As successful and popular as Nintendo's home console/handled hybrid, the Switch, has been, it has been plagued by one major issue that not even the most die-hard of fans can defend: Joy-Con drift, where one or both control sticks register movement without being touched. This infamous issue is still present to this day and has affected thousands of people. The publisher has faced quite a few lawsuits already regarding the problem and now has been hit with one from UFC-Que Choisir, a French consumers organization, which had initially issued a warning about Joy-Con drift back in November 2019.
UFC-Que Choisir is going one step further, though. It's not just simply suing Nintendo over Joy-Con drift; it's demanding that Nintendo actually change how it manufactures the controllers, accusing the publisher of anti-consumer practices and deliberately designing the controllers so that they break more easily.
Nintendo has been offering free repairs and president Shuntaro Furukawa has also apologized for the trouble caused, but UFC-Que Choisir clearly believes this isn't enough, as Nintendo is still making controllers with Joy-Con drift. The non-profit organization also noted that while Nintendo has slightly altered how the controllers are built, these alterations did nothing to fix the defects, despite Nintendo obviously being aware of the issue.
After requesting an expert analysis, it may have found the causes of the issue, namely premature wear and tear of the electronic circuits and an air defect, which allows dust and such to more easily get inside the controller. UFC-Que Choisir believes that these are deliberate on Nintendo's part, so as to make consumers regularly buy new controllers.
"The nature of the failure, how frequently it occurs for players, the limited lifespan of the products and the manufacturer's inertia despite being informed of the defect... These are all characteristic of planned obsolescence practices at Nintendo."
At the time of writing, Nintendo has yet to comment on the lawsuit. If successful, this could force Nintendo to finally end the drifting issue once and for all. In previous instances, the courts seem to have rarely swung in Nintendo's favor. One UK resident was successful in their lawsuit against the company and was able to receive a refund after Nintendo failed to repair their Joy-Con controllers twice.
In other news, rumors that Nintendo intends to release a new and improved Switch, referred to as the Switch Pro, next year are still going strong, with it believed that it will be upgraded to include 4K support. It's also believed that new, redesigned Joy-Cons are coming as well.
In terms of games, after several very quiet months, Nintendo has been winning fans' approval back with the release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars (though that generated controversies of its own) and a new Hyrule Warriors coming later this year, which will act as a prequel to Breath of the Wild.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz