Switch Joy-Con lawsuit decided in Nintendo's favor

They won't see you in court

04 February 2023
by quence 7
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About a year ago, we reported on a class-action lawsuit put in motion by two families against Nintendo over the Switch Joy-Cons’ drift issues. Gamers have been struggling with these for years now, but this particular case didn’t actually hinge on that debate. Instead, Nintendo argued that the lawsuit could not proceed due to the Switch’s EULA (End User License Agreement) which forces parties to enter into legal arbitration rather than file a lawsuit for any complaints.

The two families argued that their children who were affected by the issues were too young to be bound by the EULA. However, a federal judge in California has decided differently. According to the ruling, the parents are the true owners of the Switch consoles in question, and the kids’ ages have nothing to do with it. As a result, the families’ complaint has been denied.

As of now, Nintendo has yet to face any serious consequences for faulty Joy-Cons, in spite of a fair amount of backlash. Click here if you’d like to read this particular case document in full.

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Comments (7)

khufuthemummy

1y ago

Boooo! I get that Nintendo is fixing joycon for free, but they should have changed how they’re made about a year or two ago. Some of the smartest people in the world work there, so there’s really no excuse for it to still be a problem. As a consumer, this falls into the negligence/corporate greed category, which is both rare and a bad look for Nintendo. I imagine most people just buy another joycon rather than mailing it away to be fixed. We also heard of the problems at the actual repair facilities as well. Yikes!


To be fair, we have absolutely no idea what their supply chain and manufacturing contracts look like. They could be locked into a 10 year contract with a specific supplier, which would absolutely be valid excuse, yet one we'd never be able to hear about. It's also something that, given time it takes and it not being as widespread as people raging online want you to believe, would be difficult to have discovered before contracts were made and production rolled out.

Personal anecdotes about the repair facility mean nothing. If you really want to give them merit, I've had zero issues and 2 week turnover during peak Covid. It was an extremely pleasant experience.

Decrying corporate greed when they are actively rectifying the issues for free is such a bizarre, you just wanna be mad take. Don't get me wrong, it would be great had this not been an issue at all, but people really need to get over themselves when there is a reasonable solution to the nonsense they want to be upset about.


lucius6

1y ago

Good for Nintendo, the drift issue is so overexagerated annyways.


khufuthemummy

1y ago

@bakfug

I agree with your first point. It’s a possibility! But if you’re going to go on to say they’ve solved the problem (it’s not as widespread anymore), then that must not be the case, or they were able to alter how they are made.

I’d consider myself an “in the know” gamer and even I was annoyed about having to mail my joycon in. Luckily I had an extra that I could use in the meantime. Not being able to play your Switch because you had to mail in the controllers just sucks. I have it on my Pro and it’s not covered in their replacement program, so a $60 controller is basically useless. My sister has joycon problems too and said it was just easier to buy another set instead of the hassle of being without them (granted, this was when she played a lot of Animal Crossing).

Edited 1 time

linkedtriforce

1y ago

@khufuthemummy

In the interview Nintendo posted to their site about the making of the Switch OLED, they actually specifically mentioned the JoyCon analog sticks (they didn’t use the word “drift” but it was obvious what they were referring to). They said they’ve made several improvements to the way the JoyCons are made over the years, and that they continue to improve.

I now have four pairs of JoyCons, including the ones that came with my OLED, one pair that was fixed/replaced by Nintendo, and two newer ones (within the last 3 years), and not one has experienced any drift whatsoever, in over two years.
For comparison’s sake, the JoyCons I had prior to when the OLED was released, I had to send in to Nintendo more than once a year, sometimes just a few months apart.

So, I’m not saying that drift doesn’t happen at all anymore, but in my own personal experience, I’d say Nintendo has definitely improved the design so it’s not as likely to happen. As people have pointed out before, analog stick drift can happen to any controller, and in fact people have complained about a similar issue with the DualSense PS5 controllers.

Edited 1 time

kuribo

1y ago

Miraculously I haven’t yet experienced drift on Joy-Cons but have on two Xbox Series controllers.


storabajskorven

1y ago

The idea that you can have a mandatory EULA that basically says that the law doesn't apply is insane.