Nintendo Switch Controllers Are Beginning to Fail in Large Numbers

Nintendo's Switch has been quite popular over the last two years, but a persistent problem with JoyCon drift has the community buzzing.

[lptmg]

I haven't had that BUT my right joycon's R button only works when it feels like doing so...

you can't buy separate joycons, can you?

[UltraNova]

Nope, that'll be 80 bucks for a new pair. Nintendo thanks you.

[bouzebbal]

Not usual that Nintendo consoles and especially controllers fail.. Their hardware is usually built to last..
I was doubting this console from the beginning, but mostly the sliding part of the joycons that would go loose overtime.
Pair of joycons is so expensive for what they are.. One of the reasons i skipped this console.

[froy402]

Not true

[SuperRaccoon]

You actually can buy a single joy-con. They're pretty hard to find, though. I've only ever seen them in the standard grey color and the MSRP, at least on Amazon, is $49.99. Not really worth it to buy them separately.

[Old McGroin]

Here's a link to buy a single right joy con for $31 on ebay in case you need it: https://m.ebay.ie/itm/Ninte...

Just do a quick search for single joy con, they're out there!

[DaDrunkenJester]

You can buy used "refurbished" joycons separately at Gamestop.

[Gemmol]

40 for one side

[froy402]

Yes you can buy separate joycons, I bought a separate single pink joycon for my daughter so she could join in mario party, also works with stock grey joycon handheld mode and all

[Donald84]

Nintendo Switch has been a runaway success for Nintendo - something the company so desperately needed after the disappointing Wii-U last generation.

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

Trump.. Now is not the time

[Einhander1971]

Oh look at all the down votes when u mention Nintendo Switch being a runaway success😂the truth is hard to swallow!!!

[Tross]

It has been a success for Nintendo, yes, but this is an article about an issue with its accessories. Saying "well, it's selling well" is neither germane to the topic at hand, nor does it mean that this is not an issue that is occurring. Ergo, Donald84's post is irrelevant and pointless. I guess by that logic every time we see an article talking about Sony censorship or harping on crossplay for the billionth time, it would be pertinent to drop a post saying that the PS4 is on track to top 100 million units sold with no actual mention of the topic being discussed (not that either of those topics should be dignified with a response period anymore, but you get my point).

[ShadowWolf712]

Or because it has nothing to do with the topic and almost seems designed to derail or downplay it.

[Mr Marvel]

How is this relevant to this topic?

[Donald84]

Any suggestion? https://www.firstbankcard.m...

[AllMightyFox]

if you couldn't feel the Joy-Cons thin cheap plastic when holding 1 at a demo station at any store and still bought it, then you deserve it ….

If you haven't realized Nintendo is more focused on ports and hardware profits (cheaply made) then you deserve this

If you couldn't realize purchasing a tablet console without built in chat features was a bad choice, you deserve this

the only way a Switch owner could be a worse person than they are ??? play EA games on your Switch, lmao

[DarXyde]

Did Nintendo kick your dog or date your mother or something?

I'm seeing a pattern where you have a vested interest in going into Switch articles to lecture others or criticize Nintendo.

[AllMightyFox]

I enjoy it … I own a Wii U, Wii, Gamecube, NES, etc. (so I have a valid voice, no Haterade)
but unlike fanboys I can tell when a company turns hard south … am I upset with those running my childhood games …. Yea
We live in an age where making a quality product interferes with profits (no cash in cures homie)

Nintendo is dead …. but FANBOYS will be what they are, Stupid … so yea I mess with all these everything great for me, I barely noticed I did have chat features without a cellphone which cost more on a KIDS console.

plus it's nice meeting people like you, but only if you knew what I thought of you :) Trumpateers

[DarXyde]

This is a pretty tangential rant, if I've ever seen one - unsubstantiated in some ways and uninformed in others, yet it serves its purpose of providing me with insight into your process.

I think we're done here.

P.S., I'm sure your opinion of me isn't exactly rooted in reality, and that's okay. Worse things have likely been thought by better people.

[LoveSpuds]

Nintendo deserve some criticism in respect of pricing of peripherals and their online network stuff, but other than that I couldn't be happier with my Switch. The exclusive stuff is amazing fun to play, I cannot imagine missing BotW or Mario Odyssey for example and boy am I excited for Luigis Mansion, Astral Chain and Bayonetta 3!

[Potnoodle999]

Haha your points are so retarded....

Ahahaha feel so bad for you... gtfo

[Potnoodle999]

Erm.... did you play breath of the wild. Quite a lot of people did. In fact anyone who calls themselves a gamer played it. Nintendo are far from dead friend🤔😁

[InKnight7s]

Of course the industry doesn't care if nintendo drop cross play, or featuring the least storage internal, price tag that never actually hit it actual MSRP except this year, a whole gen old, pathetic amount of add ons, cardboard, most expensive games, cheap plastic more than any chinese portable, still no real online support, absent of anything that any tablet can do, chating method is a joke. Almost half of Switch games have frame issues.

The industry only cares that sony doesn't support cross play for fortnite and other, or pro, X1X not actually hitting 60 fps or native 4k.

[Dragonscale]

Are you implying nintendo get a free pass compared to the others. Surely not lol.

[Sono421]

Are you implying they don't get a free pass? Literally in what way don't they?

Sony and Microsoft are Nit-picked to death, meanwhile Nintendo is behind in literally every single aspect with their console, but they get a pass because "eh It's Nintendo"

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Nintendo gets free passes on dated hardware, low frame rates, low resolutions and high prices. Sony and Microsoft receive far more aggressive criticism for things related to game performance, hardware and price. Games like Doom and Wolfenstein II can have sub-mediocre performance on the Switch, yet get praised for being “portable” and a “remarkable” technical achievement just because it’s on a Nintendo console.

[SoulWarrior]

It's portable so it's fine.

[SoulWarrior]

/s btw

[Gemmol]

Nintendo use flash storage which cost more and faster than hard drive memory in ps4 and Xbox

[DarkZane]

Not really faster if you consider the fact that loading times on Switch are either the same or slower.

[Stanjara]

Try to buy 32 gb thumb stick. Its less than that for them cause its a chip soldered on a board.

[Gemmol]

If you took time to research the system cost 200 something to make and they sell at 300 for a small profit there is no big profit that your mind just assume and make up

[C4rnos]

A small profit of (according to your $100 margin) around 3.2 billion dollars.
32 million units sold as of december 2018.
No big profits though, none to be found here when Sony and Microsoft are often selling their consoles at marginal profits and sometimes for a loss to encourage adaption.

[Tross]

The industry (referring to the various individual companies that make up said industry) cares about what they're paid to care about. It seems Nintendo is one of those companies willing to pay their price.

[gammaray13]

what do expect from a cheap last gen shitty console

[Imortus_san]

I don't use mine, got an adapter for PS4 and Xbox One controllers and that's the way to go.

[Kaii]

This is my gripe with the Switch, You pay this premium and you get this plastic turd shit.

Brilliant console games, absolutely abysmal production quality & online Infrastructure

Downvote away =)

[LoveSpuds]

Still playing my switch after more that 2 years of ownership......I had owned four Xbox 360's and two Playstation 3's in that same kind of timeframe.

[Elda]

Seems they manufactured a cheap product that doesn't last while charging it at a premium price & that's not cute.

[LoveSpuds]

I dont like the feel of the Joycons either, but I reckon the actual Switch feels really nice personally and the Pro controller is superb (but very overpriced).

[Gemmol]

How over price ? Look up how much it cost to make it cost over 200 something so they only make a tiny profit

[LoveSpuds]

@gemmol

Personally, i think the pro controller feels no better than the ps4 or Xbox controller, yet, in the UK costs 20 quid more. Completely unjustified

[C4rnos]

They're doing the same thing with the Switch lite too, it honestly annoys me to no end that companies take advantage of the exchange rates in such a way, leaving the customer to pay the difference.

[LoveSpuds]

It's this kind of issue that would stop me even considering picking up a Switch Lite, not that I would consider it anyway as i am more than happy with my original model.

[DaDrunkenJester]

I have had to replace a joystick on 2 of my 4 joycons because of drifting. You can buy a fairly cheap replacement kit on Amazon, it may take some time on your first try but there are yourube tutorials on how to replace them. It's annoying, but a whole lot cheaper than buying a new Joycon.

https://www.amazon.com/Vean...

[Gemmol]

If I was nintendo I would sue this website they making an assumption they do not have every controller in the world to know how many is breaking down for example it could be 1in 500,000 that break down either way it’s a widespread online problem not everyone else experience it

[SoulWarrior]

What assumption? One of my joycons started with this problem just months are buying it at launch, the fact that Nintendo haven't revised the design in almost 2.5 years is poor. There are many reports of this drift issue and it is very much a problem.

[Gemmol]

Did you miss where I wrote widespread on the internet do not mean widespread everywhere else

Don’t understand how you can get confuse

[Phoenix76]

My daughters joy con's have this drift issue. Now I'm having to consider buying replacements this weekend. It not hyperbole on the Internet, it's actually happening.

[Silly gameAr]

Do you say that for every company that gets slandered in your opinion, or just nintendo?

[Phoenix76]

Its not an opinion, its fact. Fact: my daughters controllers do have the drift issue. Fact: I am having to consider buying new ones as the idea of cracking one open for a fix isn't my specialty. Fact: its not some quick click bait article filler, joy con drift has become a serious issue for many.
And I don't care what company it is, a shoddy product should be called out.

[drunkenspy007]

ever since the gamecube, Nintendo's hardware has been crap

[PressPlayBros]

I don't have JoyCon drift but I have an almost brand new JoyCon that doesn't lock on properly to the Switch and easily slides off with a little pressure without having to hit the rear release button

[Donnie81]

Junk

[thejigisup]

Guess it's right about time to buy the switch lite

[SkatterBrain]

just in time for a new $300 switch , thanks nintendo for thinking of us,

[SkatterBrain]

I Hope They gey Sued Sooo Bad ,

[Tross]

I'm not surprised many are experiencing issues with those flimsy little things. They really should drop the price of them so replacing them isn't such a big deal. That's fast becoming a huge detriment to this particular system that effectively cancels out whatever we save on the price of the console. It also poses a significant concern for the Lite, where you can't swap them out.

[PhoenixUp]

There used to be a time when Nintendo hardware had one of the best quality assurance & offered their products at the most cost effective

Now they have an issue they can’t resolve and their products are now the most expensive to manage.

[QuePasa87]

It's a shame especially given how their past devices had such great build quality

[3-4-5]

* I feel like I'm in the minority, but I've been using my switch docked + pro controller from launch until now. I've never played any using the joy cons other than the ARMS demo.

The button layout is too cramped in my hands and I'm not as good using them and it's not as comfortable as using a pro controller. I don't need to use it as a handheld, because I have my 3DS....There are at least 20-25 3DS games I still want to play that will keep me busy for another 5+ years.

[william_cade]

Because the Switch is shoddy.

[shinoff2183]

I've got two sets. One joycon from each set has died. Pretty disappointed about that honestly

[KickSpinFilter]

No surprise there. They are flimsy as anything in hand.

[Ninte]

I barely used the joy cons and Play mostly on a pro controller so I haven't experienced any drifting issues.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

Hopefully this doesn't turn into another 33% failure rate scenario.

[Good-Smurf]

Its not just the joycon the overall build quality is really cheap,the plastic you can do deep scratch without much effort the screen are one of the easiest to scratch and marks.
Funny the original 3DS have far better build quality.
I liked Switch but looking at quality coming from N64 to this is kinda sad.

[dotwithshoes]

is "in Large Numbers" like the Switch was bending when it first launched?

[bujasem_89]

Just buy the newer console and you'll get new joycons. Yay problem.. Solved?

[Soy]

They finally got their Pro controller right - and on par with Sony's and Microsoft's - but I despise the Joycons. Just about useless to me, with the lack of a genuine dpad and the garbage analog sticks, along with a hefty and undeserving price tag. The only saving grace is being replaceable.

[Mr Marvel]

2 pairs of Joy-cons. Both left sticks started drifting after only a few months of use.
One of my "D-Pad" buttons gets stuck sometimes too.

FFS Nintendo, get your shit together!

On a side note, both of my Pro controllers continue to work flawlessly.