Understand everything about the “Joy-Con Drift” affair with the UFC-Que Choisir

The well-known client protection affiliation UFC-What to Choose introduced Wednesday to hitch to the European Bureau of Consumers’ Unions (Beuc) to conduct coordinated action towards the recurrent failure of the
Nintendo Switch. One may virtually communicate of a cleaning soap opera, as this affair, referred to as “Joy-Con Drift” has been occurring for a number of years and isn’t his first authorized motion. You will not be affected, or not but, however 20 minutes takes inventory with Mélissa Chevillard, liable for institutional relations for Europe at the UFC Que Choisir, on this dysfunction, the assist of the gamers and the response of Nintendo.

What’s occurring with the Joy-Con and since when?

“The Nintendo Switch console was placed on the market in March 2017, recollects Mélissa Chevillard, and in the first two years, many customers have warned of a recurring failure of the controllers. This is characterised by phantom actions, that’s, the Joy-Con begins to carry out actions that haven’t been commanded by the participant. This failure is completely blocking. »A month after its launch, 20 minutes reported
of a problem on account of “a variation of manufacture” and which affected “a small number” of controllers. An issue resolved in accordance with Nintendo, which then referred to its after-sales service.

When and the way did the UFC-Que Choisir sound the alarm?

“Our first action dates from November 2019,” says the liable for institutional relations for Europe at UFC Que Choisir. We despatched a letter of formal discover to Nintendo asking them what options they provided to French customers. There was nonetheless an issue. “In early 2020, the CEO of Nintendo France responded that he would restore all the controllers, even with no one-year guarantee. Yet we continued to gather testimonies all through the yr. In element, 25% of them skilled a failure inside six months of buy, and 60% in the first yr. Even in low utilization. “This is why in September, with 9,000 testimonies, the UFC-Que Choisir filed a complaint against Nintendo before the public prosecutor of Nanterre for” deliberate obsolescence “.

Does Nintendo’s response measure up?

For the UFC-Que Choisir, in no way. “Player complaints proceed to come back, and there, we’ve collected almost 25,000 testimonies in the European Union, explains Mélissa Chevillard. All controllers on the market can expertise this malfunction. “An expertise on several defective controllers, more or less recent, revealed that if Nintendo made changes to the design of Joy-Con, they do not concern the problem of failures, namely” untimely put on of the printed circuits “and “A scarcity of sealing”. Hence a primary criticism in France, and now a coordinated motion at the European degree. Not to say a category motion lawsuit in the United States.

After an apology from the big bosshimself, Shuntaro Furukawa, Nintendo France posted a
right of reply November 19, 2020, to dispute the accusations of the UFC-Que Choisir on “a practice of planned obsolescence” and to tell that “to its knowledge, these situations however only concern an extremely small proportion of Joy-Con controllers in circulation in France (around 1% for three years) ”. Solicited by 20 minutes for a response after the announcement of a European motion on Wednesday, Nintendo France has not but adopted up.

What can affected gamers do?

Nintendo invitations customers to contact after-sales service in order that repairs are made in the absolute best situations, whereas the UFC-Que Choisir has put in place a guide to accompany the players of their restore course of, in addition to
a form to gather their testimony. “We cannot yet discuss the number of people who have requested redress and their experience,” feedback Mélissa Chevillard. We shouldn’t have the outcomes but, we’ll talk about them somewhat later. “

“With this alert filed with the European Commission and national consumer protection authorities, we are calling for an investigation at European and national levels,” continues the liable for institutional relations Europe. To make a joint and binding choice towards Nintendo, ask them to supply a mannequin with out malfunction, and in the meantime, to restore the faulty controllers and to tell the client about their restricted lifespan. “