@@IDK3679. Do you think that Nintendo is "a small company" it is one of the largest gaming companies in the world and they have more money than you can ever dream about.
@@aigeneratedwauigi2696 It literally had a movement stick, what are you talking about? Do you mean because it was flat against the console rather than sticking up? Edit: It seems it's called a circle pad, and for a reason. Sorry for the incorrect correction.
I am sure we definitely already knew this. Wear on the contact points in the slider-type potentiometers was analyzed and discussed as the problem. Foreign particles like dust exacerbating the issue was also mentioned. Cube potentiometers also suffer this problem but tend to last significantly longer. This is why adding paper for extra height sometimes fixes the issue and why others have used compressed air for a quick fix.
WD40 brand electrical contact cleaner goes for $6, good for cleaning all potentiometers. With the joycons, just spray after lifting up that dust skirt. The pro style controllers need to be disassembled and sprayed directly. Repeat sprays will wash away the lube, but the joycon sticks have a limited life anyway.
What games are you playing? I have used the same controllers for years handheld, and have no drift. I usually play none stick aggressive games, and when i play games like smash, we use pro controllers.
@@DvineCupcake I also noticed that playing Smash Bros, Mario Kart and other games which encourage recklessness seems to accelerate the appearance of Joy Con drift. I bought a new pair many months ago and they still work fine since I only play games like Pokémon and Animal Crossing with them. Pro Controller for Smash is a must-have in my view. ^^
Drift happens when people hammer the stick against the side and use that as a mongoloid physical feedback, instead of just using it the amount it needs, to actually do something in the game. That will bend against the hardware no matter what, you didn't pay for a titanium shell, and any embarrassing Fischer-Price ergonomics reducing that would out you as the big child you are for needing those training wheels. That's why so many people have it on one side, they have this habit of clawing at the console on one hand more than the other. This test is just cynically guesstimating on the same discoveries we knew years ago, to blame nintendo for being cynical and get people honking like "we should have known sooner". If you MUST do that, and MUST carry the thing around, and ONLY buy a portable switch that by design can't have easily replaceable parts like Wii U, you're GONNA get this problem. No other console does, like Sony that already dropped out of portables when you nuked Vita with the FTC class action lawsuit. It's amazing Nintendo didn't, they just cut off the Virtual console and it's own vulnerability to a lawsuit, so now you get the NSO. Enjoy.
If Iwata was still president, this issue would have been fixed years ago, with a public addressing of the issue, a serious apology, and a reward for Joy Con ambassadors.
Additionally he hated the idea of paying to play online, which is why it took Nintendo so long to go to a pay for online model. Nintendo is truly not the same without him.
@@kenyu9634 bro like seriously I remember 4 years ago I bought my switch and in within two weeks it just started drifting had to buy a pro controller after that
Didn’t take five years for end users to find out weve been saying it was cheap Chinese parts since day one. It only took someone else five years to confirm it. Also SpawnWave shows this almost two years ago too.
The fact that a circuit board failure contributed to the problem makes sense to me. My left joycon was drifting a lot, so I decided to only play 3 Houses, a game where the left joycons can be replaced by the left "D-Pad" for most of the game, thus meaning the drift would completely destroy my game. In my experience, doing this for a while caused the drift to completely go away and I haven't had it since, and it's been at least 3 months.
You can fix it with a q tip and alcohol. My brother's left joycon had terrible drift that I couldn't fix, but I found that cutting off the protection makes it easier to clean without taking it apart. It never drifted again. (I cut it off because the right one was easy to fix and its protection somehow came off).
It really grinds my gears when people do these sorts of stress tests to HELP big tech. and they just look at it and go "Okay." and then nothing happens. Guarantee that they're not going to revise either the PCBs or the mechanisms for JoyCons despite Which?'s findings.
im sorry, i get your frustration, but honestly what else can they do here? other than opening up the repair program globally? the vendor that supplies Nintendo these joysticks are one of the only vendors that can mass produce thumbsticks this small to fit into the joycon shell, at the quantity nintendo needs to fulfill for their sales. the vendor sells to more than just nintendo, and nintendo wouldn't be able to get them to redesign it because the vendor literally wont
@@natayaway They could if they were to sue them for damages to their image and costumers. But Nintendo only sues when it comes to their patents and intelectual property.
@@VixYW Not only would Nintendo lose the case with their sales numbers it'd be counter intuitive with people buying more pairs. They would lose the vendors that did business with them then news would spread with other vendors and before you know it you can no longer keep up with demands. But someone will happily take Nintendo's place. Even if they were to win lawsuits like that take years. Unless you can prove their stealing your product and reproducing it your locked in and riding that tsunami.
I mean, think about it -- if it was fixed...Why would customers ever need to buy multiple sets of joycons to replace the messed up ones? These things are expensive, even to just get one. Sounds more like an accidental design flaw they learned they could easily financially benefit from by getting more of your money.
I’ve fixed so many Joy Cons due to this issue and experimented with different remedies. I made peace with having to replace the stick every now and then, which is not ideal. After all this time, this is a great article but it’s nothing new, because it’s definitely a design flaw. It’s a shame because Joy Cons are not cheap either, and this issue sullies the experience massively. It’s the same reason why I don’t buy the limited edition Joy Cons, like the Skyward Sword ones. Great vid as always and merry Xmas to all!
@@Deadchanned The history of this has largely been forgotten, so to fill you in: the early church in Greece, especially in Ephesus, used the Greek letter chi (uppercase Χ, lowercase χ - pronounced "ˈkaɪ") as shorthand to represent Christ. Hence, while Χmas is an abbreviation, you're not getting rid of Christ's name by abbreviating Christmas (as long as you remember Him, of course), and it is still proper. That said, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Me: Hey, this pen I just bought from you won't write all! I tore apart the pen and found that the design is flawed and won't let the ink flow through onto the paper Pen seller: We expect our products to work as intended Me: Yeah, well it doesn't...
Make no mistake, the design is successful. They intended to sell you a product that does not do what you want it to do, so they can sell you a second product "fixing" the problem. Yay capitalism 🙄
@@carlostaffanelly418 OH MY GOSH, IS THAT WHAT THEY MEAN BY EXPECT TO WORK AS INTENDED!!!!!! 🤯🤯🤯 I never thought of that before!!!! That's probably not what they really mean by that (even with it being their intention for it to not work), but could you imagine if they really intentionally worded it like that as a secret f you to the fans, like "Yeah, that's working as intended, how we intended, not how you intended"
ive been through 3 sets of joycons. i ended up swapping to the hori split pad, and never went back. got an expanded sized case for it and everything. honestly, i’m not surprised thats its a design flaw, its a lot of functionality crammed into a tiny component. Not cutting nintendo any slack though, i feel like they could have done better ages ago; in fact i’ve already moved on to pc so i don’t really care what they do or don’t do any more and it pains me. i’ll come back for a couple hundred hours when the new zelda comes out i guess
I think these 'design flaws' are intended so they wear out quicker and buy new ones, the same thing other companies are doing with home appliances. Edit: Due to a lot of replies, I will clarify this is just a theory and should not be taken as fact,
Nah is just cheaper being made that way, also they are of the shelf components made by a third party, which is the same that makes the analogs that sony and ms use.
Planned obsolescence. Not everyone uses or has access(i dont) to the free repair service so im convinced its must be better for their bottomline to just screw ppl over
@@degreeskelvin3025 planned obsolescence requires intent in the design stage to break down. they didn't design the stick boxes, they literally shopped between vendors and went with the vendor that had a thumbstick that fit the desired dimensions, that's not intent. the lack of free repair services isn't because of their bottom line, it was because of a class action lawsuit potentially having a massive settlement cost, which would be more expensive than outright repairing them, so they offer the repair program to get them to drop the lawsuits. they don't have lawsuits in other regions, and in other countries that forward to either the states or china for repair, they have duties they have to pay when shipping stuff in bulk...
At least that they finally found the root problem plaguing the Joy-Con controllers, because this is concerning and needs to be fixed as best as possible.
You're foolish if you believe this is something intended to be "fixed". This is but a feature, not for you of course, but for the one selling you the stuff.
@@TotherKoala They're supposedly only free in the US, but I heard that they still charge people for repairs, only for the controllers to either come back just as they were when sent, seemingly fine only to drift after a few weeks or months, or even worse than when they were sent, if they even do come back.
I never had drift on mine but a couple questions: how old were the Joycons tested and how old were the components inside the Joycons? People seem to think that to fix the issue Nintendo should just make an whole new controller and ditch the old ones (people love to waste resources) instead of just upgrading the internal companents. There have been reports of joy-cons with different builds and different components despite looking exactly the same on the outside. The Joy-cons that come with the Monster Hunter V2 Switch are said to have different components and Nintendo themselves even at one point said that they do change and update components overtime and the build is never the same they just don't report on it. It should be easily checked if you look at the batch number to have an idea if Joy-cons use new components or outdated ones.
No drift here. Got an oled in march 2022 and a lite i bought a year prior that I gave to my sister. We might have gotten very lucky or wear down hasn't happened yet.
This lines up with what a lot of people in the community have been saying. The contact wear is why hall effect joy sticks are becoming more popular, and why most homebrew fixes involve cleaning the inside of the joystick or just replacing it all together.
I had issues with a pair of joy-cons (sold separately from main box) that I got for Christmas. Problems that I had experienced were (1) the (R) joy-con being disconnected fairly often time to time; (2) the joy-con pair were experiencing “stick key” problems (ie. trying to drift in MK8DX, but continues to drift or input problems)
The connection issue is the worst thing. It can be mistaken as drift sometimes too. The dock is blocking the Bluetooth antenna too much, I’ve found. I went to the control stick test menu when the switch is out of the dock and in table top, perfectly smooth. When it’s in the dock, it’s choppy, weak connection. The switch was in basically the same spot when I tested tabletop mode, right in front of the dock, and I was standing in the same spot (~15 feet away from the switch, normally I’m not that far but was that far for testing). So the dock is blocking the connection somewhat, and it’s enough for the Joy-Cons to not connect well. The pro controller is usually fine, the antenna on there is better since there’s more space for it
Some one about a year ago found out another issue, where there was a small gap between the casing and circuit board, and after time it would loosen causing misreading. So they cut out a small piece of paper, slid it under, and boom issue fixed
Also, if these issues happen on Joy-Cons, then it probably happens on the official Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, because the Pro Controller has the same protection problems as the Joy-Cons.
I got the Smash Bros limited edition Joy-Cons and since a couple years ago the right stick had been drifting downwards and it’s been a living hell to play any open-camera games with them. I ended up getting a pro controller a couple years ago and rarely use the joy-cons now but it’s still good to know the actual design flaw has been confirmed.
WAIT. THAT IS *EXACTLY* WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!! I got the smash bros limited edition joy cons. And a year after I got them, the right joy stick was drifting downwards. Playing open world games was a whole mess until I got a new controller (not joycons).
This wasn’t a drift, but it was the little tabs that hold the joycons to the switch, I was trying to replace the little tabs to metal one (the ones that come in the joycons are plastic, which doesn’t last very long) I almost had completed replacing the tab, until I snapped the ribbon cable, wasting my time and moeny, I still regret for not being more careful to this day
What's very weird about this is that if you compare old Nintendo controllers with thumb sticks from a decade ago (like the N64, GameCube, and Wii), they never drift for a long time! I'm actually impressed that they never drift for older controllers, this is just a design flaw for joycons
I’ve lost 2 controllers and knew it had to be a contact issue since both were on the left joystick that most games use for movement control, and with all the smash bros and splatoon my family plays the joysticks didn’t stand a chance. Hopefully there’s a simple fix for it now since it would suck if the board traces are really getting worn off, that’s not realistically repairable.
I have two Left Joycons (green, and blue if that matters) that have noticeable drift. The fault seemed to develop after long periods in-game walking. I don't know if holding the stick at half tilt is usually taxing, or that angle allows dust in.
I actually do think they should look at the joycon joysticks and to actually try and fix whatever it is in thr actual joystick itself and maybe around it. Another thing that I would highly recommend them doing as well is to actually make something that can better protect the joycons from getting dust inside cus clearly the umbrella or covering didn't do much to protect
Can definitely agree with dust being a cause. I have barely used my switch, but I've had it for a bit over 4 years and it sits in my living room beside my TV. I have one pair of joycons with the stick issue, and two controllers (Power A) all of which have the stick drift - one of the controllers was only used in 2 gaming sessions and it's stick drift is the worst of the three. However, I have a pair of joycons that I've always kept in a drawer (only been used a few times) but these still work perfectly fine. The first pair of joycons lasted less than 1 year which is why I bought the two controllers, and only used those a few times when my mate has come over. Only realised the two controllers were also stuffed as I recently started using the switch again. I ended up buying a Switch Pro controller and they're expensive so hope this one never has an issue.
All of my controllers have really bad drift on them. One has been drifting since I got it 3-4 years ago. Since I play Splatoon and have Minecraft on my switch, drift really impacts my game play. Thanks for posting this. It was really informative
I already experienced joy-con drift on my 2 sets of joy-cons, being the grey ones i got since 2017, and the alternate neon red & blue set in 2018, i already got my new set, but i'll be saving those for sharing with my friend when we play smash or other games, and got the Hori split-pad Pro to use as a good alternative, but yeah Nintendo needs to stop acting like things with the swithc's joy-cons are taken care of and actually fix the issue, most notably a re-call, but seeing that the console is at its 5 year span, it may not be worth the risk. But hopefully they take this, if they are, and do better with their next new console and controllers
but, dust was the first thing people said that caused drift. Also, a little thing I noticed is that the controllers are easy to drop, and when I fixed my controllers replacing the sticks, the drift was still present, and my “SL” and “SR” buttons stoped working, even though I placed the cables right, so it might be the design on the cables and the locks inside might get a little bit loose over time.
I experienced it in three pairs of joycons. Usually they worked fine for about three months then started gradually drifting until I couldn’t use them anymore. Finally on my fourth pair, they haven’t had any drift and I’ve been using them for about a year. Hopefully fourth time is the charm. Shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place, though.
What sucks is that sometimes it takes multiple joy cons to find a good pair, and fixing the problem is sometimes very tricky because sometimes there is MORE than ONE problem! Ever since I got a pro controller I haven't touched my joy cons since, but it's still super annoying.
I have experienced drift on my first set of joycons, and my second set has lasted me a long time because i blow out any dust and debris regularly. While i knew the protections werent sufficient on the stick, i had no clue about the faulty boards. Sucks to know that these might not last as long as they should even with my extra care.
I've experienced drift all on 8 JoyCons I've purchased these past 5 years and I've always wondered how and why does tjis happen, now I know. Great video as always ATC, Always the best source for Nintendo information!
I've had mine for three years with no drift. I'm still confused as to why some people have no drift, and others have been through multiple sets by now. WTF🤔
I've heard that the sensors for the joysticks is made of graphite and that causes drift. I really want to know, who the heck thought it was a good idea to use pencil lead for something that faces constant wear and tear
I also noticed an issue on my right joycon where the SL/SR buttons stopped working. I believe that could have happened by pressing it a bit too hard on a grip accesory, but still, it's still something very annoying to deal with, and maaaaaybe it was not because of that
What’s happening to your joycon is that the flex cable connecting the PCB for the ZL/ZR cable is snapping. I’m not sure what causes this but it’s a pretty common fault that nobody talks about for some reason.
The drift is also present on the Switch Pro Controller. Nintendo says we can send our Joycons in for repairs for this issue, but I've never heard them mention any other types of controllers...
I had it happen to two pairs of my joycons, I no longer use the joycons and use my pro-controller for everything. When you send joycons to get fixed, they tend to come back still broken. This dust issue has been discussed in the past.
Here's the issue, Nintendo is getting sued over this... that means if they come out and admit that there's an issue they'll almost certainly have to settle, that's the reason why they haven't really admitted to a defect and why they haven't made huge changes to the sticks... Both actions would essentially mean losing the cases and would lose a lot of money
My drift problem has been so bad that pretty much my entire game library was rendered unplayable. I bought the Hori Split Pad Pro, which worked really well for years, but as of late has started to experience connection issues. I feel like I’m constantly buying new controllers. I really hope Nintendo will finally pull up their pants and address a 5-year-old issue that they’ve been brushing off for so long.
The same conditions which kept the family's N64, GCN, Wii, DS, GBA, GBC, DSi, and 3DS in top condition? Yeah, my Joycons both got a drift within a year. It's not like I'm lugging these things through sandstorms or anything-- just putting the portables on the desk and in a drawer or box, while the controllers are kept by the TV for easy access.
For one, I'm glad Nintendo's more than happy to fix the joycon drift in the joycon. On the other hand, HOW HARD IS IT FOR NINTENDO TO COME OUT WITH A REDESIGNED JOYCON SET THAT EITHER HAS SIMILAR TECH TO THE NEW 3DS' C-STICK, OR JUST A TOUCH PAD?!
I just got a new set of Joy Cons for Christmas and I immediately noticed a difference in how they feel. I got my Switch on Christmas in 2017 and the Joy Cons started drifting maybe like a half a year later. My left Joy Con drift was very slight, but my right Joy Con got really bad in recent months!!! The Joy Cons that came with the system always felt kinda loose on the system's side rails but my new set feels nice and perfectly secure!!!
I had a slight manageable drift on my left, I updated the software and calibrated both joy-cons, the left was fixed but now the right joy-con will not calibrate properly and continuously sends the console cycling through the apps and options.
I've personally experienced the issue with two sets of joycons now, first with the original pair that I got with the Switch and now again with the second pair I bought to replace the first a year or two ago. I admit some of the wear may be my own fault, like dust/crumbs in the joycon but still it's frustrating that after only a year or two I'm once again forced to buy new joycons or just deal with the drift. Like they said in the article, it seems to affect my left joycon most, which is annoying because that's also the one that is typically used to control movement in all Switch games. I do wonder if part of it could be the way one holds their Switch? I confess to holding my Switch one-handed sometimes in order to reach over and grab a drink or my phone or something else. Perhaps holding it one-handed does put stress on the components. I'm also curious whether the drift issue is something that affects mostly handheld players or if it affects both handheld and TV console players? I typically play my Switch on the go and even at home I prefer handheld because it's just easier and more intuitive for me. Plus you don't have to worry about other people looking at the screen as much and you can wear headphones if you don't want others to hear whatever it is you're playing. It's also easier to see since I have astigmatism, and although I wear glasses to correct my vision sometimes I don't feel like wearing my glasses and even when my glasses on it's still easier to see things close up for me than further away. I wonder if the people who say they've never experienced joycon drift play mostly on their TVs, with their Switch consoles docked? Maybe the friction of the joycons rubbing against the Switch itself has something to do with it as well? Just a theory.
Consumer Ignorance is this console’s greatest downfall: DON’T leave the Switch on the charger for too long. DON’T leave the joy-cons sitting in an open space to avoid dust. AND… I think there was one more thing but I probably haven’t found it yet.
An earlier youtube video also mentioned that the housing of the joystick module was prone to coming loose over time, and that the contact pads were were the base of the module, which made the assembly all the more sensitive to that loosening. It's sad how Nintendo has basically decided to sit back and let people buy replacement joycons rather than fix it. Especially in contrast to Nintendium memes and the dead pixel policy difference between the DS and PSP.
Well, my joycons have been sitting out in the open for a while, so they probably racked up a lot of dust... Maybe joycons last longer for the people who keep them in drawers and containers?
The channel @VKsChannel found the root cause about a year ago. The joysticks come apart due to being held together by bent sheet-metal rather than screws. Dust contamination and wear have very little to do with the drift in this case.
"The reason for joycon drift is that there's dust in it and it's worn out." ......I'm shocked and amazed. I've got friends who keep having joycon drift issues. I've had the same joycon set since 2017 and had no problems. I thought it was weird they were having these issues....until I went over to their house to play with them. They were....not exactly nice to their hardware. Leaving the joy cons in dirty places when not used and trying as hard as humanly possible to tear them up when gaming. I have no sympathy for people who treat their tech this way. Learn how to take care of your stuff, people. -_-'
@@lunarcat3283 Unfortunately, it's inevitable due to the way the technology is made. But it's not exclusive to the switch. If you have a PS2 and still use the original controller, you probably only played it once. =P There are tutorials you can follow online to fix your joycon set if you want. They do work. ^^
My drift on my lite is so bad that I almost can't move forwards period. I have to push down the button and grind down in circular motions until it temporarily fixes it. :/
Good to know they found the problem. About a year, maybe two years ago I had to send in BOTH my right Joycons because they both had a drift problem where they would slowly drift up. Playing Fortnite, Zelda, or any other game with camera controls I would end up looking up, if you catch my drift (pun yes intended). Thankfully I haven't had that issue since so they know how to fix it.
Wait, was this not known? The slider parts have GRAPHITE components, as in the same dark grey thing that pencils have, the notoriously frail component that is _specifically_ used because how easily it leaves a mark of itself when dragged along a surface, which means that its easily scratched!
@@Dolarock I mean just handling it roughly. I noticed that the only joycon I own that developed a drift was the one I typically gave to friends during gaming sessions. I tend to be gentle with mine. My friends...not so much.
It is very difficult for corporations to not give corporate responses. It’s unrealistic to expect Nintendo to say much regarding the issue before it has already been solved, so as to not fail to fulfill any promises.
gulikit released a hall effect sensor upgrade for joycons (requires tearing apart/soldering) to permanently resolve that issue. or to just make them awesome to start with.
So basically, Nintendo is just making faulty equipment. Why am I not surprised? I wouldn't be shocked if this is done on purpose just to force consumers to repeatedly pay more than the cost of a AAA game to replace them.
Let's say it's a major factor why I'm upgrading from Switch Lite to a regular Switch. It's a nightmare to fix when the stick are built into the console versus just replacing the joy-con.
I am one of the few people who experienced joy-con drift. I simply just bought new controllers rather than go through the trouble of getting them fixed. It has been a year since and nothing has happened to new ones yet.
Nintendo would've fixed stick drift long ago if they wanted customer satisfaction,they just want your money,nothing will change about the joy-cons(most likely)
To be fair, Nintendo always said for every console we have, to keep our consoles clean if we read the manual but it should be common sense regardless. However, the mechanical issue is definitely Nintendo's fault.
Nintendo are cheapskates, i love the Switch as a system but hate the joy cons as controllers terrible thumbs sticks, wanna be d pad and terrible shoulder buttons and bumpers, which is a shame because the Wii U gamepad was great and the New 3ds XL was also great
A way another youtuber (forgot their name) fixes their joycon drift is by lifting the flaps underneath the joystick and spraying compressed air into the controller. This usually gets rid of any built up dust.
Speaking from controller repair experience I also suspected the isue is with the dust protection design resulting in relatively quick buildup of dust in and around the joystick module potentiometers interfering with the resistance levels. I'm not sure what their referring to about board damage, I have my doubts that's an isue but I could be wrong.
I had been dealing with JCD for a few years, but it had progressively gotten worse over the past few months. I did the whole “use an electronic-save air blaster” to fix it, but it got bad again the next day. My husband and I eventually bought a repair kit, and now it works better than the day I got it! The fact that this is even an issue is ridiculous. If they were so meticulous about testing their products before shipping out, this would have a less likely chance of happening.
Seems like I won the bad luck lottery with every Joy Con set then, having at least one of them getting drift on each pair, mostly the left ones and rarely the right one. Happens around 6 months after first use or a year or 1,5 years later after daily or weekly uses Edit: And I don't even play aggressively with them, just normally
I hope they find a solution soon. I'm having to disconnect the joy-cons and use a pro/wireless controller every time I play. Playing Nintendo Switch Sports (which you can only use joy-cons in) is an absolute NIGHTMARE!
I was playing Splatoon 3 with the joy cons in a grip format, the left joy con controller just stopped working entirely. I can’t even connect it back to the Nintendo Switch
Alongside dust, I wouldn't be surprised if other contaminates like cigarettes smoke helps to kill joy cons. My reasoning? Went through plenty of N64 controllers due to the stick becoming less responsive, as it usually sat in the living room where my parents smoked like chimneys. After being told my laptop was full of gunk from cigarette smoke, it's making a ton more sense now.
I've experienced joycon drift before, and from what I've heard from another video on the matter, it usually has to do with the lower half of the joystick mechanism loosening over time from use, resulting in the joystick not making sufficient contact with the circuit board (please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not a mechanical expert). However, if you simply place a thin piece of cardboard underneath the joystick mechanism, then it holds it together well enough to seemingly fix the issue, though I'm not sure if there are other causes for drift that this hack can't fix or not.
I have a problem where the joy con is kinda drifting to up or down and also not able to register the joy con’s up or down movements… i dunno if this is the problem of the drift thing but i am happy that they are finally reacting and doing smthin to it
It would make sense that the drift is caused by the amount of dust stuck to them. But I didn't expect Nintendo of all places, not to handle the situation well. Their devices can handle long lasting results for decades, yet the joycons can't even handle a few weeks
But didn't we already know about this since the first reports came in? Even Nintendo would replace them for free if I was not mistaken, idk if they still do it but still.
I’ve fixed joycon drift miltiple ways before, including taking the actual stick apart and cleaning the contacts inside the stick with a q-tip. After reassembly just calibrate the stick in settings and it should be fixed. A simpler way that i’ve had success with is to just put a cardstock (the stuff cereal boxes are made from) shim under the joystick assembly inside the controller. This provides pressure in the stick and allows the contacts to touch even though theres dirt and dust in the way.
I'm pretty sure we knew this already. SpawnWave made a video on the subject several years ago, and then somebody found a way to permanently fix the drift (or at least extend the life of severely worn graphite contacts) by adding a 1 mm thick plastic/paper/cardboard slab on the back of the stick, about a year ago.
I have my own anecdotal experience of discovering the source of the drift: for me, it was wear and tear from the contacts. I first temporarily fixed the drift with the “cardboard” solution, but the drift came back. After that, I took apart the actual analog stick and cleaned the contacts. After 7 months, it continues to operate like factory new.
Is the drift also the root cause of why the left joycon randomly increases vibration intensity before dying and having to recalibrate? There have been too many times where the rumble feature has been faulty for me and the movement from the left stick gets stuck in one direction despite giving it multiple inputs before dying
Good thing this was discovered before launch or else we would've had to spend over 5 years dealing with this issue!
give it 3 months it gonna be 6 years
Man 😂
Its nice to see small companies like Nintendo caring about there joy cons
Ok
@@IDK3679. Do you think that Nintendo is "a small company" it is one of the largest gaming companies in the world and they have more money than you can ever dream about.
I would really prefer if Nintendo fixed this issue for their future controllers. the gc & wii nunchuck sticks were perfect.
The 3ds also
Edit: it was a circle pad not a stick
Edit 2: i have started a war im sorry
@@dipsyshit471 the 3ds didn’t use sticks
@@aigeneratedwauigi2696 It literally had a movement stick, what are you talking about? Do you mean because it was flat against the console rather than sticking up?
Edit: It seems it's called a circle pad, and for a reason. Sorry for the incorrect correction.
@@strawdeath263 It was a circle pad not analog stick
@@strawdeath263 that was a pad not a stick
I am sure we definitely already knew this. Wear on the contact points in the slider-type potentiometers was analyzed and discussed as the problem. Foreign particles like dust exacerbating the issue was also mentioned. Cube potentiometers also suffer this problem but tend to last significantly longer. This is why adding paper for extra height sometimes fixes the issue and why others have used compressed air for a quick fix.
WD40 brand electrical contact cleaner goes for $6, good for cleaning all potentiometers. With the joycons, just spray after lifting up that dust skirt. The pro style controllers need to be disassembled and sprayed directly.
Repeat sprays will wash away the lube, but the joycon sticks have a limited life anyway.
I think 5 years from now another channel will post a similar video saying the problem has finally been identified. ;-)
Yeah, pretty much.
This information was in the lawsuit documents from years ago so idk wtf he's on about "finally"
Yeah, I remember a yter brought this up last year without all this lab test stuff. It was pretty big, but we've known for ages.
We did.
The most surprising thing I learnt from this is that some people DON'T have joycon drift... Lucky.
They don't play any games probably 💀
@@roxy3272 I have my Switch like since 2019, I play almost all day and they are fine, I just prevent dust getting into the joycon!
What games are you playing? I have used the same controllers for years handheld, and have no drift. I usually play none stick aggressive games, and when i play games like smash, we use pro controllers.
@@DvineCupcake I also noticed that playing Smash Bros, Mario Kart and other games which encourage recklessness seems to accelerate the appearance of Joy Con drift. I bought a new pair many months ago and they still work fine since I only play games like Pokémon and Animal Crossing with them. Pro Controller for Smash is a must-have in my view. ^^
Drift happens when people hammer the stick against the side and use that as a mongoloid physical feedback, instead of just using it the amount it needs, to actually do something in the game. That will bend against the hardware no matter what, you didn't pay for a titanium shell, and any embarrassing Fischer-Price ergonomics reducing that would out you as the big child you are for needing those training wheels.
That's why so many people have it on one side, they have this habit of clawing at the console on one hand more than the other. This test is just cynically guesstimating on the same discoveries we knew years ago, to blame nintendo for being cynical and get people honking like "we should have known sooner".
If you MUST do that, and MUST carry the thing around, and ONLY buy a portable switch that by design can't have easily replaceable parts like Wii U, you're GONNA get this problem. No other console does, like Sony that already dropped out of portables when you nuked Vita with the FTC class action lawsuit. It's amazing Nintendo didn't, they just cut off the Virtual console and it's own vulnerability to a lawsuit, so now you get the NSO. Enjoy.
If Iwata was still president, this issue would have been fixed years ago, with a public addressing of the issue, a serious apology, and a reward for Joy Con ambassadors.
It probably wouldnt have happened in the first place. There would have been more consideration that went into the controller design.
^this is so true tho
I do wish he was still alive. He was a cool guy
Its a shame he isn't around any more.
Additionally he hated the idea of paying to play online, which is why it took Nintendo so long to go to a pay for online model. Nintendo is truly not the same without him.
It's about time we finally found the cause. Although I never experienced any joycon drifts, I feel bad for everyone that had to deal with this.
Man if you're that lucky just buy a lottery ticket
lucky
@@kenyu9634 bro like seriously I remember 4 years ago I bought my switch and in within two weeks it just started drifting had to buy a pro controller after that
Same.
@@johnnyboi290 wow mines never drift I used it for since Christmas of 2021
I like how it took 5 years to find out
Didn’t take five years for end users to find out weve been saying it was cheap Chinese parts since day one. It only took someone else five years to confirm it. Also SpawnWave shows this almost two years ago too.
5yrs and probably thousand of dollars funding the research 😂😂
We already knew this
@@Antasma1yeah, this isnt new information, its a problem with the graphite pads getting worn down and the graphite dust triggering the sensors
The fact that a circuit board failure contributed to the problem makes sense to me. My left joycon was drifting a lot, so I decided to only play 3 Houses, a game where the left joycons can be replaced by the left "D-Pad" for most of the game, thus meaning the drift would completely destroy my game. In my experience, doing this for a while caused the drift to completely go away and I haven't had it since, and it's been at least 3 months.
wow, im gonna try something like that with my right joycon
Hmmm
Guess I'll just use my controller instead of the joycons for a bit to test that solution out
You can fix it with a q tip and alcohol. My brother's left joycon had terrible drift that I couldn't fix, but I found that cutting off the protection makes it easier to clean without taking it apart. It never drifted again. (I cut it off because the right one was easy to fix and its protection somehow came off).
@@immahamsteryogamer what protection
It really grinds my gears when people do these sorts of stress tests to HELP big tech. and they just look at it and go "Okay." and then nothing happens.
Guarantee that they're not going to revise either the PCBs or the mechanisms for JoyCons despite Which?'s findings.
im sorry, i get your frustration, but honestly what else can they do here? other than opening up the repair program globally?
the vendor that supplies Nintendo these joysticks are one of the only vendors that can mass produce thumbsticks this small to fit into the joycon shell, at the quantity nintendo needs to fulfill for their sales. the vendor sells to more than just nintendo, and nintendo wouldn't be able to get them to redesign it because the vendor literally wont
@@natayaway They could if they were to sue them for damages to their image and costumers. But Nintendo only sues when it comes to their patents and intelectual property.
@@VixYW Not only would Nintendo lose the case with their sales numbers it'd be counter intuitive with people buying more pairs. They would lose the vendors that did business with them then news would spread with other vendors and before you know it you can no longer keep up with demands. But someone will happily take Nintendo's place. Even if they were to win lawsuits like that take years. Unless you can prove their stealing your product and reproducing it your locked in and riding that tsunami.
@@HomikaGaming I'd say it's the complete opposite. Someone would happily take their place to make business with Nintendo.
I mean, think about it -- if it was fixed...Why would customers ever need to buy multiple sets of joycons to replace the messed up ones?
These things are expensive, even to just get one. Sounds more like an accidental design flaw they learned they could easily financially benefit from by getting more of your money.
I’ve fixed so many Joy Cons due to this issue and experimented with different remedies. I made peace with having to replace the stick every now and then, which is not ideal. After all this time, this is a great article but it’s nothing new, because it’s definitely a design flaw.
It’s a shame because Joy Cons are not cheap either, and this issue sullies the experience massively. It’s the same reason why I don’t buy the limited edition Joy Cons, like the Skyward Sword ones.
Great vid as always and merry Xmas to all!
Just say Christmas
X-mas is a proper way to say it
@@codyholley no, xmas is an abbreviation of Christmas, not the proper way
@@Deadchanned what's to say a abbreviation not a proper way to say something
@@Deadchanned The history of this has largely been forgotten, so to fill you in: the early church in Greece, especially in Ephesus, used the Greek letter chi (uppercase Χ, lowercase χ - pronounced "ˈkaɪ") as shorthand to represent Christ. Hence, while Χmas is an abbreviation, you're not getting rid of Christ's name by abbreviating Christmas (as long as you remember Him, of course), and it is still proper. That said, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Me: Hey, this pen I just bought from you won't write all! I tore apart the pen and found that the design is flawed and won't let the ink flow through onto the paper
Pen seller: We expect our products to work as intended
Me: Yeah, well it doesn't...
Make no mistake, the design is successful. They intended to sell you a product that does not do what you want it to do, so they can sell you a second product "fixing" the problem. Yay capitalism 🙄
@@carlostaffanelly418 OH MY GOSH, IS THAT WHAT THEY MEAN BY EXPECT TO WORK AS INTENDED!!!!!! 🤯🤯🤯 I never thought of that before!!!! That's probably not what they really mean by that (even with it being their intention for it to not work), but could you imagine if they really intentionally worded it like that as a secret f you to the fans, like "Yeah, that's working as intended, how we intended, not how you intended"
Pen seller: We expect our products to work as intended. If your product is not working as intended, please contact us right away!
If the product doesn't work as intended please buy a new product from us to replace it
ive been through 3 sets of joycons.
i ended up swapping to the hori split pad, and never went back. got an expanded sized case for it and everything.
honestly, i’m not surprised thats its a design flaw, its a lot of functionality crammed into a tiny component. Not cutting nintendo any slack though, i feel like they could have done better ages ago; in fact i’ve already moved on to pc so i don’t really care what they do or don’t do any more and it pains me.
i’ll come back for a couple hundred hours when the new zelda comes out i guess
I think these 'design flaws' are intended so they wear out quicker and buy new ones, the same thing other companies are doing with home appliances. Edit: Due to a lot of replies, I will clarify this is just a theory and should not be taken as fact,
Nah is just cheaper being made that way, also they are of the shelf components made by a third party, which is the same that makes the analogs that sony and ms use.
Nintendo has a free repair service now so that actually wouldn’t be benefitting them lol
Planned obsolescence. Not everyone uses or has access(i dont) to the free repair service so im convinced its must be better for their bottomline to just screw ppl over
@@degreeskelvin3025 planned obsolescence requires intent in the design stage to break down. they didn't design the stick boxes, they literally shopped between vendors and went with the vendor that had a thumbstick that fit the desired dimensions, that's not intent.
the lack of free repair services isn't because of their bottom line, it was because of a class action lawsuit potentially having a massive settlement cost, which would be more expensive than outright repairing them, so they offer the repair program to get them to drop the lawsuits. they don't have lawsuits in other regions, and in other countries that forward to either the states or china for repair, they have duties they have to pay when shipping stuff in bulk...
Ahh cmon. Nintendo's not THAT scummy. Nah I think this was an accident
I think Nintendo's response is horseshit.
They clearly just don't care.
And yet you keep bying their games
Haven't bought a Nintendo game in years.
@@alodalod8781 Lol I still love the games and bought an off brand $20 pro controller
@@kavenoff777 Damn just handed ALOD an L
They just love ignoring issues
At least that they finally found the root problem plaguing the Joy-Con controllers, because this is concerning and needs to be fixed as best as possible.
You're foolish if you believe this is something intended to be "fixed". This is but a feature, not for you of course, but for the one selling you the stuff.
@@smpiano6605 or just disassemble the joy-con and put around 2mm paper piece under the stick and boom
@@smpiano6605 actually the problem got so bad they are doing free repairs
@@TotherKoala only to not get sued to the ground.
@@TotherKoala They're supposedly only free in the US, but I heard that they still charge people for repairs, only for the controllers to either come back just as they were when sent, seemingly fine only to drift after a few weeks or months, or even worse than when they were sent, if they even do come back.
I never had drift on mine but a couple questions: how old were the Joycons tested and how old were the components inside the Joycons? People seem to think that to fix the issue Nintendo should just make an whole new controller and ditch the old ones (people love to waste resources) instead of just upgrading the internal companents. There have been reports of joy-cons with different builds and different components despite looking exactly the same on the outside. The Joy-cons that come with the Monster Hunter V2 Switch are said to have different components and Nintendo themselves even at one point said that they do change and update components overtime and the build is never the same they just don't report on it. It should be easily checked if you look at the batch number to have an idea if Joy-cons use new components or outdated ones.
One of mine started drifting a few months, maybe a year, after purchase.
@@_Quxyz How old is your switch? my switch is the v2 monster hunter edition i bought in 2021
@@raptros Probably had it since 2019
Mine is from 2019 so
No drift here. Got an oled in march 2022 and a lite i bought a year prior that I gave to my sister. We might have gotten very lucky or wear down hasn't happened yet.
I’ve never clicked so fast
On god
I know....
This lines up with what a lot of people in the community have been saying. The contact wear is why hall effect joy sticks are becoming more popular, and why most homebrew fixes involve cleaning the inside of the joystick or just replacing it all together.
I had issues with a pair of joy-cons (sold separately from main box) that I got for Christmas. Problems that I had experienced were (1) the (R) joy-con being disconnected fairly often time to time; (2) the joy-con pair were experiencing “stick key” problems (ie. trying to drift in MK8DX, but continues to drift or input problems)
I have experienced (1)
I have experienced both
The connection issue is the worst thing. It can be mistaken as drift sometimes too. The dock is blocking the Bluetooth antenna too much, I’ve found. I went to the control stick test menu when the switch is out of the dock and in table top, perfectly smooth. When it’s in the dock, it’s choppy, weak connection. The switch was in basically the same spot when I tested tabletop mode, right in front of the dock, and I was standing in the same spot (~15 feet away from the switch, normally I’m not that far but was that far for testing). So the dock is blocking the connection somewhat, and it’s enough for the Joy-Cons to not connect well. The pro controller is usually fine, the antenna on there is better since there’s more space for it
dust ingress sounds about right to me. both my joycons had drift after being used while renovating my house causing quite a lot of dust
Some one about a year ago found out another issue, where there was a small gap between the casing and circuit board, and after time it would loosen causing misreading. So they cut out a small piece of paper, slid it under, and boom issue fixed
Was scrolling for this comment, if you squeeze a joycon to close the gap it starts working
Also, if these issues happen on Joy-Cons, then it probably happens on the official Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, because the Pro Controller has the same protection problems as the Joy-Cons.
I actually got drift on my pro controller but I exclusively used it over the joycons.
Surprised more people aren’t talking about the fact that graphite is also used for contact pads. It’s not just a dust problem.
I got the Smash Bros limited edition Joy-Cons and since a couple years ago the right stick had been drifting downwards and it’s been a living hell to play any open-camera games with them.
I ended up getting a pro controller a couple years ago and rarely use the joy-cons now but it’s still good to know the actual design flaw has been confirmed.
WAIT. THAT IS *EXACTLY* WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!!
I got the smash bros limited edition joy cons. And a year after I got them, the right joy stick was drifting downwards. Playing open world games was a whole mess until I got a new controller (not joycons).
This wasn’t a drift, but it was the little tabs that hold the joycons to the switch, I was trying to replace the little tabs to metal one (the ones that come in the joycons are plastic, which doesn’t last very long) I almost had completed replacing the tab, until I snapped the ribbon cable, wasting my time and moeny, I still regret for not being more careful to this day
What's very weird about this is that if you compare old Nintendo controllers with thumb sticks from a decade ago (like the N64, GameCube, and Wii), they never drift for a long time! I'm actually impressed that they never drift for older controllers, this is just a design flaw for joycons
N64's stick had different and imo much worse design flaws
@@Crackers0106 I agree with the terrible design for stick, at LEAST they don't drift so yea
I mean the N64 doesn’t drift but it had the opposite of drift, and honestly that was much worse
Honestly how could dust get into a joy con. I have experienced joy con drift and I didn’t even know that dust was even the issue
kinda just spawns when applicable
I’ve lost 2 controllers and knew it had to be a contact issue since both were on the left joystick that most games use for movement control, and with all the smash bros and splatoon my family plays the joysticks didn’t stand a chance. Hopefully there’s a simple fix for it now since it would suck if the board traces are really getting worn off, that’s not realistically repairable.
I have two Left Joycons (green, and blue if that matters) that have noticeable drift. The fault seemed to develop after long periods in-game walking. I don't know if holding the stick at half tilt is usually taxing, or that angle allows dust in.
In my experience clicking the joy-stick develops Joy-Con drift even faster too, which sucks because a lot of good games use that function in gameplay.
I actually do think they should look at the joycon joysticks and to actually try and fix whatever it is in thr actual joystick itself and maybe around it. Another thing that I would highly recommend them doing as well is to actually make something that can better protect the joycons from getting dust inside cus clearly the umbrella or covering didn't do much to protect
All they did was confirm my suspicions. I knew it was going to be a bad time when the graphite contacts were used
Can definitely agree with dust being a cause. I have barely used my switch, but I've had it for a bit over 4 years and it sits in my living room beside my TV. I have one pair of joycons with the stick issue, and two controllers (Power A) all of which have the stick drift - one of the controllers was only used in 2 gaming sessions and it's stick drift is the worst of the three. However, I have a pair of joycons that I've always kept in a drawer (only been used a few times) but these still work perfectly fine.
The first pair of joycons lasted less than 1 year which is why I bought the two controllers, and only used those a few times when my mate has come over. Only realised the two controllers were also stuffed as I recently started using the switch again. I ended up buying a Switch Pro controller and they're expensive so hope this one never has an issue.
All of my controllers have really bad drift on them. One has been drifting since I got it 3-4 years ago. Since I play Splatoon and have Minecraft on my switch, drift really impacts my game play. Thanks for posting this. It was really informative
I already experienced joy-con drift on my 2 sets of joy-cons, being the grey ones i got since 2017, and the alternate neon red & blue set in 2018, i already got my new set, but i'll be saving those for sharing with my friend when we play smash or other games, and got the Hori split-pad Pro to use as a good alternative, but yeah Nintendo needs to stop acting like things with the swithc's joy-cons are taken care of and actually fix the issue, most notably a re-call, but seeing that the console is at its 5 year span, it may not be worth the risk. But hopefully they take this, if they are, and do better with their next new console and controllers
but, dust was the first thing people said that caused drift. Also, a little thing I noticed is that the controllers are easy to drop, and when I fixed my controllers replacing the sticks, the drift was still present, and my “SL” and “SR” buttons stoped working, even though I placed the cables right, so it might be the design on the cables and the locks inside might get a little bit loose over time.
I experienced it in three pairs of joycons. Usually they worked fine for about three months then started gradually drifting until I couldn’t use them anymore. Finally on my fourth pair, they haven’t had any drift and I’ve been using them for about a year. Hopefully fourth time is the charm. Shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place, though.
What sucks is that sometimes it takes multiple joy cons to find a good pair, and fixing the problem is sometimes very tricky because sometimes there is MORE than ONE problem! Ever since I got a pro controller I haven't touched my joy cons since, but it's still super annoying.
I have experienced drift on my first set of joycons, and my second set has lasted me a long time because i blow out any dust and debris regularly. While i knew the protections werent sufficient on the stick, i had no clue about the faulty boards. Sucks to know that these might not last as long as they should even with my extra care.
I've experienced drift all on 8 JoyCons I've purchased these past 5 years and I've always wondered how and why does tjis happen, now I know. Great video as always ATC, Always the best source for Nintendo information!
Start buying off brand. They're letting the issue stay cus they get money from it
@@painedfetus8210 That I feel like is true, I'll definitely do that, thank you!
I've had mine for three years with no drift.
I'm still confused as to why some people have no drift, and others have been through multiple sets by now. WTF🤔
I've heard that the sensors for the joysticks is made of graphite and that causes drift. I really want to know, who the heck thought it was a good idea to use pencil lead for something that faces constant wear and tear
because they can’t use the alternative of mercury for obvious reasons
@@damian9303 both are definitely not great choices lol
If Iwata was alive, he’d be so disappointed that a mechanical flaw like this was ignored.
I also noticed an issue on my right joycon where the SL/SR buttons stopped working. I believe that could have happened by pressing it a bit too hard on a grip accesory, but still, it's still something very annoying to deal with, and maaaaaybe it was not because of that
What’s happening to your joycon is that the flex cable connecting the PCB for the ZL/ZR cable is snapping. I’m not sure what causes this but it’s a pretty common fault that nobody talks about for some reason.
The drift is also present on the Switch Pro Controller. Nintendo says we can send our Joycons in for repairs for this issue, but I've never heard them mention any other types of controllers...
These lab results basically confirm everything I knew about joycon drift. And showed how Incompetent Nintendo has become these days
Yeah I feel like we already know the issue like maybe someone said it before
I had it happen to two pairs of my joycons, I no longer use the joycons and use my pro-controller for everything. When you send joycons to get fixed, they tend to come back still broken.
This dust issue has been discussed in the past.
I already knew it was caused by dust because lifting the cap and blowing underneath the rubber cap fixed it for me
Here's the issue, Nintendo is getting sued over this... that means if they come out and admit that there's an issue they'll almost certainly have to settle, that's the reason why they haven't really admitted to a defect and why they haven't made huge changes to the sticks... Both actions would essentially mean losing the cases and would lose a lot of money
My drift problem has been so bad that pretty much my entire game library was rendered unplayable. I bought the Hori Split Pad Pro, which worked really well for years, but as of late has started to experience connection issues. I feel like I’m constantly buying new controllers. I really hope Nintendo will finally pull up their pants and address a 5-year-old issue that they’ve been brushing off for so long.
doesn’t nintendo repair drifting joycons for free? unless they stopped idk
The same conditions which kept the family's N64, GCN, Wii, DS, GBA, GBC, DSi, and 3DS in top condition? Yeah, my Joycons both got a drift within a year. It's not like I'm lugging these things through sandstorms or anything-- just putting the portables on the desk and in a drawer or box, while the controllers are kept by the TV for easy access.
For one, I'm glad Nintendo's more than happy to fix the joycon drift in the joycon. On the other hand, HOW HARD IS IT FOR NINTENDO TO COME OUT WITH A REDESIGNED JOYCON SET THAT EITHER HAS SIMILAR TECH TO THE NEW 3DS' C-STICK, OR JUST A TOUCH PAD?!
Imagine speedrunning a switch drift 💀💀
Somebody will try to make that a challenge.
I just got a new set of Joy Cons for Christmas and I immediately noticed a difference in how they feel. I got my Switch on Christmas in 2017 and the Joy Cons started drifting maybe like a half a year later. My left Joy Con drift was very slight, but my right Joy Con got really bad in recent months!!! The Joy Cons that came with the system always felt kinda loose on the system's side rails but my new set feels nice and perfectly secure!!!
I had a slight manageable drift on my left, I updated the software and calibrated both joy-cons, the left was fixed but now the right joy-con will not calibrate properly and continuously sends the console cycling through the apps and options.
I have a joycon that makes any game 200% harder. It literally never stops drifting.
I've personally experienced the issue with two sets of joycons now, first with the original pair that I got with the Switch and now again with the second pair I bought to replace the first a year or two ago. I admit some of the wear may be my own fault, like dust/crumbs in the joycon but still it's frustrating that after only a year or two I'm once again forced to buy new joycons or just deal with the drift. Like they said in the article, it seems to affect my left joycon most, which is annoying because that's also the one that is typically used to control movement in all Switch games. I do wonder if part of it could be the way one holds their Switch? I confess to holding my Switch one-handed sometimes in order to reach over and grab a drink or my phone or something else. Perhaps holding it one-handed does put stress on the components.
I'm also curious whether the drift issue is something that affects mostly handheld players or if it affects both handheld and TV console players? I typically play my Switch on the go and even at home I prefer handheld because it's just easier and more intuitive for me. Plus you don't have to worry about other people looking at the screen as much and you can wear headphones if you don't want others to hear whatever it is you're playing. It's also easier to see since I have astigmatism, and although I wear glasses to correct my vision sometimes I don't feel like wearing my glasses and even when my glasses on it's still easier to see things close up for me than further away. I wonder if the people who say they've never experienced joycon drift play mostly on their TVs, with their Switch consoles docked? Maybe the friction of the joycons rubbing against the Switch itself has something to do with it as well? Just a theory.
So now we know the problem, how do we fix it?
there are a lot of videos and tutorials on how to fix it.
@@sn1p1n that’s great, but I don’t know which are useful and which aren’t
Consumer Ignorance is this console’s greatest downfall:
DON’T leave the Switch on the charger for too long.
DON’T leave the joy-cons sitting in an open space to avoid dust.
AND…
I think there was one more thing but I probably haven’t found it yet.
What ticks me off about it is these controllers Are Not Cheap!
They are.... for nintendo
@@roxy3272 totally
An earlier youtube video also mentioned that the housing of the joystick module was prone to coming loose over time, and that the contact pads were were the base of the module, which made the assembly all the more sensitive to that loosening.
It's sad how Nintendo has basically decided to sit back and let people buy replacement joycons rather than fix it. Especially in contrast to Nintendium memes and the dead pixel policy difference between the DS and PSP.
They finally found the cause of the joycon drift almost at the end of the switch’s lifespan before they release a new console lol
Well the next console is most likely a Switch 2 so maybe they’ll fix it
@@VancouverVelocityFan The Switch U lol
@@RealOriginalJ lmao yes
@@RealOriginalJ This is Nintendo....it'll be the "New" Switch
How do you know we're at the end of the Switch's lifespan? Give factual evidence and sources and not a random article from Bloomberg or whatever.
The question is. How could the dust get in easier. Maybe you press the joystick buton so it loosen its contact and more dusts will get in?
Well, my joycons have been sitting out in the open for a while, so they probably racked up a lot of dust... Maybe joycons last longer for the people who keep them in drawers and containers?
The channel @VKsChannel found the root cause about a year ago. The joysticks come apart due to being held together by bent sheet-metal rather than screws. Dust contamination and wear have very little to do with the drift in this case.
"The reason for joycon drift is that there's dust in it and it's worn out."
......I'm shocked and amazed. I've got friends who keep having joycon drift issues. I've had the same joycon set since 2017 and had no problems. I thought it was weird they were having these issues....until I went over to their house to play with them.
They were....not exactly nice to their hardware. Leaving the joy cons in dirty places when not used and trying as hard as humanly possible to tear them up when gaming.
I have no sympathy for people who treat their tech this way. Learn how to take care of your stuff, people. -_-'
You are speaking facts
@@lunarcat3283 Unfortunately, it's inevitable due to the way the technology is made. But it's not exclusive to the switch. If you have a PS2 and still use the original controller, you probably only played it once. =P
There are tutorials you can follow online to fix your joycon set if you want. They do work. ^^
My drift on my lite is so bad that I almost can't move forwards period. I have to push down the button and grind down in circular motions until it temporarily fixes it. :/
Good to know they found the problem. About a year, maybe two years ago I had to send in BOTH my right Joycons because they both had a drift problem where they would slowly drift up. Playing Fortnite, Zelda, or any other game with camera controls I would end up looking up, if you catch my drift (pun yes intended). Thankfully I haven't had that issue since so they know how to fix it.
Wait, was this not known? The slider parts have GRAPHITE components, as in the same dark grey thing that pencils have, the notoriously frail component that is _specifically_ used because how easily it leaves a mark of itself when dragged along a surface, which means that its easily scratched!
I wonder just how much forceful button-mashing impacts the development of such issues.
button mashing ? what buttons has to do with a joystick ?
@@Dolarock I mean just handling it roughly. I noticed that the only joycon I own that developed a drift was the one I typically gave to friends during gaming sessions. I tend to be gentle with mine. My friends...not so much.
It is very difficult for corporations to not give corporate responses. It’s unrealistic to expect Nintendo to say much regarding the issue before it has already been solved, so as to not fail to fulfill any promises.
gulikit released a hall effect sensor upgrade for joycons (requires tearing apart/soldering) to permanently resolve that issue.
or to just make them awesome to start with.
i thought the cause has been known for a while now
Not with actual lab results, no
@@AroundTheClock makes sense, my mistake
No worries
"I've never experienced Joy-Con drift"
My man be casually mentioning that he is The Chosen One like that
So basically, Nintendo is just making faulty equipment. Why am I not surprised? I wouldn't be shocked if this is done on purpose just to force consumers to repeatedly pay more than the cost of a AAA game to replace them.
Yeah Nintendo has been making faulty equipment since the NES and I'm shocked a lot of youtubers praise Nintendo for the quality of their products
@@roxy3272 their games are where the gold is at, the products they sell, not so much
@@serily4524 100% true
Let's say it's a major factor why I'm upgrading from Switch Lite to a regular Switch. It's a nightmare to fix when the stick are built into the console versus just replacing the joy-con.
I am one of the few people who experienced joy-con drift. I simply just bought new controllers rather than go through the trouble of getting them fixed. It has been a year since and nothing has happened to new ones yet.
Few people? More like almost half of switch owners
I think "the few" refers to the people who didn't experience joy-con drift lol
@MrBigBoyDrew I feel like it would be more than half.
I had to buy multiple pairs just for them to all drift. Got the pro controller and it’s still perfectly working after 2 years.
@@GaronTheGreat A lot of pro controllers tend to drift as well.
Nintendo would've fixed stick drift long ago if they wanted customer satisfaction,they just want your money,nothing will change about the joy-cons(most likely)
Agreed.
Even I knew that
To be fair, Nintendo always said for every console we have, to keep our consoles clean if we read the manual but it should be common sense regardless. However, the mechanical issue is definitely Nintendo's fault.
@@ElectroBlastLuigi it was always the problem with the enclosure of the analog sticks,
I always thought it was dust getting inside ever since I saw the second drift
Nintendo are cheapskates, i love the Switch as a system but hate the joy cons as controllers terrible thumbs sticks, wanna be d pad and terrible shoulder buttons and bumpers, which is a shame because the Wii U gamepad was great and the New 3ds XL was also great
As I have also discovered slamming the joycon onto something hard like wood will cause it to drift in the future
A way another youtuber (forgot their name) fixes their joycon drift is by lifting the flaps underneath the joystick and spraying compressed air into the controller. This usually gets rid of any built up dust.
Speaking from controller repair experience I also suspected the isue is with the dust protection design resulting in relatively quick buildup of dust in and around the joystick module potentiometers interfering with the resistance levels.
I'm not sure what their referring to about board damage, I have my doubts that's an isue but I could be wrong.
I had been dealing with JCD for a few years, but it had progressively gotten worse over the past few months. I did the whole “use an electronic-save air blaster” to fix it, but it got bad again the next day. My husband and I eventually bought a repair kit, and now it works better than the day I got it!
The fact that this is even an issue is ridiculous. If they were so meticulous about testing their products before shipping out, this would have a less likely chance of happening.
Seems like I won the bad luck lottery with every Joy Con set then, having at least one of them getting drift on each pair, mostly the left ones and rarely the right one. Happens around 6 months after first use or a year or 1,5 years later after daily or weekly uses
Edit: And I don't even play aggressively with them, just normally
"I've never experienced joy-con drift..."
Me: "Wut?!"
Wow no wonder I have these joycon drift on my old switch controller
I hope they find a solution soon. I'm having to disconnect the joy-cons and use a pro/wireless controller every time I play. Playing Nintendo Switch Sports (which you can only use joy-cons in) is an absolute NIGHTMARE!
weve known the cause of joycon drift for years. its the rubber flap that gets debris under it, that causes drift
I was playing Splatoon 3 with the joy cons in a grip format, the left joy con controller just stopped working entirely. I can’t even connect it back to the Nintendo Switch
Alongside dust, I wouldn't be surprised if other contaminates like cigarettes smoke helps to kill joy cons. My reasoning? Went through plenty of N64 controllers due to the stick becoming less responsive, as it usually sat in the living room where my parents smoked like chimneys. After being told my laptop was full of gunk from cigarette smoke, it's making a ton more sense now.
I've experienced joycon drift before, and from what I've heard from another video on the matter, it usually has to do with the lower half of the joystick mechanism loosening over time from use, resulting in the joystick not making sufficient contact with the circuit board (please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not a mechanical expert). However, if you simply place a thin piece of cardboard underneath the joystick mechanism, then it holds it together well enough to seemingly fix the issue, though I'm not sure if there are other causes for drift that this hack can't fix or not.
I have a problem where the joy con is kinda drifting to up or down and also not able to register the joy con’s up or down movements… i dunno if this is the problem of the drift thing but i am happy that they are finally reacting and doing smthin to it
It would make sense that the drift is caused by the amount of dust stuck to them. But I didn't expect Nintendo of all places, not to handle the situation well. Their devices can handle long lasting results for decades, yet the joycons can't even handle a few weeks
But didn't we already know about this since the first reports came in?
Even Nintendo would replace them for free if I was not mistaken, idk if they still do it but still.
I’ve fixed joycon drift miltiple ways before, including taking the actual stick apart and cleaning the contacts inside the stick with a q-tip. After reassembly just calibrate the stick in settings and it should be fixed. A simpler way that i’ve had success with is to just put a cardstock (the stuff cereal boxes are made from) shim under the joystick assembly inside the controller. This provides pressure in the stick and allows the contacts to touch even though theres dirt and dust in the way.
I'm pretty sure we knew this already. SpawnWave made a video on the subject several years ago, and then somebody found a way to permanently fix the drift (or at least extend the life of severely worn graphite contacts) by adding a 1 mm thick plastic/paper/cardboard slab on the back of the stick, about a year ago.
The _real_ design flaw is not using Hall Effect based sticks.
Nintendo: _“F’n magnets, how do they work!?”_
I have my own anecdotal experience of discovering the source of the drift: for me, it was wear and tear from the contacts.
I first temporarily fixed the drift with the “cardboard” solution, but the drift came back. After that, I took apart the actual analog stick and cleaned the contacts. After 7 months, it continues to operate like factory new.
Is the drift also the root cause of why the left joycon randomly increases vibration intensity before dying and having to recalibrate? There have been too many times where the rumble feature has been faulty for me and the movement from the left stick gets stuck in one direction despite giving it multiple inputs before dying
It took Nintendo 6 years to realize their hardware has a critical fault