Joy-Con

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. [...]

[...] 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. [...]

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.

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? [...]

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 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. [...]

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

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.

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. [...]

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.

[...] 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.

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 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. [...]

I know it's perhaps a silly thing to nitpick on, but the general look of Switch 2 with its darker, Steam Deck-ish joycons don't look as fun as the first one to me. Current Switch with the neon blue/red joycons had its own character, and IIRC that color combination was what Nintendo often marketed. This change makes it look like a MSI or ASUS product than a continuation of Nintendo's own line.

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.

They have sold millions of faulty joycons (referring to drift), when the solution was already available (hall effect sticks) but it would have cost them an extra $1 per joystick, reselling games that came out in 2010 for $60 today, and using DMCA to bully youtube channels that show videos of their games are some morally reprehensible things from the top of my head. It does not entitle anyone to pirate their games, but taking your words, Nintendo is not exactly starving either, they could have spent the extra $1 on the joycons to fit them with non drifting sticks. Even if you use their replacement program, you just get another joycon with the same stick.

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).

Personal opinion, but I didn't really have that reaction. That screen is still significantly bigger than the Switch 1. Honestly it looks like a great size and if the bezels were smaller, it might be a problem to grip the device (with joycons detached) without hitting the touch screen.

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.

There was a rumor about an optical sensor on the side of a joycon that would turn it into a mouse. [...] Sure you can point and click but no keyboard? That's way lower input than simply using the joycon and all the buttons. [...]

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.

[...] anything really more than the design, input ports, and joycons, seems too little. [...]

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

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.

[...] 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.)

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). [...]

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 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.

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.

[...] 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?

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

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.

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.

complete this sentence: i own a ridiculous amount of: Cat whiskers Off-brand Pokemon plushies Drifting, lose Joy Con sticks Empty notebooks

That said I always wait for the special Zelda editions of Nintendo's consoles, so I don't know that I have standing to complain. Yeah, I am sure there will be plenty of playful and colourful joycons for the Switch 2 as well.

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)