If you own a Nintendo Switch, you may well have experienced an issue which has been referred to by many as a "drift" in the Joy-Con controllers. Essentially, after some use, Joy-Con may start to detect user input on the analog sticks when no interaction is happening, many times as a result of previous interaction, where the neutral position isn"t fully restored after the movement.
The issue has existed since the Nintendo Switch launched and persisted for the past two years. Sending controllers for repair seems to solve the issue, but only temporarily. Things have gotten so bad that a law firm in the United States decided to file a class action lawsuit against Nintendo of America last week. Earlier this week, Nintendo provided a somewhat lacking response, simply saying that users can reach out to its customer support if they have any issues.
However - thankfully - it seems that statement wasn"t completely meaningless. A new report from VICE Games indicates that Nintendo has issued an internal memo regarding the issue. The internal document states that customers can send Joy-Con in for repair free of charge, regardless of whether they"re within the warranty period or not. Customers won"t have to provide proof of purchase for such cases. What"s more, if customers did already pay for a fix, they can demand a refund of that fee.
It"s worth noting, that this doesn"t necessarily mean that Nintendo"s "fix" will be long-lasting from now on. It"s also not clear whether other regional divisions of Nintendo will be employing similar practices. Nonetheless, with the issue now being fully acknowledged, it seems logical to assume that Nintendo will be including components that are less likely to break over time. It"s also necessary that the company gets this right, seeing as the upcoming Switch Lite doesn"t have removable Joy-Con - users will have to be without their whole console in order for it to be repaired.