Nintendo is misleading consumers by not informing them about the limited lifespan of the Switch’s controllers, finds the Consumers’ Association.
At the union’s hotline, nearly 25,000 consumers from multiple European countries complained that characters in Nintendo games sometimes move without the player touching the Joy-Con controllers. That problem is known as the Joy-Con Drift and has been playing since the introduction of the Nintendo Switch in 2017. Thousands of complaints were also received from the Netherlands.
Excuses
The Nintendo CEO already apologized for the problem a few months ago, but this did not lead to any real action. According to the Consumers’ Association, the company also often refuses to repair or replace broken controllers free of charge.
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Free repairs
“The company continued to sell the controllers, even though it knew they were no good,” says Consumer Association director Sandra Molenaar. “Nintendo has thereby withheld important information that could have been decisive for consumers when deciding whether or not to buy the game console.”
She wants national authorities and the European Commission to intervene. “Nintendo should be forced to change the controller design and offer free repairs to victims.”
The Nintendo Switch has sold more than 68 million copies worldwide.
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