About a week into the system’s lifetime, the handheld-dedicated Nintendo Switch Lite is apparently already showing signs of the dreaded Joy-Con drift that’s been plaguing the original system since 2017, and as such has been added to the ongoing class action lawsuit against Nintendo regarding the issue.
The amended lawsuit (thanks Polygon) now cites users who noticed analog stick drift after around 20 hours of play on the new device.
“I beat Link’s Awakening over the weekend on my original Switch Lite system, I had only put like 20 something hours on it, and it started to show joy-con drift,” one player cited in the complain said. “Why is this happening earlier on than with the earlier Switch?”
Joy-Con analog drift has been an ongoing issue since the original Switch launched two years ago, which means the analog sticks on the console’s controllers have begun registering input even when they’re not in use. Since then Nintendo has begun fixing the issue for free for anyone willing to send in their Joy-Cons for repair, but with the Switch Lite the process is a bit more complicated, as the analog sticks and buttons are built into the device unlike the detachable ones on the original system. Fears that Joy-Con drift would eventually become a problem for the Switch Lite arose last week when it was discovered the device used the same analog sticks as the original Switch, and it looks like those fears have been justified very early in the system’s shelf life.
The Switch Lite is available now for $199 MSRP with stronger battery life and cheaper price, but does come at the expense of some of the original Switch’s functionality, like HDMI output and detachable Joy-Con controllers. While the buying in price is a little bit less than the standard Switch, some games like 1-2 Switch and Arms aren’t playable with the device as is and require additional Joy-Cons to play, which can make the cheaper device a more expensive investment.
