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An American judge based on California, where the lawsuit was taking place, has dismissed the lawsuit against Nintendo about their infamous Joycon drift that has plagued Nintendo Switch users since the console's release back in 2017.

The lawsuit, which has been going on since 2020, was made by the patents with the statement that the minor's Switch console had the infamous drift, causing by the faulty Joycons making the console unusable, summed up with the lack of response or action from Nintendo regarding the Joycon drift, which many users have encountered even after getting their console serviced through warranty, with many users even getting the drift just a few moments from receiving the console back from service.

In November, 2022, the case came to a close, with the summed up conclusion of the case being that the minors at hand are not the ones who directly purchased the console, and therefore are not the ones who suffered directly by the issue, and secondly, that the minors do not have any kind of pursue claims standing, since they are the ones who agreed to the EULA.

The following is the exact excerpt from the lawsuit's conclusion section:

CONCLUSION:
Minors failed to affirmatively demonstrate that the amended complaint corrects
deficiencies identified in the September 2022 order, namely, that minors have sufficiently alleged
the “constitutional minimum of standing.” This order, therefore, finds the amendment futile and
subject to dismissal. Accordingly, minors’ motion for leave to file second amended complaint is
DENIED. Judgment will be entered accordingly.

Source

 

[Donnie-Burger]

Repair shops love drift :/

 

[BraveDragonWolf]

I seriously forgot that this was still an issue.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

You can’t blame the judge if your suit was presented by an idiot. It’s sad that incompetence led to this decision.

Gulikit Joycon replacements physically cannot drift. It’s a pricey replacement part, but it improves the lifespan of the controllers by orders of magnitude thanks to its use of hall sensors and minimum amount of moving parts.

View attachment 351713
https://www.gulikit.com/productinfo/945307.html

Maybe so, but probably shouldn't recommend them to people until the issues with them discussed in the following thread are resolved.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/hall-effect-sensor-joycon-sticks-on-amazon.624698

 

[ChibiMofo]

I don't care who was right and who was wrong or what the law is, I just wanted big evil Nintendo, who has made 95% of the great games on consoles that I've ever enjoyed, to suffer because they're big and evil and won't let us have any fun with our ROMs and things.

Did I some up your actual feelings, majority?

 

[TobiasAmaranth]

This is actually a fail safe mechanism that’s in the joycons on purpose. The idea is that, should you drop your console, the plastic stopper will shear off, thus sliding the Joycon off the rail as opposed to tearing the rail out, along with the connector. You can avoid damage to the plastic by fully depressing the mechanism not only when you take your joycons off, but also when you put them on. The iconic Switch “click” is the stopper latching into the rail - over time metal will damage it through normal wear and tear because the part is intentionally soft. You can replace it with a metal stopper instead which will not be subject to wear and tear nearly as much, but you’ll have to be careful not to drop your console as doing so *will* damage the rail. If your Switch gets “bumped” during transit hard enough to damage this part even though you’re careful with it, you need a better case, friend.

View attachment 351733

I understand the theory, but I think my frame somehow has some sort of damage that is escalating the wear and tear. Pocket carry and general jostle shouldn't burn through that part so quickly, and it's only the right side that struggles. Regardless, I wouldn't know where to begin on parts replacement (driver, risk, method) but I at least imagine the part would be among the easier to replace.

Whatever that part is even called, lol...

Oh, and my newest pair has gotten enough wear and tear on the right stick to have a really dull press-in click. I'm surprised it doesn't have drift problems with as spongy as it feels.

When compared to the old Wii remote days, or even the chunky Wavebirds, I could get super shitty with the things and not even remotely affect their functionality. I really miss that and hope the next system is a bit more... hearty.

 

[Foxi4]

I understand the theory, but I think my frame somehow has some sort of damage that is escalating the wear and tear. Pocket carry and general jostle shouldn't burn through that part so quickly, and it's only the right side that struggles. Regardless, I wouldn't know where to begin on parts replacement (driver, risk, method) but I at least imagine the part would be among the easier to replace.

Whatever that part is even called, lol...

Oh, and my newest pair has gotten enough wear and tear on the right stick to have a really dull press-in click. I'm surprised it doesn't have drift problems with as spongy as it feels.

When compared to the old Wii remote days, or even the chunky Wavebirds, I could get super shitty with the things and not even remotely affect their functionality. I really miss that and hope the next system is a bit more... hearty.

In all honestly, I’ve never even considered carrying my Switch in a pocket. That thing’s huge, and the potential for damage is very high given how the joycons are constructed. It’s entirely possible that your rail wasn’t deburred properly and it’s unusually sharp - at the end of the day, it’s just stamped metal. Replacing the buckle part of the latch mechanism is a pain in the butt, yes, but it’s not rocket science and a lot of kits actually come *with* the necessary drivers and spudgers, iFixIt rates it at “moderate”. You said it’s happened a couple of times - it’s fair to assume that it’ll happen again. Me personally? I keep my unit in a case, so the joycons *can’t* move. It’s not a priority mod for me, but it’s definitely one I intend to perform in the future as joycons won’t be manufactured indefinitely and I’d rather have a more resilient latch since I don’t drop my consoles.

Maybe so, but probably shouldn't recommend them to people until the issues with them discussed in the following thread are resolved.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/hall-effect-sensor-joycon-sticks-on-amazon.624698

No product is perfect. This is a small company making a giant leap, I’m not surprised that they’re not quite “there” yet in terms of QC. I’m eager to see the promised revised version, and even in their current state, they’re objectively better than OEM joysticks which *will* ghost eventually anyway. Any modification carries risk, everyone should be informed about the products they buy. Thanks for the thread link though, I was unaware that there were some issues with them. From what I’ve seen they work quite well.

 

[BlazeMasterBM]

this is why you sell your joycons (to a sap dumb enough to buy them) and get some third party ones.

I got bigger, better joycons for half the price. and they don't drfit.
(ironically, they are licensed by Nintendo)

 

[jeremy2020]

In the United States, companies make the laws and aren't governed by them. The basic premise that you buy a product and it actually works is no longer valid.

Increasingly people are questioning what we even have a government for.

What's the confusion about the purpose of the government? Someone has to protect the companies constitutional rights and ability to be considered a person while the people in charge are shielded from any sort of punishment or responsibility.

 

[Jayro]

Fuck that judge. This is anti-consumerism at it's finest. At least Nintendo is fixing them for free I guess, but jeez.

 

[BLsquared]

Not to sound like a draft denier, dang that sounds terrible lol, but I will haven't had to deal with it. Glad that there are at least ways to deal with it, one way or another.

 

[Xzi]

Fuck that judge. This is anti-consumerism at it's finest. At least Nintendo is fixing them for free I guess, but jeez.

I'd say the lawsuit served its purpose, as Nintendo were not offering free repairs before it was filed, but started offering them shortly after. You'd think none of the big three would want to deal with the extra costs associated with repairs, and yet new Xbox and Playstation controllers are also prone to drift. They just don't make things with the same durability they used to, lower quality at a higher price.

 

[Jayro]

I'd say the lawsuit served its purpose, as Nintendo were not offering free repairs before it was filed, but started offering them shortly after. You'd think none of the big three would want to deal with the extra costs associated with repairs, and yet new Xbox and Playstation controllers are also prone to drift. They just don't make things with the same durability they used to, lower quality at a higher price.

Yeah, but any monetary loss for Nintendo makes me smile.

 

[niomi]

this is why you sell your joycons (to a sap dumb enough to buy them) and get some third party ones.

I got bigger, better joycons for half the price. and they don't drfit.
(ironically, they are licensed by Nintendo)

I remember when the least skilled player/the little sibling always got handed the 3rd party controller. Nintendo providing fresh joysticks (that will also break down eventually because they have the same problem) is better than nothing...but kids won't do this and many parents won't care to ship the joycons, So I can imagine the kids are fighting for the third party joycons now.

You'd think after building so much brand infatuation through consistent quality and durability of their products, Nintendo would know better...

 

[elk1007]

The sue has been going on since 2020, but regardless of that (they didn't start offering free fixed until after the lawsuit, mind you), the issue is still present to this day, and Nintendo hasn't done a thing to effectively eliminate the issue, they simply replace the Joycon's stick mechanism with another one. There's not a change in revisions at all regarding the mechanism, so yes, it is still viable for legal action. I don't think any actual coherent customer would like to have their console sent to Nintendo and wait weeks if not months each and every time their Joycons get a drift.

And yes, sending the console is a must for people with a Switch Lite, since those also get the drift.
Also, we have to take into consideration that such out-of-warranty repairs are not available in a lot of countries too.

Do they even repair Lite's for free?

 

[subcon959]

Sounds more like the parents were paid a visit by the ninjas to me.

 

[DS1]

For people on the know-how, it's a simple fix one can do at home without even opening the Joycon, but thing here is that they shouldn't fail that often nor as consistent as it is at the moment. I even sent my Joycons for repair on this matter not twice, thrice, and by the third time I got back the Joycons, the drift was happening even worse that how I sent them, by this time it wasn't a drift, it was worse. Catch this, I was playing Link's Awakening, moving Link to the left, and in a matter of seconds, Link was slowing down in that direction, until it came to a stop, and THEN Link started moving to the right, while I was still holding down the stick to the left. Tells you just how fucked up their repair and design system goes for joysticks. I even opened up the Joycon (since I do have experience working on console repairs), and I confirmed that the revision of the joystick was not changed, the only thing that could change is the aluminium housing which encases the stick, and that's it, the design itself is the same. After that I simply gave Nintendo the finger, not wanting any more fucking months until I received the things back, and basically pour some slight isopropil alcohol under the joystick's thumbpad's rubber, move the stick in all directions a bit while pressing it down, and that gets the job done for some time, until the whole shit starts again, then you do it again, but saves you months of waiting on repairs in my case in like 10 secs.

Another 3rd party solution can be magnetic Hall analog sticks being developed by some companies, basically using Hall Effect sticks makes the possibility of a stick drift very unlikely, so people can opt for that and replace their joycon's default mechanic sticks with those.

That is unfortunate.

 

[mrmagicm]

This judge is 100% corrupt......Pathethic!!

 

[G33ksquad]

Do they even repair Lite's for free?

Someone can correct me if I’m wrong but not outside of the standard warranty I don’t think so. Which definitely is a huge bummer. Although here in the US a switch lite can be found on sale for around $35 more than a set of Joy Cons, but I wonder how much more e-waste this generates overall from people just throwing them away, heck even how much more e-waste is generated by Nintendos third party repair facility United Radio.

 

[Veho]

Wait so does this mean EULAs are enforcable or not?
Because I could have sworn there was precedent saying they aren't a legally binding contract because, I quote, "LOL tl;dr."

 

[Foxi4]

Wait so does this mean EULAs are enforcable or not?

Because I could have sworn there was precedent saying they aren't a legally binding contract because, I quote, "LOL tl;dr."

They don’t affect your statutory rights, but they do dictate terms of engagement. If you agree that before suing, you will go through arbitration first, and then you don’t go through arbitration first, you’re the one in violation. The EULA can’t strip you of your consumer rights, but it is an agreement. In the same way, you can’t sign any contract that contains clauses which are illegal (well, you can, but they’re unenforceable and can make the contract null and void), but once you’ve signed a legal contract, it is binding to both parties. In effect, Nintendo offered a path via which such issues should be handled, they were willing to discuss and possibly provide remedy as long as the venue was of their choosing, and that offer was ignored. When the adults sued, they were suing in the wrong venue and they didn’t go through arbitration, so there was an avenue of getting remedy that they skipped - no standing. That’s why they moved away from the suit - the minors couldn’t legally agree to anything, including an EULA. With that being said, they also didn’t buy the units, so they have no standing either - you can’t sue for damages based on something you don’t own.