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.
The technology is fundamentally the same but they are implemented differently. They joycon has less space so they needed a more compact layout. But both use potentiometers.
It would be 100% possible for game devs to include an option to mitigate drift (require the stick to be pushed at least ~x% to move at all, adjustable anywhere from 10 for slight drift to 50 for extreme cases). Haven’t seen the slightest effort nor heard a peep on that.
Bunch of people in the replies seemingly never tried to play puzzle games with drift and have no idea how much trouble it can cause. Do the puzzles in The Last Campfire with joycon drift and let me know how it goes.
It makes way more sense for that to be an OS level option, not per game. It also makes even more sense to have hall effect joysticks and avoid the problem entirely.
Wouldn’t solve it, drift can affect regular joystick operation as well, where pushing it all the way to the side could show up as it being stuck in the middle.
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.
Well cool, I hope it does. I'm not a hardcore gamer, but the Nintendo Switch interested me for the occasional mario kart session. But all the Joycon drama scared me off from buying one. I'll hold out for a few more years before splurging - I'm in no rush, I rarely game or watch television anyway lol
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.
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
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
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 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!”
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!”
Hopefully a class-action wipes off all profits gained from that way of thinking.
Yeah, but that’s in Canada. Unlike the US, they don’t let companies get away with LITERALLY everything yet. Good on them for staying sane on top of the asylum though…
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!
This is the first Diablo game that I’ve uninstalled within a year of getting it. The fact that it’s only been a couple months and it got worse not better makes this worse. It’s a seriously flawed game, and expansions won’t help it.
All the blizzard leadership cut out and have started a few new studios with games in the works. Don’t expect anything but highly monetized low effort money printer sequel game from Blizzard anymore. Stop buying their shit.
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