It was reported earlier in the week that Nintendo will be facing a class-action lawsuit for their infamous Joy-Con drift problem. Now, some updates have since come out in response to these facts, including a volunteered fix for this very issue. For those not familiar with the drift issue, we’ve included an example video below from YouTube channel Hibal.
A representative from Nintendo first responded to Kotaku some days ago about the issue. They stated “At Nintendo, we take great pride in creating quality products and we are continuously making improvements to them. We are aware of recent reports that some Joy-Con controllers are not responding correctly. We want our consumers to have fun with Nintendo Switch, and if anything falls short of this goal we always encourage them to visit Nintendo Support so we can help.”
Little information was given as to whether they will have specific fixes for this issue. That is until their support page was updated some time in the past few days. The home of the US Nintendo Support page lists a directory where consumers can go about organising a fix for their faulty Joy-Con.
This fix will come free of cost too, with a customer service detailing stating that “Customers will no longer be requested to provide proof of purchase for Joy-Con repairs. Additionally it is not necessary to confirm warranty status.” Additionally, people that have previously had this Joy-Con repair are eligible for a refund, provided they can offer a receipt.
It should however be noted that this link or information is not listed on the Australian Nintendo site, for us Aussies looking to get a fix. This may mean, until further specified, that the issue of Australians fixing their Joy-Cons may be a bit more tricky. They may yet still have to go through the normal, frustrating channels of completing a form and only getting the repair for free if the console is in warranty.
The Switch’s Joy-Cons and their stick “drift” has been frustrating for some time now. The fixes don’t appear to be permanent for some, with many stating the issue returns soon after when they’ve had it repaired in the past. One case even had a consumer experiencing drift right out of its repair box. Despite the potential for recurrence, it’s good to see Nintendo offer free repairs from here. Hopefully Joy-Con drifting becomes a thing of the past, but only time will tell.
About the Author
Charlie Kelly
She/Her, They/Them
Charlie loves her video games as much as she loves dumb, charming JRPG protagonists: probably way too much. You can often catch her spending too much time being emotional over LGBT stories in games. She also thinks Yakuza 6 is the best one.
