How Do You Deal With Thumb Stick Drift? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago by Zahille7@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world

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So I like to use Xbox controllers (doesn't matter if it's first- or third-party) because I like the layout, it's just comfortable to me. However I've noticed that on all my controllers in the past few years, the left thumb stick will start to "give out" over the course of a couple months. For instance I'll be pushing it forward all the way, but it won't register for some reason and my character will only move a little bit. Sometimes wiggling it a bit will fix it, sometimes it doesn't. And it's not like I'm squeezing the hell out of the controller or mashing the stick constantly; in fact it's made me try to be more delicate with my controllers, even though I'm just playing the games normally.

Is it just how controllers are, or am I just getting the shit end of the stick?

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[-] YuzuDrink@kbin.social 3 points 8 months ago

I’ve been suspicious that newer production lines for joysticks have been cutting costs in cheaper materials for a while now. I usually replace the joysticks when they drift, but I’m also quite comfortable to taking things apart and fixing them.

I remember my old PS2 controllers never drifted and that was back when I played hard on them every day after school. These days I hardly have time to play during the week, and they regularly go bad within a year or two.