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Topic: Warning: Do not buy anything from 8Bitdo, they have zero quality control and sell defective products

Posts 1 to 20 of 47

JayJ

This weekend I decided to buy the 8Bitdo N30 arcade stick since it went down to about $60 and it seemed like a nice little arcade stick to play my ACA games with. Turns out 8Bitdo apparently has no quality control at all. I got it off Amazon and the first stick arrived on time but as soon as I tried to use it I had nothing but trouble trying to get it to work. After trying for a long to get it to connect or even show up on my Switch with no success I decided to see if I could get it to connect to my Mac or Windows computer. It would not connect to either of those no matter what I tried. It wouldn't even connect to my ipad! They suggested updating the firmware but since I couldn't even get it to connect to my PC with usb I wasn't able to do that.

Amazon quickly sent me a replacement and I got it today, hoping that would work since what are the odds of me getting two defective controllers in a row? Well this one did the same exact thing. Tried for over an hour to get it to connect to any device that I had without any success. The most I could do was get it to say synced on my Switch but even then I could never get it to actually connect, it is the same experience that I had on my mac when I tried to get it to work on it's bluetooth. It would show up under the devices list but never actually connect. At this point 2 for 2 are defective and when I read the latest reviews for it on Amazon it appears that most people who bought it recently had the same problem.

At this point I am just going to send them both back, get my $65 back, and try to find an arcade stick for my Switch that will actually work. In the meantime I guess like I am just going to continue to use my pro controller for these games and avoid anything with the 8Bitdo logo on it.

Edited on by JayJ

JayJ

SLIGEACH_EIRE

That's a sweeping generalisation. You could have simply been unlucky. I've heard nothing but good things about the company. Admittedly I've never used the arcade stick, so you and others may be right. Speaking personally, some of their products should be cheaper. Your experience and statement reminds me of the Nyko portable Switch dock. Now that's something I've heard nightmare stories about.

SLIGEACH_EIRE

Nintendo Network ID: SLIGEACH_EIRE

JayJ

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I clearly don't speak for everyone, but I am definitely not alone. Most reviews for the N30 arcade stick that came in recently were from people complaining about similar issues that I had, and on the the forums there is no shortage of people experiencing issues and reliability problems with the arcade stick.

I have gotten two defective products in a row, that simply does not happen with good hardware manufacturers so it is hardly like I am jumping to irrational conclusions here. I am just relaying my experience, it has been a nightmare to deal with and I simply do not want to have anything to do with this company now as a result. It doesn't help how their support was very unhelpful.

JayJ

SLIGEACH_EIRE

@JayJ I don't dispute your experience, and others. Something may have gone wrong on the programming side. Sorry you and others had a negative experience. Any time I hear about their controllers it's always good and they look nice too. The various SF30 controllers look slick and have reviewed well.

SLIGEACH_EIRE

Nintendo Network ID: SLIGEACH_EIRE

darkfenrir

Sorry that happened to you :<

I bought a 2nd hand FC30 Pro Controller and so far it's working really good! Doesn't have problem while playing games @^@

darkfenrir

JayJ

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Yeah well that it is why I ordered it in the first place, but the reality is nowhere near as appealing, and when you have problems like I had you actually check out the support forums and places where people complain and you can find some disturbing quality control issues and bad customer support happening.

I am just trying to warn people. I got consistent defects, I gave them two chances to give me a working product and they were both bad. When you give a company two chances to do things right and they still do wrong by you, it is time to consider any complaints you might have as being valid. I usually don't do this kind of thing but I felt like my experience was bad enough to warn people to steer clear or at lest keep this kind of thing in mind.

JayJ

JayJ

@darkfenrir Yeah I mean I can't speak about their controllers as I only bought the arcade stick off of them but I felt like it didn't paint a pretty picture of their quality control when one of their products can be that dodgy. I have heard people say their controllers can have a 1 in 3 failure rate, don't know how valid that is so I won't go around trying to advertise it as a fact, but it just shows how many people have had issues out there.

JayJ

darkfenrir

@JayJ Yikes, that sounds really bad :[ But then again idk since I didn't research it much.

Hopefully they'll fix it in the future but with no one else really filling their niches? Doubt it

darkfenrir

JayJ

@darkfenrir Yeah I mean it seems like most people end up asking what else is out there in the way of a modern SNES controller. Can't say I got an answer for that so I can see why some people are willing to take the risk and hope they get a good one, but for people like me who consistently get bad results it feels like I am supporting a company that doesn't care about what kind of product they are selling.

Edited on by JayJ

JayJ

darkfenrir

@JayJ Yeah, I think yours are justified. As long as you don't want D-Pad to use mainly (or Smaller controller), there's much more better controller to be had.

Even now, my personal use controller is still Xbox One's at PC. Mainly because of the plug&play, but still. Kinda with 8bitdo's are plug&play with PC too...

But nonetheless, hopefully next arcade sticks you get will be much, much better than this one

darkfenrir

JayJ

@darkfenrir Yeah I am probably just gonna spend for something nice with real arcade parts. I was actually planning on maybe upgrading the stick and buttons on this 8bitdo stick, but considering how I can't even get either one of the sticks that I received to connect to anything I have quickly decided not to do that lol.

I usually don't bother with these cheap arcade sticks since I never seemed to really like them that much in the past, but I figured for something just to play ACA games with it wouldn't be bad for $60. I was definitely wrong on that one. This reminds me of the times I would get some cheap controller from a third party back in the day and it would just break on me or not even work, quite a few companies were notorious for that back then.

I just hope this helps anyone with their expectations at least so they might buy it from a store with a good return/exchange policy in case it doesn't work.

JayJ

darkfenrir

@JayJ Yeah, I hear the Arcade Sticks controllers are most of the time like, $100 or more... It's like, wew, that much for a controller that can only be used for fighting...? Xd But then again with money come quality.

Hopefully no one get fudged indeed with the controller, it sucks when you get bad ones :[

darkfenrir

JayJ

@darkfenrir Yeah getting a nice one is usually about $100 - $150, and it is more expensive from there if you go for those crazy custom built jobs. I usually can't justify it for fighting games these days but considering how I got a bunch of ACA games on my Switch I think it will give it that real arcade feel I am looking for.

It's just that I originally didn't want to spend this much, but with the low cost options this bad I guess like it is worth it. I will definitely be looking into getting something wired, wireless seems more difficult than it is worth when it comes to 3'rd party on the Switch.

Edited on by JayJ

JayJ

darkfenrir

@JayJ Yeah, then if you are in my country, you'll have to factor in tax and everything... god, it's easier to go through an importer, but that option makes it like, 1.5x-2x original price. It's sooooooo bad.

And I agree with you! I tried connecting 8bitdo to the Switch, and while it's neat, I don't think I'll use that option much- I play as handheld nearly 100% of the time. I just wish there's a button or something you can use as shortcut to turn it on as certain device's controller. Not through the power+X or Y

darkfenrir

JayJ

@darkfenrir Yeah the entire way you connect to the Switch just feels poorly thought out with 8Bitdo devices. My experience with their stick was terrible, but what I could tell by what they wanted me to do and how they expected it to work it wasn't anywhere near as straight forward as I expected it to be. Nothing like connecting a Nintendo controller, that's for sure. Oddly enough I could always get it to show up on my synced devices but it would never actually pair/connect.

Looking it over it seems like the Hori Real Arcade Pro V stick is what I will probably be getting eventually, I am just in no rush right now. It seems to have everything I am looking for. Real arcade quality parts, simple USB connectivity with the Switch, it is just expensive and I doubt it will go on sale.

Edited on by JayJ

JayJ

darkfenrir

@JayJ Mmm, mine has no problem with connecting. It's a little convoluted sure, but it appears and connect just fine (Although I get confused a little, but I managed and seems to be working fine- then again I didn't continue to game on the Switch after that, just satisfying myself it connects XD)

And that sounds good! Good luck when you are about to get it :3

darkfenrir

JayJ

@darkfenrir Well it's good to know that it works well enough when it actually works lol.

Anyways thanks, I hope the Hori stick works out better. I imagine it should, I have bought a lot of accessories from Hori in the past and they have always worked well.

Edited on by JayJ

JayJ

zufa86

You might got unlucky or there is a general flaw on those N30. I have 2 of their SF30 and they both work without any issues on my switch, i might even say they are more quick to respond than the JoyCons. Did you try to reach out to the 8bitdo guys? They are usually quick on answering about any problems. Oh btw i had one issue of pairing before but that has been solved with the latest Firmware, but they mentioned it on their homepage.

zufa86

Switch Friend Code: SW-4373-9771-1515

darkfenrir

@zufa86 For me, I don't have problems myself, but I wish that it can plug and play for Windows, at the very least. Kinda annoying that I have to put it to Windows mode again before I can plug it in so it'll work.

darkfenrir

zufa86

@darkfenrir Never tried to play it on Windows, but for the Patches I connected it and it immediately came up as a controller. Maybe for bluetooth its not that simple. My point was: I like 8bitdo as a company and maybe talking to them directly would have helped to solve the issue another way.

zufa86

Switch Friend Code: SW-4373-9771-1515

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