Subscription service for Nintendo Switch repairs launches in Japan

Nintendo has launched a Nintendo Switch repair subscription service in Japan, which allows for up to six repairs per year. 

Called “Wide Care for Nintendo Switch,” the service’s introductory site was launched today (July 1) and it provides Japanese Switch users with a subscription service that they can join at any time to get their console repaired (via VGC).

The service currently costs 200 yen a month (around £1.20) or 2,000 yen a year (£12) and it covers everything included with the Switch, from the console, dock, Joy-Cons and AC adapter to the same for the Lite and OLED models.

Subscribers will not need to pay for the repair, unless it exceeds 100,000 yen (around £600), in which case the user will cover the excess costs. Whilst a user can sign up multiple consoles, each is required to be registered with one contract and payment plan.

Users will receive a repair mail-in box to ship their required parts, with the repairs done and shipped back within two to three weeks, according to the website.

News of Nintendo Switch repairs come after ongoing developments surround “Joy-Con Drift” – an error with many controllers that see the analogue sticks move without them actually being touched.

Last month UK consumer group Which? urged Nintendo to carry out an “urgent independent investigation” into Joy-Con drift, with the consumer groups’ own study saying it impacts 40 per cent of users.

​​Which? director of policy and advocacy, Rocio Concha, shared that “our research shows that drift problems continue to plague Nintendo Switch owners yet too often they can be left footing the bill themselves to replace faulty controllers or face a lottery when they contact Nintendo for support.”

In other news, The Sims 4 is going back to school as the High School Years expansion has been revealed.