One of the best things about Switch is that the analog sticks aren't attached to it

I've never had stick drift *knock on wood* but everyone knows it's a problem. I think the Steam Deck and ROG Ally look so stupid because they have analog sticks attached to the system. All the companies buy their analog modules from the same manufacturer, so until stick drift is a thing of the past, they need to make these things as easily replaceable as possible. Switch was a good idea by making the joycons detachable so stick drift isn't stuck on the system, but also you can replace face buttons or triggers with issues quickly and easily. DualSense Edge is another step in the right direction giving the option to replace analog sticks quickly and easily for $20. Now, anything with a permanent analog stick looks archaic and failure prone.

Like if you really think about it, with a system as expensive as the ROG Ally for $700, doesn't it seem kind of silly to have permanent triggers, face buttons and analog sticks when they're so failure prone? Not only that, who's to say Asus even knows how to make a controller? Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been doing it for decades and can't even get it right, but Asus can? Not a chance.

I hope the Xbox Elite Series 3 controller is actually good so I can have a pro controller for my Xbox. Series 2 is junk. They need to add replaceable analogs too like the Edge and fix the other 100 problems it has. Sorry but I hate the Series 2 Elite controller and think it's trash. The standard Series X controller is great. Imagine charging 3x more for a far inferior product.

Unless you have Hall Effect sticks, your controller is garbo. In other words, all first party controllers that are currently released are not worth even half of their price, and nobody should be praising them.

I'm not praising them. I'm criticizing them and saying they should not be attached to handheld systems, and parts should be made to be as easily replaceable as possible (Edge analogs for example) because of their unreliability.

But you're kinda praising the Switch controller (if you can even call it that. nobody sane will spend time on that thing) because the sticks aren't attached. Not only does it have the same trashy sticks, but its also the most uncomfy "controller" since the N64 days.

That's not what I'm saying. I said it's good that you can replace the controller on a handheld quickly and easily as opposed to needing to send it in for repairs or buying an entirely new system just because of a defective analog stick, face button or trigger. Think about it, if the ROG Ally has a defective face button, trigger or analog stick, you gotta send the whole damn thing in. I just think it's crazy stupid to attach these failure prone controllers to these systems.

I don't even use joycons on my Switch, I hate them. I use the Switch Pro controller which is actually a 10/10 controller and maybe the best controller I've ever used. It's super comfortable with like a 50 hour battery life. My Switch is just the screen with no joycons attached that I use docked or in table top mode with my Pro controller. ROG Ally and Steam Deck would be way better if you could use them in table top mode as just a screen without the bulk of the failure prone controller.

That's like a patch, not solving the issue. I repaired my dualsense 9 times since launch (and no, not a meme number), and its been months since my right stick been drifting upwards, but because i am playing nothing but D4, and the right stick is completely unused, i can deal with it.

These analog sticks are pathetic. Faster repair or not, they're unaccepably bad.

@arkephonic: don't bother, hardwenzen is a clown 🤣

But the issue with the controller being detachable is a matter of cost. You can buy new controllers for the same price as joy cons lol. Nintendo are scammers.

In the case of handhelds, the deck joystick can be replaced easily. Steam has a partnership with ifixit for all the replacement parts you need. From screen, right down to mobo.

Do you not see how you are completely missing the point of the thread? My point is that they should be easily replaceable because they're unacceptably bad, you are just agreeing with me. If you had a DualSense Edge, you wouldn't need to repair it 9 times and could just replace the analog module. Instead, you are needing to send the entire controller in just to fix one small component. Now, take it a step further, and imagine if the controller was attached to your PS5, and you needed to send your PS5 in every time your analog stick acted up. That's the ROG Ally and Steam Deck.

I am not missing anything. If they used Hall Effect sticks, you wouldn't need to remove anything.

A more modular system is of course better, but you know what else is better? None shitty components.

My Switch is nearing six years old now and I have some drift going on with my left joycon. Don’t really use those anymore though as I mainly stick to playing it on my TV. I use the Pro Controller and it is indeed an excellent controller. Has fantastic battery life. I’ve had that for years and really like it.

Have had my PS5 for almost a year now and so far no problems yet. *knocks on wood*

Haven’t had any real issues with my Xbox One and Series controllers either.

Hall Effect sticks aren't 100% reliable, and even if they used Hall Effect sticks, the option to easily replace them is better. And even if a handheld uses Hall Effect sticks, it's stupid to attach them to the console. These are all mechanical parts prone to failure.

Joy Cons are not cheap, $80. also, you forgot about pro controller

Yes, Steam Deck analogs are attached, but they at least in production of them made aware 9th gen potentiometers that Nintendo, Sony, Xbox, and the Steam designed controller all use for their 8th/9th gen devices are lowest bidder pieces of shit, at least publicly declared they would diligently design their own analogs and potentiometers better for longer lasting durability. Whether that ended up being the case, I have no idea.

By the time hall effect sticks go bad, next gen will be released (and even then, since they're magnetic, good luck breaking them). The question we should all be asking ourself is not why controllers aren't more modular (would be nice if they were like the victrix bfg pro and the EDGE), but why the hell the hall effect sticks aren't used in all new controllers when they're pretty much as cheap as the trashy sticks that are on all current first party controllers. Oh yea, just so they go bad within a few months, and the clueless joe bro gives Sony/Nintendo/MS another $70 for a controller. Shit's criminal.

You can get a couple of Hall Effect Sensor thumb sticks to replace the ones in the joycons without too much effort for like $35 CAD. Would rather just get those instead of getting a whole new set of joycons for $100 CAD.

I think Switch is the worst Nintendo console ever made worst controllers in gaming history. I recently purchased xenoblade 3. Do i have to play the 1st 2 games to enjoy 3 or is it like final fantasy every game for it self. Should have done my own research 🧐

@gotgames:

I actually owned Xenoblade Chronicles when it came out on Wii but I never played it. Then I bought it again on New 3DS and never played it again. Then I recently bought Xenoblade Chronicles 3 but haven't even started it.

Anyways, I think your question depends on what type of gamer you are. If you care about story, it probably does matter. If you're like me, I don't care at all about story and I play RPG's for stat building, character building, battle systems and 100%ing. So for me, it doesn't matter what happened in 1 and 2. But I'm guessing they're all connected so you're probably missing out if you care about story.

And yeah, I hate the joycons but that wasn't the point of the thread. I just think it's a genius idea to make the controller detachable from a handheld because they're mechanical and prone to failure.

I have owned about 2 nintendo switch already and one thing i always do when i unpack the box is to throw away the joycons to box and replace it with third party. The controller that comes with the console is awful. So im not sure if its a good thing as pretty much nintendo is forcing me to buy accesories. Also switch has lite edition which is attached to the system.

@___gamemaster__:

Oh yeah, I forgot about Switch Lite. That was a pretty stupid idea. My favorite way to play switch is take everything off of it so it's just a screen and just use the pro controller. The pro controller is actually really good.

I have the original day one Pro Cobtroller and have never gotten drift. And the Joycons Nintendo repaired 6 years ago have yet to get drift again.

But PS5 controller was the worst, that piece of shit came with drift out the box. And Sony refused to repair it. So I put the controller in a box with a couple dog turds and mailed it to them.

You dont really need to play them, but a lot of stuff later in the game makes references to the first 2. However most of the inter world stuff is also pretty silly anyway: one of the weaknesses of the series. I played all of them in order and can barely make out what happened between the games.

The expansion (Future redeemed) leans more on Xenoblade 1 and 2 also....really not worth playing that unless you played both before.

Xenoblade 1 is definitely worth playing though and Xenoblade 3 is also great. Xenoblade 2 is, sadly, a bit of a dumpster fire imho. Lots of potential...all squandered.

On topic: Kinda grasping at straws here with a strength. It would be better if stick drift was fixed and not needing to replace joycons (which are not cheap). But Nintendos bank balance improves sooo.....yay?

Replacing the sticks on the steam deck is not a huge job. You can get hall effect sensors for it now and i think they are starting to sell them with the sensor wire pre-soldered so no need for a soldering iron if you want the thumb sensor to work. I haven't seen a teardown of the Ally yet so i can't comment on that. I think you can get hall effect sensors for joycons too but replacing those looks more fiddly.

But overall stick drift should be a thing of the past or at least exceedingly rare.

@osan0: ok thank you

I am definitely curious to see if companies start using Hall Effect sensors or not. Paying more for the inferior technology they continue to put in these controllers is insane.

I would absolutely love a decent controller (og Xbox S for example) with Hall Effect, easily replaceable modules with different tension springs, replacement thumb sticks with different heights, replaceable cord for wired play, cord locking plate to prevent it from getting yanked out, and a breakaway section on the cable for extra protection. And it should cost no where near $200. The different joysticks and such can be sold separately.

I'm sick of the shoddy components and gimmicky nonsense. I really just want a solid controller that isn't half the cost of the system, and isn't cheap trash.

I was watching a YouTube video that said they were gonna release 3rd party Hall Effect analog modules for Edge which is pretty cool. I’ll buy some.

I think there are better ways to correct stick drift besides having to buy another pair of joycons for $70:

• Software correction up to a point
• Different types of joystick sensors
• Better repairability so users can replace the sticks in their joycons

I find it odd that you say the Deck looks stupid when it's not complicated to replace the control sticks. You can easily get official parts from ifixit and they have guides so that you replace it yourself.

Sure Nintendo is repairing the joycons for free right now (depending where you are), but they will stop eventually.