If there’s one piece of the Nintendo Switch’s hardware (or two pieces, actually) that’s been on the receiving end of widespread criticism, its the analog sticks on its Joy-Con controllers, which have been surprisingly prone to drifting issues (which has even led to legal consequences for Nintendo). Earlier this year, Nintendo said that the new Nintendo Switch OLED’s Joy-Con hadn’t seen any changes or improvements, but now clarifies that that isn’t exactly the case.
In an interview published by Nintendo going over the technical details and development of the Switch OLED, Toru Yamashita – the deputy general manager of Nintendo’s Technology Development Department – said that Nintendo has been making constant improvements to the analog sticks of Joy-Cons, and that the analog sticks included in the Switch OLED’s Joy-Cons do feature these improvements. As, in fact, do the analog sticks in regular Joy-Cons, the base Switch, and the Switch Lite.
“The degree of wear depends on factors like the combination of the materials and forms, so we continue to make improvements by researching which combinations are less likely to wear,” Yamashita said. “We mentioned that the Joy-Con controller specifications hadn’t changed in the sense that we didn’t add new features such as new buttons, but the analog sticks in the Joy-Con controllers included with Nintendo Switch – OLED Model are the latest version with all the improvements. Needless to say, so are the analog sticks included in Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, separately sold Joy-Con controllers, and the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller that are currently being shipped.”
Of course, exactly what sort of an improvement these adjustments will make remains to be seen, but hopefully, Nintendo can continue making such improvements in this area, given how consistently troublesome it has been for a large number of people.
The Nintendo Switch OLED Model is out now worldwide.