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Today sees the launch of the new Nintendo Switch OLED model, and to mark the occasion the company has published a new official developer interview on the machine.
Ko Shiota and Toru Yamashita both sat down for a chat as part of the latest Ask the Developer series. The Director and Deputy General Manager of the Technology Development Division respectively, both were heavily involved in the development of the new hardware. The two took some time to talk about the Joy-Con controllers. Of course, Joy-Con drift has been a thorny issue for the company across both the original Nintendo Switch and the Lite. In 2019, the company even had a lawsuit filed against it for the issue.
While not directly acknowledging the drift, a small part of the interview details improvements to the OLED machine’s controllers. However, the company claims that some wear is unavoidable. “For example car tyres wear out as the car moves, as they are in constant friction with the ground to rotate,” Shiota says. “So with that same premise, we asked ourselves how we can improve durability, and not only that, but how can both operability and durability coexist? It’s something we are continuously tackling.”
“The degree of wear depends on factors like the combination of the materials and forms, so we continue to make improvements by researching which combinations are less likely to wear,” Yamashita adds. “The analogue sticks in the Joy-Con controllers included with Nintendo Switch – OLED Model are the latest version with all the improvements. Needless to say, so are the analogue sticks included in Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, separately sold Joy-Con controllers, and the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller that are currently being shipped.”
The rest of the interview is an interesting read, and you can check it out for yourself over here. The Nintendo Switch OLED model is available from today.
Read all about the development of the newly-released #NintendoSwitch – OLED Model in our latest Ask the Developer interview. 👇https://t.co/Cn85rG016k
— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) October 8, 2021