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Kotaku: Nintendo acknowledges Joycon connectivity issues.

Oh dear Nintendo, oh dear.

The joycon testing apprentice(s) just lost their job.

Seriously though, this is not good for Nintendo, will be interesting to see how they tackle this and I'm kinda glad I waited and didn't buy the Switch at launch until they revise the hardware and iron out the kinks.
 
spekkeh said:
Yeah definitely seems like it's more faulty units than anything else. Nintendo should replace them.
Click to expand...

I boght extra neon joycons and the behave exactly the same as the grey ones that came with the console. Both left joycons have identical problem.
 
I've had this happen a few times playing BOTW, but weirdly enough only after playing a couple hours. Using the joycon grip, I didn't significantly change my position. Could be interference happened to be worse then, or maybe joycon battery life has an impact?
 
Umm, weren't all the press tests sitting the switch in pretty open areas? Or do they all have aquariums in their studios?

balohna said:
I've had this happen a few times playing BOTW, but weirdly enough only after playing a couple hours. Using the joycon grip, I didn't significantly change my position. Could be interference happened to be worse then, or maybe joycon battery life has an impact?
Click to expand...

Any controller spazzing out any any way shape or form, short of being in space during a magnetic storm is unacceptable.
 
My switch is literally foot from my wireless router and sitting just behind a sound bar and very close to several other consoles. Phones were on and in the room... no controller issues at all

I am only 4-5 feet from my tv/switch though *shrug*
 
Switch dock next to the tv, tv unit has PS4, PS3, Xbox one, Wii u in it, multiple mobile phones and tablets in the room, plus my VR pc in the same room - 2 pairs of joycon
Yet to experience the issue with either left joycon, been playing Zelda, 12 switch, fast neo, snipperclips, bomberman
 
As much as I'm enjoying Zelda, I'm kind of starting to regret not getting it on the Wii U with all this negative news popping up. I've had a ton of issues with the joycon sync this morning, attaching them to the Switch and then taking them off again seemed to have fixed the issue for a while, but it's really not ideal.
 
krumble said:
Switch dock next to the tv, tv unit has PS4, PS3, Xbox one, Wii u in it, multiple mobile phones and tablets in the room, plus my VR pc in the same room - 2 pairs of joycon
Yet to experience the issue with either left joycon, been playing Zelda, 12 switch, fast neo, snipperclips, bomberman
Click to expand...

I'm in a similar situation - it's right next to my Wifi router, my TV (which is wireless), my Xbox One, my 360, my PS4, and near my gaming PC.

And it works fine.

I also live in an apartment building with 30+ wireless networks available, and I can see my neighbours Bluetooth phones etc.

I don't have any fish thou.
 
I can't believe Nintendo thinks this is an acceptable response to all these people having issues. Their standards when it comes to quality hardware has fallen so far since the Gamecube days.
 
As I said earlier, it's pretty easy to hook up the joycons to an Android phone via Bluetooth and then test and see how responsive they are to exclude the console itself as a cause. That's also an easy way to go to another room/location when you suspect it's the amount of signals nearby. I had issues (delayed input) with my joycon behind my back, even if my phone was right in front of me, so the Switch (at least in my case) itself is not the reason but rather the joycon itself or something related to signals (I just tested it in the living room)
 
Danielsan said:
As much as I'm enjoying Zelda, I'm kind of starting to regret not getting it on the Wii U with all this negative news popping up. I've had a ton of issues with the joycon sync this morning, attaching them to the Switch and then taking them off again seemed to have fixed the issue for a while, but it's really not ideal.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly.

My solution was to use long af hdmi cable and positioning the dock right next to our couch so now the Switch is literally 30cm away from me and now I don't have any problems anymore. Apparently 2,3 meter distance is too much for left joycon to work properly.
Not sure though what's the point of having wireless controller if I have to sit this close to a console anyway for it to work. Ugh.
 
Inotti said:
I boght extra neon joycons and the behave exactly the same as the grey ones that came with the console. Both left joycons have identical problem.
Click to expand...
Sounds to me like the fault Might be with the console itself rather than the Joycons, at least in some cases? Definitely try to get a replacement or at least a refund for the console and the extra Controllers. If it turns out to be an unpatchable Hardware issue I wouldn't wait until my right to Return to the retailer is gone and I had to rely on Nintendo' goodwill.

If you have problems don't keep it Just to Play Zelda.
 
Dmax3901 said:
Merely providing evidence that it's not 100% guarantee that all Joy-Cons are broken on arrival. You need to take a breath mate.
Click to expand...

I have two sets of joycons and both left ones behave exactly the same. They just have a weak ass signal and apparently there is something in my living room interfering. I'd argue that all the left joycons have this problem but it does not affect everyone since not everyone has the exact same kind of setup. ^^'

Ragnar Blackmane said:
Sounds to me like the fault Might be with the console itself rather than the Joycons, at least in some cases? Definitely try to get a replacement or at least a refund for the console and the extra Controllers. If it turns out to be an unpatchable Hardware issue I wouldn't wait until my right to Return to the retailer is gone and I had to rely on Nintendo' goodwill.

If you have problems don't keep it Just to Play Zelda.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I can't just return it and get my money back since I have already used it (my retailer only accepts returns for unopened and unused products). What I can do is to send it to get repaired because of warranty but since warranty period is full year I can just play Zelda now and after I'm finnished send it to be repaired. :p Only if the problem persists after they have tried to fix it I can demand my money back.
 
I had no where else to put my Switch other than behind the TV. I really hope it doesn't become an issue.
 
Joeshabadoo said:
My switch is literally foot from my wireless router and sitting just behind a sound bar and very close to several other consoles. Phones were on and in the room... no controller issues at all

I am only 4-5 feet from my tv/switch though *shrug*
Click to expand...
I have a similar very crowded wifi setup (both 2.4 and 5ghz) and didn't even notice any problems 6 meters away (about 20 feet) with the joycons behind my back covered in my hands while standing right beside an aquarium. :/


Update 2017-03-04
I just managed to replicate the desync problem!

I've had zero issues up until now.

BUT

When moving the Switch 2 meters from my router, undocked, wearing my Apple Watch, standing about 3 meters from the console I can finally see what people are talking about here. Moving the stick in a circle at the calibration screen with these conditions makes the dot start to hop around the circle, I even got it to halt completely.

When taking off the Apple Watch and placing my phone a few meters away the dot started moving smoothly again as far away as I could go (about 5 meters).

So, yeah, even my joycons that previously appeared to work perfectly show this problem. So it may actually have to do with wifi/bluetooth interfearence after all. Bummer.
 
When will Nintendo acknowledge the screen getting scratched? Until they fix these issues I won't be going near a Switch. Very disappointing.
 
EhoaVash said:
ygSkiEJ.jpg

lol
Click to expand...

how is this clever at all? i don't understand why so many people love this guy. he barely even makes jokes, he just points out flaws in gaming and people go crazy for it.
 
I just tried unplugging anything I could think off besides my TV and receiver system, and removing all wireless devices far away from my setup.
Heck I even did this with the right joy con. :P

And it still loses signal after a couple of seconds.

Even tried to move the dock itself away from the glass table, but this didn't change anything.

Might be a faulty batch of bluetooth transmitters in the affected joycons or something, but something is definitely not adding up.
 
17 Seconds said:
how is this clever at all? i don't understand why so many people love this guy. he barely even makes jokes, he just points out flaws in gaming and people go crazy for it.
Click to expand...

I guess schadenfreude isn't amusing to people who are deeply emotionally invested in the thing being made fun of.

I've been having joycon issues, but I still laughed at this. More so an indictment of nintendo's failure, really.
 
People laughed when I posted a list of stuff which could cause connectivity interference. *cough*
 
Danielsan said:
As much as I'm enjoying Zelda, I'm kind of starting to regret not getting it on the Wii U with all this negative news popping up. I've had a ton of issues with the joycon sync this morning, attaching them to the Switch and then taking them off again seemed to have fixed the issue for a while, but it's really not ideal.
Click to expand...

Between the controller issue, framerate differences between dock/ portable and the terrible performance in the WiiU I would think this is the order:

Switch (portable) > Switch (docked+ pro controller) > WiiU> Switch (docked + joycons).

Which is just depressing for me since my favorite way to play is with separate controlers.

I am reaching to a point where I am stopping playing Zelda and wait for a better solution later, hopefully official, because it's annoying me too much.
 
notaskwid said:
You must be fun at parties.
Click to expand...

this is seriously the most overused line in internet history.

Beysus said:
which is funny...?

never heard of satire or sarcasm?
Click to expand...

that's the thing, there is no satire here. he's just pointing out 2 obvious flaws that people don't like about the system. it's not witty to relate the 2 issues with each other, it's what any person with knowledge of the situation would do.
 
nynt9 said:
I guess schadenfreude isn't amusing to people who are deeply emotionally invested in the thing being made fun of.

I've been having joycon issues, but I still laughed at this. More so an indictment of nintendo's failure, really.
Click to expand...

i have no interest in the switch, and i totally understand the appeal in schadenfreude. i just don't think the guy actually makes jokes.
 
17 Seconds said:
this is seriously the most overused line in internet history.



that's the thing, there is no satire here. he's just pointing out 2 obvious flaws that people don't like about the system. it's not witty to relate the 2 issues with each other, it's what any person with knowledge of the situation would do.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can easily see why you would think that is the most overused statement in the internet.
 
RoadHazard said:
What does the dock not do properly, and what does it have to do with this?
Click to expand...

The dock scratches the surface of the switch after repeated use (because the dock is plastic).

It's also flimsy and prone to tipping. The switch gets really hot when it's in the dock, as well. Probably more related to it struggling to play Zelda at 900p/20-30FPS.

Nintendo has given us a Tegra chip (mobile) processor and tried to turn it into a gaming console. That's my problem, even that isn't giving long enough battery life to be mobile, so what are we dealing with here? The concept of the "Switch" is neat, if it was done correctly, but it was impossible. How would they give all day battery life at 720p gaming and then plug in and get super charged? They should have had a separate GPU or upgraded CPU in the dock, charge $100 more, and come to play at 1080p and high frames with the big boys.
 
My friend sent me this video today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szj7cKw5t7U

He's having problems with both joycons since the beginning, but in his case the problems are worst with the right one.

Playing from 2 meters he's having desync issues each 10 minutes, as you can see in the video it doesn't even register R button presses, he has to physically attach the joycons to the switch for them to work, awful :(
 
Leonsito said:
My friend sent me this video today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szj7cKw5t7U

He's having problems with both joycons since the beginning, but in his case the problems are worst with the right one.

Playing from 2 meters he's having desync issues each 10 minutes, as you can see in the video it doesn't even register R button presses, he has to physically attach the joycons to the switch for them to work, awful :(
Click to expand...

That's sad and both hilarious to see, sorry. I've got 3 switchs for birthdays/etc. so right now it looks like that money is suspect. I'm guessing the only thing we can do is play with a Pro Controller, which is just a joke. Kind of wish Nintenod just created a console before this, this concept was hard to pull off. If they give a $100 "hardware dock upgrade" to fix the slow FPS and hardware exchange for brokne joycons, they have a chance.
 
elmalloc said:
That's sad and both hilarious to see, sorry. I've got 3 switchs for birthdays/etc. so right now it looks like that money is suspect. I'm guessing the only thing we can do is play with a Pro Controller, which is just a joke. Kind of wish Nintenod just created a console before this, this concept was hard to pull off. If they give a $100 "hardware dock upgrade" to fix the slow FPS and hardware exchange for brokne joycons, they have a chance.
Click to expand...

He's thinking about buying a pro controller, but, do we know if the issue is with the joy cons, the dock, or the console itself?

And my switch works perfect so far, I can play from far away and I'm not having issues, so I hope this is just some defective units, not an structural flaw.
 
elmalloc said:
The dock scratches the surface of the switch after repeated use (because the dock is plastic).

It's also flimsy and prone to tipping. The switch gets really hot when it's in the dock, as well. Probably more related to it struggling to play Zelda at 900p/20-30FPS.

Nintendo has given us a Tegra chip (mobile) processor and tried to turn it into a gaming console. That's my problem, even that isn't giving long enough battery life to be mobile, so what are we dealing with here? The concept of the "Switch" is neat, if it was done correctly, but it was impossible. How would they give all day battery life at 720p gaming and then plug in and get super charged? They should have had a separate GPU or upgraded CPU in the dock, charge $100 more, and come to play at 1080p and high frames with the big boys.
Click to expand...

The scratching issue is terrible for sure. I haven't felt like it would easily tip though, seems heavy enough for me.

As for your point about this really being a dockable handheld rather than the home console Nintendo pretends it is - yeah, that's exactly right. And it has been obvious ever since we learned what this thing really is.
 
I've gone back and edited every single post I've made about this.

This was me yesterday:

Fredrik said:
Tried mine just now.

Some info:

EU Switch
included neon controllers
day 1 system update

Tested about 6 meters (20 feet) away from the console

No drop outs on either left or right joycon.
Not when facing the console
Not when facing the console and covering the joycons with my hands
Not when holding the joycons behind my back
Not when holding the joycons behind my back and covering them with my hands

I can try with an Apple Watch on tomorrow since there is talk about that making the issue worse.

Edit: I had an iPhone 7 in my pocket and a bunch of other wifi gear at the TV bench, 2.4ghz and 5ghz. 5ghz on Switch. Router 10 meters away.
Click to expand...


And today:

Fredrik said:
Update 2017-03-04
I just managed to replicate the desync problem!

I've had zero issues up until now.

BUT

When moving the Switch 2 meters from my router, undocked, wearing my Apple Watch, standing about 3 meters from the console I can finally see what people are talking about here. Moving the stick in a circle at the calibration screen with these conditions makes the dot start to hop around the circle, I even got it to halt completely.

When taking off the Apple Watch and placing my phone a few meters away the dot started moving smoothly again as far away as I could go (about 5 meters).

So, yeah, even my joycons that previously appeared to work perfectly show this problem. So it may actually have to do with wifi/bluetooth interfearence after all. Bummer.
Click to expand...

So, this might actually be an issue on every single joycon as far as I'm concerned right now. My joycons worked flawlessly at the test yesterday, even at 20 feet range. Today when I tried mixing it up with an Apple Watch and being closer to the router I see the issue clearly. I had to face away from the console though and cover it with my hand. But yeah this will undoubtly be a problem for some people. How many I don't know though.

I'm stepping out of this discussion to not spread misinformation, like earlier, it's easy to think everything is fine when you're not experiencing any issue in your own setup.

One last thought though. When testing it yesterday when it worked I only had it docked, and now when it doesn't work I had it undocked.
Have any of you seen any differences when docked/undocked?

If there is a fix then I guess it's to sit further away from your router, face the console, don't have any bluetooth device like an Apple Watch closeby and don't cover up the joycons. Kind of like Nintendo actually said but maybe not quite as extreme since my scenario without issues were right in the middle of a very wifi-crowded setup 6 meters away from the console, right beside an aquarium.
 
No issues 30 feet away. behind the back, switch 4 feet from router.


EDIT: Switch is not in dock because i wouldn't be seeing the tv
 
I always lamented how the Wii U Gamepad couldn't keep a signal going from my old bedroom to the room next to it because of the plumbing and the wifi signal from the router.

Seems like the Joy-Con issue is bringing us back to that mess, but in a different way.
 
Translation: don't put it anywhere.

Good job on the cheap ass components you dinosaur...I mean Nintendo.
 
Does the Pro Controller have similar latency issues?

It's going to be tough to not put the switch behind the TV given my setup and the size of the entertainment unit.
 
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