Support NeoGAF

[Labombadog]

Nintendo needs to adress this asap or a lot of people will cancel their pre-orders.

Yep. Pretty much. I would hate to have a defected controller (if it's a hardware issue) and would totally bum me out. Nintendo needs to communicate and let us know there will be a patch or something of the sorts to correct this issue.

 

[Plum]

I can't imagine they're not thinking of what to do next after seeing their near flawless previews are marred by this possible hardware issue.

Yeah, I can imagine there's a lot of urgency at Nintendo right now. They're not complete and total idiots.

 

[TheGamingBox]

This is really bad, but the worst part is that I'm thinking of keeping my preorder since I was planning to play Zelda using the pro controller anyway. Arms preorder cancelled I guess?

arms doesnt require motion controls

 

[Tavernacle12]

Worth noting that, seemingly, Nintendo of America's PR team didn't know about this, at least. Not saying NCL didn't know, or QA/Treehouse didn't know, but PR has been asking for replication details and confirmation, as well as as many specifics as possible.

This is good news if true, both due to them acknowledging the problem and, if they genuinely didn't know, it not being common.

 

[SkywardBeam]

So how does the connectivity of the Joycons differ from the WiiU gamepad and the Wiimote? At least the latter used Bluetooth too, right? Never had synch issues with the Wiimote, but sometimes with the gamepad, even if I sat directly in front of the console (I think the gamepad used some proprietary wireless connection or something like that?).

 

[papercan55]

I dont know if obstruction is the only factor.
Look at the Whats Up video again
https://youtu.be/O6w536jv1g8?t=1004
Seems to have a clear line of sight when the issue occurs, if it is the same issue.

Ok that is horrendous to see in person during zelda, what the hell is going on.
That is clearly a hardware issue, no wonder that reviewer said zelda was unplayable without a pro controller.
Nintendo really expected this to go unnoticed?

 

[Tetrodox]

The right JoyCon has the exact same problem when you go out of the way to obstruct the signal which is what they showed for both JoyCons, so I'm not sure why it's the left one that's acting up for everyone.

Right seems to have a stronger connection, seen a bit in the video.

 

[Manny _Calavera]

Same here, and earlier I was defending the situation from doom and gloom. But this latest video from Gamexplain has me feeling a bit differently.

Nintendo needs to address this ASAP.

NOTE: I do still want a Switch next week.

Absolutely, I want one bad. It's paid off, Masters edition and my accessories. I just did not get a Pro controller and dorm have the budget for it.

So if I end up with a dud I will be sad, I'll use handheld mode a lot but at home a ton too. Just hate having this overarching feeling of doom when mine has issues.

 

[KingSnake]

Urgh, this will absolutely be a problem for me. I game on a projector so all my av/consoles are behind where I sit.

Oh, damn. I haven't thought about this. I have the same setup. Maybe the console is close enough though?

 

[SomedayTheFire]

arms doesnt require motion controls

Why would anyone pre order Arms to not use motion controls at this point in time? That's all we've seen of it.

So how does the connectivity of the Joycons differ from the WiiU gamepad and the Wiimote? At least the latter used Bluetooth too, right? Never had synch issues with the Wiimote, but sometimes with the gamepad, even if I sat directly in front of the console (I think the gamepad used some proprietary wireless connection or something like that?).

Game pad used wifi direct, which is a much stronger wireless connection Hut with more overhead.

 

[ggx2ac]

Holy fucking overreactions...

Read my post people or go back to school and learn physics.

There is nothing unusual about reducing signal strength by blocking the signal.

 

[MrPanic]

These reports were getting me worried, but looking at that gamexplain video this should be a total non-issue for me. I should never be at a distance that this could be a problem.

That said though, I'll try to keep up with this in case that wasn't the issue the other people were experiencing. I'm still a bit sour after buying a new3ds with a faulty c-stick.

 

[robotrock]

The right JoyCon has the exact same problem when you go out of the way to obstruct the signal which is what they showed for both JoyCons, so I'm not sure why it's the left one that's acting up for the people experiencing the issue.

Just got there in the GameExplain video. I like his reasoning about why he thinks people are only reporting the left joycon, "because you use the left stick in zelda constantly to move around"

 

[Living the Dream]

This is good news if true, both due to them acknowledging the problem and, if they genuinely didn't know, it not being common.

Actually this isn't good news. This is a HUGE oversight.

 

[animanga]

If this is a hardware issue in the long run, would be a mess I am sure but would Nintendo have to replace all of the defective one under warranty? That would suck and hopefully it's an easy fix.

 

[papercan55]

Holy fucking overreactions...

Read my post people or go back to school and learn physics.

There is nothing usual about reducing signal strength by blocking the signal.

watch this and say that again, it's not just from obviously blocking the signal...

I dont know if obstruction is the only factor.
Look at the Whats Up video again
https://youtu.be/O6w536jv1g8?t=1004
Seems to have a clear line of sight when the issue occurs, if it is the same issue.

Do not just watch the game explain video, this one shows the issue without any obvious signal blocking.

 

[Caelus]

Why would anyone pre order Arms to not use motion controls at this point in time? That's all we've seen of it.

It looks like a fun fighting game with cool looking designs and mechanics? I don't plan on using motion controls for that game all the time, especially if I'm playing in handheld mode.

 

[Oregano]

Jesus they need to do whatever they can to remedy this.

 

[MDave]

Huh, the 20 hours per joy-con battery life sounds like its because it uses low power Bluetooth technology, which is sensitive to obstructions especially over long distances. This happens with a lot of Bluetooth devices, and is normal.

It would be interesting to investigate this further by someone opening a joy-con up and checking the antenna design in them. If its small enough, that can also contribute to its sensitivity to obstructions and range.

 

[iKnackwurst]

I hope this is just the Switch not going for 100% bluetooth signal strength. Then they maybe could just patch it to use 100% while docked, as no one will be that far away from the console while in handheld/tabletop mode because the screen is small.

 

[Serenitynow]

Worth noting that, seemingly, Nintendo of America's PR team didn't know about this, at least. Not saying NCL didn't know, or QA/Treehouse didn't know, but PR has been asking for replication details and confirmation, as well as as many specifics as possible.

Source?

 

[Spukc]

Holy fucking overreactions...

Read my post people or go back to school and learn physics.

There is nothing usual about reducing signal strength by blocking the signal.

Holding your hand over it ?
I have many bluetooth devices and my gear s2 watch functions in another room. Walls and all.

 

[KaYotiX]

damn....i would have this thing in my entertainment center behind doors too when playing on my TV

 

[senahorse]

Oh, damn. I haven't thought about this. I have the same setup. Maybe the console is close enough though?

In my case the console will be about 8ft behind me and that still leaves the controller being occluded by myself and the recliner I am sitting on. I guess we will see when it comes out.

Do we absolutely know the pro controller isn't affected in the same way?

 

[Otnopolit]

Holy fucking overreactions...

Read my post people or go back to school and learn physics.

There is nothing unusual about reducing signal strength by blocking the signal.

While this is true, I can't think of a controller I've owned since the gamecube that has had issues with responsiveness if it's not close and directly in front of the console. It's certainly not par for the course.

 

[Scoobie]

I think people may be overreacting a little? Unless you play 10 feet from the TV with the joycon behind your back or covered by your hand you should be ok?

Also hopefully it can also be fixed in firmware by detecting the jerkiness and boosting BT power?

 

[SomedayTheFire]

It looks like a fun fighting game with cool looking designs and mechanics? I don't plan on using motion controls for that game all the time, especially if I'm playing in handheld mode.

Eh I just don't get it. Looks like a game built from the bottom up for motion controls. But look, neither of us know what the non motion controls are like so maybe it's better than what I'm thinking, I just don't really see the point in pre ordering solely for non motion controls like that poster was insinuating.

I think people may be overreacting a little? Unless you play 10 feet from the TV with the joycon behind your back or covered by your hand you should be ok?

Also hopefully it can also be fixed in firmware by detecting the jerkiness and boosting BT power?

It happens without the Joycon being covered too, that's just one replication or the issue and it's a pretty big one too.

 

[ASIS]

Holy fucking overreactions...

Read my post people or go back to school and learn physics.

There is nothing unusual about reducing signal strength by blocking the signal.

This is not about physics it's about limiting what the controllers can do. If this is not 100% a software issue then yes it's a big problem, no other way to spin it.

 

[KaYotiX]

I think people may be overreacting a little? Unless you play 10 feet from the TV with the joycon behind your back or covered by your hand you should be ok?

Also hopefully it can also be fixed in firmware by detecting the jerkiness and boosting BT power?

Thats what i thought till i saw this video

I dont know if obstruction is the only factor.
Look at the Whats Up video again
https://youtu.be/O6w536jv1g8?t=1004
Seems to have a clear line of sight when the issue occurs, if it is the same issue.

 

[Enduin]

Is it possible to increase the signal strength via firmware or is that something hardwired? I imagine they aren't really using a super powerful signal given the 20 hour battery life.

It's also still not clear if there is other interference that is causing the obstruction of the signal to exacerbate things further.

Thankfully not something I am concerned with as I pretty much plan to use the Switch 90% of the time as a handheld, but certainly a potential issue for a lot of other people if this proves widespread.

 

[robotrock]

Holding your hand over it ?
I have many bluetooth devices and my gear s2 watch functions in another room. Walls and all.

Yup. I game with a blanket over me because I live in the coldest area on Earth, and the controller is not visible to the console at all. No problem with my DS4, Xbox One controller, or even my Wii U gamepad.

My Wii remote with the IR pointer stuff? Of course. Those buttons still will work though when the IR signal isn't visible to the console.

This is a big problem

 

[bigboss370]

 

[Ratros]

GameXplain has another video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbG3F9RwlcY) uploaded, suggesting that the connectivity issue is raised when hand/body blocks the signal.

So I guess it is design flaw like iPhone's antenna gate? And it happens to the right JoyCon as well, to a lesses extent.

 

[Distresssss]

Take a look at these apples.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbG3F9RwlcY&feature=youtu.be&a=

Oh I got beat to the punch by Ratros. Oh well. Still pretty informative.

 

[papercan55]

I think people may be overreacting a little? Unless you play 10 feet from the TV with the joycon behind your back or covered by your hand you should be ok?

Also hopefully it can also be fixed in firmware by detecting the jerkiness and boosting BT power?

Not true at all, watch this first...

I dont know if obstruction is the only factor.
Look at the Whats Up video again
https://youtu.be/O6w536jv1g8?t=1004
Seems to have a clear line of sight when the issue occurs, if it is the same issue.

watch this video to see it happening whilst playing zelda, it's horrendous.
https://youtu.be/O6w536jv1g8?t=1004

 

[Cob32]

I think people may be overreacting a little? Unless you play 10 feet from the TV with the joycon behind your back or covered by your hand you should be ok?

Also hopefully it can also be fixed in firmware by detecting the jerkiness and boosting BT power?

Dunno man did you watch the Zelda video? The guy is just holding the joy con normal in front of him and there's issues.

 

[Dougieflesh]

Holy fucking overreactions...

Read my post people or go back to school and learn physics.

There is nothing unusual about reducing signal strength by blocking the signal.

Yea you tell em! I guess people who have big hands or God forbid sit further than 10 feet away from their TV are over reacting.

 

[jetjevons]

Uh oh. This isn't good. :-(

 

[twisteh]

Is this an issue when the joy cons are put together to make the controller or just when they are separate?

 

[ggx2ac]

Holding your hand over it ?
I have many bluetooth devices and my gear s2 watch functions in another room. Walls and all.

And again, I am pointing out that people are looking at the issue as the cause and not what is causing it.

It can be that the hardware has terrible Bluetooth signal or it could be wireless interference that has weakened the signal.

The right Joy-Con works better than the left Joy-Con. This doesn't conclude yet if it is an issue with the hardware.

 

[Ta11geese]

Nintendo needs to adress this asap or a lot of people will cancel their pre-orders.

And the people that don't have preorders will be very happy to fill the void.

 

[Smellycat]

Thats what i thought till i saw this video

I dont know if obstruction is the only factor.
Look at the Whats Up video again
https://youtu.be/O6w536jv1g8?t=1004
Seems to have a clear line of sight when the issue occurs, if it is the same issue.

okay, NOW I am concerned....

This is a big deal if you can't use each joy-con in free form.

 

[Distresssss]

So if peoples body parts are causing the problem it's almost DEFINITELY a hardware issue. Going to be interesting to see how Nintendo addresses this. Surprised it wasn't caught beforehand... no pun intended.

 

[McMoneyman]

 

[Maximo]

Nintendo needs to adress this asap or a lot of people will cancel their pre-orders.

I doubt that a few might but most won't know or don't care.

 

[schuelma]

How could they possibly have not caught this?

 

[SRTtoZ]

Very close to cancelling my preorder. First i cant use bluetooth headphones, then there's no headphone jack on any controller, and now this. It just seems to unfinished it might be best to just wait a few months to see everything unfold.

 

[Frankfurter]

Thats what i thought till i saw this video

I dont know if obstruction is the only factor.
Look at the Whats Up video again
https://youtu.be/O6w536jv1g8?t=1004
Seems to have a clear line of sight when the issue occurs, if it is the same issue.

It's too bad the guy isn't trying to move closer to the TV to see if the issue goes away at some point.

 

[papercan55]

okay, NOW I am concerned....

This is a big deal if you can't use each joy-con in free form.

it doesn't even work properly when on the grip, only way it works is with a pro controller.

 

[terrible]

Could it be that the bluetooth receiver inside the system itself just sucks? Back when I used to use a PS3 controller wirelessly on my PC I had similar issues. If I sat with my knees blocking the cheap USB bluetooth dongle I had it'd go all funky while playing games. That GameXplain video seems eerily similar to that.