Nintendo blames Joy Con issues on ‘manufacturing variation’

Platform holder Nintendo has insisted that there are not inherent hardware problems with the Switch, but has admitted that it has changed how it manufactures the left Joy Con.

Until now Nintendo’s only statement on the left Joy Con problem – which sees some users suffer from poor connectivity between the peripheral and the Switch console – was to blame other household interference, including metal objects, wi-fi routers and, amazingly, aquariums.

Now the company has admitted that what it describes as a ‘manufacturing variation’ is to blame for the issues.

There is no design issue with the Joy-Con controllers, and no widespread proactive repair or replacement effort is underway,” Nintendo told Kotaku. 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.

We have determined a simple fix can be made to any affected Joy-Con to improve connectivity.

We are asking consumers to contact our customer support team so we can help them determine if a repair is necessary. If it is, consumers can send their controller directly to Nintendo for the adjustment, free of charge, with an anticipated quick return of less than a week. Repair timing may vary by region.”

The noise surrounding other Switch hardware complaints has died down since launch, suggesting that reported problems with dead pixels and wi-fi connectivity were little more than isolated incidents.

The only other remaining problem is the screen-scratching issue, with reports that users are finding scratches appearing down the side of their Switch screen after docking the device. The exact cause is unknown, although it seems likely that it’s down to a combination of the Switch’s use of a plastic as opposed to glass screen as well as some Switch docks being ever so slightly bent.

Indeed, this issue has led to the creation a cottage industry of Switch ‘Dock Socks’ as can be seen on Etsy.