A French organisation believes that the big N has intentionally designed the detachable controllers of the Nintendo Switch to be broken after a while.

UFC-Que Choisir, a French consumers organisation, announced that it’s suing Nintendo for planned obsolescence (in short, a product not functioning as intended after a shorter period than you’d expect) and anti-consumer practices. In November, the non-profit organisation has already issued a warning about the Joy-Con controllers for their drifting defect (which happens if the controller registers movement even if you don’t use the analogue stick… so in other words, if, for example, Mario walks on his own in Super Mario Odyssey).

In a press release, UFC-Que Choisir noted that Nintendo has indeed made notifications to how the Joy-Cons are conceived a few months ago, the defect has not been fixed, even though the big N is aware of the issue. The French company analysed several samples, and they found two flaws that might be the cause of the issue. One of them is premature wear and tear to the electronic circuits, and the other one is an airtightness defect (meaning dust and fragments from the stick could get inside the controller).

„The nature of the failure, how frequently it occurs for players, the limited lifespan of the products and the manufacturer’s inertia despite being informed of the defect… These are all characteristic of planned obsolescence practices at Nintendo,” UFC-Que Choisir said. They already filed the lawsuit in Nanterre (about 7 miles away from the centre of Paris), and they demand that Nintendo changes the manufacturing of the Joy-Con once and for all.

Keep in mind that Nintendo already has a class-action lawsuit in the United States over the drifting issue, which is probably why the big N is offering free repairs. Yet, they can get a lot of extra money over planned obsolescence (product breaks down, the customer buys a new one, even though the previous one could have worked for longer, the company gains money).

Source: Gamesindustry

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