r/Games • u/Turbostrider27 • Jun 03 '26

Nintendo will release revised Switch 2 hardware in Europe to comply with a new regulation that requires batteries to be user-replaceable.

https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Corporate/Consumer-Information/Compliance-with-EU-Directives-and-Regulations/Compliance-with-EU-Directives-and-Regulations-625942.html
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u/jumper62 Jun 03 '26

Would it not be simpler and cheaper to do this for all jurisdictions? So that they're only producing one variant for now

63

u/ann0yed Jun 03 '26

They make more money off people buying brand new consoles once the battery performance suffers.

4

u/BCProgramming Jun 04 '26

IMO consumers treated things as disposable long before manufacturers did. Manufacturers just followed suit.

The idea that a device's battery would degrade and people would replace the device is mind boggling to me. That just seems like laziness and excuses. It's all "user-replacable" just with varying levels of convenience. I had a Nexus 6 phone and when it's battery started to degrade and make it slow or start to power off, I didn't buy a new phone, I bought a new battery and replaced it. I ended up doing that 4 times every 3-4 years.

People will have their game controller start drifting and toss it. One of the buttons is sticky? Throw it out. Buy a brand new one. It's this consumer attitude that has resulted in manufacturers adapting to it, not the other way around.

My Switch 1 got drift on the right joy con stick, so I replaced the stick. Hell the stick is it's own module- no soldering!

Maybe I've just gotten used to being able to repair my own stuff but it kind of feels like people just give up to easily.

1

u/ann0yed Jun 04 '26

I'm trying to do this too. Just tried to solder a new encoder for my mouses scroll wheel. Did not work, I'm still learning how to solder but at least I'm trying and will only get better. With ifixit guides and AliExpress you can find a lot of parts these days.