A promising new patent suggests that Nintendo would replace its joysticks with a new system that would correct the famous joy-con drift problem.
Nintendo and the joy-con drift, it’s a story that lasts. Since its release, the Nintendo Switch has included joysticks with questionable durability. Many users over the years have complained aboutinputs ghosts, with characters making involuntary movements. Quite unfortunate behavior, especially in the middle of a Mario Kart game.
Even today, Nintendo has not resolved the problem, except by offering free repair of your joy-cons, like in the rest of the world. But while the Nintendo Switch 2 is starting to make headlines, the manufacturer is reportedly working on new joysticks to finally eliminate the problem.
Joycons without any drift for the Switch 2?
A new patent filed by Nintendo suggests that the joy-con drift could well be ancient history. Currently, it is the mechanical wear of the joysticks which causes this phenomenon, more precisely the potentiometers whose electrical contact can cause wear over time.
In this future version, Nintendo should use magnetic fields to send the signal for different joystick movements. We already know this system well, it is that of Hall Joystick and their magnet sensors which had been marketed by Gulikit for the Switch in early 2023.
Resulting from an innovation by Sega on its Saturn and Dreamcast consoles, this type of joystick is now offered by many third-party controller manufacturers. For the Switch, however, the replacement operation was cumbersome and voided your console’s warranty.
If this patent materializes all its promises, and nothing says at the moment that it will, Nintendo should respond to the biggest complaint made to its console since its release in 2017. In any case, this was our wish for the Switch 2 and we hope that it will come true.
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