Child and his mom just sued Nintendo for $5 million over Switch's 'Joy-Con drift'
If you are a Nintendo Switch owner then you have probably heard or may have already encountered the perennial problem with the Switch that is infamously known as the ‘Joy-Con drift’.
Well, it appears that this issue is far from being resolved after a nine-year-old boy and his mother recently lodged a complaint against the Japanese company over a supposed defect in the Switch’s removable controllers.
As reported by Wired, a woman named Luz Sanchez bought a Switch for her son in 2018. The console then started registering false in-game movements within a month, even though her son wasn’t touching them. Within a year, the problem with the controllers had worsened and “became inoperable for general gameplay use.” Sanchez then purchased another set of controllers hoping that it would resolve the issue. However, the controllers also began drifting after seven months. The plaintiffs are reportedly seeking over $5 million in damages.
According to the complaint, Nintendo “continues to market and sell the Products with full knowledge of the defect and without disclosing the Joy-Con Drift defect to consumers in its marketing, promotion, or packaging.” It added that the “Defendant has had a financial motive to conceal the defect, as it did not want to stop selling the Products, and/or would need to expend a significant amount of money to cure the defect.”
In July 2019, the company started repairing malfuctioning Joy-Cons that are not covered by warranty for free. Nintendo's president has also apologized to Switch owners over the issues revolving the consoles’ removable controllers.
“Regarding the Joy-Con, we apologize for any trouble caused to our customers,” Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said. “We are continuing to aim to improve our products, but as the Joy-Con is the subject of a class-action lawsuit in the United States and this is still a pending issue, we would it like to refrain from responding about any specific actions.”
Switch owners have been encountering the infamous Joy-Con drift since last year. The issue causes in-game movements even though they are not being moved by the user.