Nintendo denies design issue with Switch controllers
Disconnecting Joy-Cons the result of a "manufacturing variation" which has been corrected for future shipments, company says
While the launch of the Nintendo Switch has been a success in many ways, not everything has gone smoothly. One particular problem reported by multiple reviewers was a tendency for the system's left Joy-Con controller to repeatedly lose its connection with the system in the middle of gameplay.
According to a statement Nintendo provided to Kotaku today, that problem is apparently a thing of the past, and was the result not of a poorly designed controller but "a manufacturing variation."
"There is no design issue with the Joy-Con controllers, and no widespread proactive repair or replacement effort is underway," the company said. "A manufacturing variation has resulted in wireless interference with a small number of the left Joy-Con. Moving forward this will not be an issue, as the manufacturing variation has been addressed and corrected at the factory level."
Nintendo's official support site advises users with Joy-Con issues to make sure their systems are not located behind TVs or near microwaves, laptops, USB 3.0-compatible devices, or an aquarium (among other things).
In addition, the company appears to be fixing controllers for those affected by the problem. A CNET writer who sent in a disconnecting Joy-Con to Nintendo received it back in working condition with one visible change: an apparent piece of conductive foam wedged into the controller's casing, atop its Bluetooth antenna.