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Editor’s take: Let’s be brutally honest here. The first-generation Switch controllers were horrible. The Joy-Cons were not comfortable to use and suffered from severe joystick drift. At least the Pro controller was more comfortable to use, but it had drift issues, too. So it’s weird that Nintendo is refusing to explain or directly address what it has done about the problem in its second-generation controllers.
Nintendo has nixed hopes that Switch 2 Joy-Cons (Joy-Con 2) feature Hall-effect sensors. Rumors emerging around Christmas last year suggested that Joy-Con 2 would implement the Hall effect to deal with the joystick-drift problems plaguing the original units. However, according to a Nintendo Life interview with Senior Vice President of Product Development and Publishing Nate Bihldorff, Nintendo built the Joy-Con 2 “from the ground up,” but inexplicably did not implement the Hall effect.
Considering all the headaches resulting from joystick drift and how easily Nintendo could correct it with Hall-effect thumbsticks, it is incomprehensible that it didn’t. That’s not to say that the Joy-Con 2 will have the same issues the first-generation controllers had – it takes a while for the problem to set in – so we’ll have to wait and see.
However, Bihldorff didn’t elaborate on what Nintendo did to mitigate this problem, which has sparked multiple lawsuits for the company, one of which the judge dismissed on a technicality. He just mentioned that they are not “Hall Effect” and then quickly diverted attention away from the question.
“Well, the Joy-Con 2’s controllers have been designed from the ground up. They’re not Hall Effect sticks, but they feel really good,” the VP said before quickly trading roles with the interviewer by asking, “Did you experience both the Joy-Con and the Pro Controller?”
He then explained that he likes the Pro Controller because it feels like a GameCube gamepad. So, while he answered the original question – no, they don’t employ the Hall effect – he diverted the subject from the logical follow-up: “What have you done to eliminate drift?” It’s a legitimate concern, and the lack of transparency on the subject speaks volumes amid what is already a very controversial pre-launch.
However, Nintendo is still fighting lawsuits over the drift issue. So, it is equally likely that its legal team has instructed staff and other representatives to avoid discussing the issue until the dust settles. After all, saying, “We fixed the drift issues,” is legally admitting that it was a problem in the first generation, which will not help Nintendo’s defense.
There has been much negative commentary regarding the price point for the console and its games. Critics have compared the $450 MSRP – or more, depending on where you live – to PlayStation and Xbox consoles, noting that the Switch 2 doesn’t hold a candle from a price-per-compute standpoint.
They are equally annoyed at the lack of transparency regarding the Switch 2’s APU. Many have made hypothetical (and sarcastic) comparisons to the RTX 4090 because of Nvidia’s dubious claims of 10 times the processing power over the original Switch.
Judging new controllers before they have even reached the public’s hands is premature without question, but it will surely come up on social media and forums. So, Bihldorff’s dodging of the question is not a good look, and the situation will be 10 times worse if the thumbsticks end up with the same mechanical problems as the first-gen Joy-Con.
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