Nintendo Is Getting Sued Over Switch Joy-Con Drift By A Child

Many Nintendo Switch fans have experienced the sad phenomenon of Joy-Con drift, where the analog stick in the console's controller starts to veer in one direction, making it difficult or impossible to control games. There's currently a class action lawsuit against Nintendo in the US over the issue, and now the company is being sued again--this time, by a kid and his mom. Don't stand between a child and their enjoyment of Nintendo games, apparently.

Wired is reporting that a North California complaint, filed by one Luz Sanchez and her son, centers on Joy-Con drift. Sanchez bought her then 8-year-old son a Nintendo Switch in December 2018, and he experienced issues with the Joy-Con controllers within a month of purchase. New controllers were bought within a year, as the problem progressed until the Joy-Cons were essentially inoperable; seven months later, the second set of controllers started to experience the same issue. A lot of us have been there and know it isn't any fun to have your games stop working like you expect them to. Sanchez must have been really frustrated.

Sanchez has filed the lawsuit alongside her son, who is listed as a minor in all documentation. The plantiffs are seeking over $5 million in damages from this lawsuit. In their suit, Sanchez's lawyers have argued that Nintendo "has had a financial motive to conceal the defect, as it did not want to stop selling the Products, and/or would need to expend a significant amount of money to cure the defect."

In July 2019, Nintendo started offering free repairs for Joy-Cons with drift issues, even when they were outside of warranty. However, COVID-19 led to Nintendo service centers temporarily shutting, which has complicated matters (especially with Joy-Cons being difficult to find in stores as game and console sales have skyrocketed).

This year, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa apologized for the issue, noting an ongoing lawsuit. "We are continuing to aim to improve our products, but as the Joy-Con is the subject of a class-action lawsuit in the United States and this is still a pending issue, we would it like to refrain from responding about any specific actions," he said.

If you're looking for a Joy-Con alternative for your Switch in handheld mode, consider the Hori Split Pad Pro. If you leave your console docked, the Pro Controller will also serve you well.