Joy Con drift in New Horizons

[Yoshi155]

I barely play New Horizons anymore because joy con drift literally makes the game unplayable. Like it actually becomes almost impossible to move because the left joy con automatically moves left and practically impossible to move in any other direction. If this affects you guys and you still play New Horizons on a normal or daily basis, how do you deal with it?

 

[VanitasFan26]

Oh yeah it did happened to me a few years ago. My left joy con that was in blue started to drift. My character just kept going up so many times and it was really bothering me. I was forced to buy like a Switch Pro Controller and since then I have not experienced any drifitng. There seems to be a common occurance on mostly joy con controllers but I am not having any problems with the Switch Pro Controller and its been so helpful since then.

 

[AccfSally]

This plus the 'A' button on my Switch Lite. Some games I can't play anymore because of this 'disastrous pairing'.

I almost let one of my villagers move away. Had to make another character just to convince them to stay.
Also landscaping is 10 times harder.

Right now I'm looking for something to hook my Switch to so I can use a pro controller.

 

[pawpatrolbab]

If you haven't looked into it already, I've heard that nowadays Nintendo fixes drift for free. It might be worth sending them in for a repair. Otherwise I would suggest either buying third-party replacements ( some of them work surprisingly well ) or using a wireless pro controller if you'd like to play un-docked

 

[Belle T]

Step 1. Start up Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch.

Step 2. Get angry and hurl profanities when the Joycon decides to arbitrarily drift.

Step 3. When traumatizing your roommates and family with your immense vocabulary fails to improve the situation, lay down on the nearest bed, assume a fetal position, and cry.

Step 4. Repeat from Step 1.

 

[Flicky]

In general I won't really play any Switch game with Joy Cons because of the drift. The R button is also barely functional. I mostly play docked with a Pro Controller, although my Animal Crossing pro controller is now also suffering from drift despite being relatively new.

At the moment NH isn't too bad though, worst thing that can happen is my character softly plods upwards. Now, Pokemon HOME, on the other hand...

 

[Croconaw]

This hasn’t happened to me but I can understand how difficult it would be to play because of it. I actually thought this happened to me on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and had to stop playing for a few days. It turns out my dumbass just had tilt controls turned on. I felt pretty dumb obviously.

 

[Xara]

i don’t use joy-cons since i have a switch lite, but my right joystick used to have really bad drift issues. it started just a few days after i unboxed my lite and started using it, but i didn’t return it for a new one since i thought it would resolve over time. it didn’t, and it got to the point where my right joystick was barely usable; my new horizons character was constantly walking off to the right unless i held the joystick in place, trying to sift through my storage, pockets etc was next to impossible unless i used the left joystick etc, and eventually i just stopped playing entirely since it was too frustrating.

i ended up having to send my switch lite to nintendo to have it repaired. i had to pay for it, but it was definitely worth it since i haven’t had any drifting issues since, and it was cheaper than having to buy a whole new console.

 

[Seastar]

I use a pro controller now because of this. I went through a couple of controllers that all started drifting. I learned the Power A ones weren't very good replacements as they broke seemingly faster than joycons. One of them broke so bad it felt like there was an invisible wall when I tried starting the game and walking?? My official pro controller hasn't broken yet.

 

[Chere.]

Drift is extremely annoying, and I definitely understand how annoying it is for a game like ACNH. Splatoon 3 was also a game I was playing almost daily and it became unbearable to play because of the drifting. As someone mentioned above, I would highly recommend sending your joy-cons to Nintendo to be repaired if you can. I think it depends on where you live, but Nintendo offers this service for free. I had to send 4 of my joy-cons in for repair back in December for drifting issues and it was a very easy process! The wait time varies too, but I was told I would probably have a 2 week waiting time which I already thought was great, but the whole process only took about 4 days which was shocking. Dropped them off at the post office, and it took like 2 days for them to arrive and another 2 days to be sent back to me.

The only thing I'd be hesitant about is if you have special/limited edition joy-cons, because I have heard that sometimes they send back different colours (iirc this happened to one of my brother's friends). Mine were some of the standard neon colours so I was fine if they sent back different colours, though in my case they fortunately sent back the same ones. I could tell they were still my original joycons since I had some marks on them.

 

[Yoshi155]

Step 1. Start up Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch.

Step 2. Get angry and hurl profanities when the Joycon decides to arbitrarily drift.

Step 3. When traumatizing your roommates and family with your immense vocabulary fails to improve the situation, lay down on the nearest bed, assume a fetal position, and cry.

Step 4. Repeat from Step 1.

This is definitely the best answer.

 

[CylieDanny]

I have drift on my side switch and its really annoying. But Ive kinda just grown to work with it..

Its why I dont play my second switch much

 

[JKDOS]

I don't know if you're on a Switch light, but I usually play in dock mode. I am using my same Pro controller I bought in 2017 during the release of the Switch and BOTW. The thing really holds up through the test of time. Might be worth investing in one if you can.

If you want to play portable, get one of these devices. Best investment I've ever made with my switch.

Amazon.com

 

[Kristen]

i don’t use joy-cons since i have a switch lite, but my right joystick used to have really bad drift issues. it started just a few days after i unboxed my lite and started using it, but i didn’t return it for a new one since i thought it would resolve over time. it didn’t, and it got to the point where my right joystick was barely usable; my new horizons character was constantly walking off to the right unless i held the joystick in place, trying to sift through my storage, pockets etc was next to impossible unless i used the left joystick etc, and eventually i just stopped playing entirely since it was too frustrating.

i ended up having to send my switch lite to nintendo to have it repaired. i had to pay for it, but it was definitely worth it since i haven’t had any drifting issues since, and it was cheaper than having to buy a whole new console.

I just got a switch lite so I've been a bit worried about drift myself. I heard you could get them fixed by Nintendo for free now, but I suppose not Mind if I ask how much it was to get them repaired?

 

[Xara]

I just got a switch lite so I've been a bit worried about drift myself. I heard you could get them fixed by Nintendo for free now, but I suppose not Mind if I ask how much it was to get them repaired?

i think nintendo only repairs joy-con controllers for free unfortunately, not the switch lite’s joysticks. my repair costed around $90, but nintendo will do it for free if it falls under warranty (within the first 12 months of owning the lite)

 

[Kristen]

i think nintendo only repairs joy-con controllers for free unfortunately, not the switch lite’s joysticks. my repair costed around $90, but nintendo will do it for free if it falls under warranty (within the first 12 months of owning the lite)

ohhh i didn't know there was a difference between what they covered thank you so much for the info!

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I honestly bought another pair of Joy Cons when I had enough saved for them. I have three pairs besides the ones that came with my Switch and I might get one more pair. Only my original and first pair had a little bit of drifting but I bought two more pairs mostly because I liked their color or design and my default Right Joy Con was draining the battery much faster than the left one and so I bought the first pair to replace them. The real issue I seem to have is that the one Joy Con on one of the pairs likes to disconnect from my Switch in handheld mode even though it is still attached and I can’t continue until I disconnect the Joy Con and put it back.

 

[VanitasFan26]

I once bought a new Joy Con that was not made by Nintendo but it was a Third Party Version. I've had it like 6 months and I don't experience and drifiting in the joy stick.

 

[illumie]

I was really lucky and went 2 years without drift, then most games got unplayable so I totally understand your frustration.
I have bought a new set of joycons and for now it’s okay. I don’t dare to send my old joycons to Nintendo since they’re a limited edition and I’d hate to just get the regular black back.

 

[-Blue-]

I've actually managed to fix joycon drift by replacing the sticks myself. Someone donated me their rage controller and it was messed up. I ordered the parts on Amazon, bought some special screwdrivers. I think it was something like a T-__ screwdriver bit. And oh my god Nintendo made the screws so weak. I was stripping them getting them out. I went to the hardware store and bought the same exact size and type, but with quality metal. Spent maybe $1 or some change and it was worth it. I barely used force and the things were stripping.

I watched a thorough tutorial and I actually managed to get it done right. I'd advise doing this, if you can get Nintendo's help. It may take longer though.