OLED Switch Joy-Con improvements

Nintendo says new Switch Joy-Cons that come with the OLED Switch do have ‘internal’ improvements.

When Nintendo first debuted the OLED Switch back in July, it said there were no changes to the Joy-Cons. That was disappointing to fans, who have dealt with Joy-Con drift for going on four years now. Anyone who is an avid Switch player has already transitioned to using another controller – there are plenty of great third-party Joy-Cons for example.

Since the release of the OLED Switch on October 8, Nintendo has clarified its position. The new Joy-Cons included with the console do feature internal improvements. Nintendo went without directly addressing Joy-con drift as a problem, taking the Apple approach. Likely because they’re facing investigation in the EU over the widespread Joy-Con drift problem.

Another major characteristic of Nintendo Switch is the Joy-Con controllers. A big part of the user experience comes from the Joy-Con, but were there any improvements?

Yamashita: “Joy-Con controllers have lots of different features, so we’ve been continuing to make improvements that may not always be visible. Among others, the analog-stick parts have continuously been improved since launch, and we are still working on improvements.”

“The analog stick at first release cleared the Nintendo reliability test using the method of rotating the stick while continually applying a load to it. We used the same criteria as the Wii U GamePad’s analog stick. As we have always been trying to improve it as well, we have investigated the Joy-Con controllers used by the customers and repeatedly improved the wear resistance and durability.”

“When the effects of our improvements were confirmed, we promptly incorporated them into the Joy-Con controllers that are included with the console, Nintendo Switch Lite, and the ones sold individually. This involves internal components of the Joy-Con, so you can’t tell the improvements from the outside, but we use the new versions of the parts when we repair them.”


So basically, Nintendo confirms that they are testing the type of plastic the analog sticks are made from to increase durability. Early versions of the Joy-Cons shipped with a type of plastic that easily flaked off after repeated motion in the same direction (such as running up).


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