The Nintendo Switch has been a beloved gaming system ever since its release but fans have had complaints, with the biggest issue being Joy-Con drift that many Switch owners have suffered from. Joy-Con drift sees a joystick registering movement even when the player isn’t touching that joystick, which results in the game reading inputs that aren’t happening, taking control away from the player. This is something Nintendo will surely want to move on from, and they may have plans for this if a new patent is any indication, but that being said even if Nintendo files a patent, there’s no guarantee we’ll ever see the technology or product release.
A new patent Nintendo filed this month has shown up and makes references to a joystick that registers input through a magnetic field. For reference, the current Switch joystick uses physical electrical contacts to read player input, but wear and tear through normal play can lead to Joy-Con drift. In contrast, a magnetic field approach means there is no physical elements that need to come in contact, reducing the chances of joystick drift by an incredible amount.
This is actually similar to Hall Effect technology, which is currently being utilized in a few third-party Joy-Con and joysticks, but this patent has Nintendo slightly altering and changing things in order to come up with an idea exclusive to them. That said, the same base properties are implemented in this patent.
It remains to be seen if Nintendo will actually release this joystick, or if this is something planned for the Switch’s follow-up. As stated before, this may never see the light of day at all, but we will need to wait and see what Nintendo plans to do.
