The new year may only be a few weeks old, but one problem from last year has carried over. A class action lawsuit has been filed against Nintendo for “drift” issues with its Joy-Con controllers. This time, the suit has been filed in Quebec, Canada.
The Lambert Avocat law firm filed the suit on behalf of a client who asserts she bought a Nintendo Switch in November 2017. Eleven months later, she began experiencing “Joy-Con drift” on the left controller. Despite sending that controller in for repair, the problem occurred on the right controller, a second pair of Joy-Cons, and even a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.
The suit was filed under Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act. According to Lambert Avocat, the Act states, “goods purchased must be fit for the purposes for which goods of that kind are ordinarily used and must be durable in normal use for a reasonable length of time, having regard to their price and the conditions of their use.”
This suit joins similar suits in France, California, and Seattle. It is currently in the process of being certified as a class action suit, and the law firm is encouraging anybody who bought Switch systems, Joy-Cons, or Pro Controllers since August 1, 2017 to contact them.
Food For Thought
The continued radio silence from Nintendo over the last seven months since Shuntaro Furukawa’s apology is troubling. While it’s understandable that they don’t want to comment on pending litigation, this is rapidly approaching a point where not talking about it is going to do more harm than good. They could obliquely comment on the matter by discussing new product designs (if they had them). But if they don’t have any new designs, Nintendo is going to have to communicate that fact here sooner or later, and they are going to have to communicate what their plans are for dealing with the problem aside from fixing drifting controllers.
