The long-standing issue with Nintendo’s “drifting” analogue sticks on the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons has finally resulted in a victory for UK consumers, just in time for some Easter gaming.
This week, Nintendo quietly updated its Joy-Con support page to explain that the company will repair faulty controllers even if they’re out of the 24-month warranty period.
“Until further notice, Nintendo offers to consumers who purchased the respective product in the [European Economic Area] EEA, UK and Switzerland that repairs for responsiveness syndrome relating to control sticks will be conducted at no charge by official Nintendo repair centres,” an update on the page reads.
“This applies even if the syndrome is caused by wear and tear and even if the 24-month manufacturer’s warranty provided by Nintendo has expired.”
This has long been the policy in the United States, and anecdotally, plenty of users have been able to get repairs out of warranty.
But the formalisation of the process doesn’t go far enough for some people. The consumer rights group Which? believes that Nintendo should be looking at compensation for affected users, given the issue has been “plaguing gamers for years” without any obvious improvements to hardware design.
“Nintendo Switch ‘drift’ has been plaguing gamers for years, and many consumers have been left out of pocket buying expensive replacement controllers, so it’s positive that the video game giant has committed to lifelong free repairs," said Rochio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy.
"Which? tests found that these chronic Nintendo Switch controller problems are likely due to a mechanical fault pointing to design flaws that Nintendo must address to prevent faulty controllers ending up in people’s homes in the first place.
"As well as free repairs, Nintendo also needs to commit to compensation, refunds or replacements for any consumers who have been impacted by this issue since the launch of the console and promote this scheme so that consumers know that support is available.”
So far, that seems unlikely, but free out-of-warranty repairs are still a big step in the right direction. Affected users can book a repair via the official website.
