In one of the most disappointing bits of news about the Nintendo Switch 2, it’s been confirmed that the console’s Joy-Con (which are dubbed Joy-Con 2) will not feature Hall Effect joysticks. Ever since the release of the original Switch, its controllers have been plagued with “stick drift,” a very specific problem that crops up after months of usage where the joysticks cannot center anymore. The hope for the Switch 2 is that Nintendo would employ newer, better technology to prevent this from happening, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Nintendo Life interviewed Nintendo of America’s Nate Bihldorff, senior vice president of product development and publishing, and he outright confirmed the news. “Well, the Joy-Con 2’s controllers have been designed from the ground up. They’re not Hall Effect sticks, but they feel really good,” he said before going on to explain how much he likes the new Pro Controller and its ergonomics.
One feature the Joy-Con 2 will have over its predecessor is quietness. According to not only Bihldorff, but Nintendo producer Kouichi Kawamoto, the new Joy-Con are some of the quietest controllers the company has ever made. In an Ask the Developer interview with Kawamoto, senior director Takuhiro Dohta, and general manager Tetsuya Sasaki, Kawamoto stated, “In particular, the left and right control sticks are quieter and don’t make noise, even when they’re moved quickly to the edge.”
On its own, this news is tremendously disappointing, but it doesn’t spell the end for the Joy-Con 2. Joystick technology has improved since 2017, and even if Nintendo isn’t utilizing Hall Effect sticks, there could be some secret sauce here we don’t know about. One of the more recent developments in gamepad technology is what is known as a TMR Sensor. I won’t pretend to know exactly how those work (this write-up from Tom’s Guide goes into it better than I could), but they promise to provide even better accuracy and durability than Hall Effect sticks. If the Joy-Con 2 has those, these could be some truly exceptional controllers.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
