Que Choisir takes legal action over Nintendo controller wear and tear - France 24

Paris (AFP)

The consumer organization UFC Que Choisir has decided to file a complaint for "planned obsolescence" against the video game console manufacturer Nintendo, accused by the association of putting on the market game controllers that fail very quickly, has she announced Tuesday.

"The UFC-Que Choisir is filing a complaint with the public prosecutor today for planned obsolescence," she announced in a statement.

The offense of planned obsolescence was created by the 2015 law on energy transition and green growth.

The penalties can be up to two years' imprisonment and a fine of 300,000 euros, or even 5% of annual turnover.

Que Choisir had already publicly denounced last year the fragility of some Nintendo Switch console controllers, collecting numerous testimonials from consumers.

Last November, "more than 5,000 consumers" had thus come forward to the association "in just 48 hours" to "denounce the same recurring failure", dubbed "Joy-Con Drift", indicated Que Choisir.

Last January, the general manager of Nintendo France contacted by Que Choisir had promised that Nintendo would repair the controllers without difficulty, "even out of warranty".

But, according to the association, the basic problems remain, and "reports continued to flow to the association" after this commitment.

"Since the dysfunction has been known for 3 years, it is essential that the Japanese giant now follow a curative rather than a corrective scenario", estimates the association.

According to Que Choisir, the "Joy-Con Drift" failure results in "unexpected phantom movements, which prevent consumers from properly using their game consoles."

According to the association, "two causes are (more than likely) at the origin of the failure: premature wear of the printed circuits, and a lack of sealing which causes a worrying amount of debris and dust within the joystick".

“65% of consumer victims noted this failure less than a year after purchasing the controllers,” says the association.

The failure appears "regardless of the profile or age of the player, even when playing less than 5 hours per week. 25% of consumers even saw the failure occur within 6 months after purchase, despite the low usage of the device. console, ”she added.

According to the law, planned obsolescence is defined "by all the techniques by which a marketer aims to deliberately reduce the lifespan of a product in order to increase its replacement rate".

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