Nintendo of Japan has announced that its extended warranty service for the popular Switch console will be ending effective August 31, and customers will not be able to amend their ¥200 (~$1.40) monthly / ¥2000 (~$14) annual subscriptions beyond July 14. The "Wide Care" initiative was launched last July, as a collaboration with Aeon Japan—granting owners of Switch consoles, outside legal warranty, an allowance of six repairs (maximum) and two full unit replacements. No official reason for the termination was provided, which is surprising given that the Switch has sold 29 million units in the region. Naturally not all of the customer base is signed up with Wide Care, but the timing could suggest that Nintendo is adjusting its priorities and making way for the next generation model.

A Wide Care-style service was not made available to customers outside of Nintendo's native base of operation, but the Switch's Joy-Con controllers have gained a lot of attention over the console's lifespan due to analog stick drifting issues. The fragile nature of these modular attachments has resulted in plenty of negative feedback from the userbase, and Nintendo has been pressured by watchdogs and petitions to provide comprehensive and out-of-warranty repair services in certain regions, with their new-ish scheme slowly expanding across Europe.

Microsoft has started to sell a limited selection of replacement parts for Surface devices in the United States, Canada, and France—more regions will be added in the future. The company's online store now presents listings for replacement displays, batteries, SSDs and several other internal pieces. Brave customers can now perform repairs on their out-of-warranty Surface models, which saves on a trip to local shop or a costly return back to base. Tim McGuiggan, Microsoft's vice president of device services and product engineering stated: "We are excited to offer replacement components to technically inclined consumers for out-of-warranty self repair. When purchasing a replacement component, you will receive the part and relevant collateral components (such as screws if applicable)."

The various offerings of spare parts for Surface tablets, laptops, and all-in-one systems heavily favors Microsoft's fairly new 9-series. For example, the Surface Pro 9 is well catered for with an impressive selection of kickstands, displays, batteries, ports, protective covers, speakers, networking components, and cameras. Owners of the older Surface Pro 7 (2019) are limited to a single kickstand. A continued partnership with iFixit also provides a means to sell official tools for repair purposes and installation of replacement parts. It should be noted that some of the items listed on the Microsoft Store are very expensive—a Surface Studio 2 Plus replacement screen will knock you back $1749.99. The fanciest Surface Pro 9 screen is $362.99, while its spare batteries are $237.99 for an Intel variant, and $249.99 for Arm models.

Late last week, several specialist Nintendo coverage websites cottoned onto an update on the company's UK support pages - the offer to repair faulty Joy-Con units, affected by the notorious drifting problem, for free. Customers who possess long out of warranty controllers will not be charged for fixes, as long as it is apparent that drifting is occurring. The blurb on the official website outlines a pattern of diagnosis: "Joy-Con Control Sticks Are Not Responding or Respond Incorrectly (responsiveness syndrome or so-called "drifting")."

Nintendo has already offered free lifetime repairs to its customers in North America, way back in 2019. Latin America and France received similar treatment shortly thereafter. According to its updated documentation the company is now extending the same service to folks spread across the European Union (and adjacent to): "Until further notice, Nintendo will not charge you in the European Economic Area (EEA), UK and Switzerland for the repair of the responsiveness syndrome irrespective of whether this is caused by a defect or by wear and tear."