A patent filed by Nintendo suggests that they’re working on Hall Effect style joysticks for the Switch 2 that would eliminate stick drift almost entirely.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Nintendo are cheap bastards, and if they fix the drift issue then they’ll likely cause it to fail prematurely somewhere else. Maybe the rubber will be cheaper so that it wears down and has to be replaced anyways? Or the plastic will be thinner so it cracks sooner, etc.
Also if they wanted to fix it for their next console, then they could have fixed it for this console. Hall effect isn’t some new technology, the dreamcast controller had it.
I’m betting on sticky buttons or triggers.
Nintendo deserves class action here tbh.
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Title seems odd, hall effects already exist, they aren’t creating something new. Also, love my DS5 to death, best controller I’ve ever used.
I loved my Dualsense too, and then the left stick started drifting so badly, it’s completely unusable now. It’s only about a year old, too. I blame Sekiro. Both my DS4s still work fine though, and they’ve seen much more use and abuse.
Ps5 controller was just as bad… I’m on my 3rd now and most of my friends are on their 2nd. I also had 1 switch controller go bad as well, but I also don’t play switch as much. This entire generation had the best controllers but also the worst problems I have ever had. Prior to these 2 systems I have never had a controller break before and I’m going back to original NES days.
I was talking about the PS5 controller. My DS4s (the PS4 controller) are holding up much better. At least the internals. The rubber on the sticks wore off, and I had to replace the tops. That was much easier than the 14 contacts-per-stick I have to de-and-re-solder on the Dualsense (PS5 controller) when I work up the courage to try that.
You don’t have to dodge in Sekiro, just stand there and parry everything.
True, but you still do a lot of moving around with the left stick. And when you’re stressed out about imminent death at any moment, that can be hard on the sticks.
I loved Sekiro! My first time through the game, I probably died on that first miniboss a hundred times. On NG+, I got to and killed Lady Butterfly without dying once. What an amazing game. I should probably go back and finish up NG+ once Elden Ring lets go of me.
Two things I notice
would eliminate stick drift almost entirely
I thought Hall effect sensors didn’t drift at all?
Second, I’m wondering what exactly Nintendo is patenting here, since Hall effect sensors are nothing new.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure they would not be able to patent Hall effect sensors. About a zillion other vendors would be able to claim prior art, especially considering they’ve been a commercial product for precisely this application for literal decades. The Gravis Stinger leaps to mind, which is so damn old it connects to a 9 pin serial port.
Nintendo is either dumb (unlikely) or doing something different (more likely).
Yeah?!?! You think so huh? I’m holding my breath on this one and keeping my interests in other game pads like ASUS ROG one, or the one that Logitech is making
I guess they finally found a cheap supplier for magnets so they can save that on what additional whopping 5 cents per stick production cost.
I had to replace my original sticks this year because they finally started to drift after five years or so.
I now have some Hall Effect sticks in each side, and I haven’t had any problems in the last six months with them. I really hope they go this route for the switch 2. It makes a lot of sense for them to, as well. They wouldn’t have to deal with fixing as many, and consumers would get a better product. Could be a rare win for both parties when I’m sure there’s some bean counters going “but if the controllers break more often we can sell more controllers!”
HI! My son just received a Nintendo Switch for Xmas. Would you mint telling me more about those Hall Effect stick i.e., brand/model? It’d be interesting to know hot to get them “just in case”. Thanks a lot in advance!
Hello! I just remembered your message.
Here’s an article about the ones I bought (though I bought them through another site besides Amazon because I’m not an Amazon fan.
Anyway, the process is pretty easy, though there are some smallish cables to be careful about.
Hey, thanks a lot. I’m not an Amazon fan as well, so I’d buy them elsewhere when/if needed.
What is Hall Effect?
It’s a way to detect which way the stick is pointing using magnets. It’s way more accurate and incredibly reliable.
Also because the moving parts don’t actually make contact with the sensors, the wear issues that affect joycons basically don’t exist
I have had this problem like 3 times, I have sent my joycons for repair and I always get new ones. Not sure how Nintendo is making money out of this.
I lost four sets of Joycon to drift. I even sent two in to be “repaired”. Talking to support was worthless - I’m convinced that the people I spoke to had never seen or used a Switch before. I don’t think they did anything other than calibrate them and send them back. I ended up buying a 20 pair of knockoff Joycon that have worked perfectly ever since.
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You missed this https://www.gulikit.com/productinfo/945307.html
I installed these on my wife’s joycons because she mashes the sticks like Gail the Snail. So far no issues with drift! The kit comes with all the tools you need to do the swap so it’s very straightforward.
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That’s really not the case, my switch got very light use (like a couple of hours a month) and after about 14 months it started drifting.
