The Nintendo Switch is almost universally beloved by its millions of users, but that nagging Joy-Con drift issue is starting to chip away at that adoration for affected gamers.
The reported issue causes the detachable controllers to detect input even when gamers aren’t touching the analogue stick. A recent Reddit thread on the issue was upvoted a whopping 25,000 times and anecdotal data suggests that up to a quarter of gamers may be experiencing the issue.
There’s been nothing official from Nintendo on the issue from a public relations perspective, but support staff are telling gamers to send their Joy-Cons in for service, which costs the gamer $4.
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Now, the affected gamers (or some lawyers representing them) have had enough. The law firm Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith (CSK&D) has filed a class-action suit against Nintendo of America, which labels the controllers “defective” claiming the issue is “interfering with normal gameplay.”
The complaint (via Gizmodo) reads: “The complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleges that the joysticks on Joy-Con controllers are defective, leading users to experience drift issues. Specifically, the complaint alleges that the joystick on the Joy-Con controllers will automatically register movement when the joystick is not being controlled by the user and interfere with gameplay. The complaint, filed on behalf of purchasers of Switches and Joy-Con controllers, brings claims under various consumer protection statutes as well as various warranty and common law claims.”
It says Nintendo is well aware of the issue through complaints and its own internal testing. The suit also picks on Nintendo for “routinely” refusing to “repair the joysticks without charge when the defect manifests.”
American gamers affected by the issue can sign up with the law firm to participate in the suite against Nintendo. If you’re one of them, you can explain your complaint here.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
