The Joy-Con drift lawsuit brought against Nintendo has added the Nintendo Switch Lite — barely a week old — to its claims that defective design ruined the thumbsticks for the consoles.
The lawsuit now includes allegations culled from social media, YouTube and Reddit that says the thumbsticks on the Switch Lite are drifting after 20 hours of play. The suit, originally filed in federal court in July, seeks class action status.
“I beat Link’s Awakening over the weekend on my original Switch Lite system, I had only put like 20 something hours on it, and it started to show joy-con drift,” wrote one player cited in the complaint, on Tuesday. “Why is this happening earlier on than with the earlier Switch?”
“I can’t believe it, my Nintendo Switch Lite is already drifting,” said another. “I was playing BOTW and the camera kept moving without touching the analogue stick. I tried to calibrate and update the controllers but it was still the same.”
The firm of Chimicles Shwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith brought the lawsuit, which lists 18 plaintiffs in 16 different states, after a brief investigation this summer. That followed complaints and anecdotes about Joy-Con drift almost since the console’s launch in March 2017.
Joy-Con drift is when a thumbstick for the Switch’s stock controller continues to register input even though it isn’t being moved. This can cause significant gameplay problems. The lawsuit asserts federal claims of fraud and breach of warranty, as well as violations of state consumer protection laws.
Nintendo’s brief public response doesn’t address any specific claims in the lawsuit but does acknowledge the company is aware that “some Joy-Con controllers are not responding correctly.” The company has asked anyone affected by this to get in touch with its support department.
At the end of July, Nintendo was offering free repairs with no questions asked, according to an internal memo obtained and published by Vice.
A full copy of the new complaint is below.
Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Drift lawsuit (amended) by Polygondotcom on Scribd
Comments
I can’t believe nintendo have been so shitty as to not only continue producing a product they know is faulty, but to include the faulty design in a different product even after revising other issues with the base model.
Its worth noting that Nintendo are only offering repairs or replacements in the US, I tried to get it sorted in the UK and they refused, so we need a similar lawsuit for Europe. I managed to get my second pair replaced because I bought through amazon, but nintendo won’t play ball with their own product. Its real scummy behaviour from a company that otherwise seems on the up and up.
By Cropplycrab on 09.28.19 11:42am
When I say it’s worth noting, I do mean it’s worth updating your article to include the fact they’re only offering US repairs to try and quell the lawsuit, not because they recognise they’ve messed up. It’s disgusting behaviour. Please help step the pressure up rather than giving them misleading good pr.
By Cropplycrab on 09.28.19 11:44am
TBD. There have been breakdowns of the Switch Lite since launch that show that there are differences with the sticks. The drift may still be a problem regardless, but it’s not true that it’s simply the same thing again. They made changes. Whether or not those are enough is up in the air.
By Full_of_Spiders on 09.30.19 12:45pm
It’s absolutely disgusting that Nintendo didn’t fix the issue before releasing the Nintendo Switch Lite! If you thought that it was expensive before replacing your drift Joy-cons for $80 a pair, with a lot of people buying 2-5+ pairs of Joy-cons, think how much it would be to fix the drifting issues on the Nintendo Switch Lite. You can’t! You would have to purchase a completely new system at $200 each.
By Boo James on 09.28.19 1:52pm
That’s reason enough to never buy a Switch Lite.
By Sarcane on 09.28.19 3:32pm
What makes you think you couldnt repair a switch lite? It opens up just like the joycons do.
Surely you dont think they are just replacing all the joycons with new ones? Its super easy to open and replace the analogs.
By DankBud on 09.29.19 6:36pm
The analog joystick modules are an issue for all consoles this generation. I’ve never had more fragile controllers of any generation….XBOX ONE and PS4 controllers have all gotten the joystick drift. Now i am 100% sure to buy the extended warranty on all my controllers…..as they all develop the issue within 12 months. I just file the insurance claim and get a new controller every year.
By GoonieGooGoo2 on 09.28.19 3:44pm
What are you talking about? Xbox and ps4 controllers are fine….
Ive been using a xbox elite controller for years and its just fine.
By DankBud on 09.29.19 6:38pm
My oldest dualshock 4’s left analog stick doesn’t work anymore. I don’t have children, or abuse my stuff, it’s just dead. Had to buy a new one.
By Samuel Sarette on 09.30.19 8:29am
My XB1 controller is fine, with the exception of the looseness in the thumbsticks, but that appears to be by design, and I hate it.
My DualShock 4 on the other hand, has some shoddy build quality. I’ve been through 4 of them so far, and it’s always the left stick that goes out. It just stops registering presses and directional control after a few months.
It’s a shame, because the DS4 is now my favorite controller ever, but it just breaks too often. My brother has had triggers break numerous times, and we both take care of our electronics and never abuse them.
By Kang81 on 09.29.19 10:34pm
If these are the worst joysticks of any generation to you, then I’m just gonna assume you never had an N64 then. Not only did they have a pretty fragile design, some games were literally designed to break them (looking at you Mario Party!).
Not excusing Nintendo here, just putting that hyperbole in check
Also, if you’re moderately handy, you can replace the joysticks yourself. Kits with tools can be found on amazon for ~$15, but I can’t speak to the quality of the parts.
By Koehn on 09.30.19 11:31am
I’m really glad I only use this as a standard console with a pro controller. This really sucks for people who are trying to take advantage of the portability aspect. Doubly so for the Lite, since that’s the only aspect.
By MazokuRanma on 09.28.19 4:48pm
Pro controllers have a decent chance of getting drift as well. I actually just replaced the one I’ve been using for about a year. It’s certainly not as common as joycon drift, but it’s happened to plenty of people if you look into it.
By Biology4Me on 09.29.19 1:24am
As an unabashed Nintendo fan, I simply find that all existing Switch analog sticks are borderline useless for any sort of 3rd or FPS shooters. I have never had any sort of drift problem from my launch model, so in my reality it could be some form of overblown demonization that gathered a following. But not likely. That being said, I hope the sticks do have a complete overhaul, attempting to at least show a glimpse of the pro controller (and all other home console) sticks.
By Krumpun on 09.28.19 7:33pm
A failure rate of 30% means that most people will never experience any issues, but something that high is considered horrendous by tech standards. We’ll probably never know what the actual failure rate is, but it’s clearly large enough that Nintendo felt pressured enough to offer free repairs in some countries. If the issue was just limited to a bunch of angry Nintendo haters, Nintendo would have ignored it.
By Biology4Me on 09.29.19 1:29am
This is not unique to Nintendo consoles? It’s happened on my Xbox and PS4 controllers in the past. I think you will find that these people that have joycon drift do not take care of their console that well.
By Some_Thing on 09.28.19 11:31pm
Not true. I have experienced drift in one pair of joycons and in a pro controller, and I try my hardest to keep my tech in perfect condition. My controllers have never been dropped, scratched, or handled poorly. I always keep my Switch in a case when it’s undocked and I don’t use the Joycons when it is docked.
The most likely cause of drift is due to a film wearing down and creating a dust that triggers false inputs. This happens over time with normal use.
I have seen so many people accept anecdote as fact regarding drift. "My joycons are fine, so why is everyone complaining?" Drift has always been an issue with joysticks, but what makes it a problem here is the % of joycons affected by it versus what is normal for a controller.
By Biology4Me on 09.29.19 1:39am
I’ve never had a comparable issue with any other console, portable or otherwise, and it’s happened with 3 of the 6 joy cons I’ve owned so far. My switch barely leaves the house, and an expensive electrical product shouldn’t have a high chance of breaking just through regular use.
There’s clearly a significant design flaw, and while offering to repair or replace regardless of warranty is the reasonable response (like xbox and the red ring of death), the very least Nintendo could do is not use the same flawed design in a different product while not even acknowledging the issue depending on where you live.
By Cropplycrab on 09.29.19 3:39am
Also worth noting the switch is designed to be rugged, portable, adaptable, with the joy cons used in different formats. The rest of its really well designed, even the plastic screen is a good idea, the thing is designed to be dropped and fucked around with. Only the analog sticks are a problem, and a slight case defect where it cracks around the top left corner, which isn’t significant enough for most people to care about.
By Cropplycrab on 09.29.19 3:44am
You’re right that all controllers can experience drift, but how often and how quickly joycons start drifting is definitely enough to make it a special case worth criticizing.
By Mimikkyu on 09.29.19 12:23pm
If there are units getting this issue out-of-box and within a few hours of play, it is not an issue rooted in lack of care.
By harrylane4 on 09.29.19 4:36pm
"I think you will find that these people that have joycon drift do not take care of their console that well."
Funny because your talking about xbox and ps4 controllers drifting even though I never had a 360 controller drift in the entirety of the 360’s life and my xbox elite controller has worked just fine for years….
If anything, if your xbox or ps4 controllers drifts then you dont take care of your stuff…. Joycons will drift even from very conservative use.
By DankBud on 09.29.19 6:42pm