New Nintendo patent could point to fancy drift-free sticks

To say the Joy-Con drift problems Nintendo’s had with the Switch have been troublesome is an understatement. However, a new patent filed by the company for a new technology in analogue sticks could have the answer.

The patent details an analogue stick with a magnetic fluid; this “magnetorheological fluid” changes viscosity or resistance depending on how much current runs through it. So what would happen is when you move the analogue stick and then let go, the stick will return to its original position using the fluid.

There’s also this line in the patent: “In addition, it is possible to achieve both presentation of a feeling to the user by the operation element, and an operation of the operation element returning to the initial position.”

This could indicate that the stick returning to its default position just feels like a usual stick, or it could indicate some sort of feedback like the triggers in the PlayStation 5’s Dual Sense controller. You could potentially feel resistance as you’re moving the stick around.

This is just, of course, a patent and may not even end up in a product, let alone the successor to the Nintendo Switch. Could this new patent be the solution to ending Joy-Con drift once and for all?

It certainly doesn’t sound cheap, but it could be cheaper than endlessly repairing Joy-Con.