Nintendo Confesses Hardware Failure Over Twitter
We’ve talked about the Nintendo Switch and its complicated battery situation before – how its batteries are made by the exploding battery people, the fact that you have to pay to get Nintendo to replace them, and even the IndieGoGo campaign to give it a better charger. Now we’re coming back to our old stomping grounds with a brand new revelation: if you don’t keep your Switch charged, the batteries may stop working. By which we mean, you won’t be able to charge them up again. Ever. Which, seeing as the Switch’s batteries aren’t designed to be removed by the user, is a real problem.
The news came out over Nintendo Japan’s Twitter account, which suggested charging your Switch every six months to avoid the issue. If you use your Switch often, you probably won’t have to worry about its batteries failing, but those of us with back-up or special edition Switches should take note. In fact, you may want to charge your devices even more often – it’s recommended that you charge rechargeable devices often, and Nintendo already has a history of downplaying the Switch’s hardware issues. Spread the word, collectors.
Despite these issues, the Switch is still doing just fine, with 56 million units sold and 26 million subscribers to its online service. That’s just below 50% of the Switch’s userbase, which saw a huge spike after the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Nintendo also announced that Japanese customers can now cancel preorders of digital switch games up to a week before the release date, which is good to hear. Let’s hope that option comes to western fans soon, too.
How do you deal with battery failure? Let us know down in the comments, or hit us up on Twitter or Facebook.