Joy-Con drift

This cons the joy right out.

Joy-Con drift is an issue where the analog sticks on the Joy-Cons (the main controllers used for the Nintendo Switch) are exposed to dust, causing the system to detect analog stick movement that isn't actually happening.

Main problems

1. Nintendo claims that this is not a real issue and has not re-designed the Joy-Cons to fix it. All they've done about this is offering repairs, which tend to last only a few weeks before drifting happens again. What's worse is that they are receiving a number of lawsuits for that issue.
2. The Switch Lite has the same issue, and since its Joy-Cons aren't detachable, you need to send in the whole console to have it fixed.
3. In addition to Joy-Cons, the same issue also happens in the pro controllers as well since they'll occasionally drift from time to time.
4. Mario Party Superstars has two minigames, Tug O' War and Cast Aways, which require players to rotate the analog stick to win, which will likely result in drifting due to excessive rotation of the analog sticks.
   • NDcube was even forced to place an in-game warning for players not to use their palms in order to avoid irritating the skin of their hands and/or damage to the analog sticks.

How to fix it

1. Blow the dust off using compressed air or straw.
2. Go into the controller finder menu on the system and hold down the button for the Joy-Con that's drifting until its battery runs out. Then dip a cotton swab in isopropyl alcohol or a hand sanitizer, hold the analog stick all the way to edge, and rub the cotton swab in the center underneath the analog stick. Do a few full rotations and let the alcohol dry out before recharging the battery. Make sure the battery is dead before rubbing in any alcohol and that the alcohol dries completely before recharging the Joy-Con as failing to do so can be an electrical hazard.
3. Go into the controller finder menu on the system and hold down the button for the Joy-Con that's drifting. While the Joy-Con is vibrating, do a few full rotations of the analog stick.
4. Try to add a small piece of cardboard onto the Joystick area when opening the Joy-Con.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Pro controllers and third party controllers do not have this issue. Some of them, such as the HORI split pad pro, can still have the issue, but to a lesser extent.
   • Although there are also some controls that absolutely do not suffer from drift, such as the famous NYXI controls since they have large and well-made Sticks and a more comfortable design unlike the normal Joy-Con.
2. This can be fixed if you do any of the following steps mentioned above.
3. In 2021, Nintendo secretly fixed the drift by adding 2 pieces of foam at the back of the Joy-Con's back plastic case when they released the Skyward Sword HD joy-cons.

Trivia

• The PlayStation 5's DualSense controller, as well as the Xbox Series X/S reportedly have the same issue.

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