Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Struggle With Connection Issues Ahead Of Launch
We're exactly a week out from the launch of Nintendo Switch, which means that many people already have pre-release review units. Though the early reaction has been good in most regards, one rather major issue has reared its ugly head. According to a number of reviewers, the Joy-Con controllers are having some connectivity issues, which may not be a good sign for folks planning to pick up Nintendo's latest console next Friday.
Apparently, many reviewers have noticed that the Joy-Con controllers can desync while playing the Switch in its "console mode," which means connecting it to the TV and using the Joy-Cons wirelessly. Polygon has collected a series of tweets documenting the issue from writers at sites like IGN, Kotaku, and NintendoWorldReport, which sure makes it seem like this problem is pretty widespread.
Though a lot of the discussion centers around the left Joy-Con controller losing sync, the GameXplain video you see posted below shows that it's a problem in both Joy-Con controllers and not just limited to one. In it, GameXplain's Andre Segers replicates the issue using the Switch's calibration tool, covering the left Joy-Con with his hand and putting it behind his back to show how it loses connection.
While Segers' video shows that this isn't limited to the left Joy-Con, it doesn't seem to be quite as bad with the right one. He also mentions his distance from the TV in the video, which is about 10 feet. This is important, because Giant Bomb founder Jeff Gerstmann tweeted that he was able to reliably replicate the issue when sitting 13-15 feet away from the Switch console, but didn't experience it when he was sitting closer.
This suggests that distance is a major factor in this issue. That's good and bad news – while it means that sitting closer to the Switch may solve the problem entirely, it could also mean that it's an issue Nintendo may not be able to fix. Here's hoping it isn't as widespread as these reports suggest, otherwise launch day isn't going to be very much fun for a lot of Switch early adopters.
SOURCE: Polygon