Joy-Con

[...] I've repaired little things here and there like the joy-con connector rails becoming loose. [...]

We've burned through two Switches, both of which still semi-function but with major components broken. Both provided a constant bonus game of "where the hell did the kickstand go now?" until that part just got permanently lost about 3 months in (both times!) and the Joycon rails can get fucked up and stop charging properly if a kid squeezed kind-of hard (raise your hands if you never squeezed a controller in frustration as a kid? [...]

[...] Yes, the Switch was mostly used docked, but the battery is last thing failing there, it rather has issues with the fan, the screen scratches etc. The controller works perfectly and I charge it once a month. The replaceable battery would only make it less solid. The biggest Switch issue by far is joystick drift on joycons. [...]

It’s possible for x86 machines to manage this state correctly, as proven by Valve’s Steam Deck which can be put to sleep and drain its battery slowly enough to stay alive for a week or more. I had the original Steam Deck and the OLED Steam Deck and neither of them would hold a charge past a day or so. It's a constant annoyance for me as I don't want to leave it plugged in 24/7 but if I don't, it won't be ready to go when I use it. [...] A week of battery (while it's "off") would be amazing, it feels like I can't get 24hrs without the battery being trash. Compare this to my iPad or MBP and the difference is stark. I really only use my Switch in docked mode (the joycons suck) so I don't have a good read on how long it holds it's battery but I assume it must be better than the Steam Deck.

[...] The buttons also go. My gameboy color is sadly basically unplayable because the buttons aren't very responsive anymore. [...] My switch joycons are already shot. [...]

[...] It's the absolute worst controller I've ever used (Joy-Cons are a close second). [...] The size/shape of the controller as a whole was fantastic but I just really hated only having touchpads instead of sticks, and that made it unusable.

Not only drift, which has claimed a number of them, but also issues with the console not recognizing when they are attached, and one pair that for some reason the switch won't recognize when trying to use in the horizontal orientation. [...] I've repaired our joycons so many times (they all ended up getting the hall sensor joysticks from gulikit, some got new batteries), and despite this and actually not even heavy play time on them, the pairing is absolutely brutal. [...] The price/performance ratio seemed right, I liked the first one we tried, and so I've just stuck with them.

I've had a lot of frustration with Switch joy-cons. Not only drift, which has claimed a number of them, but also issues with the console not recognizing when they are attached, and one pair that for some reason the switch won't recognize when trying to use in the horizontal orientation. [...] Recently we were trying to play Switch Sports with 4 players, and even my kids who are generally oblivious to graphical fidelity and framerate were complaining that it was basically unplayable in 4-player split screen.

[...] I have super bad Joy-Con drift, so I'm gonna probably use my 3DS as a controller for my Switch while they're repairing! I've had awful drift for years and I'm finally doing something about it!! [...]

🍀 I hope I got the right item wishlisted. [...] Our patience with our current controller and its Joy-Con Drift: PlayStation Edition is reaching its limit. Because of the relatively steep price, you can crowdfund it. [...]

[...] Funny enough the one time I did break a ribbon cable it was actually the right joycon rail on a Nintendo Switch and it was quite an unreasonable amount of force I applied (by accident, of course...) I always smile a little seeing people on YouTube with super fine pliars carefully and tenderly taking off connectors, I usually use a butter knife or something like that to get them off and then replace them just using my finger. [...] The actual issue I have with phones isn't that the connectors/cables break apart if you look at them funny, it's actually the god damn screens are insane to deal with and replace, with all of that adhesive crap. This all to say, I think Apple is doing poorly here, their ribbon cables should probably be more robust on these often quite expensive devices. [...] (and also similarly, have seen and heard of Apple devices where they've mysteriously cheaped out on components like voltage regulators and made their devices totally unnecessarily worse and more failure prone.)

They have quality issues with stick drift, and the "single joycon as controller" setup is clearly designed for child-sized hands, but it's definitely an advantage to be able to play the system handheld but also have minimal extra to pack (just the rails widget) if I want to put it on a train table on the kickstand and the use the controllers more ergonomically. And I mean, if you have kids, being able to double your controllers when they have friends around is also helpful to avoid arguments.

[...] So by only connecting a single pin, the secret ROM is completely bypassed This is interesting to me because it sounds remarkably similar to my admittedly very naive understanding of how jailbreaking the Nintendo Switch (original console, not sure about the recent Switch 2) works, just inverted; there's a single pin under where the right joycon slots in that seems to be responsible for ensuring that the OS (or firmware? [...] The entirety of what you need to do from a hardware perspective even as a complete novice is access to a desktop/laptop, the USB-C cable that comes with the console, and a plastic nub people 3D print and sell on Amazon for like $8 to slide into the joycon slot, and you're done. [...]

Strange, my copy of fitbox died after about 2-3 years of occasional use without any abuse. To be fair, this was the case for my Joycons too (Calling it drift is branding, they are effectively unusable) I like Nintendo's games but their QC has always been a little off. [...]

I agree that they are/were far too expensive, especially given the drift problems. [...] After that, I got the Pro controller and never looked back. Last year, I picked up a CRKD Nitro and that is a massive upgrade on the Joy-Con.

A few months ago I put together a library that lets you use a Nintendo Switch JoyCon 1 (the JoyCon 2s can't connect to bluetooth) or a Playstation VR controller to a Mac in order to control the mouse, use a radial menu, etc: I map one of the keys to voice input push-to-talk for handy: This involved reverse engineering and writing new drivers for both (with no existing reference for the PSVR). It's all in that library, so if that sounds interesting to you, you can probably get Claude/Codex/whatever to convert it to a Windows app pretty quickly. I haven't been maintaining this tool actively, but maybe it's useful to someone.

I have been partially wanting one for the new one for a couple of the games, but then all four of my existing joy-cons on my Switch 1 started to have drift or other issues. So that sort of halfway saved me some money towards something I already wanted. Though I sadly learned afterwards that you could send in controllers with drift and Nintendo would fix it for free.

I bought a switch 2 for one main reason: speed. [...] I like the joycon 2 controllers ergonomics more.

Keyboard & mouse user here. [...] I specifically use the Switch joycons. [...]

Yes it does work with actual controllers as well! I've tested it with Xbox and Joy-Con controllers but any controller that you can connect to the central screen should work. Let me know if you have any problems connecting and I'll see what I can do.

I do the same with my Switch 1— just set the thing up with its kickstand on the tray table and use a normal pad. No amount of slide-on grips or whatever else really make the joycons usable for more than a few minutes with adult hands.

[...] They have had numerous occasions when they have been heavy handed with anti-consumer reactions or making decisions that end up hurting customers (like how they never actually fixed the joycon drift), and yet here we are. [...]

Literally have the same thing; a wired XBOX360 controller that I bought a long time ago. [...] I've seen some videos explaining the cause of the Joycon issue and it feels like it must be cost cutting (on the most important component of the device). [...]

As an owner of a bucket of overpriced Joy-Cons I've long since stopped bothering shipping to Nintendo to get fixed, they should have made it clear they addressed the drift issue, even if they had to do it subtly.

I struggled with keeping my thumbs on the pads properly, probably needed sensitivity adjustment too but I just couldn't get myself to want to try harder with it. Sticks work really well for me in terms of controllers, I just wish we weren't being shafted by stick drift all the time when manufacturers could be using hall-effect sticks; I've got 2 PS5 controllers and 3 PAIRS of Joy-Cons with drift, while I also have my original 2 x PS1 controllers from my childhood, neither of which has drift.

[...] It could be the same situation here, but the fact that the joycons already have a hint of blue and red makes me think this will be the only version, as it's sort of a mix between the 2 versions of the original switch. [...] I choose the grey version of the switch, and I think making the joycons the exact same colour as the system this time looks way better. [...]

[...] The switch 1 joycon was the only one that allowed reaching the controller buttons and the stick (while held horizontally) for my 3 years old. [...] And I wish they had names for their arrow buttons, because when held horizontally it makes things very confusing: "press b" what is b?

Disappointed that it doesn't look to fix the biggest issue I have with the Switch, which is that docking it feels awkward and clumsy. You have to blindly line up a USB-C port/connector, and that seems to be the same approach they're going with here. At least the Joycons look like they'll be a little smoother to attach/remove.

Honestly I swapped them myself both in the Joycons and in the Pro controller a couple times each over the years. The modules cost like $15 through Amazon or Ebay, and unlike the XBox controller, they're separate modules with a ribbon connector instead of soldered in, which makes replacing them a breeze.

I kind of like the joy con issue, as it means I can send the controllers back to Nintendo and get them fixed for free, even when the problem isn't the joycon - it's the kids destroying the controller. (Nintendo has always had excellent support - I remember getting a Gamecube refurbished long after the Wii was everywhere).

It always shocked me that for how bad the joycons were, the "Pro Controller" was one of the best controllers I've ever used. I don't know how they managed to nail one and get the other so wrong.

I have multiple charging "controller docks" that you can plug the joycons into and then use them like a two-stick-controller and charge via usb-c.

I might throw a party to smash my joy cons. Some of the worst quality control in my long history of owning hardware, and from a company previously famous for that trait. Good riddance.

I dropped my Switch from knee height, and now the left hand joycon is slightly loose and disconnects from too much upward pressure. Maybe the damage is on the joycon, but it seems more likely the mechanism (don't have a spare to test). The new joycon connector looks more robust.

The last time I tried to use my Switch, I realized that the joy cons are no longer usable separately. Seems the connection to the internal shoulder buttons is broken, and you can't reorient the controllers unless you can hold them both down.

The amount of money I had to spend buying/repairing joycons put me off playing the Switch at all. Wasn't worth it.

Happy to see the Switch 2 version of The Witch's Bakery actually allowing the left Joy-Con to be used for mouse mode. Unfortunately rare among the games I own.^^" In fact, it apparently assigns each Joy-Con a different cursor and switches them depending on which side detects mouse movement.

I’ve been playing Tetris Effect on my PC with a keyboard (also the 8bit do mechanical keyboard, which I also love)lately and other than a 4 way gate stick I don’t think I could play any other way. Although I found the 4-button setup of the Nintendo joycon to work decently, they are so small and I have big hands so I get cramps quickly… I have been debating between a (less expensive) 8bit do or the (nearly 3x price) Mayflash F700 but the mod ability of the 8bit do just might see me get both…both are moddable but I still want to keep one that is “pure” if you catch my drift. Seems I might be unknowingly but knowingly walking into a new weird niche hobby lol

That's their actual standard and hopefully it has returned to the "default" controller(s). I think they just flew too close to the sun in terms of trade-offs with the Switch 1 joy cons. Not possible to make them good enough at that price at that size at the time of release

[...] “I could almost hear the crack. Could almost see that OLED display splintering into a thousand pieces. The little Joy-Cons skittering across the floor. [...] The stunned silence.” He should've broken the Switch. [...] Men are only afforded so many opportunities to display healthy acts of aggression in front of their wives and children. [...] A single setting that says "this child cannot go online, communicate with strangers, spend money, or download anything without my explicit permission." Instead I get a maze, complex enough that when something goes wrong, I'm at fault for a tooltip I didn't hover over, a blog post I didn't read, a submenu I didn't find. [...]

I'm actually wondering why PC games never converged on a "left joy-con" style controller with a stick and buttons, for one hand, while the other hand holds the mouse. I guess the ordinary keyboard is good enough so there wasn't much pressure to replace it. Really does seem to be a matter of the keyboard being good enough and knowing that most everyone has one connected to their PC. [...]

[...] So the c-buttons (rather than the left d-pad) for walking and the stick for looking/turning. [...] The "Solitaire" preset even has the Z trigger for firing. Which sounds pretty good. Of course having an actual stick for walking would have been even better, but buttons aren't that bad, considering that PC games still use them for walking to this day. I'm actually wondering why PC games never converged on a "left joy-con" style controller with a stick and buttons, for one hand, while the other hand holds the mouse. I guess the ordinary keyboard is good enough so there wasn't much pressure to replace it.

I replaced mine with sticks using hall effect sensors. The stick replacement process isn't easy, but also not too bad. When I first opened my joycon, a spring flew across the room and I had a hell of a time trying to find it.

I know for a fact they had the grey and colorful models on launch day, I bought the model with the red and blue joycons at mignight on launch day at my local BestBuy. The promo video in this article[1] shows some folks playing bomberman with those joycons about 2/3 in. 1:

It's been a while, but from my recollection that was the main version at launch. It's what I got, anyways. I don't remember the red and blue joycons showing up until later.

Hmmm, I wonder if the Nintendo charging stand will charge the NES Joy-Cons, cause the BestBuy stand I have won't (no big deal currently, the switch is usually on the dock and I charge the NES controllers on it)