European Commission ask Nintendo to repair controllers

I don&#x27;t know how it is in Europe, but in North America, their repair service is top-notch.<p>2 months ago I sent them a joycon of my 5 year old switch because it started to drift.<p>I simply filed a form on their website and dropped the joycon at a UPS store. Two weeks later, I received a new joycon by mail. I didn&#x27;t pay for anything, not even UPS shipping.

They should. We have 6 different joycons and 2 have been repaired, the other 2 are showing the damn drift again.<p>Shipping them is a pain. This whole thing is a mess and the fact that they have to repair is the minimum<p>Joycons happen to also cost 100$ in Canada, so it&#x27;s not something cheap.<p>I&#x27;m really bothered. So many years making videogames and they still can&#x27;t get the analog stick right.

I&#x27;ve had to ship back 4 different pairs of controllers twice now. This BS has me second-guessing ever purchasing another Nintendo console.

Very cool post by, uh, the European Commission. Yay casual-tone governance.<p>Does anyone have a link to some reputable third-party explaining the actual issue?

Virtually all controllers share similar technology and one of the features for most of the console manufacturers is that they will break the moment a piece of lint gets stuck between the stick and the sensor. Given how difficult it is to access the sensor in order to fix the issue, and also how open-air the design of these sticks are, I&#x27;ve always assumed that this is on purpose.<p>I&#x27;ve started using the Power A controllers with the back paddles on PC (or a Razer Wolverine when I was being fancy and wanted LEDs), and I&#x27;m much happier now. The only problem I&#x27;ve had with Power A&#x27;s controllers is that the USB cable has a plastic housing that is a bit oddly shaped and thus it&#x27;s nigh-impossible to find a replacement, so I&#x27;m still stuck with a scenario that I have to RMA a replacement from time to time because they won&#x27;t sell the cord by itself.

The entire controller industry has this problem. From the base to the top end, controllers fail like crazy due to &quot;stick drift.&quot; It&#x27;s planned obsolescence.

Be nice if they did the same for Sony PS5 controllers, I&#x27;ve had two go on me (in a different way each) and god knows the PS5 isn&#x27;t out all that long.

Any guidance on how to get controllers repaired under this directive? (EU based but don&#x27;t have the receipts anymore)

I know many will want this covered by Nintendo out of principle, but it is a very easy fix to perform yourself for the average hacker. The parts and tools are inexpensive as well. I have replaced 5 joycon sticks now and I find it rather satisfying.

Hall effect joysticks seem really promising. Fundamentally, due to the way they work, they should be much less likely to develop drift compared to potentiometer-based joysticks.

Oh, so it&#x27;s not my poor motor skills, and fat fingers - it&#x27;s the controller.