Animal crossing and Joycon drift

[Bugs]

I've had my switch and the same pair of joycons since 2017. They've been drifting for years now, and any game with a completely moveable camera is unplayable.
I'm extremely stubborn and won't be buying any new joycons until nintendo stops using the cheap sticks that are causing the issue. I have a feeling they never will though.

I'm also super stubborn lol I refuse to pay for another pair of what are essentially broken controllers, and I find it absolutely appalling that Nintendo have made no move or effort to fix the issue.

What I did in the end is buy one of those cheap "fight pads" (basically GameCube controllers) and now I use that.

 

[WaileaNoRei]

Not sure if many people significantly beyond warranty on here have tried, but I was about a month beyond the one year warranty on my switch (bought April 29, 2020 - sent for repair earlier this week)

my joycon was repaired (or replaced?) and I received it back today, after having sent it out on Monday. It didn’t cost anything to have it repaired, Nintendo provided the shipping label and everything.

I believe Nintendo will repair joy cons for free, even when out of warranty, because of the known drift issue. - this is based on minimal googling, not expertise on my part, fwiw. (There may have been a lawsuit?)

so for those suffering from drift, it is worth looking into

 

[Hopeless Opus]

i've been dealing with a drifting joycon for almost a year now. it isn't THAT bad but it's also kind of torturous at the same time.

 

[VanitasFan26]

My left joy con since last year started drifting. I was forced to buy a pro controller.

 

[KayDee]

Just saw this video that seems to fix joy-con drift. I only have minor downward drift on my right controller so I don’t want to open it yet but I just tried applying pressure on it when it was drifting as shown in the video and the switch calibrator showed the stick snap back to the middle. If anyone wants to try let us know how it works out. It’s as simple as placing a piece of cardboard inside the controller stick

 

[Meadows]

I'm not havinh any issues, but I know with my ps4 controller that some games on the ps would have far more issues because they where more sensitive to joy con movements.

 

[bebebese]

Just saw this video that seems to fix joy-con drift. I only have minor downward drift on my right controller so I don’t want to open it yet but I just tried applying pressure on it when it was drifting as shown in the video and the switch calibrator showed the stick snap back to the middle. If anyone wants to try let us know how it works out. It’s as simple as placing a piece of cardboard inside the controller stick

I haven't tried it either, and I've never had any drift, but now I'm wondering did I inadvertantly prevent it by using a hard clear case for my switch since release, and that's applying enough pressure for things to not go haywire?

 

[JKDOS]

Just saw this video that seems to fix joy-con drift. I only have minor downward drift on my right controller so I don’t want to open it yet but I just tried applying pressure on it when it was drifting as shown in the video and the switch calibrator showed the stick snap back to the middle. If anyone wants to try let us know how it works out. It’s as simple as placing a piece of cardboard inside the controller stick

I saw that on Reddit yesterday. I had really bad joycon drift, and I fixed it entirely with a q-tip and 93% isopropyl alcohol like seen here. (2:02).

I've heard the higher percentage the isopropyl alcohol, the better. A lot of the cheaper brands are 70-something %, so I had to go out and specifically buy a 90% brand.

The paper trick is interesting though as it makes a semi-permanent change to the hardware.

 

[KayDee]

I haven't tried it either, and I've never had any drift, but now I'm wondering did I inadvertantly prevent it by using a hard clear case for my switch since release, and that's applying enough pressure for things to not go haywire?

That’s possible if it has enough pressure to keep the metal plates in place.

I saw that on Reddit yesterday. I had really bad joycon drift, and I fixed it entirely with a q-tip and 93% isopropyl alcohol like seen here. (2:02).

I've heard the higher percentage the isopropyl alcohol, the better. A lot of the cheaper brands are 70-something %, so I had to go out and specifically buy a 90% brand.

The paper trick is interesting though as it makes a semi-permanent change to the hardware.

I’ve never tried the Alcohol fix but I’ve heard it doesn’t last so I never tried it. This new fix looks like it will be a more permanent solution but time will tell.

 

[bestfriendsally]

maybe i should swap my controller for my other one that i still have in the box?

the drift is annoying me a tiny bit, now

 

[JKDOS]

maybe i should swap my controller for my other one that i still have in the box?

the drift is annoying me a tiny bit, now

You might be able to try the paper trick. You just got to be careful the screws and international components.

Coincidentally after this trick was shared, my Joycons started experiencing tiny bit of drift, just enough to cause a little annoyance in Animal Crossing. I put a piece of my business card in and it instantly went away.

 

[bestfriendsally]

You might be able to try the paper trick. You just got to be careful the screws and international components.

Coincidentally after this trick was shared, my Joycons started experiencing tiny bit of drift, just enough to cause a little annoyance in Animal Crossing. I put a piece of my business card in and it instantly went away.

if you mean open it up, i don't really want to do that... i'm no good with stuff like that.. granted i've never done anything like that...

 

[CanuckChick]

I was warned last year by a good friend not to buy the switch lite in case this happens since I'd have to send the whole thing for repair. But I prefer the handheld and the cheaper price was worth it to me.

The drift in my lite started this March, so it's not even a full year of playing! I didn't send it for repair cuz at first it wasn't so bad, so didn't think it'd be worth it. Then progressively it got worse over time.

However, with the lacklustre updates in recent months, I haven't been playing NH that much. Now that I'm back playing a lot again ( hunting rare bugs for models), I noticed I haven't experienced any drift at all, it's very weird, perhaps the time off NH was good for my switch lite lol.

 

[Luna Moonbug]

i haven't read all the post here but i had the same problem. i found a nintendo link that they will fix the problem for free. I got mine back within 2 weeks. i bought a spare joycon so i was able to mail the broken one without having to stop playing.

 

[HappyTails]

Joycon drift just screwed me over. Even though my Pro Controller (which I bought because of joycon drift) is connected my switch is still registering my Joycons (which are still phyiscally connected because I have a case on my Switch)


Joycon drift messed everything up because I was trying to catch a scorpion and since my Switch is registering the Joycons instead of the pro controller, I couldn't sneak up on the scorpion and it attacked me. I probably should just disconnect the joycons.

 

[Autumn247]

My left joycon just recently developed drift after 2 years of working perfectly, so I ordered a new pair today. It happens a lot in my ACNH game, that was annoying but bearable to some extent, however it really made me angry when it caused me to walk off a cliff and die in Zelda: Breath of the Wild, that was the time it made me decide to buy a new pair. I should probably buy a pro controller but I prefer playing handheld.

 

[WaileaNoRei]

i haven't read all the post here but i had the same problem. i found a nintendo link that they will fix the problem for free. I got mine back within 2 weeks. i bought a spare joycon so i was able to mail the broken one without having to stop playing.
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I just want to second this, I had a great experience with it. You can be outside warranty (well I was beyond mine at least and it didn’t seem to matter), shipping is paid and the repair is super quick. It really was completely free, they send a shipping label and everything. I know if you are not lucky enough to be able to afford a spare controller or living with someone who has their own switch with whom you can temporarily share controllers it would be super inconvenient. But I do think for those who can, you should definitely take advantage of this. I believe it has to do with Nintendo being sued over the defect. The joy con drift is a known problem that is their responsibility, so I just like the idea of people making them take the responsibility of fixing it whenever possible.

 

[bestfriendsally]

You might be able to try the paper trick. You just got to be careful the screws and international components.

Coincidentally after this trick was shared, my Joycons started experiencing tiny bit of drift, just enough to cause a little annoyance in Animal Crossing. I put a piece of my business card in and it instantly went away.

i'd rather use my spare joycons if it keeps doing it...

but if that pair begins to start up, then i don't know at all...

 

[xSuperMario64x]

my joycon drifts every single time I play the game, it's not severe or anything but it does make the game kinda annoying to play. I've never heard of the "symptoms" getting better after extended breaks though.

 

[Disneyfangirl23]

Ah Joycon drift I wish we didn’t have this problem sometimes