The Nintendo Switch 2 debut answered a lot of questions surrounding the release date, price, and launch lineup, but there is still a lot left unanswered. One lingering question is whether the new system’s magnetic Joy-Con controllers will be prone to the same stick-drift problem that was commonplace in the Switch 1 controllers, and Nintendo’s answer didn’t exactly put those concerns to rest.
During a Q&A with several of Nintendo’s senior hardware development staff, the panel was asked if the new Joy-Con and Pro controllers for the Switch 2 have solved the stick drift-problem. Nintendo technology and development general manager Tetsuya Sasaki briefly fielded the question.
“As you may have witnessed and felt, the new Joy-Con 2 controllers for the Nintendo Switch 2 have been really designed from the ground up, from scratch, and they’ve been designed to have bigger movement and also smoother movement,” Sasaki said.
The answer does suggest that the new Switch 2 Joy-Cons have been improved, but the answer conspicuously didn’t address the subject of the question: if the new controllers have resolved the stick-drift problem. Perhaps being redesigned from the ground up has resolved the issue, but Nintendo did not say so directly.
The new Joy-Cons are very different than the older ones in some key ways, though. They’re larger, to fit the new size of the system, and they attach magnetically rather than through a sliding mechanism. They can also double as mice when turned on their side, which is used in games like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, the wheelchair basketball game Drag X Drive, and Switch 2 Welcome Tour, among others. Check out our hands-on impressions of the Switch 2 for more details.