Whoever has the control... has the power! A chat about videogame controllers and recommendations

[ShakeWell]

Anyone got good recs for a wireless NES pad? 8bitdo doesn't seem to restock their 2.4ghz NES pad anymore. Is just buying one of their kits to convert one of mine the best course of action? I think I have at least one that doesn't work that well anymore anyways...

 

[ArugulaZ]

Fuuuuuck, I just broke the right trigger on my StrikerDC while playing Bangai-O. Judging by the sound of tiny bits of plastic rattling around inside the controller now, I must have snapped off a little plastic post that holds the trigger in position. Plus this isn't the first time I've broken a third-party DC controller; I bought a MadCatz DreamPad a few years back and managed to do the same thing to the left trigger. Guys, I think I might be gripping my controller too hard...

Hold on loosely! But don't let go. If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control.

Er, anyway. I have the Xbox Series controller now, and it's become my default for playing games on the Xbox One. This thing has got ergonomics out the wazoo, with shapes and textures that keep your hands where they need to be. I think the quality of the D-pad is slightly overstated, but it's responsive enough in fighting games that I don't feel I need to reach for my fight stick when playing KOF 2002 UM. Plus the clean cardinal directions are bitchin' for Pac-Man. You'll never have a better experience with Pac-Man Championship Edition.

Right now, I'd like to find a similarly high quality Switch joypad, in case I get back into Breath of the Wild. The adapter I've got is a pain to use and my third party pad is underwhelming... the D-pad sucks and you can't use it to turn on your system from a distance. The Hori grips aren't going to work for me, since I'm using this system docked. Suggestions?

 

[Positronic Brain]

Right now, I'd like to find a similarly high quality Switch joypad, in case I get back into Breath of the Wild. The adapter I've got is a pain to use and my third party pad is underwhelming... the D-pad sucks and you can't use it to turn on your system from a distance. The Hori grips aren't going to work for me, since I'm using this system docked. Suggestions?

8bit Do SN30 Pro plus. Although I'm not finicky with cross pads, so maybe you should get a second opinion, but it's the bests third party controller I've had. The Pro 2 is even better, from all accounts.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Anyone got good recs for a wireless NES pad? 8bitdo doesn't seem to restock their 2.4ghz NES pad anymore. Is just buying one of their kits to convert one of mine the best course of action? I think I have at least one that doesn't work that well anymore anyways...

Which 8bitdo model did you have in mind? The only 2.4GHz NES one I’ve seen comes with an adapter for the Wii Classic controller port, so I don’t think you could use it on real hardware. They have their Bluetooth NES controller in stock, but that adds two face buttons and puts them in a diamond pattern, so it isn’t as authentic.

 

[lincolnic]

Which 8bitdo model did you have in mind? The only 2.4GHz NES one I’ve seen comes with an adapter for the Wii Classic controller port, so I don’t think you could use it on real hardware. They have their Bluetooth NES controller in stock, but that adds two face buttons and puts them in a diamond pattern, so it isn’t as authentic.

I don't know about the controllers specifically, but I do know that they make a receiver that plugs into the NES (just like I use for my Super NT) that lets you use a wireless controller with your original hardware.

 

[ShakeWell]

Which 8bitdo model did you have in mind? The only 2.4GHz NES one I’ve seen comes with an adapter for the Wii Classic controller port, so I don’t think you could use it on real hardware. They have their Bluetooth NES controller in stock, but that adds two face buttons and puts them in a diamond pattern, so it isn’t as authentic.

Yeah, that's the problem, the one that's in stock is the Bluetooth one, but they do make a 2.4g one with an NES dongle. Someone on SmokeMonster's Discord told me they do apparently restock, but they go super fast, so I made an alert for myself.

 

[Purple]

8bit Do SN30 Pro plus. Although I'm not finicky with cross pads, so maybe you should get a second opinion, but it's the bests third party controller I've had. The Pro 2 is even better, from all accounts.

I'll second this. One of the better controllers I've used in some time.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Okay, some of the "best" (and by best, I mean ironically so) controllers are those ones with more extraneous features than you can count, let alone need. Like, I have this Nyko Air Flo controller that's got a fan built into it... AND it's wireless... AND it has a receiver with two memory card ports on it. Also, it's unreasonably large, not Xbox Duke bad but getting there. Then there's Bandai's MEGA for the NES, a big game pad with an LCD screen and features up the wazoo. Do you want turbo? You've got turbo. Do you want to adjust the speed of turbo? You've got that, too. Do you want to test your finger speed in this bonus game? Yeah, get your Master Higgins on. And if you manage to press those buttons more than seventy times in five seconds, we'll open up a secret video game on your game controller that's already playing a video game. There's also macros and an "arsenal" feature that limits button presses to a specified amount. So it's like you've only got fifty bullets in Contra or something.

It's too much controller for anyone to realistically need, in both size and features, but it's out there if you want it!