be a problem!"

Ive been lucky so far, only had drift on one of my release day joy-cons, which I fixed myself back in 2018, it worked ever since. Thought I might had drift the other day, but went away when I connected the joy-cons to the console, so probably it was only bt-signal interference.

@Grot I look forward to the day they implant a pacemaker into you.

Finally an apology. All they needed to do was admit it up front and promise to revise the design, instead they hid behind the "if you're having problems please contact our support staff" line, which meant they just wanted to tell people to pay for a repair themselves.

There are some games I just can't play becaue of joycon-drift. It's more than just a tad annoying.

@COVIDberry be nice brother.

@Grot Been gaming for 40 years and never experienced the problems I have with the joycons. If you cannot produce the complexity without stability then you cannot produce the complexity. You certainly can't hide behind it as an excuse.

@Anti-Matter I do repairs and replacements for joy-con joysticks, and from what I can tell it appears to be a design fault that allows for dust and moisture (which causes corrosion) to get into the parts relatively easily. If you wipe the components down and reassemble they tend to work fine. But it only ever seems to be a temporary fix.

@Dethmunk It's pretty demonstrable that they would have known there was a problem before releasing the Switch Lite, and certainly arguable that they would have been aware when the original Switch launched.

@Anti-Matter that and the shortage of alternative supplier options for the component as the growing speculation goes. Which, if humoured, could mean that in worst case scenario the issue would keep popping up like a whack-a-mole until the successor's (or a profound revision's) complete redesign with different sticks in use.

Granted, like I said before, I've witnessed occasional stick drift on all portable consoles I've owned, and I've heard rumours about DualShock 4 drift as well, so I'm not quite sure what kind of sticks are even supposed to erase the odds completely.

I have drift on one of mine, but I also have a drifting PS4 controller, it seems to be very common, but how comes Sony doesn't have a lawsuit against them, its the same thing?

@Anti-Matter It's really just a lubrication issue stemming from poor (cheap?) contacts that eventually break down and their own dust and debris cause them to trigger "button" presses. That's why you can fix it with electronics clean up solution and compressed air for a while by basically cleaning the contacts. Some users mention that using silicon spray fixes the issue nearly permanently since less contact friction means they don't break down that easily

@Bon_Kurei Have you tried fixing them? I bought a kit from Amazon for £10 which included 2 analog sticks and the equipment to swap them over (screwdrivers etc) There are plenty of guides on YouTube to take you through the process if you're not technically minded.

£20 to fix 4 controllers isn't a big outlay.

I've had my Switch since launch, and I've never had a problem with the drift, until this week. haha.

I’ve not had issues with any of my controllers for previous systems - those that had Goldeneye or Mario Party 2 know about the amount of hours & punishment joysticks got through usage! And no issues with DS/3DS either.

Mine had a problem since launch but I never realised during BOTW (I thought it was inertia movement) until I played Overcooked when my character was moving on its own. I even contacted Team 17 thinking it was an issue with the game.

My switch & those of my kids have had drift issues & even replacement/repaired joycons had problems after a short time. I understand about keeping the joycons clean & dust free etc & it’s carried in a hard case when I’m out. I have contact cleaner but shouldn’t have to spray them every so often to keep them in a usable condition.

Unfortunately I doubt Nintendo will refund those customers that have had to pay for joycon repairs, but hope the acknowledgement will lead to better manufacturing/testing practices & repairs to these in the future

wow, the company directly acknowledging a problem 3 years after people have been complaining about it. thats a start

Think I'm gonna have to buy a whole new Switch at some point - Right Switch Rail doesn't detect right JoyCon when docked, Left Blue JoyCon drifting up, Right Red JoyCon drifting right. Just a whole load of problems!

It happened to me on the right side Joy Con. The camera moving by itself in some games was really annoying. Got it fixed at least.

My left joycon is pretty much unusable now. It drifts upwards on and off all the time. Sometimes it eventually settles after 15-20 mins or so, but I've pretty much written it off as a lost cause.

The Switch really feels like the flimsiest piece of kit Nintendo have ever made. Even when it was fresh out of the box on launch day it creaked an groaned with the slightest touch.

Oh and it's even cracked around the fan exit, despite having been well looked after. It's a piece of junk.

This thread made me miss the dislike button.

I get it that enough downvote and a person's comments are removed. However no one knows how close the comment is from being removed and plus the user likely doesn't even notice that their comment was removed.

If you defend Nintendo on the joy con drift after being in the analogue business since N64 you deserve to be downvoted and shamed for either being a fanboy or a troll.

Good they're acknowledging it.
My original joycons I got with the console in 2017 didn't seem to have drift, but my left one had resistance so the character would walk extremely slowly, so bought new neon pink and green ones.
They worked fine until the last few weeks when my right joycon stick kept moving the camera frantically in Animal Crossing.

There seems to be next to no stock of official joycons these days so I ended up getting a Hori Split Pad Pro.

I've lost two joycons due to drift. I see it as a design fault and will not spend more on replacing until the issue is fixed. I use the Pro Controller, which provides much more accuracy and is more robust. The only thing I miss is HD rumble.

It's nice to hear from Nintendo finally admit to this in the least. They sure as dragged their feet doing so though. Both of my joycons have issues at this point. It's been about 2 years, and with Covid-19, I have no way to get these fixed at all.

@Grot If you’ve never experienced drift in 40 years, congratulations. Statistically, you’re simply very lucky. There’s objective fact that mechanical objects (which all analog joysticks are) are prone to eventual wear and malfunction. A warranty is offered to cover defects in the product itself, but wear is not a defect.

I’ve had my Joycon from launch with zero drift issues.

Well said...anything electrical and constant usage will have Wear and Tear but then again they also have User caused as well.

Didn't have drifts effects for my gaming times. I agree with @Grot wear and tear also happens and User Abuse as well but then again no one takes Responsibility nowdays for their actions either.

Nintendo still wont address the very similar problem I have with the left analogue sticks on my Pro-controllers. I've had 3 break, all within 6-12 months of purchase & many others have the same problem. They all use the same hardware.

@Grot I would prefer to let the readership read all of your comments and judge for themselves, and that will happen without me, but I am going to emphasize the absurdity here:

while my heart fails...
...I’ll go get a new one. Cheers.

And better still:

They should be on their first pair, and use basic skills to clean and maintain a mechanical product that they own.

I don’t have an instruction manual for any console that tells me to dust it regularly...

... but you invoke the example of cars and internal combustion engines that require oil. Very well. The owners' manuals for such DO inform the customer of maintenance requirements. Moreover, as a matter of broader culture, customers know very well that they must maintain their vehicles by ACTIVELY SERVICING THE INTERNAL COMPONENTS.

You are now arguing the same for:

• video game console devices
• sealed electronic devices, particularly, novel ones that are densely sandwiched and require great care, physical dexterity and specialized tools to reassemble properly.
• electronic devices in general, which are you mislabeling as merely "mechanical"

Not only do Nintendo, Apple &c. discourage their customers from exercising the "simple maintenance" you describe, they stipulate that such behaviour is warranty-breaking.

Most disgustingly of all, you argue that the blatantly anti-customer practice introduced in recent decades of hilariously short warranties is self-evidently good; and I won't even bother replying to this gem:

If it’s outside the warranty, Nintendo did their job.

You are behaving like a pro-corporate troll. I won't be replying to any further messages of yours.

The number of people in this thread alone that are currently in possession of joycon that drift is staggering. Yes, it’s a problem. But rather than continue to deal with it, or put them in drawer because they’re unusable...just fix them. As people have said, it’s cheap and easy. It takes all of 20-25 minutes to replace a stick, and that’s if you need to watch a video as you’re doing it. Too many people assume it’s too hard. I’m telling you it’s not. Within a week every single person in here could have joycon that work like new. Take initiative and be able to play your games

@PretendWorking @snesionetty I can see how you might have thought I was being a bit mean and attacking him/her personally, rather than contesting what this person is saying. I should have been less sharp about it. Nonetheless, when faced with that kind of insincerity...

The amount of Nintendo apologists on this site always baffles me.

They made a shoddy controller that was unreliable and people feel taken advantage of for it. That's a totally justified feeling to have, especially if you paid money the product. Even more justified if you are still under warranty.

You bought the product, you should expect it to work properly, no questions.

I love Nintendo, but what's fair is fair. They can't escape this lawsuit. I think for them this is a lesson in quality control. I guarantee you that the next joycons they make will be a lot more durable and reliable from this experience... Hopefully.

And the amount of the unverified issues are also a issue here so unless one can document the issue that becomes arbitration issues that they need to take up. So like anything if you go to court you better have documented the problem from the start otherwise the Courts aren't in your favor however long it takes you will loose in the end when the Judge ask where is your documentation of the problem from when it started. HearSay aren't admissible in courts proceeding. I've asked this alot of how they documented the issue-when asked they go quite all the suddenly no reply.

@Bon_Kurei So fix them yourself or mail them to nintendo to be fixed.

I finally fixed the drift on my Pro controller, at least for the time being, but I had to take it completely apart and get some contact cleaner right into the mechanism, but at least it's holding up for now

@ryancraddock is it possible for you to create a poll on here to see how many readers have suffered from joy con drift, just curious to see how many have had this problem on their joy cons.

I really hope that they can just swap these analogue sticks out for an upgraded version in the future.

The US gets a replacement policy while the UK get apologies; all because the US knows how to lawyer-up I guess.

I've got my left joycon packed up to be shipped out today for some bad drifting. It only started a couple months ago, but got hard to deal with very quickly. I ended up buying the very expensive pro controller so I can continue to play while it's away for repair. I hope it doesn't happen to my right one too!

@JasonLee99 You know that's a temporary fix, right? Joy-Cons are ticking time bombs; over time, they'll be ruined(these stupid controllers weren't built to last). and don't say, " all controllers are like that!" Wrong, other controllers from the competition don't have this problem. Those controllers can last for years( and I can attest for that.)

@Grot Could I have your Joy-cons then? Also your luck too? Cause it seems you're the rare lucky ones that haven't had any problems. And you can't tell me, "just take care of it!" When my launch XB1 controller was working for three years(before I sold it) with no problems and my dual shock four is also working after three years with no issues.

I have had multiple issues with JoyCon drift, and one of my replacements is having connection issues when playing docked and sometimes when playing handheld, so that's another repair that needs to be requested.

I love the Switch, but I'm disappointed with how flaky the JoyCons are.

@Anti-Matter
The only explanation I've heard is that they used graphite for the thumbsticks which erodes over time and causes a dust build up that messes with the sensors. Also graphite is a really good conductor, so even if it's not debris blocking the sensors, the dust could be causing electrical problems with the circuits the sensors are connected to causing false positives of user input.
@SwitchForce while you're right about hearsay, if the court accepts the case then Nintendo would be subpoenaed for repair inquiries during the discovery phase and would be legally required to disclose them along with internal estimates of failure rates. Flooded help forums far exceed the activity of typical hardware issues, the number of articles on the subject compared to others, as well as Google search trends are also admissable as supporting evidence. There is also evidence in the popularity of replacement parts on Amazon, ifixit and other online retailers that can be used to give an estimate of DIY repairs. A bunch of people starting a law suit and testifying is hearsay, but demonstrable statistics is not.

Side note for anyone having the issue: You can buy oem thumbstick replacements and rails for 4 and 6 dollars respectively, and do the refurbishing yourself like I did if you're out of warranty. It's actually not super difficult, and way cheaper and convenient than sending it to Nintendo for repair... but the fact that these parts are so cheap, without having to order in bulk, doesn't say much for the build quality of a controller that costs 80 dollars.

@MsJubilee The sticks are like $5 a piece. I got mine for less than $4. If it starts drifting again I’ll switch out a new one in15 minutes and be done with it. It beats complaining on message boards or waiting for legal results that will take years.

I was very disappointed with the repair service in the United States. They sent the 4 controllers to a completely different part of the country than usual, perhaps because they needed a new location to deal with the high demand of joycon drift repairs. One came back still drifting, and others were drifting again in a matter of weeks.

I have played video games since the original NES and never had a controller issue. On the other hand half of my eight joy cons drift. I got into gaming to game, not to find how to channels and fix things. The idea that people here are expecting people who spent good money, some would argue overpriced, on products just to be told to fix them is laughable.

Good for you being the DYI person, the rest of us only have interest in buying a competent product. It isn't about how easy it is to fix something. It is about the fact we shouldn't have been sold a broken product to begin with.

The software joy sticks calibration option should have been a huge red flag that Nintendo knew this was an issue before they shipped the product. I have never seen a calibration option on any analogue triggers in an option menu in my life.

As much as I love Nintendo. I have the issue with both: the left Joy-Con and one of my two the Pro Controllers.
These controllers should have been never released. And these controllers are still being sold in stores which makes me really angry. The controllers have serious construction issues, they know it and they still sell them.
That's no joke - it cost my money and the money of most probably millions of customers.

Got my Switch in mid 2018 with its two Joy Cons. After about 9 months the left blue Joy Con started drifting, I got it replaced for free.

Now my right red Joy Con is also starting to drift, I’m planning to soon send that in for repair.

For the people commenting that the lawsuit won’t help us — it certainly does, since it forces Nintendo to acknowledge the issue and (at least in the U.S., where the lawsuit originated) forced them to have free Joy Con repairs. They should expand that to the rest of the world, but unfortunately they don’t want to unless the threat of a lawsuit is present.

My other Nintendo hardware all still works fine, I take very good care of all my tech. The Switch is just undoubtedly one of the worst Nintendo products ever made construction-wise, with its WiFi issues, Joy con drift, etc.

Nintendo is completely at fault here as they should have changed the design as soon as they knew they had a problem. But they did not change the design. Now the problem is larger.

We have 2 switch units and both have drifted at times. My pro controller is unusable do to left stick drift. So sad.

A squirt of contact cleaner is a temporary solution at best. In my experience, it fixes it for a week or two, and then you have to do it again. And again. And again. Thing is, I have Game Cube controllers that are decades old that still work like new, so, no, a piece of hardware that develops a significant fault within 12-months is neither normal nor acceptable.

I thought I had joycon drift once but I fixed it in a few minutes using the calibration options in the settings. My launch day joycon have been flawless 🤷‍♂️

@sixrings Well, looks like you’ve bought 4 pair already so I guess you can either continue to buy new ones and state you shouldn’t have to fix them (you shouldn’t), or you can do something about it. I’m not saying there’s not a problem, there is. I’m just offering a cheap solution that gets you back to actually playing games.

Also, you don’t need to be a DIY person. I’m not. Everyone assumes if you’re not then it’s too hard. That’s my point, it’s easy. If you want to refuse based on the principle you shouldn’t have to, then so be it.

I'm moving onto my 5th set of joycon due to this. Currently they last me about 6 months, give or take, before the left starts to drift. Splatoon, ARMS, Smash, Bayo, etc. devastates them. Granted, Splatoon+Bayo wrecked a WiiU Gamepad's stick as well.

Current console cost = console + 4 joycon = $660, which you have to buy pairs, they won't sell separately anymore!!! Though I guess in retrospect it's still around the same price as the other consoles will be this gen.

I get that a tiny mechanical part that's subject to tons of high intensity movement isn't going to be reliable and not much else can be done...but it's a bit ridiculous. A Lite would be just absurd. That has got to be the most expensive console ever made if you have to keep replacing it.

At least three of my four Joy-Cons have drift. It's at the point that I don't play games that require analog sticks in handheld mode for fear of making the problem worse.

@Grot I didn't say I haven't experienced drift in another controller and that is the point you're missing.

You have to compare the speed of wear against similar items.

If the apples you buy from 'Shop A' go mouldy much faster than the apples you buy from 'Shop B' do you continue to buy apples from Shop A saying 'but all apples go mouldy'.

@Nicolai That's interesting and disappointing. I've wondered at times if I'm doing the wrong thing trying to pop them open and replace the sticks myself (should have had it done yesterday, but the carrier apparently destroyed my package so bad they didn't even try to deliver it and just marked it undeliverable and returned it, so now I have to wait again) instead of just sending them in for official repair.

But from your story it sounds like "official repair" is just a runaround to satisfy the lawsuit....they don't replace the sticks they just clean them and send them back.

I'd be curious what the conversation (and repair results) are in Japan. Nintendo used to have a double standard of treating Japan much better, but in the Switch generation, Japan has a lot of the same complaints.

@Grot I both agree and don't. There's an argument to me made when a product is under-specified for it's intended application to the point that it fails at abnormally high rates. On the other hand I'm not sure a stick module of this size exists with correct durability.

But while the point of maintaining things out of warranty is valid, one can't ignore under-spec'ed parts, intentional for planned obsolescence or accidental due to cost cutting or engineering failure as being a defect regardless of the "warranty ." The Joycon analogs are a $1-2 part that is clearly not appropriately specced for the intended application. Systematic repeat failures of a large portion of market segment indicate that.

I'm honestly shocked Nintendo hasn't found a way to improve the durability considerably in the past 3 years, and before the Lite. Popular as Switch is, it's still a tarnish on their stellar reputation of hardware quality. No amount of marketing can create, or repair, a reputation like that.

@JasonLee99 I bought 4 switches. They came with the systems. I have resorted to Pro Controllers.

@Grot Makes sense. Normally, the consumer is at fault when they are careless or something happens to the product in their care. But, according to your heaven ascended intellect, the consumer is also at fault when the product was designed to one day malfunction anyway despite the care and attention applied to it. Words of the wise over here!

@echoplex Samus, after all the planets you've seen and all the nastiness you've been through, who can blame you?

4 joy cons, 3 of them use to drift. Replaced 2 of the sticks and the other was fixed by contact cleaner. Terribly build quality.
Also inside sl and sr buttons failed and had to get them changed. The positive is all the parts are cheap to buy from eBay.

@nmanifold but they have offered a repair solution.

https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/ask/ht/789

I have experienced drift on both of my launch Switches and I have been able to send the Joy Cons back for repairs, as a matter of fact both of my launch Joy Cons are at the Nintendo repair center right now and this is the second time the have repaired them since launch and I have not had to pay for any of the repairs.

@Grot What you just said doesn't counter what I just said, oh wise one.

@Bon_Kurei dude, send them in. It's free and the turnaround is pretty fast.

I've had mine since October 2017 when I got my Switch, no sign of any drift. I say that and I'll put my Switch on now and BANG! Drift...

@Grot So I'm guessing Xbox did? Playstation as well? Heck, SNK too!? Those controllers aren't expected to last forever, but they sure seem to last a person for the entirety of the gens lifespan with proper care. Oops, i spoke out of turn!

Oh, good. My faulty product has been restored to working condition by the issuance of this apology.

Now that we have an admission lets fix it. Hard as hell to play Duke Nukem with serious drift.

@n8p I called one week and they refused to do it for free despite all my digital purchases that they could see going all the way back to the Wii days. Sir I see you're a super duper loyal customer but unfortunately there's nothing we can do. Next day there's a class action law suit and all of a sudden everything is free. That is not good customer service.

@Grot you're just a contrarian. Enjoy spending your time trying to convince the majority they are wrong.

I haven't had the drift issue for a long while but recently I've been getting the issue as well, particularly after playing Animal Crossing for a while. Thankfully the issue isn't all that big with Animal Crossing but it's certainly a problem with other games like Smash, Splatoon, and Mario Kart. I already play those games with a Pro controller anyway but not everyone has that luxury so it kinda sucks for them when this shouldn't be an issue to begin with.

Well, I can forgive the drifting and put it away if they didn't charge a high price of $80 ( retail price ) for those joycon. ( even for a $60, I still find it expensive for a flimsy product ).

@Grot You're still choosing to ignore the facts. The joycon is the weakest excuse of a controller any technician can find. I'm aware that all controllers are susceptible to drift, it doesn't compare to the joycons. If you get a different console's controller fixed, you can expect it to last and not drift again 2 months later. Give it up already, your argument is weak and you're dancing around the point. That being said, Nintendo is at fault for this garbage.

I want a swtich lite so bad but the thought of it becoming unplayable because of drift with no way to replace the joycon terrifies me

Mine started to drift after 1 year..

@Grot I didn't say anything that I wouldn't say to someone's face. I'm ok with disagreeing but the people coming on here with all the facts against the joycons defending Nintendo is a bridge too far. You can love Nintendo while acknowledging this is an issue. However when you feel you have to come to a companies defense when there's valid reasons for the criticism then you're just being a contrarian. Most people who disagree do so silently. But you feel the need to be Nintendo's PR. Sorry you feel attacked or feel that I said something I wouldn't have in actual person.

@Grot Agreed, again to a point. But when products are under-designed and fail consistently outside the warranty, there's a valid argument that the company should be liable to remedy it, and that's what the lawsuits are all about.

Prior case history exists, also with video games, and controllers specifically with the X1 Elite controller, and the X360 RROD errors. At first MS was rejecting warranty service and directing customers to simply buy new ones, but after both cases became epidemic, they began warrantying out of warranty units upon realizing they had an actual defect. Why? Not just customer satisfaction and reputation, which is important, but to avoid lawsuits for knowingly selling defective products. Warranty is a whole subtext of the legal system, where saying "well we only said it works for 30 days for sure" doesn't always meet legal requirements of reasonable expectation.

@Bon_Kurei send them in for repair. It is still free to do so.

You can still send them in for free repair by Nintendo. Right now there is a wait because of covid but still free. I think I waited 2-3 weeks before I was able to send them in. So it'll be about a 6-8 week wait total once your ticket is submitted.
I also just sent mine in a week ago so it was recent.

@Grot
I'm curious what "regular maintenance" analogous to changing the oil on your car should one be expected to perform on a sealed electronic device that is not intended to be user serviceable?

@Grot you can speak up but I don't think you're going to change anyone's mind. In other words unless you like hearing yourself speak you're wasting your time.

@Grot
Basic external cleaning is stated in the instruction manual. Opening sealed components and cleaning the internals is not. And certainly such components should not fail with normal use within 12-months.

@Grot "I think if the issue was as pervasive as we’re lead to believe from a passionate and vocal group of folks on the internet, I’d imagine something would have been done by now."

In the US, Nintendo is offering free repairs on all defective JoyCons regardless of warranty status, which is a pretty big admission that something is wrong.

@Grot If the door handles fell off a car every 6-12 months with average get-around-town use of commuting to and from work once per day and buying groceries twice a week, but were warrantied for 90 days only, would that be a defective product, or simply less durable than some consumers are expecting?

There's no fixed litmus test for the answer, but the legal argument that could be (and is being made) is that the product should offer sufficient durability to carry out its intended function for a reasonable period of time, and in this case, reasonable period of time/hours of use could be roughly based upon other home and portable consoles, including Nintendo's own prior Circle Pad on the 3DS, which also could develop drift, but much less frequently/definitively. As is, it does not hold up well to it's stated use, and significantly less than its peers, including predecessors from the same producer.

"Anecdotally" I'd say it's a pervasive issue, beyond just internet ranting. I have had sticks go bad on many different consoles including X1, WiiU, X360, even a 3DS. But all of them were subjected to significant use to produce that result. Meanwhile I've burned through 4 sets of Joycon in 3 years, each with the same failure mode, generally failing within a 6 month period of use.

At a certain point, an unfitness for the stated use as a lack of durability crosses into known defect territory.

The fact that Nintendo already moved towards repair out of warranty on Joycon in the US is a similar move to Microsofts "unacknowledged acknowledgement" of the Elite controllers doing the same thing. Elite has an issue with the rubber grips falling off and the bridge of the bumpers cracking. Similar to joycon if you search xbox elite on amazon the first thing that comes up is repair parts for the bridge and grips.

I agree that Furukawa's statement is a non-statement. But Nintendo is in a position that they can't afford to acknowledge anything. If found guilty of a problem they would be required to recall the joycon and remedy 100% of sold units....so it's in their best interest to deny, downplay, and minimize until backed wholly into a corner.

While I do agree that there's no reasonable expectation for a company to indefiitely repair wear & tear parts, I do also think there's a reasonable expectation for a company to spec parts to their suited use, and be held liable when the part does not meet that requirement. We're not talking about eSports pro gaming breaking controllers....we're talking about mostly buying Nintendo's first party games and a few third party games and playing the hardware on a regular basis. Controllers don't last a console's lifetime, but 6-12 months isn't reasonable.

@Zeldafan79 Those wore down so fast after playing Mario Party. The intense circular motions just shreds the plastic of the analog.

@NEStalgia I owned a fiat 500. In less than 80k two door handles fell off. I might as list the rest... a new transmission, new clutch, new gearbox, new wire harness, two new batteries, new starter, new alternator, and once it had an electronics error that would randomly start and stop the wipers. Today I own a Toyota. I have 40k and all I have done is changed the oil. I used to buy Nintendo's with a sense of indestructibility. Now I wonder if the company has gone the way of my Fiat. I loved my Fiat but mechanically it was a piece of crap. I'm neutral on my Toyota but it's problem free.

@sixrings "Joycons like a Fiat".....kinda says everything, doesn't it?

At least with Switch it's one specific known faulty/underspecced part rather than the entire thing being a flea trap like Fiats though

@Grot I'd venture to say the problem exists everywhere, but a lot of gamers aren't savvy enough to recognize a drift problem until it's extreme....it's not that they don't have problems, it's that they don't know they have problems and blame the games. I've seen it in person myself numerous times. Someone complaining about a game, or losing all the time or whatever....blaming the game, the players (Splatoon) etc. Frustrated. Then either commenting about ACNH and the character walking on their own... Or I say "go into this menu item" and they go into a different one and seem confused. "Nono you went into the wrong thing" ....."no I did the right one". Here, let me see......and the cursor is scrolling automatically 1 or 2 selections away from where you leave it. Massive drift....they had no idea. The machine was unplayable to me. They'd been running it like that for months thinking the games are too hard. Of course they're too hard when "Attack' in dragon quest randomly selects "items." and hitting your rock in animal crossing always digs the dirt near the rock. because if you leave it facing the rock it'll face away by the time you hit A.

So I think it's far more widespread than even the reported number just because Nintendo gamers aren't exactly the Steam Controller crowd and can't always detect when their hardware isn't performing properly. So we here about it more here. RROD was obvious to all consumers because the unit failed to power on.

I was actually going to send mine for repair, but then once the covid thing started up I didn't really want to deal with dropping stuff off at the post office. From the above it sounds like their repair service may not be replacing sticks always either, and probably just cleaning some to do "something" for repair, so sending them in might have been a waste of time and money anyway. The real issue is the contact erodes with wear. Contact cleaner is like blowing into an NES cartridge. If they'd been really replacing or fulling swapping out sticks it would be a definite win, but it sounds like they (or their contractor) is cutting some corners in the repairs in at least some cases. So in the end it was probably wiser to just buy the sticks and do it myself than put the money into shipping.

I do agree about people not wanting to repair things. I suppose the best solution should have been for Nintendo to just supply cheap/free replacement sticks. But I also realize that a lot of people aren't going to be able to deal with micro-ZIF sockets and 1.5mm flex cables, or the tiny triwing screws. And technically Nintendo isn't allowed to actually say that can be done since a closed consumer product with a Li battery isn't "allowed" to be opened to consumers or encouraged to do so by the mfr otherwise it changes their whole approvals process for the product, and different, bulkier housings etc are required. It's kind of a miracle they left the screws exposed and not glued, threadlocked, and/or clasp fasteners at all.

@n8p I think that's for North America only?

Forgive me, but I can't help but chuckle to myself while recalling all the aggressively ignorant members of this community who've been averse to acknowledging the dreaded drift even exists. It took a while, but here we have the Nintendo President making a public apology over the very thing! Every user on here who has repeatedly insisted this isn't a manufacturing issue and pushed the blame on the consumer has egg all over their face. Y'all are dumb!

@Grot Yeah you're being pro corporation. Good job

How many times are they gonna say "sorry" or "we know about the problem"?

I have a VITA, 3DS, 2DS, PS4, PS3, and Switch. The Switch is the first time where I've experienced drifting.

In order to fix it, I grab a plastic straw, put it under the Joystick's flap (don't know what it's called), and blow slowly. That surprisingly fixes the drifting. Should I have to do that though? No. These controllers are expensive and for this to have this big of an issue is unacceptable, oversight or not. We shouldn't have to fix up something Nintendo is making us pay for.

@Grot
An entire console failing is quite a bit more obvious and serious than a joystick gradually failing on an easily replaceable controller. This would be why Microsoft reacted the way they did, and why Nintendo is reacting the way they are.

Let's put it this way: if the Switch itself failed at the same rate as the JoyCon controllers, then you can be certain that it would be a "frontpage" story on every gaming website.

I think Iwata would have apologised earlier.

Now, Yamauchi would have told people they should be grateful for the additional challenge.

Some of these comments... People aren't simply upset because of having to replace or repair the product. They're upset at the clear reduction in quality compared to Nintendo (and the others) in the past. That's not a direction anyone should want them to head in.

@NEStalgia your comment #158 is exactly right - the problems aren’t always noticed because some games don’t use both joysticks, whereas on other Nintendo systems they only had one joystick for movement so any issue may have been noticed sooner. Add in motion controls and it’s less likely to get noticed when there is a minor drift, especially if a little movement on the faulty stick usually ‘corrects’ it until the next time.

I totally get the points @Grot was trying to make about maintaining joysticks/consoles etc and a year warranty, and new products obviously can have issues too ... but when a component fails within 0-3 months that’s a fault, when it happens to two products brought 1 year apart and the issue has been brought to the company attention already that’s a failing. When it happens to three products within 18 months (same issue on same joycons) and on another two sets of replacement products - it’s not an isolated incident. Plus many others have and are still experiencing regardless of the types of games being played. If you’ve not experienced it you don’t realise how frustrating it can become.

The fact this tech is then being used in Switch Lite and that’s now having issues means it’s even worse for those owners. And being in the UK there’s no guarantee of a free repair after the year has expired (and subsequent extended warranty).

My 5 N64 controllers & 8 GameCube controllers/wavebirds have just been tested after sitting in open storage bags for months ... zero drift, but I need to change the battery in my GameCube as it doesn’t hold the settings info - I guess I’m searching MeTunnel for ‘how to’ vids tomorrow!

I suffered from drift was well. I bought a joystick replacement kit online, and followed Nintendolife's guide to install them. I highly recommend anyone else suffering to try it.

@Grot All the joycons I’ve sent have luckily been fixed free of charge - even ones that have been out of warranty (spares that hadn’t been used for awhile so unknown drift issues at the time). You’re quite right that it is a unique console so hopefully lessons will have been learnt for future Switch products or a future revision .. it hasn’t put me off getting Day 1 products but I’d be more cautious getting them for my kids.

In this day & age unfortunately it’s hard to make a comment without the whole “I’m right you’re wrong” attacks. The written word can sometimes come across as ‘my way only’ or misread to mean something you didn’t intend. I hope none of the negativity directed at you rather than your comments brought you down 😊

@Desrever now fix the damn Joy-Cons

A little late for sorry, but hey, better late then never I guess. Look, you guys used a cheap solution, Nintendo. Everyone can't be wrong, just own up. Off subject, but my Hori Left Joycon with the D-Pad hasn't had a hitch yet-- You have no idea how bad I wish Hori would come out with a Right Joycon and I can be drift-free completely.

Can't wait for the joy cons 2.

But really Nintendo, if you're making Joy Cons 2, update the grip so I can keep it on in handheld mode.

These joycons drift more than my Bimmer 😉

@Grot it’s a design flaw. That’s why there is a law suit. Nintendo is at fault here not the victims of their garbage design.

How gross to blame people for not repairing their own products.

Never had the drift problem till the update right before AC, and I had the Switch on release date. Even after multiple joycon syncs. To me, it's a software problem. Fix the update and I bet that fixes it.

@Dethmunk Nintendo has now known for years and still sells this shoddy product. Defending this is disgusting.

@Sculptor my thoughts exactly. The lose contact with their customers when they gain confidence and it's always the same with them

Excuse me but how is this an issue for the joy-con alone? I'm experiencing the same ***** on the Pro Controller.

@Grot They like to post a joycon article every now and then on here and the reactions are always extreme, black or white and nothing in between. If you refuse to get mad over it you're a corporate bootlicker. If you haven't experienced drift, you're in the minority. I still think a site like this is no place to gauge how big a problem drift is - a group of people who play video games way more than most, in a comment section of a specialist website, is not really a good measure of nearly 60 million or so Switch users.

I would still like Nintendo to release some data, which I'm sure they have, on how many controllers have been sent in with defects.

I bought Switch at launch and left started drifting last winter.
I feel sorry for Switch Lite owners especially.

I bought new pair (red and blue), and idk what its problem is because it keeps losing connection suddenly at weird times. At first it did not always even charge when docked. Yes I have resynced few times.

@WiltonRoots Good thing this lawsuit and Nintendos response isn't based soley on the comments on this website then!

Why are you so convinced that it isn't an issue? When even Nintendo have acknowledged it is an issue?! lmao

Have three sets of joycons and a Switch Lite.
Never experienced this issue with any of them.
Maybe I'm just lucky...

Thanks to joy-con issues, I hardly use my Switch anymore. It means I haven’t bought a game in many months, and instead get everything (cheaper) on my PS4

@Doktor-Mandrake Did I say it wasn't an issue? I see enough posts in here to see it's an issue. Hence why I said I would like to see figures from Nintendo as to how many joycons they've had to repair. They won't say anything as they're in the middle of a court case. All they've said is their usual "sorry for the inconvenience". There's hundreds of millions of joycons out there in the wild, they can't all be knackered. If there was there would be a worldwide product recall.

@Grot Yep I pretty much expected someone to bite, as I said, most people in here only see things in black and white. Look at the thread on Nintendo Directs - they said they'll keep doing them until we come up with something better, which people read straight away as, "waaaaahhh!!!?!??!! Directs are finished!!?!?!?!"

I agree on the matte finish not holding up, my joycons went from a nice grainy feel grey to a slightly satin finish.

Dreamcast controllers to me are still the flimsiest things I've ever used, those triggers didn't last 5 minutes. I always had to have a tube of superglue nearby.

Bonjour everybody;

Since I removed - cut it with a small nail scissor - the very small rubber flap under the joycon stick and re-calibrated it after; the drift does not happen again. My son and grand-daughters did the same and no drifting anymore.

The drift started to happen when playing Mario Kart and Witcher 3. Since then; I played 320 hours on Witcher 3 and never had the problem again.

Thanks

@Anti-Matter SpawnWave did a video where he deconstructed the entire JoyCon stick and found a problem with the material used inside, graphite. It is prone to erosion over time and usage. It basically means you'd need to clean the whole stick out every couple of play sessions if the wear gets bad and even then a little drift may still be experienced... No one is going to do that, anyway.

The drift is caused by an issue with the printed circuit board inside the JoyCon analogue stick. It has been engineered to a price with plastic sliders that move back and forth on pads as you move the stick. In most drifting sticks there is white dust all over the circuit board and often a build of dirt on the movement sensors. You cannot reliably "clean this" and the only solution is really to replace the analogue stick unit, preferably with an OEM part. You can do this yourself if you have the skills, or you can get someone to do it for you. Much cheaper than a new Joy Con and much faster that Nintendo repair.

@WiltonRoots Just to quote your own post here

"I still think a site like this is no place to gauge how big a problem drift is - a group of people who play video games way more than most, in a comment section of a specialist website, is not really a good measure of nearly 60 million or so Switch users."

No one is using this site, or any other website to "gauge" how big a problem it is. The lawsuit won't be based off a couple handful of people on NL lol

@Grot No they didn't directly say it.

They just implied it, they also implied this website is being used as a "gauge" to see how big a problem it is. Which isn't the case. At. All.

@Doktor-Mandrake Nope it's based off the complaints of 18 people in America. Absolutely massive massive case.

https://chimicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Nintendo-Amended-Complaint-Filed-1.pdf

Yet you'd think it was the Nuremberg trials around these parts.

@WiltonRoots Surely a lawsuit relies on much more then just this, such as burden of proof.

If that wasn't the case you'd be seeing lawsuits of this nature left right and center.

@Doktor-Mandrake It's in America where lawyers love making money, they'll take anything on, even if these people lose, the lawyers still get paid. Cases like this happen all the time over there.

Ok is nintendo going to fix it or we just have to deal with it? if so I don't care its just something you have to deal with at this point.

If you have joy-con drift, watch this brief video on Youtube: "How to Fix Joy-Con Drift at Home! No tools required! | Nintendrew"
I haven't had any problems, but that video has an overwhelming amount of likes.

@Bon_Kurei send them in. They fix they for free. I’ve sent over a dozen in (I manage four switches for nieces and nephews.)

@WiltonRoots Well I guess, but I'd like to think their case won't make it past daylight if its false

@Doktor-Mandrake American law is crazy, I've seen people take class actions against Subway because their foot long was 11.25" These cases drag on for years and the people that start the lawsuit end up paying up more than anyone else. Pick up a magazine on an American airline, it's full of lawyers ready to fight a case over zilch. Lawyers will make millions and plaintiffs will make $30. They're basically paying for their lawyer's swimming pool.

@Dethmunk @grot

Well obv the % is untrue and said to drive home a point.

But it is suspicious that everyone i know all has had their joycons drift.

Sure can keep sending em back.
But after 3 times? Yh f that.

Never had problems with any nintendo system up till this point.

Snes, n64, Cube, wii.
Gb, gbc, gba, ds, 3ds.

Note that i left out nes and wii u.
Wasnt alive during the nes era so cant confirm that.

But the Wii u was the first sign of me seeing how nintendo makes lesser quality products.

It might not be on purpose the way they brought out the joycons.

But not really offering a solution for them after a high failure rate in my experiences and in my friend circle is bad.

And it all comes down to a design flaw.