Nintendo has filed a patent for ‘smart fluid’ joysticks, perhaps to eliminate drift | VGC
Nintendo has filed a patent for ‘smart fluid’ joysticks, perhaps to eliminate drift | VGC
The fluid can become elasticated when used with a magnetic field…
Let's hope this isn't just a random patent, and we actually get better sticks next generation.
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Jesus Christ just use the same sticks as everyone else does
I don't know about Xbox, but drift issue is pretty common in PS5 controller too, and I recall reading that all companies uses sticks from same manufacturer.
Everyone online sings praises of 'Hall-effect' sticks, but no one (Sony / MS / Nintendo) is currently using them, probably because of higher cost.
If this works, this will probably solve the issue for Nintendo at least.
i bought my pack of 10 hall effect sensors for like a couple bucks. i know things scale but my bet would be on planned obsolescence
I've had far more stick issues on PS5 than Switch, but that's probably just luck of the draw.
For the record, the patent isn't about removing drift at all, from what I can discern, it's about adjustable resistance sticks.
Well, it's for new type of sticks, and the design seems to be good for removing drift too.
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But they are, and they all have drift problems.
The quick, easy and convenient solution is moving to Hall effect sticks.
As Mudman stated, the article is really about Nintendo patenting analog L3 and R3 so it’s pressure sensitive. No one is making those yet.
Using the larger, potentially more durable, joysticks would mean a larger potentially less portable Switch. Given that portability is the core feature of the Switch I can understand Nintendo's reluctance to implement them. Especially when other companies are experiencing similar issues with their sticks. In my opinion a novel approach is the way to go here. Hall effect is nice, but it is costly and could potentially present some legal challenges at the moment.
@JonDorfman, what legal challenges?
A company already makes hall effect joysticks that are JoyCon sized and they claim to hold a patent for them. I haven’t taken the time to verify, but even if they don’t have a leg to stand on they could still take Nintendo to court.
@JonDorfman I wonder how they would do that while also not violating patents on JoyCons that I suppose Nintendo has.
I have not checked, but would be surprised if they do not.
Nintendo doesn’t hold a patent on the JoyCon joysticks. As far as I am aware they are an off the shelf component.
@JonDorfman, I did a quick online search for Nintendo’s JoyCon patents, and interestingly found a US one from 2023 (2020 in Japan) about what looks Hall effect analogue sticks:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230280850A1/That patent is what I was referring to when I mentioned a novel approach.
@JonDorfman, right, but Hall effect analogue sticks themselves have existed for a long time, so that technology in general (except any novel addition) is (most likely) not patented anymore.
To be fair I hope anybody and everybody that has a leg to stand on in court does so and wastes their time and money there.
Nintendo consistently uses it's legal might in anyi-consumet ways to harm its biggest fans. As somebody that loves Nintendo games, fuck Nintendo.
the problem with the current switch is that the joycona are unusablely small
Increasing the size neard the size of the steam deck really won't decrease the portivility as your gonna carry a power adapter and a case with it anyways
I use both frequently, and the size of the switch is a big feature for me. I carry a low profile case and no power adapter. Increasing the size would be a big mistake in my opinion- it would just be a worse steam deck without some really killer new features. In my opinion they should just offer larger joycons for people who want them!
I find that the JoyCons work fine for most games, granted I have small hands. As for power adapters and carrying cases, I don’t carry an adapter and the case I use is very slim. Just enough to protect from drops really.