A patent for the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con hints at how the company will solve the drift. This is what the plans reveal about a possible redesign.
Talk about the eventual launch of a Nintendo Switch Pro it has circulated online for a long time. Reports of the improved hybrid console have claimed that it would increase the Switch’s graphical capabilities, improve its processing power, and come with various hardware upgrades. On March 23, more Switch Pro details emerged that bolstered previous reports, and fans discovered a Nintendo patent that could have revealed the company’s plans for redesigned Joy-Con controllers.
This cascade of information might just be the best look Switch Pro gamers have received to date. Nintendo has not yet confirmed anything about an improved version of its 2017 console, but its internal components will allow it to improve its graphics coupled to 4K. These under-the-hood tweaks could also be supplemented with entirely new drivers that could solve the Switch’s most annoying hardware issue, the Joy-Con drift.
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YouTuber Nintendo Academy unearthed a Nintendo patent on March 15 that apparently revealed plans to overhaul the Switch’s Joy-Cons. The patent, titled “Computer controller, “was granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office on March 2. It consists primarily of diagrams of a redesigned left Joy-Con and included minimal product descriptions. There is nothing in the patent linking the Reports of the Switch Pro with these potentially new Joy-Cons, but Nintendo is clearly contemplating the release of a controller redesign that could eventually turn into a console launch. These blueprints also seem to hint at Nintendo’s plan to tackle Joy’s drift. -With.
Nintendo Switch Pro: design changes
The biggest design change featured in the Joy-Con patent is the addition of a D-Pad and a circular pad joystick design that is built closer to the body of the controller compared to the Joy-Con control stick. This is almost identical to the left side of the Nintendo 3DS and could address the issues that are believed to cause Joy-Con drift. Nintendo has never revealed what it believes is causing rampant drift on its hybrid console. A French consumer safety group, UFC-Que Choisir, stated that it could be a combination of “premature wear of printed circuits” Y “a lack of sealing that causes a worrying amount of dirt and dust inside the joystick.“
Nintendo Switch Pro: Could You Fix Joy-Con Drift?
A circular pad that is closer to the Joy-Con body could prevent more dirt from getting in, which could prevent debris-induced drift. Also, the addition of a D-Pad would at least provide a better joystick alternative than the four directional buttons on the Joy-Con. Still, gamers have reported similar 3DS drift issues in the Nintendo of Americas support forum and Reddit, suggesting that a circuit problem could be the root of Nintendo’s drift problem. If that’s the case, the company will need to develop more durable internals to prevent deviations from affecting the next generation of Switch models.
While this patent has hinted at a possible way Nintendo could address the Joy-Con drift with the reported release of the Nintendo Switch Pro the company could have many more in the works. The newly discovered documentation was released in 2018, so Nintendo might have a host of other drift fixes pending approval. Patents are never a clear picture of what companies will launch, but they offer glimpses of ideas being discussed internally. A completely new Joy-Con design seems to be well in the works.
Source: Bloomberg, Nintendo Academy / USPTO
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