After dodging the question for days, Nintendo has finally said it: the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons won’t be using Hall effect joysticks.
Speaking to Nintendo Life, Nintendo of America’s Nate Bihldorff confirmed the new controllers have been rebuilt “from the ground up,” but made it clear they’re not using Hall effect tech — the fix many players were hoping for as a permanent solution after years of Joy-Con drift complaints. “They’re not Hall Effect sticks, but they feel really good,” Bihldorff said.
Producer Kouichi Kawamoto said the Joy-Con 2 is slightly bigger to match the new console and claimed the analog sticks are larger, tougher, and smoother. “We redesigned everything from scratch,” Kawamoto said. That’s all well and good, but when it came time to explain what tech is actually inside the sticks, Nintendo stayed quiet.
It’s hard not to feel a little suspicious. Fans have been burned before with drifting sticks and long repairs. Now, Nintendo seems to be crossing their fingers and hoping the new ground-up design will do the trick.
Nintendo says the new sticks are better. We’ll believe it when we see it.
