Nintendo Joy-Con controller failure

CHOICE is looking into Nintendo Joy-Con controller failures in Australia (the issue is known as ‘drift’, described as “when the analog sticks on the console’s controllers register movements without input from the player”). We’re investigating whether Nintendo Australia is providing free repairs or refunds as required by consumer law. Please comment if you or someone you know has tried to remedy this problem through Nintendo Australia.

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Yes I’ve heard of that issue. I personally do not own any Nintendo products, although I would like to have a switch to play Mario Kart on. Anyway, the Joy-cons are not exactly living up to their name are they? They are more like rage-cons. What I find interesting though is that the issue is only present in Australia it seems.

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No, it’s definitely worldwide. In the US a class action was launched against Nintendo over it

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Well, I haven’t tried taking on Nintendo, but I’d like to… I’ve bought 2 x sets of controllers for my kid… because of this very issue. Finally, I gave up and bit the bullet for a ‘Pro Controller’… which appears to be the only thing that doesn’t clap out after 6 months. The ‘drift’ you speak of, makes playing games impossible. This should be a class action… I’d be in!!..

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If you’re buying them at a retailer like EB Games I know they’d definitely replace them if they were only 6 months old

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Back in the early 1990s, if you had a PC joystick you needed to calibrate it for every game in order to avoid drift. This was presumably just a function of the various technologies (multitude of joysticks) used on PC, the innate nature of analogue joysticks being imperfect, and the tools available to programmers to deal with those technologies.

I wonder if Nintendo has considered trying calibration processes rather than hardware replacement?

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You can calibrate the sticks in the settings menu on the Switch. This normally provides some relief but doesn’t fix the issue still.

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I got old Nintendo64, I know the thumb stick got to be in neutral position before switching on the console otherwise it will drift!

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I’ve a bought a switch last November, I haven’t had any issues yet with joy con drift as don’t hardly play it! The only issue do have is! Is when I put the switch into dock on TV mode and both joy cons into the controller. The connectivity to either joy cons drops out now and again when sit back a reasonable distance away from the TV around 2.5m-3m! I recently bought a Pro controller and I haven’t had any issues yet!

When I younger I did a Have a Pokémon Red Gameboy game break, I had to mail the game to Nintendo all way from SA to Victoria, a couple of weeks later I received a parcel back and Nintendo replaced it with a new cartridge! I still got that game today!

On the matter of thumb stick drift unfortunately it happen to any thumb stick on any gaming console! I got an Nintendo 64 the thumb stick can drift if you don’t put in the neutral position before switching on the console! The plastic housing does wear when thumb stick pushed against housing!