The Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Con drift issue is caused by a fundamental design flaw according to a UK consumer group.
As reported by Eurogamer, a report from Which claims that, even after just a few months of use, the Joy-Con’s plastic circuit boards show significant wear on the joystick slider contact points. This causes Joy-Con drift, an issue that Nintendo hasn’t been able to fully address in the console’s five years on the market.
The report also criticises Nintendo’s returns and refunds policy in relation to Joy-Con drift issues, saying it should provide a refund or compensation plan for anyone who can prove they’ve bought a replacement Joy-Con since the Switch’s launch in 2017.
Nintendo disagreed that the issue is so prevalent, however, saying in response to the survey that only a small number of controllers are affected and that it’s improved the design several times since launch.
“The percentage of Joy-Con controllers that have been reported as experiencing issues with the analogue stick in the past is small, and we have been making continuous improvements to the Joy-Con analogue stick since its launch in 2017,” it said.
“We expect all our hardware to perform as designed, and, if anything falls short of this goal, we always encourage consumers to contact Nintendo customer support, who will be happy to openly and leniently resolve any consumer issues related to the Joy-Con controllers’ analogue sticks, including in cases where the warranty may no longer apply.”
Top 25 Nintendo Switch Games
Nintendo launched a Switch repair subscription service in Japan earlier this year but hasn’t yet announced a version for the U.S. or Europe.
It did open a Joy-Con drift specific repair service back in 2019 but it recently materialised that the repair centres themselves were so overwhelmed that mistakes were made when the controllers were meant to be fixed. The issue is so persistent that Nintendo has faced several lawsuits as a result of its Joy-Con malfunctions.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
A major new study from UK consumer group Which? has found evidence that the Nintendo Switch’s infamous Joy-Con drift is likely caused by a mechanical fault, pointing to fundamental design flaws.
The research found that the Joy-Con’s plastic circuit boards showed noticeable wear on the joystick slider contact points, despite only being used for months. It is this wear that ultimately results in drifting.
In addition, dust and other contaminants were found in the Switch’s internal components, despite attempts by Nintendo at dustproofing said areas.
The Eurogamer Newscast News Quiz of the Year 2022!
Which? also criticised Nintendo’s handling of the situation and its response to affected consumers.
The organisation has called upon Nintendo to provide a compensation or refund plan for any UK consumers who can prove they purchased a replacement Joy-Con due to drift since 2017, and said that this scheme should be widely promoted.
It has also called for Nintendo to offer a “no-quibble” repair or replacement of all Joy-Cons that have developed drift since 2017, completely free of charge.
In a response to the study, Nintendo issued the following statement: “The percentage of Joy-Con controllers that have been reported as experiencing issues with the analogue stick in the past is small, and we have been making continuous improvements to the Joy-Con analogue stick since its launch in 2017.”
“We expect all our hardware to perform as designed, and, if anything falls short of this goal, we always encourage consumers to contact Nintendo customer support, who will be happy to openly and leniently resolve any consumer issues related to the Joy-Con controllers’ analogue sticks, including in cases where the warranty may no longer apply.”
If your Joy-Con has developed drift, it’s worth remembering that your first point of contact should be Nintendo Support, which will likely repair your controllers at no cost to you including shipping. From my own experience, you don’t even need to provide proof of purchase, but it would certainly help your cause if you’re within warranty.
Which? also produced a report earlier this year which found that two in five Joy-Con controllers from the original Nintendo Switch release are experiencing drift.
Of course, issues surrounding Joy-Con drift have persisted for several years now. In 2019, a class action lawsuit against Nintendo was filed in the US over the problem, while last year the European Commission stated that it was considering opening an investigation.
Destiny 2 is teaming up with Fortnite according to a new datamine leak. The new collaboration comes on the heels of reignited rumors that Bungie’s loot shooter could finally come to the Epic Games Store and ahead of a giant Destiny summer showcase during GamesCom.
The new crossover was shared on Twitter on August 20 by veteran Destiny 2 dataminer Ginsor. It included what appears to be official art showing a Titan, Warlock, and Hunter in new cosmetic armor seemingly inspired by Fortnite’s Black Knight, Drift, and Omega skins. It’s unclear if the collaboration will extend beyond these three outfits, or how Destiny characters will make the jump to Fortnite. But that hasn’t stopped some players’ minds from racing through all the possibilities, including Cayde-6 coming back to life just so he can get murked by a kid who then does the Griddy over his corpse.
Bungie and Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The apparent Fortnite crossover is just one in a number of Destiny leaks in recent days. New details have also spilled out about the apparent poison subclass called “Strand” likely coming as part of the Lightfall expansion. And datamines have pointed to the beloved Kings Fall raid from Destiny: The Taken King being the one to return in Season 18.
Much of the leaked info and more is expected to be confirmed in Destiny 2’s big showcase on August 23 which takes place at 12:00 p.m. ET ahead of Geoff Keighley’s GamesCom Opening Night Live news event kicking off Europe’s biggest gaming convention. In addition to Season 18 going live then, Bungie will preview the future of its live service shooter, including the next big expansion Lightfall, as well as some potential bigger structural changes to the underlying game (please get rid of power, please get rid of power). It’ll also be the first showcase since the studio was acquired by Sony for an eye-popping $3.7 billion.
But perhaps nothing will be as surprising as Bungie confirming the crossover with Fortnite. Many in the Destiny community seem genuinely excited about the collaboration. The Warlock cat ears appear to be the favorite so far, followed closely by the Hunter’s Omega set, which already has tinges of Genji from Overwatch. Mostly, players just seem excited to have a new set of reasons to nag all their Fortnite friends to drop into the blackhole of loot known as Destiny 2with them.
U.S. stock futures edged higher Wednesday morning, with investors looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy decision against the backdrop of elevated inflation and a still-tight U.S. labor market.
Contracts on the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq each rose in pre-market trading. Treasury yields steadied, and the benchmark 10-year yield hovered just below 3%, or near its highest level since late 2018.
Investors are awaiting the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement and press conference from Chair Jerome Powell later Wednesday afternoon. The central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points for the first time since 2000. Such a hike would be double the 25 basis-point increase the Fed unleashed in mid-March, which itself had been the first rate hike since 2018. This would bring the target range for the federal funds rate between 0.75% and 1.00%, compared to the current range of between 0.25% and 0.50%.
Expectations for this supersized rate hike have built for weeks now amid market participants, especially given commentary from key Federal Reserve officials appearing to support such a move. Powell said during a public appearance with the International Monetary Fund earlier this month that he believed it would be “appropriate … to be moving a little more quickly” on raising rates, and that 50 basis points were “on the table” for May. And the Fed is also expected to use the May meeting to announce the start of quantitative tightening, or rolling assets off the central bank’s $9 trillion balance sheet.
Prospects of higher interest rates have stirred up volatility in equity markets, which had grown accustomed over the past two years to ultra-low interest rates and generally easy-money monetary policies. At the same time, however, many pundits have suggested the Fed allowed its pandemic-era supportive policies to run too long, allowing inflation to soar to the fastest rates since the 1980s. And after GDP growth turned negative in the U.S. in the first three months of the year, a lingering question remains whether the Fed will now be able to tighten policies without tipping the economy into a deep downturn.
“Because the market has priced in a 50 basis point rate hike at the Federal Reserve’s May meeting, the focus will immediately shift to just how many half-point hikes the Fed expects to initiate over the balance of 2022,” Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and chief strategist of Quill Intelligence, wrote in an email Tuesday. “The Fed would shock markets if it failed to deliver on more aggressive policy via a 50 basis point rate hike on Wednesday.”
“The Federal Reserve’s credibility is on the line, given the surge in inflation, which has proved to be anything but transitory,” Booth added. “Interest rates are too low and markets have been way too accustomed to almost unlimited liquidity from the Fed’s bond purchases. Powell’s greatest folly would be to insist that the economy is very strong in the face of overwhelming evidence that it is slowing and slowing fast.”
Uber (UBER) posted estimates-topping first-quarter results and current-quarter guidance Wednesday morning, with the ride-hailing company signaling it was working through driver shortages while maintaining solid profitability.
Revenue more than doubled during the first quarter to reach $6.9 billion, topping estimates for $6.1 billion, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $168 million, also coming in ahead of the $135 million expected. Trips during the first quarter increased by 18% over last year to reach 17.1 billion, underscoring the ongoing recovery in rider demand.
For the current quarter, Uber said it sees gross bookings coming in between $28.5 million and $29.5 billion, and adjusted EBITDA of between $240 million and $270 million.
Uber shares pared losses in early trading following the results. Earlier during the overnight session, Uber shares had slumped in sympathy with Lyft’s stock, which slid after the ride-hailing company offered a current-quarter revenue and profit forecast that fell short of analyst expectations.
Uber was previously scheduled to report its quarterly results after market close on Wednesday, but after Lyft’s report, “rescheduled to provide a more timely update on the company’s performance and guidance before the market opens,” according to a statement.
—
7:29 a.m. ET Wednesday: Stock futures gain
Here’s where markets were trading ahead of the opening bell
S&P 500 futures (ES=F): +16.75 points (+0.4%) to 4,186.00
Dow futures (YM=F): +122 points (+0.37%) to 33,155.00
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): +44.75 points (+0.34%) to 13,132.25
Crude (CL=F): +$3.88 (+3.79%) to $106.29 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): -$4.30 (-0.23%) to $1,866.30 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): +0.4 bps to yield 2.962%
—
6:01 p.m. ET Tuesday: Stock futures open mixed
Here’s where markets were trading Tuesday evening:
S&P 500 futures (ES=F): +1.5 points (+0.04%) to 4,170.75
Dow futures (YM=F): -2 points (-0.01%) to 33,031.00
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): +22.75 points (+0.17%) to 13,110.25
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 28: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on April 28, 2022 in New York City. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up in morning trading as markets continued to move through a period of volatility over inflation concerns and the war in Ukraine. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
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Nintendo is continuing to fight back against an ongoing class-action lawsuit that has been filed against the gaming company as a result of Joy-Con drifting issues with the Nintendo Switch controllers. Over the past couple of years, Nintendo has been dealing with a number of lawsuits that have been levied at the company associated with the thumbstick defect found in Joy-Cons. And while the lawsuit is still going through the legal process, Nintendo has now found a new defense against some of these claims.
According to a report from Axios, Nintendo’s lawyers have recently argued in a case (Sanchez et. al. v. Nintendo of America) that certain individuals suing the company have no standing because the ones affected by the Joy-Con drift issue are children. Essentially, Nintendo has claimed that children cannot sue the company because they “allege no cognizable harm to themselves.” In addition, Nintendo’s defense cited that the End User License Agreement (EULA) that Switch users must acknowledge before using the system states that they must be over the age of 18 to accept.
At this point in time, an arbitrator has actually ruled in favor of Nintendo’s defense and has claimed that two mothers representing the children in question cannot proceed with a class-action lawsuit. The lawyers representing these plaintiffs have pushed back on this ruling, though, and have pushed for a federal judge to examine the case.
For now, it remains to be seen what happens with this case and many others that are associated with Joy-Con drift. Although Nintendo has been dealing with a number of cases of this type over the past couple of years, many of them have stalled out at one time or another. As such, we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop here on ComicBook.com if anything else noteworthy comes about with these situations.
Have you been dealing with Joy-Con drift for yourself over the past few years? And if so, what do you think of this new defense from Nintendo in regard to these lawsuits that have been brought forth? Let me know for yourself either down in the comments or reach out to me on Twitter at @MooreMan12.
If you’ve been able to get your hands on a Steam Deck and are worried about the reported “drift” issues, it seems there’s no need to panic.
Valve, in record time (not Valve time, thankfully), has already issued a fix to address the supposed issues associated with the Steam Deck thumbsticks. This information comes directly from Valve designer, Lawrence Yang, in an update over on Twitter.
Here’s exactly what he had to say – explaining how a “recent firmware update” was to blame, and the team has already shipped a fix to address the bug:
“Hi all, a quick note about Steam Deck thumbsticks. The team has looked into the reported issues and it turns out it was a deadzone regression from a recent firmware update. We just shipped a fix to address the bug, so make sure you’re up to date.”
The speedy response from Valve (including the fix) seems to have impressed quite a number of fans. Many users on social media have also acknowledged how nice it is to see a games company addressing an issue like this head-on. Others couldn’t help but compare the situation to Nintendo’s own ongoing issues with Switch Joy-Con drift, which is a hardware problem.
Here’s a small sample of these comments:
@minus117 – “@Nintendo @NintendoAmerica how’s the drift from the switch being addressed?”
@_Solid – “Huge bravo to the dev team for fixing it so quickly. Meanwhile at Nintendo: Drift? Joycon drift is a myth.”
@ChiYuP5R – it’s taken nintendo longer than 5 years what took steam less than 24 hours.
So, there you go – if you were considering Valve’s Steam Deck, there’s apparently no need to worry about the dreaded drift that has plagued certain other platforms.
Would you be interested in a Steam Deck yourself? Is the Nintendo Switch the only portable gaming device you need? Leave a comment down below.
The Steam Deck review embargo broke last week, with those lucky enough to get their hands on this handheld machine from Valve gushing it with praise. But it looks like the honeymoon period might be over for some, with a few users reporting issues which Switch players across the world dread — analogue stick drift.
A handful of users on the Steam Deck subreddit are sharing videos of their joysticks and mouse cursors going astray. You can see just what it looks like below thanks to Wario64:
If you’ve ever had Joy-Con drift — and if you own a Switch, it’s likely you have — this probably brings back painful memories. Hopefully Valve will be able to sort the issue out, given that they’ve been adamant that they’ve done a lot to prevent this from happening. It may just be an isolated case of early models, but it’s worth watching how things develop just in case you’re waiting for your pre-order to come in.
How’s the Steam Deck treating you? Are you waiting to see if there are any more issues with the newest handheld? Let us know if your down with the ‘Deck or if you’re drifting below.
NASA’s Curiosity rover just aced a bit of atmospheric science on Mars.
The Curiosity rover, now nearing its 10th year of exploring the Red Planet, took imagery of clouds drifting over its exploration site on Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons) with an aim to measuring their speed.
But it wasn’t an easy task, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory noted in a blog post on Monday (Feb. 15), as Curiosity’s cameras aren’t designed to look up at the sky. Rather, the rover’s cameras were meant for imaging Mars rocks and landscape features on its journey to seek ancient signs of habitability.
“Martian clouds are very faint in the atmosphere, so special imaging techniques are needed to see them,” JPL said in the blog post. “Multiple images are taken to be able to get a clear, static background. That allows anything else moving within the image — like clouds or shadows — to become visible after subtracting this static background from each individual image.”
Related: Amazing Mars photos by NASA’s Curiosity rover
The clouds (and their shadows on the surface) were captured in two eight-frame movies captured Dec. 12, 2021 during the 3,325th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. (Days on the Red Planet are slightly longer than the 24-hour cycle on Earth.)
Curiosity used its navigation camera twice to examine the clouds from two different perspectives, JPL said. Two views allows scientists to calculate the clouds’ speed and height, JPL said, which in turn provides clues about their composition.
NASA’s Curiosity rover captured these images of clouds in the sky of Mars, on Dec. 12, 2021. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
“These clouds are very high, nearly 50 miles (80 kilometers) above the surface. It’s extremely cold at that height, which suggests these clouds are composed of carbon dioxide ice as opposed to water ice clouds, which are typically found at lower altitude,” JPL stated.
The blog post did not mention how fast the clouds were moving, but typical wind speeds near the surface of Mars are roughly 4.5 mph to 22 mph (7 kph to 35 kph), which might be fast enough to provide wind power on the Red Planet.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
Heritage Capital LLC. president Paul Schatz and Bolvin Wealth Management president Gina Bolvin provide insight on the stock market on ‘Making Money.’
U.S. stocks drifted in early trading as investors digested a basket of positive earnings reports and ahead of data on manufacturing and jobs.
All three of the major averages were fractionally higher.
WHITE HOUSE WARNS OMICRON SPIKE COULD SKEW JANUARY JOBS REPORT
Ticker
Security
Last
Change
Change %
I:DJI
DOW JONES AVERAGES
35108.35
-23.51
-0.07%
SP500
S&P 500
4504.61
-10.94
-0.24%
I:COMP
NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX
14143.02457
-96.86
-0.68%
FED EXPECTED TO RAISE RATES 7 TIMES THIS YEAR TO FIGHT INFLATION, BOFA SAYS
United Parcel Service shares rose after revenue of $27.7 billion topped estimates. The delivery giant also boosted its dividend by 49% to $0.50 cents a share.
Ticker
Security
Last
Change
Change %
UPS
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC.
228.73
+26.45
+13.08%
FDX
FEDEX CORP.
255.35
+9.29
+3.78%
ExxonMobil reported profits of $2.05 a share exceeding analyst estimates by 11 cents. Revenue of $89 million also beat estimates. On Monday the oil giant announced it will move its headquarters from Irving Texas to Houston in a cost-cutting move and to streamline the business.
EXXON MOBIL MOVING HEADQUARTERS
Ticker
Security
Last
Change
Change %
XOM
EXXON MOBIL CORP.
77.58
+1.66
+2.19%
Movie theater chain AMC gave a preliminary update on its quarter noting total revenues of $1.1 billion improved from the $162.5 million during the same period a year ago. Cash or liquidity reached $1.8 billion, a record for year-end.
Ticker
Security
Last
Change
Change %
AMC
AMC ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS INC
17.58
+1.53
+9.53%
In the afternoon, the focus will turn to big tech when Google parent Alphabet releases its figures. Also watch for numbers from carmaker General Motors, property and casualty insurer Chubb, coffee retailer Starbucks, digital payments pioneer PayPal and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, among others.
Ticker
Security
Last
Change
Change %
GOOGL
ALPHABET INC.
2,724.02
+17.95
+0.66%
GM
GENERAL MOTORS CO.
52.57
-0.17
-0.32%
AMD
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC.
113.44
-0.81
-0.71%
SBUX
STARBUCKS CORP.
97.37
-0.95
-0.97%
PYPL
PAYPAL HOLDINGS INC.
170.98
-0.96
-0.56%
AMD
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC.
113.44
-0.81
-0.71%
LAFFER’S DIRE WARNING ON INFLATION, US ECONOMY: ‘TIPPING INTO A SLOWDOWN’
Cryptocurrencies stabilized with Bitcoin hovering around the $38,000 level.
and oil remained near the $87 per barrel level.
Ticker
Security
Last
Change
Change %
USO
UNITED STATES OIL FUND L.P.
61.68
-0.79
-1.26%
Meanwhile, Asian shares gained Tuesday, mirroring broad overnight gains on Wall Street, while trading in China and most other regional markets was closed for Lunar New Year holidays.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.3% to finish at 27,078.48. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 7,006.00.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.78% from 1.77% Friday. The two-year yield, which moves more on expectations about what the Fed will do with short-term rates, rose to 1.18% from 1.15%.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 15 cents to $88.30 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.33 to $88.15 per barrel on Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.18 to $91.21 per barrel.
U.S. stocks edged higher Thursday as fresh data indicated that a recent uptick in Covid-19 infections hasn’t led to a surge in layoffs.
The S&P 500 ticked up 0.2% after the broad-market index climbed to a record a day earlier. The Nasdaq Composite rose less than 0.1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4%.
The figures showed that first-time applications for unemployment benefits, a proxy for layoffs, stayed near decade lows in the week ended Dec. 25. That reflects a tight labor market in which employers are holding on to their workers despite concerns around the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Stocks have often risen during the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the new year—a phenomenon known as the “Santa Claus rally.” Since 1950, the S&P 500 has ended higher about 77% of the time during the period, according to Dow Jones Market Data, with an average gain of 1.3%.
Despite Covid-19 cases hitting a record in the U.S., some investors expect that high vaccination rates and signs of milder symptoms caused by the Omicron variant mean the economy will avoid a repeat of the disruption seen at the start of the pandemic. Many decision makers are more focused on hospitalizations than cases and are seeking to avoid stricter measures.
Lower-than-average trading volumes, with many investors off for the holiday season, could cause choppy trading or outsize moves in markets. Some are also adjusting portfolios with the year end.
“On the equity side, we’re grinding higher,” said Des Lawrence, a senior investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors. “It looks like markets are a little bit more stable but liquidity is very thin at the moment, volumes are really light.”
U.S. stock indexes notched fresh records on Wednesday.
Photo:
Seth Wenig/Associated Press
Shares of
Biogen
fell 6.6% after
Samsung Biologics
called a media report that it was about to buy the company “not true.” U.S.-listed shares of
Didi Global
rose 1.5% after the ride-hailing firm said its third-quarter revenue dropped.
In bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note ticked up to 1.543% from 1.542% Wednesday. Yields and prices move inversely.
The Turkish lira fell 3.5% against the dollar. The currency has resumed its decline in recent days despite the Turkish government’s experimental plan to stabilize it. Investors and economists expect the lira to depreciate further due to high inflation and recently lowered interest rates.
Overseas, the Stoxx Europe 600 edged 0.3% higher. Indexes in Asia closed with mixed performances. China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.6%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ticked up 0.1%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.5%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.4%.
Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com
