Switch Owners Are Having Problems With Nintendo's Joy-Con Controllers

Most of us won't get our Nintendo Switch consoles for at least another week, but select members of the media have already received theirs, and while the overall reaction to Nintendo's latest console seems to be positive, multiple users are reporting a problem with the Switch's innovative Joy-Con controllers. Apparently, the left Joy-Con, which The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild uses for navigation, has problems syncing with the Switch and temporarily disconnects itself from the console during the middle of the game.

Allegedly, both Joy-Cons work fine when the Switch is in tablet mode, which requires the Joy-Cons to be physically attached to the device. The problem occurs when the Switch is in its TV dock and the Joy-Cons are connected to the console wirelessly. The issue seems to plague both the monochromatic and the flashy red and blue Joy-Cons.

If this was just one isolated incident, it wouldn't be news—however, multiple journalists have encountered the issue, including Kotaku's Jason Schreier and Retronauts' Jeremy Parish. Jose Otero, an editor at IGN, says that he suffered sync errors a couple of times in his first 20 hours with The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild, and describes the problem as a brief input delay that lasts for two to three seconds.

Hopefully, this is a problem that can be solved via a software patch or a firmware update, and not one that requires replacing actual hardware. Nintendo already has a day-one patch ready that'll unlock the Switch's online features, and early adopters are hoping that the Joy-Con's sync issues will be addressed in that update as well. Many outlets have requested a comment from Nintendo about the problems, but as of the time of writing, the publisher has remained mum.

If the Joy-Con's problems are indeed a hardware issue, the Switch could be facing a rocky launch. While The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild is about the closest thing to a sure-fire system-seller out there, many fans are wary of the Switch's thin launch line-up and are waiting for some of the game industry's other big franchises to appear on the system before making a purchase.