Nintendo has finally revealed more information about the Joy-Cons of its next-generation hybrid console, the Nintendo Switch 2, confirming that despite undergoing a redesign and improvements, the console’s controllers will not employ anti-drift Hall Effect joysticks.
Speaking during an interview with Nintendo Life on the upcoming console, Senior Vice President of Product Development & Publishing at Nintendo of America Nate Bihldorff said that “the Joy-Con 2’s controllers have been designed from the ground up,” adding that “they’re not Hall Effect sticks, but they feel really good”.
“Every time we put out a new hardware, whether it’s a new system or an accessory, [Nintendo designs it] from the ground up to be the best possible experience for our consumers, whether it’s the immediate effect of the Joy-Cons that you’re playing, how they’re interacting with the game, or durability,” Bihldorff added while on the topic of tackling issues with controllers such as stick drift, “They take it and rebuild it so that we can give the best possible experience.”
During a recent “Ask the Developer” session hosted by the consoles designers, Switch 2 producer Kouichi Kawamoto further explained how they improved upon the technologies used to build the original Switch console’s Joy-Cons, explaining that the Switch 2 will feature control sticks that are “larger and more durable, with smoother movement”, although the company has yet to confirm what exact joystick technology will be employed in the place of Hall effect sensors.
For context, the Switch used potentiometer-based joysticks, ageing technology that can wear out over time, which contributed to the console’s notorious stick drift issues, whereby its analog sticks would randomly input commands even when not actively being moved, gradually causing unwanted phantom inputs over time, such as making an in-game character constantly inch in a particular direction even when not touching the controller.
With the confirmation that Hall Effect joysticks won’t be used on the Nintendo Switch 2, this gives rise to some pertinent questions about the new console’s Joy-Con longevity, such as if the console will face the same issues in the long run as its predecessor or if it will use some other way to negate the issue like TMR (Tunneling magnetoresistance) technology. All this remains to be seen as the console inches closer to its release on 5 June 2025 in the US, Europe, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan, and sometime between July and September 2025 for Southeast Asia.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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