The Nintendo Switch became a smashing success, while the hybrid console was arguably the most valuable model for the gaming experience. There is a hot button issue that isn’t used to distract us. A new study by a UK consumer group has seen that issue down to a design fault.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts are expecting that Nintendo will skip and release a successor to the Switch, and not a Switch Pro.
The aforementioned discos and controversies over the drag and bustle of the platform, wherein the analogue sticks and Joy-Con controllers stand without touch, have a marked lifetime of laudably praised platform. While some gamers blamed Nintendo, some insisted that people experiencing it simply misused their hardware.
Now, it looks like we’ve finally got our answer over five years after the Switch hit the market thanks to a British consumer group. Which?, on the circuit board, a question not one, but the name of the group; punctuation included.
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The research showed, with evidence, that Joy-Con drift is result of design and engineering flaws in the Switch hardware making it difficult for regular use to regain the analogue stick mechanism. Moreover, which? found dust and other contaminants in the Joy-Con housing during the study compounded the issue.
It was the result of the actual technical and mechanical problems at play. The consumer group aimed at taking aim at the game’s handling of all the issues – and on whatever the situation was. Which? is requiring the company to provide compensation for a customer who has purchased a replacement Joy-Con due to a drift and provide free repairs for incidents of a Joy-Con drift.
Nintendo responded to the study and the consumer group’s statements. As usual, it’s more or less wishy, washy and deflective, but in fact it’s a support for Nintendo, that would be more useful to consumers who saw a surge in happiness.
The newer OLED versions of the console still have Joy-Con drift.
“Soever we encourage everyone to contact Nintendo customer support, so that they can openly and leniently resolve any consumer issues related to the Joy-Con controllers analog sticks, or, especially, where the warranty doesn’t apply anymore.”
In the past, users reported that contacting Nintendo support about Joy-Con drift often resulted in free repairs being issued, and the customers did not even need to cover shipping. While Nintendo is lowering the drift problem for a PR purpose, it is clear that they take it seriously.
This technically is a win for Which? and consumers in general, but it’s important to mention that Nintendo has been offering free Joy-Con repairs in the event of a drift even before the study and evidence was published. This isn’t the company’s first rodeo about drift, having weathered class action lawsuits and even the European Commission explored the possibility of an investigation.
The Which? study is about two in five Joy-Con controllers being affected by the problem, which is quite staggering. When we look at the vast quantity of Switch consoles out there, it doesn’t quite make it hard to do that.
While Nintendo’s efforts to stop the problem in future versions of the hardware will succeed, it’ll be more fruitful, since the drift causes great headaches for both gamers and the company. And still, a problem of such magnitude hasn’t failed to lift up the resistance of the Switch, marked by the new light-like OLED.