Nintendo has allegedly filed a new patent for their own hall effect joysticks.
One of the big criticisms that Nintendo’s very successful Switch console has experienced through the years was the emergence of Joy-Con drift issues. Gamers had noticed that there was a sudden rise in complaints that Joy-Cons had drift, and it wasn’t clear what the reason for the issue was or how to fix it.
As far back as 2019, Nintendo offered free repairs for said Joy-Cons, first in America, and then in Europe. Nintendo also faced potential litigation in relation to this issue. However, they actually won decisions on these suits, and so they haven’t been forced to replace the potentiometer based analog sticks on their Switch devices, including the Joy-Cons, Switch Pro Controller, and Nintendo Switch Lite. But it seems Nintendo was busy finding a solution for the issue after all.
Last March, reports had come up that Nintendo had filed a patent for a “Directional Input Device and Controller”, a new design for the analog stick to reduce drift. These looked like they could be applied to future Switch controls, but we hadn’t heard news of this coming to market.
Today, we have reports that Nintendo filed a new patent, for their own hall effect joysticks. Hall effect controllers had actually been around for some time. These controllers do not make physical contact with each other, but instead use magnets. These actually have two advantages, as not only do they reduce potential wear and tear on the sticks, but they can also allow for fine tune analog controls on triggers.
Most recently, Gulikit popularized hall effect joysticks, on their King Kong and Elves controllers. They also sold replacement hall effect analog sticks for Joy-Cons and the Steam Deck. While some gamers raised questions if the claims around hall effect joysticks were real, so far, gamers have been satisfied with these controllers.
This new Nintendo patent was filed on September 7, 2023, and indicates that their joystick will be able to recognize the strength of the magnetic input. This suggests that Nintendo’s new patent will enable pressure sensitivity on the analog sticks, something that hasn’t been seen on a video game controller since the PlayStation 2 DualShock.
Most games didn’t make real use of the pressure sensitivity of the PlayStation 2 DualShock. The most famous game to do so was the 2001 game Mad Maestro, which requires that you simulate the baton swings of a musical conductor using said analog sticks.
So, this may be more than a new solution for improved durability on Nintendo’s controllers. This may be the next ‘gimmick’ that will be available on the Switch 2. It’s all quite exciting, and a lot more credible than the other rumors we’ve followed in the last week. We’re all looking forward to see if Nintendo will make use of this patent, and what games they will make to make use of it.
