Anyone here who suffers from the drifting joy-con issue?
- Thread starter KnoxUK
- Start date
Yes :< I had to get a new pair because it was just unplayable. Link kept trying to jump off cliffs on his own and I kept hacking my crops in stardew ;_; The only game that I couldn’t really tell that it was drifting was Mario kart lol. I have a feeling my new pair (which is only like 3-4 months old?) might start drifting soon too. I actually fixed my first one by using contact cleaner to clear some dust out though. I also have the pro controllers but I actually like my joy cons more (maybe because they fit in my small hands better). I’m so bummed that their products are so **** but I keep dishing out money to Nintendo ugh. I wish I had waited a little longer to get my 2nd pair of joy cons because I really like the new colour combos that came out recently. Still, they’re probably still the same model :/
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I'm kinda surprised of how many people actually suffer with this problem. Over the time, I saw so many
complains about that, mostly the left Joy-Con being the one that makes the most trouble because of the
drift. Luckily, I never had to deal with this before, although I do check out here and there if my Joy-Cons
still acting fine, just to be sure everything is alright and not in need for new ones.
complains about that, mostly the left Joy-Con being the one that makes the most trouble because of the
drift. Luckily, I never had to deal with this before, although I do check out here and there if my Joy-Cons
still acting fine, just to be sure everything is alright and not in need for new ones.
Yup, on my 2nd pair. When the drifting got really bad with my original pair it turned me off from playing my games because it’ll always mess me up. They really need to work on a redesign, I can’t be bothered sending them in to Nintendo and waiting for however long it takes them to repair and send back, and I also don’t want to keep spending $70 for new joycon.
I feel sorry for people with the Switch lite when they start experiencing drift.
I feel sorry for people with the Switch lite when they start experiencing drift.
Yep. My right joy-con started drifting after a year. It wasn't as bad at first and blowing some air under the dust cover would fix the problem for a while. But each time the drift would come back quicker and stronger than the last time. After about two years my right joy-con stick was in such a sorry state that it was basically useless. My left joy-con was starting to drift as well by then.
I bought a new pair in august and so far they've been working fine. I hope I'll get at least a year out of them before they start drifting.
I've been playing video games since the 80's and I've never had any problem like this. Even our old NES and SNES pads work surprisingly well after decades of abuse. What happened here? Did Nintendo run out of nintendium?
I bought a new pair in august and so far they've been working fine. I hope I'll get at least a year out of them before they start drifting.
I've been playing video games since the 80's and I've never had any problem like this. Even our old NES and SNES pads work surprisingly well after decades of abuse. What happened here? Did Nintendo run out of nintendium?
StarParty8
Senior Member
My left controller's stick started drifting when I got smash bros ultimate. it's drifting up and I think it also has a left direction drift issue starting. However, i've never used my joy-cons after I got my pro controller, so I don't need to worry. I don't have a switch lite, but I know that unless Nintendo changed the joy-con stick, (which I don't think they did!) the Lite would basically be a half-scam, being unusable after like, 7 months.
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MarzipanDragyn
Determined Designer
My brother did--and it happened to his actual controller too (although, the controller issue wasn't helped by how rough my dad was with the analogs) in under a year. In his words, it's impossible to play BOTW when Link appears to have ADHD and is constantly doing the macarena. Needless to say, we all use controllers in Mario Cart.
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I got my switch about a month ago (it was second-hand) and I had the same issue on the same game! Sometimes when I check my phone quickly or just don't move, Link will slightly move right on his own. It's a bit annoying but it's not ruining my experience so I guess it's ok.
Soot Sprite
~dirty~
It's really surprising to see how many people have that problem. I have two sets of joy cons and neither have drifted. There's an off chance they might disconnect when my switch is docked, but that rarely happens. But my joycons don't get a lot of use because the majority of time I play on my tv and use a pro controller. The joycons really only get used when I'm traveling.
Yes. In just ten months my left joycon started drifting. Never knew anything about it until I searched around the nintendo switch sub reddit then I realized how common it was. From there I would just see new posts everyday about their joycons drifting. Not long ago my right joycon started drifting. At least it lasted 2 years. I would've been okay with that but I still rather would not see flaws. I did buy another set in March because I liked the colors but also because I did needed them as well. Playing games with a left controller drifting specially that I purchased along, I knew that game was going to be unplayable unless I purchased another set. Sadly my pink neon joycon also started drifting in ten months as well. Its not as visible as my original joycon but it still works like a charm. At the moment I refuse to buy another set and just ended up buying a hori dpad joycon which for these 8 past months its been working pretty good.
idiotdoomspiral
=__=
i rarely ever used my joycons until i wanted to play super mario maker 2 in handheld mode. after about a week or two of use they've both started drifting and it's frustrating to keep selecting an option you don't mean to just because your controller drifted the option last second. it's not that annoying in gameplay ( YET ) but god forbid i play a game which requires more movement options with the ****ty joycons. i don't think it's worth buying another pair because the actual problem hasn't been fixed yet
HopeForHyrule
Bunny Fanatic
Yep. It's made my Switch virtually unusable in handheld mode, which is really awful for me since it's my preferred method of playing.
Halloqueen
Senior Member
I have purposefully avoided using my Joy-Cons as much as possible, for a number of reasons.
I didn't get the Switch until November of last year for the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but the talk of Joy-Con drifting had already started and I became paranoid of the possibility. Combine that with the reports of people unintentionally scratching their Switch's screens even when being gentle, and I sort of determined that I would keep the console docked forever once it was in there. I never really intended to play the Switch in handheld mode anyway since I'd rather use the bigger screen of the tv, and have only used the GameCube controller in Smash Bros. games since Melee, so this was an easy decision. I only ever use the Pro Controller or the GameCube controller, depending on the game.
I haven't encountered the issue personally as of yet, but that's because I basically only used the Joy-Cons in my first month of owning the Switch because the GameCube controller doesn't have a Home button and I hadn't acquired the Pro Controller yet at the time. Sort of hope that it isn't also an issue with the Pro Controllers, but I have no reason to believe that it wouldn't also impact those since this is such a widespread, long-term issue.
Suffice it to say that my confidence in Nintendo quality is not high nowadays. I feel like there was a switch in priorities at Nintendo following Iwata's passing, and that more decisions are being made to maximize profits at the expense of maintaining quality and goodwill.
I didn't get the Switch until November of last year for the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but the talk of Joy-Con drifting had already started and I became paranoid of the possibility. Combine that with the reports of people unintentionally scratching their Switch's screens even when being gentle, and I sort of determined that I would keep the console docked forever once it was in there. I never really intended to play the Switch in handheld mode anyway since I'd rather use the bigger screen of the tv, and have only used the GameCube controller in Smash Bros. games since Melee, so this was an easy decision. I only ever use the Pro Controller or the GameCube controller, depending on the game.
I haven't encountered the issue personally as of yet, but that's because I basically only used the Joy-Cons in my first month of owning the Switch because the GameCube controller doesn't have a Home button and I hadn't acquired the Pro Controller yet at the time. Sort of hope that it isn't also an issue with the Pro Controllers, but I have no reason to believe that it wouldn't also impact those since this is such a widespread, long-term issue.
Suffice it to say that my confidence in Nintendo quality is not high nowadays. I feel like there was a switch in priorities at Nintendo following Iwata's passing, and that more decisions are being made to maximize profits at the expense of maintaining quality and goodwill.
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Yep. My original red/blue joycons started to drift (well, the blue/left one did) when I was playing Dragons Dogma. Had to pull back on the analogue stick to (maybe) reset it and stop the character walking forward, went out and bought a new pair after I wasted about 45 minutes of progress after my character didn't stop going forward and died from fall damage.
I don't even know where it came from. It was sat in the protective case on a shelf for about a month not being used. It was fine before I put it in, drifting afterwards.
As for the red joycon: connection issues.
New ones seem fine for now. I barely play it though, so for all I know I'm going to pick it up wanting to play only to find my character wants to kill themselves.
Same. I've never had any issues with Nintendo hardware until this point. I know just because it didn't happen to me doesn't mean issues didn't exist, but I played with those systems far more and took less care of them than I do these days.
It just feels like they rushed the Switch out.
- Joy con drifting
- Joycon connection issues
- Overheating and bending was an issue for many
- The processor basically being outdated out the gate when they could have just waited a few months to have the 'updated' version installed (which they've now done. "F' you, early adopters" I guess).
- Certain features being there but being bare minimum effort like they wanted to do more with it but didn't have time (such as the two themes they have, but no way to get more), or the 'play log' being very badly thought out and minimal when the 3DS/Wii U/Wii already nailed it
- No browser making anything requiring an internet connection difficult outside the house (connections that require login for example, which many public connections require)
- That crappy flimsy kickstand. If they're gonna have such a flimsy piece of crap holding the console up, put one on either side, or at least have it in the middle.
- The eShop not having (and still not having) something as utterly basic as a shopping cart, something a company as big as Nintendo who are realistically a computer company have no excuse not to have.
- Games don't automatically update, yet another feature that's pretty basic on any other system or launcher which I would expect from a platformholder. I think it's hidden behind the PSN/XBL subscription on those consoles, but at least it's still a thing.
- The horribly thought out voice chat system.
That's not to mention all the crap like their subscription """service""" that they're struggling to make even worth ?15, overpriced accessories, their god awful money hungry mobile apps...I don't know whether they're just rushing everything for whatever reason or they're just getting more money hungry...Or both.
I don't even know where it came from. It was sat in the protective case on a shelf for about a month not being used. It was fine before I put it in, drifting afterwards.
As for the red joycon: connection issues.
New ones seem fine for now. I barely play it though, so for all I know I'm going to pick it up wanting to play only to find my character wants to kill themselves.
Same. I've never had any issues with Nintendo hardware until this point. I know just because it didn't happen to me doesn't mean issues didn't exist, but I played with those systems far more and took less care of them than I do these days.
It just feels like they rushed the Switch out.
- Joy con drifting
- Joycon connection issues
- Overheating and bending was an issue for many
- The processor basically being outdated out the gate when they could have just waited a few months to have the 'updated' version installed (which they've now done. "F' you, early adopters" I guess).
- Certain features being there but being bare minimum effort like they wanted to do more with it but didn't have time (such as the two themes they have, but no way to get more), or the 'play log' being very badly thought out and minimal when the 3DS/Wii U/Wii already nailed it
- No browser making anything requiring an internet connection difficult outside the house (connections that require login for example, which many public connections require)
- That crappy flimsy kickstand. If they're gonna have such a flimsy piece of crap holding the console up, put one on either side, or at least have it in the middle.
- The eShop not having (and still not having) something as utterly basic as a shopping cart, something a company as big as Nintendo who are realistically a computer company have no excuse not to have.
- Games don't automatically update, yet another feature that's pretty basic on any other system or launcher which I would expect from a platformholder. I think it's hidden behind the PSN/XBL subscription on those consoles, but at least it's still a thing.
- The horribly thought out voice chat system.
That's not to mention all the crap like their subscription """service""" that they're struggling to make even worth ?15, overpriced accessories, their god awful money hungry mobile apps...I don't know whether they're just rushing everything for whatever reason or they're just getting more money hungry...Or both.
duckykate
your heart is a museum of everyone you've loved
The left joy con that came with my switch started to drift but I thought it was my fault so I spent 80 bucks on a new set only for that one to drift also 
thank god nintendo is doing free repairs
thank god nintendo is doing free repairsThe left joy con that came with my switch started to drift but I thought it was my fault so I spent 80 bucks on a new set only for that one to drift also
But they really haven't done a great job with repairs. People already reported drifting again regardless of them being fixed :/
kiwikenobi
GONE FROM TBT
I have a problem with my left joy-con's control stick, but it's not drifting, exactly. It just won't fully register the down direction. Instead of a steady downward input, it stutters. So, in something like Stardew Valley, my farmer will walk downward a couple steps at a time, stopping and starting rapidly. Fortunately that game lets you use the control buttons for directional input as well. But for other games, there's no real work around, just have to sort of muscle through the stubborn control stick not wanting to acknowledge that I'm tilting it down.
When I do the control stick calibration, where you can see the input on a circle, when I tilt the stick down, the console shows it keeps trying to jump back to the center. It's very odd. I wound up getting a second pair of joy-cons from someone who bought a pro controller and very generously let me have their fully functioning joy-cons, because I just couldn't fix the one that my Switch came with. And it was out of warranty, so I couldn't get it replaced.
When I do the control stick calibration, where you can see the input on a circle, when I tilt the stick down, the console shows it keeps trying to jump back to the center. It's very odd. I wound up getting a second pair of joy-cons from someone who bought a pro controller and very generously let me have their fully functioning joy-cons, because I just couldn't fix the one that my Switch came with. And it was out of warranty, so I couldn't get it replaced.
Yup, I've had my switch for about 2 years or so and I'm on my 2nd pair of joycons. It's usually always the right (+) side giving me problems, about a month ago the right side on my current pair had some drift issues so I switched it out for a different one. 2-3 days later I started using my drifty joycon again and for some reason it no longer drifted to this day it still doesn't drift anymore.
Honestly I feel like this whole joy-con drift problem is exactly what nintendo wants, make a garbage pair of controllers that will break in like 6 months then you'll have to buy new ones. A seemingly endless cycle of spending 80$ every six months....
Moment of silence for our brothers/sisters with the switch lite (the one with PERMANENT joycons)....
Honestly I feel like this whole joy-con drift problem is exactly what nintendo wants, make a garbage pair of controllers that will break in like 6 months then you'll have to buy new ones. A seemingly endless cycle of spending 80$ every six months....
Moment of silence for our brothers/sisters with the switch lite (the one with PERMANENT joycons)....
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duckykate
your heart is a museum of everyone you've loved
ah, really? I sent mine in and it seems to be fixed for now
Got pretty lucky there then!
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