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Nintendo Switch has a problem with its left Joy-Con desyncing but hopefully the day-one patch fixes it

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By Connor Sheridan published 23 February 2017

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Several people who got a Nintendo Switch early are reporting one recurring problem: the left Joy-Con controller has intermittent connection issues when detached from the console. We haven't seen this with the GR+ Switch yet and I wouldn't be too concerned if it was just one person, but there's definitely enough to establish a pattern here.

Take a look:

The Switch left JoyCon's sync issues have been so bad for me that I can't play Zelda on my TV with it - using the pro controller instead.February 23, 2017

I've played roughly 20 hours of Zelda and it's happened 2-3 times. https://t.co/5sGBotcIjGFebruary 23, 2017

I've just experienced some left Joy Con sync issues with my grey system. Seems to be a universal issue. https://t.co/2wgPe8h8gIFebruary 23, 2017

Not everybody is encountering the problem, at least.

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  • Official product image of someone holding the Game Tech one-handed grip with one hand. This new Switch 2 accessory lets you play both Joy-Cons with one hand, and it's a win for accessibility

@gamespite Except me! (I know, that doesn't help anyone else.) pic.twitter.com/JaOsQLm1N1February 23, 2017

Looks like some media have had de-sync problems with the Switch Joy-Con. Hasn't happened with mine.February 23, 2017

And sometimes the joke is unavoidable.

rare footage of the Left Joy Con losing sync with the Nintendo Switch pic.twitter.com/duW4hrpAc1February 23, 2017

The good news is that Nintendo plans to put out an update for Nintendo Switch on March 3, the day the system will go on sale to the general public. The update will enable the eShop and various other functions and hopefully it will fix this problem, too.

That's assuming it's a software (or firmware) issue rather than a hardware one, though - if Nintendo ships millions of just-broken-enough-to-be-annoying Joy-Cons and can't quickly fix them, that would be a really bad start for Switch. Here's hoping that isn't that case.

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Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan
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Former GamesRadar+ News Writer

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar+.

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