2023-07-19 19:44:00
The Quebec class action launched once morest Nintendo because of its defective Joy-Con controllers can go ahead, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
“The alleged evidence is abundant as to the knowledge of the defendant [Nintendo] of the phenomenon of Joy-Con Drift”, can we read in the judgment rendered by the Superior Court on Wednesday.
The “Joy-Con drift” is a defect reported by many users of Nintendo Switch consoles.
After only a few months of use, the avatar begins to move without the user handling the controller.
“Hidden defect”
A class action request regarding this “hidden defect” was filed in Montreal in 2021. Representative Kelly-Ann St-Laurent, a player from Saint-Amable in Montérégie, says that she had to buy several controllers there to be able to continue. to play, spending far more than the $400 the console originally cost.
Since then, more than 26,000 people have come forward to join the class actionsays Jimmy Lambert, the lawyer behind the appeal.
The judge did not consider the merits of the case at this stage. The examination of the request served above all to ensure that it was not “frivolous or untenable”. She concluded that the lawsuit might proceed.
The plaintiffs would like each person who bought a Switch, Switch Lite, Joy-Con or Pro Controller console in Quebec to be entitled to $100 in punitive damages. To this would be added a refund ranging from $90 to $260 per defective product acquired since March 2017.
A Switch console with its Joy-Con controllers. AFP
Well known
In 2020, the president of Nintendo apologized for the “Joy-Con Drift” issue. One can even find on the Nintendo site a guide of directives to follow in case it manifests itself.
Last April, Nintendo announced that users in Europe might have their controllers repaired for free, even beyond the warranty.
Despite this, Nintendo continues to market Switch products without disclosing the problem, it says in the Quebec request.
In the United States, a similar class action was brought, but suffered a setback due to the “End User Lincense”, the membership contract that players must accept and which prevents them from suing the Japanese manufacturer.
In Quebec, users are better protected thanks to the Consumer Protection Act, which makes this type of clause obsolete, explains Me Lambert.
As of press time, Nintendo representatives had not responded to our email.
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