Recap: The Switch has been an incredible success for Nintendo, but that doesn't mean the hybrid console has been without its problems, one of the biggest being the Joy-Con drifting issue. Despite plaguing buyers since the Switch's release in 2017, Nintendo has avoided apologizing---until now.

As the name suggests, drifting is a hardware issue where one of the Joy-Con sticks registers input even when it's not being touched, causing the player to drift in one direction. It's said to be particularly noticeable in first-person shooter games, and while calibrating can help, some say the controllers eventually become unusable.

Nintendo was far from contrite when it came to the faulty Joy-Cons. Last year, it wrote: "We are aware of recent reports that some Joy-Con controllers are not responding correctly. We want our consumers to have fun with Nintendo Switch, and if anything falls short of this goal we always encourage them to visit http://support.nintendo.com so we can help."

Now, company president Shuntaro Furukawa has apologized for the "inconvenience" caused by the Joy-Con issue at a Japanese Q&A meeting (via Nintendo Life). He added that because of the ongoing lawsuit over the situation, he couldn't say any more.

In July last year, the US law offices of Chimicles, Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith (CSK&D) said it was launching a class-action lawsuit against Nintendo of America, alleging that the Joy-Cons are defective. In September, the Switch Lite, whose joysticks are integrated into its body, was added to the suit after buyers discovered it suffered from the same drifting problem. According to Techradar, the lawsuit is being sent to arbitration, meaning it could be settled out of court.

Despite the Joy-Con problem affecting some machines, the Nintendo Switch is predicted to sell more than 75 million units by the end of the current financial year---March 2021.