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Nintendo's President Apologizes for Joy-Con Drift

It's an apology without a solution, though, as Nintendo isn't saying if and when it will solve the problem.

 & Matthew Humphries Former Senior Editor

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The Nintendo Switch continues to be extremely popular, so popular in fact, you're lucky if any stores have stock of the hybrid console. However, they all contain the same design flaw, and Nintendo's president has finally decided to apologize for it.

The problem is known as Joy-Con Drift, and occurs when the Switch's Joy-Cons register analogue stick movement without player interaction. It's so prevalent a class-action lawsuit was started last year and subsequently got updated when the Switch Lite launched and was found to have the same problem. Since then, Nintendo has quietly stopped charging for Joy-Con repairs, but no permanent fix has been forthcoming.

As Kotaku reports, a recent Nintendo financial Q&A included Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa making the following statement, "Regarding the Joy-Con, we apologize for any trouble caused to our customers ... We are continuing to aim to improve our products, but as the Joy-Con is the subject of a class-action lawsuit in the United States and this is still a pending issue, we would it like to refrain from responding about any specific actions."

Although an apology is appreciated, what has everyone scratching their heads is why Nintendo hasn't updated the Joy-Con design to stop the drifting problem happening. Even today, if you go out and purchase a new Switch it has the potential to suffer Joy-Con drift. Is it the case that Nintendo can't solve the problem without a complete redesign of the Joy-Cons, or has the company decided not to implement a fix until a new Switch console is introduced?

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About Our Expert

Matthew Humphries

Matthew Humphries

Former Senior Editor

My Experience

I started working at PCMag in November 2016, covering all areas of technology and video game news. Before that I spent nearly 15 years working at Geek.com as a writer and editor. I also spent the first six years after leaving university as a professional game designer working with Disney, Games Workshop, 20th Century Fox, and Vivendi.

I hold two degrees: a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Games Development. My first book, Make Your Own Pixel Art, is available from all good book shops.

My Areas of Expertise

  • PC components and system building
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Software development
  • Storage technology
  • Video games and gaming hardware

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