If you’ve been a devoted Switch player long enough, you know that its Joy-Con controllers will eventually, and sometimes repeatedly, need replacing. The next time your Joy-Cons start to exhibit joystick drift, Nintendo hopes some soft new pastel color options for the Joy-Cons will help soften your frustrations.
As most Nintendo fans know by now, in addition to fantastic games like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, the Nintendo Switch will also be remembered for being susceptible to a problem known as Joy-C0n drift. Yes, despite the problem popping up on controllers from other console makers, too, it is most commonly associated with Nintendo’s Joy-Cons. With prolonged use, the potentiometers in the Joy-Con’s analog joysticks get physically worn down, resulting in the Switch detecting joystick movements even if they’re not being touched.
The problem can make games unplayable, and while there’s an easy solution—upgrading the Joy-Cons with Hall effect joysticks—Nintendo has not only refused to do that, but also refused to implement a streamlined repair or replacement program, which has resulted in several lawsuits from disgruntled gamers. Instead, Nintendo’s solution so far seems to just be to release Joy-Con packs in various colors so that gamers see them as an upgrade, and not as an additional tax of Switch ownership.
Nintendo’s latest Joy-Con color options are, admittedly, very easy on the eyes with four new muted colors: pastel purple paired with pastel green, and pastel pink paired with pastel yellow. They remind us of the various treats kids enjoy for breakfast on Easter morning, including hard-shelled chocolate eggs and marshmallow Peeps. But these are arriving much too late for that holiday, starting on June 30 at $80 for each pastel pairing.
