Of course they will, they make too much money off people buying replacements. Since the games also got an increase in price, I expect the joy-cons bought separately will also be marked up by a non-trivial margin.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 days ago (4 children)

they make too much money off people buying replacements.

Didn't they start offering free repairs at some point due to it being such a widespread issue? Or did they stop doing that at some point?

Between the damage to their reputation it would cause (knowingly releasing a very flawed product despite having already publicly apologized for it years ago) and the potential for more class-action lawsuits down the line, it seems like it'd be profoundly shortsighted for them to do this.

But maybe the profits from selling replacements outweighs all that in their eyes. I sure hope not. One would hope the profits from a considerably more expensive console and moderately more expensive games would be enough.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Didn’t they start offering free repairs at some point due to it being such a widespread issue? Or did they stop doing that at some point?

I know die-hard Nintendo fans who were unaware of it until I let them know. It's not like Nintendo advertises it publicly.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

They initially also only did it in places that consumer protection laws would force them to. Some markets (at least initially) didn’t get the same benefit.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

I used it a few years ago, and it was fine and i didnt have to pay anything. I wish Sony offered this because I'm on my 4th ps5 controller...

If it's not fixed in the new one, they can screw off... it's bad enough they got away with it, but to totally redesign everything and still say yes we'll keep the defective parts going forward is a big no from me.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I don't know for sure if it was ever a thing in the USA. A cursory search only showed mention of Europe offering that repair. I didn't even bother checking and just went straight for the hall-effect replacement sticks when I had joy-cons that drifted, probably a bunch of other people in that same boat.

IMO, the profits from this would still come even if they offer repairs. I'd venture to guess many out-of-the-loop parents would just buy the replacements 'cause they probably think their kid is abusing it somehow. The good ol' "sigh 'n buy" phenomenon to keep the kiddos entertained.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Nope. I've sent several pairs of Joycons (at least 4 sets) to be repaired by Nintendo absolutely free of charge. Never had an issue though I remember the process being a little convoluted.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Well hot damn, didn't know about it.

Still though, from the fact you had to send in 4 times means that replacing mine from the get go with hall-effect was much less hassle. Sounds like the new controllers will be exactly the same quality, joystick-wise, since you had such a great experience. Why change the process?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

I will say that in the latest pair of Joycons I didn't even wait. I just swapped them for hall effect ones from ifixit. Well worth it in my opinion.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

They've been bumped up by ten dollars for the switch 2 vs 1 so there's that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

Let's hope gulikit quickly puts out a hall-effect mod for the new versions (or the new versions still use the same joystick module as the original)