So they decided that magnetic joycons versus a new rail design were worth another set of drift lawsuits. Because any potential new drift lawsuit is going to cite the old one as clear proof that Nintendo knew what would happen, had the opportunity to change the design so it didn't, and decided to do it again anyway.

No, they haven't. Old Xbox and PlayStation controllers often end up with stick drift being what kills them. On top of that, newer games that have deadzone settings actually let you see how much games have to compensate for stick drift. A normal 'working' controller, is likely unable to use the first 10% of it's motion range because it has to filter that out for stick drift. That makes the controls feel way less responsive compared to a hall effect stick where you can eliminate or minimize the deadzone.

I design things that use hall effect sensors... The magnets in the joycons would not have interfered. Those magnets are: 1. Too far away from the sticks to matter. 2. Perpendicular/orthogonal to the magnets that would be in the sticks. Besides, you can cram hall effect stuff *super* tight just by inserting a tiny piece of magnetic shielding between components. Loads of products do this (mostly to prevent outside magnets from interfering but it's the same concept). What is this magic magnetic shielding technology? **EMI tape.** There's a zillion types and they're all cheap and *very* widely used in manufacturing. I *guarantee* your phone, laptop, and many other electronics you own have some sort of EMI tape inside of them. Just about every assembly line *that exists* for mass produced electronics has at least one machine that spits out tape a bit like a CNC machine (or they pay the cheapest worker possible to place it).

Seems like a really dumb move after how much the previous lawsuit must have cost them. I'm sure they did some kind of cost/benefit analysis, but it's still fucking dumb imo.

Pressing down too hard breaks the pushbutton functionality. It has nothing to do with stick drift. **But since we're talking about what causes things...** You know what *actually* causes potentiometer-based sticks to fail fast? *Sweat*. That's right! The NaCL in your sweat—even the tiniest microscopic amounts—is enough to degrade the coating and the brushes on potentiometers. The more your hands sweat, the faster your sticks will degrade. Got sweaty palms? Best to use hall effect sticks or save up to buy new ones on the regular! Also: If you allow your controllers to get really cold and regularly (and rapidly) warm them up with your hands while playing that can have a negative impact too.

They were literally forced to fix/replace broken joycons *for free* because of the drift issue. In case you weren't aware. I sent two sets away to be fixed, all expenses paid. That costs money.

Nobody fucked with that. Everyone just bought whatever new limited edition colors were out and moved on with their lives.

Lots of people fucked with that. I sent them in for repair twice, I know other people that did. Why spend $80 when they'll fix their garbage equipment for free?

Yet more people just bought new ones, put the old ones in the box, and returned them for a refund while in the free return period, citing them as faulty. I don't own a switch but I know I would've done that at a large chain electronic shop rather than bother with the repair rigamarole.

I mean, not everyone is a liar.