I hear you can get a replacement digital stick on amazon for the existing switch consoles. If the white ones that came with my oled switch ever get that drifting problem, I’m gonna buy one of those replacement stick components and send it and the drifting joycon to a tech repair shop I know of (that guy might have repaired like 200 of those already, pretty much everyone in my area these days owns a Switch). I don’t wanna risk shorting out a $70 controller doing it by myself
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.
Glancing over the patent, I don’t think Hall effect sensors are used here. Note especially the use of a fluid, and the presence of variable resistors (parts that can wear out in current-gen controllers) for each axis.
Instead, this looks like an analog stick force-feedback mechanism that could also be used for automatic re-centering:
Accordingly, in the first example, control of current to be applied to the MRF is performed in the way as described below, thus achieving both presentation of a feeling using the MRF and an initial position restoration operation.
This wouldn’t keep the potentiometers from wearing out, but with the right software, I imagine it could automatically adjust the sticks to compensate for mild drift. (I don’t know if this would work any better than plain old calibration; it’s definitely more complicated.) Also, games could dynamically adjust stick resistance, like the DualSense can adjust trigger resistance, for interactivity/immersion.
I wonder how much this would affect battery life, how long the fluid mechanism would last with normal wear and tear, and how environmentally toxic it will be when it eventually becomes e-waste.
The PDF linked in the article seems to be a scanned image, so control+F doesn’t work, but the text is searchable here: patents.justia.com/patent/20230280850
Whoa, that force feedback mechanism sounds really cool! It might not be able to force movement but it would provide resistance to movement. I could imagine it as if your player character is walking into a wall and the joystick wont let you push forward.
Seriously…idk why they are so…obtuse to fixing shiz sometimes. Granted we are talking about the same company that won’t embrace fan work the same as Sega so they’re kinda backwards imo. Esp since that stuff usually isn’t making money or is free promo for the real shiz Ala streaming and reviews. They’re not very smart imo on a lot of things and seem to punish fans for having fun with shiz too much…
I mean I doubt it. Hall effects have been on the market for ages(notably the dreamcast as a few other comments reminded me). They can’t possibly stop hall effects and mods that allow them at this point XD
You can patent a specific implementation of a technology, but not usually the principles behind that tech. Nintendo had patented this, too, but that likely has little to no effect on other hall effect joystick manufacturers.
I upgraded my joycons to the guilykit joysticks and they are wonderful. And its not even that difficult. Took me about 30 minutes for both. But it’s a shame that I had to change them at all.
None of my PS4, 5 or Switch controllers have had any drift. I even used the Joycons in Ringfit for ages, and I was sure that spending months being strapped to my leg would bugger it up.
I’m not sure if I’m the luckiest person on Earth, I just don’t use them enough, or others are doing something I’m not (smoking or vaping are possibilities here, along with greasy food fingers).
They don’t get sensor drift, but if the mechanical centering of the stick is sub par, you can get mechanical drift. The N64 is a good example. Flawless sensors, shitty mechanical construction
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.
there was a class action lawsuit about this… all it resulted in was nintendo having to provide free repairs to joycons… that eventually will start drifting again
the left joycon on my switch started drifting after a couple of years, meanwhile the gamecube controller ive had and used for about 20 years still works perfectly
For me the issue was much worse than drift. One of my joy-cons, that were not really used all that much so the "abusing your controllers" would just be false, just decided that it didn't want to work on the Y axis any more, and the quick fix was the add some credit card thick cardboard behind the joystick box. The controllers were just really badly made in the first place.
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 fixed my drift with a small piece of cardboard. I figure Nintendo could have eliminated some drift by increasing the material thickness in the cad file they use. They just choose not to.
dexerto.com
Aktywne