Joy-Con Drift has been a common complaint of the Nintendo Switch era. Over the last 8 years, users have frequently complained that the controllers are prone to “drifting,” where the game or system responds to movement (like an in-game character walking) when pressure isn’t being applied to the control stick. It’s a frustrating issue when it comes up, and many are no doubt wondering whether steps will be taken to resolve the issue with the Joy-Cons used for Nintendo Switch 2. Right now, there’s no way of knowing for sure, but there is evidence to suggest Nintendo will be implementing a fix, and it comes from a pretty unlikely place.
The YouTube channel iFixit has shared a video breakdown of an Alarmo, Nintendo’s clock device that was released last year. In the video, it’s uncovered that Alarmo uses a Hall effect sensor and magnet. The purpose of this inclusion is for both accuracy and long-term quality support; this will help to ensure that the device’s dial continues to operate as intended over time.
So, what does this have to do with Nintendo Switch 2? As noted by The Verge, there are third-party controllers that use a similar method to avoid drift problems with their control sticks. It stands to reason that if Nintendo is willing to use this tech in its Alarmo clocks, the company is aware of the benefit it could have for the Joy-Cons, as well. Hopefully that really is the case, and we can expect to see controllers that have far fewer issues as a result.
So far, Nintendo has been tight-lipped on the changes that are being made to Switch 2. The system was officially unveiled back in January, in a short video teasing several changes. From that video, we know that the Joy-Cons will be increasing in size, and the inside buttons will be enlarged. The video also seemed to hint at an option to use the controllers in a manner similar to a PC mouse. However, that option has not been confirmed by Nintendo, as of this writing.
We should learn a lot more about Nintendo Switch 2 next month, as there is a special Nintendo Direct presentation set to take place on April 2nd. At this time, we know nothing about what will be featured during the livestream, but we can probably expect to see some new games revealed, as well as the system’s features. Nintendo has been pretty quiet about Joy-Con Drift since the problem first became public, so we probably shouldn’t expect to see anything like Hall effect sensors mentioned. Instead, we’ll probably have to wait until channels like iFixit have a chance to do a similar breakdown for the new controllers. That said, this new revelation about Alarmo certainly bodes well!
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Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/nintendo-switch-2-report-joy-con-drift-fix/
