'Next Gen Nintendo 64 Controller' from Retro Fighters Smashes Kickstarter Target

Backed it last night,hoping for clear controllers.

I don't see the appeal but if people want it...

The kickstarter page does not specifically state whether this is really for the old N64 or for some emulation. I take it this is for the N64? If so, I would gladly back this up, and I would normally not do such a thing. The reason: There are no good N64 controllers except for one (I think it was hori?), which costs around 90 euro's. The reason why there are no good controllers beside the overly expensive one is that the joycon skips inputs on nearly all these controllers, which makes games like smash unplayable.

However like Alex said, how can we assess the quality of this controller, especially that stick.

Surely this ruins the whole iconic n64 controller though, it just reduces it to a playstation controller.

@AlexOlney
Will the NintendoLife staff be putting a couple of these through its paces?

Looks cool, but I'd have to hold it to really know.

People with crappy N64 controllers should check out Steelsticks64.

Sh*tstarter... Sorry I didn't have anything else to say.
I guess this will only be useful for N64 emulation, which can basically be achieved with any controller, like an Xbox controller.

@timson72 I just checked, and those sticks (if you ever get one) will cost you at least 100 dollars. Insane.

@essiw
It does say on the kickstarter page, it says it doesn't have a USB connector, which means that this controller is for the N64.

@shaneoh Ok thanks, I read that, but I thought it could mean something like emulation on the wii/wii-u, but it makes sense that it is a N64 controller. After having another thought I will rather wait to see reviews about this controller, and I hope nintendolife will review it

It looks good, but $20 seems rather low. I hope that's not a bad sign.

My problem with third party controllers is they all tend to be a bit rubbish. I doubt I've ever owned a decent one, other than maybe one during the SNES era (for 5-player Bomberman!). At $20, I do worry about this one.

TWENTY DOLLARS?!?!

They've never seen an N64 controller before, huh? 👎

I'm more curious as to the four shoulder buttons. I can see 3, L,R,and Z as the n64 had, but a forth? Odd

@Joytendo22 I suppose

@essiw Yep, you're thinking of the Hori Mini Pad, which is great but expensive as you noted. Also it's quite small, so that can be an issue for some. If this controller works well I might use it instead though, has better D-Pad placement for the few games that use it extensively.

@Joytendo22 That's how it is on the Hori Mini Pad, works well IMO. Remember this is before R2 and L2 became 'standard', so it's placement doesn't feel that off.

Looks nice but will it support the Transfer and Rumble Pak? I'm guessing the two Z buttons function the same though I do love how they design the d-pad and analog stick.

Why no link to the Kickstarter page?

The A/B buttons are not aligned with the C buttons. Z button should be underneath and not in front.

Looks like a Switch Pro Controller which is a good thing! I love the N64, possibly my favorite console of all time (at least tied with SNES). I love the N64 controllers but it does suck the control sticks wear out over time, that's why I have 3 backups. Lol. This looks good though! I may have to invest.

@TruenoGT Is it foggy in N64 heaven?

Never understood the complaints about the N64 analogue stick. I never had any fail on me back in the day, and I played it almost daily for years! Also having repurchased a few 2nd hand controllers recently they are all fine too and still going strong. You have to wonder what these people were doing with their sticks to get in such states!

Whilst the design of the N64's analogue stick isn't up to scratch compared to modern sticks' designs, the games were designed around it and all still play fine today. Playing shooters like Goldeneye is as great today as it was back then, using the c buttons to strafe and z trigger to fire. I think the N64 controller is great.

@blackice85 Thanks, that is the controller I am talking about

@retro_player_22 This article already answers your question

@GravyThief The reason why the analogue stick wears out is that someone at Nintendo didn't think that it was necessary to put some oil/fat inside the analogue stick, so slowly but surely all official controllers will wear out because the plastic will be grinded away.

@Yorumi I thought about getting one of those replacement GC-style sticks too for my official pad, how was installation?

This looks really cool, maybe I'll buy it as an early Christmas present. I've been mostly using raphnet tech's Gamecube to N64 controller converter; I think it needed a Controller Pak setup (for Rayman 2, Castlevania 64, Toy Story 2, or any other game that requires it) and needs some button layout adjustments on the factory default, otherwise it's a perfect converter! Maybe this new controller will be my answer.

Just looked into the kickstarter page and while it looks like it could be really cool, the page is very light on information. As several people pointed out, they never state if it's for an actual N64 or for emulation or what. I can only assume it's for an actual N64. Also we have no idea of the quality of the whole thing. Like I said, it looks great on paper but who knows what the finished project will be like. Also the rewards seem a bit light. $20 for a controller seems reasonable. $30 for a controller and poster, $45 for controller, poster, and having your name in an instruction book, and $100 for all that and a t-shirt. I dunno maybe I'm being nitpicky but the whole thing doesn't seem that appealing. And I say this as a HUGE N64 fan. Then again $20 is only $20 and I may just go for it.

@essiw I've fitted just the steel bowl to mine,it's like night and day.

@subpopz In addition, I and many other players have controllers from other consoles, as old or older that are in good shape still. Nintendo simply has a design flaw with the N64 stick's design, and it stands out among other consoles as not holding up well over the years.

@timson72 Those are not for sale anymore though

@essiw Ha I went straight to the video cause I hate reading but thanks.

@essiw thought they'd go quick

@Joytendo22 I did at one time, felt a little too uncomfortable on my hands. Playing Mischief Makers with a Gamecube controller sure did feel like heaven, though.

@Yorumi Nice, I may try one then at that price.

I have yet to try a third-party N64 controller that isn't total garbage. I don't have much faith that this thing can change that trend.

@In_Ex_Fan Mario Party 1's rotation minigames.

That is all.

@PatHawks I was wondering the same thing. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1247448559/next-gen-n64-nintendo-64-controller?ref=discovery

@Angelic_Lapras_King never had a problem with that but that's just me. But still: there's no market for this thing. It's not going to make a ton of money since most people don't play the N64 anymore.

@In_Ex_Fan Well good thing the console has 4 ports so those few N64 retro game collectors can go and buy 4 each of different colours. XD

The aesthetic design looks like a hybrid between the official Nintendo 64 controller and modern pro gamepads.

@Angelic_Lapras_King I hope you will get 4 of them too.

@In_Ex_Fan Already have near half the game library. It'll only be a matter of time. XD

That little money to get mass production going?

@KrakenSoup they do state that it's for N64, but if some people are missing that information, then they could do better in emphasizing that point.

"The Retro Fighters controller for N64 is a modern take on the N64 controller."

"It would have cost us a lot more time and money to come up with a controller with both N64 and USB functionality"(referring to why this controller lacks USB)

@timson72 Thanks for the link, that's pretty awesome - but the price is insane. @essiw For those looking for a cheaper, easier upgrade, it's pretty simple to replace the N64 with a gamecube style stick - I've done it to two of my controllers, and it's a pretty simple swap that makes it feel quite a bit better IMO.

@roadrunner343 I know, and I have done extensive research about this. However the gamecube stick skips some of the positions the stick can be set in. This is problematic for certain actions in certain games (I thought I read about you being unable do a spin attack in zelda as you need to rotate the stick through all positions). Therefore you are better of repairing your old N64 stick in various ways that are explained in youtube vids (which I did not yet have had the time for).

@essiw Interesting. Oddly enough, I've never played Zelda with my modded controllers. They felt really good to me in Mario Kart, Mario 64, and Banjo Kazooie. I'll fire up Zelda and see how it works. I do also have an unmodded controller as well as a Hori Mini pad. If I get some time, maybe I'll try to test them all again this weekend.

For $20 I will take the gamble and get one of these. I can at least review it for the N64 Memories blog. I have 4 controllers so if it doesn't meet standard, it'll just be a nice momento.

@roadrunner343 some games don't like the GC sticks,seen vids of characters not moving correctly.

@roadrunner343 Don't let it spoil your enjoyment though It took me hours to find out about all that stuff, and it is really confusing. Also my memory might be failing me about which moves in which games do not work correctly, as I searched this up half a year ago. The conclusions I made back then however are still clear to me, which were:
A: the best and cheapest way (though time extensive) to fix your controller is to repair the stick yourself (via various ways explained in youtube vids)
B: the only third party controller that has a perfectly working stick is the Hori Mini pad
C: the best stick that you can buy is the Gamecube stick that you are talking about, but you have to make sure you buy the latest version (and I am hesistant to buy from ebay, as I am not certain I will get the latest version). But even the latest version does skip some positions.

It might be however that there was an update to those gamecube sticks that I have overseen, or maybe some things changed in the last half year, or the sources that I found were incorrect/outdated.

@timson72 @essiw I will say one of the sticks did not return to center correctly, so Banjo would always very slowly walk in the last direction. I returned that stick, and the other two I replaced seem to work fine. I haven't noticed the skipped positions (Not denying it, just hasn't hit me on the games I've played yet, I guess) but that is certainly a bummer... now I'm going to have to re-evaluate =) I do agree that the Hori Mini Pad is the best, but unfortunately, they're so darn expensive that I don't plan on getting a second any time soon.

@essiw @roadrunner343 I've played both Zeldas with the Hori Mini Pad and I'm pretty sure that you can still do the spin attack, can't recall if it's more difficult or not though.

Is it possible to make a modern update to the memory cards? That's what I'm worried about more.

@HalBailman every 3rd party controller I've ever bought has been rubbish. At $20, I'd be concerned too, but if they cut out all the middle-men & their profits, then perhaps it would be ok?

That's a nice looking piece of emulation tech right there. If I was still playing an N64 I'd defintely see about getting one.

@roadrunner343 yeah I'm not paying 60+ unless I really have to.

Needs a 2nd analog stick and fully reprogrammable buttons.

Then you could play GoldenEye/PD with modern console FPS controls, with Left stick for move/strafe and right for turn/aim. I've messed around with controller mappings like this in N64 emulators, and it works really well.

Was it so difficult to put a link ?

@Lone_Beagle For any system or N64? I've heard modern 3rd party stuff for current systems are subpar, but there used to be quite a few different 3rd party controllers from systems in the past that are very nice.

@GravyThief It's called Mario Party, my friend.
I never had the problem of the stick wearing away like people here have, but those mini-games in Mario Party that had you rotate the stick as fast as possible sure caused a lot of damage to mine. The sticks are all wobbly now and are impossible to use for any precise movement (not to mention the time I burned a hole in my palm from doing too many of those mini-games in a row.)

@blackice85 yes, that is why the hori mini pad is the only good third party controller

I jumped on it. Cost less than the replacement stick and bowl replacements I backed over a year ago that still haven't arrived. Maybe one of them will ship this year.....

That's looking nice. Would be interested if I still had an N64....though maybe I'll still get one and a USB adapter for emulation.

There're enough stores around me that refurbish the original controllers...works for me!

Now if I remember correctly this company had pre orders up at Amazon for a Switch wireless controller. Day before it's release date all information was pulled down from Amazon and a week later or so there was no info anywhere to be found about the 29.99 Wireless Pro controller which had been advertised on Amazon for months. I emailed them about it and got no reply. I emailed Nintendo life and was told they would look into it. Red flags are up for me.

@Bunkerneath How is that a bad thing? The triple prongs and the underneath Z button are the worst aspects of the original controller as far as I'm concerned. If I had an N64, I'd certainly be interested in this depending on the overall quality.

@yuwarite Or you could just play the Wii version of Goldeneye with even better motion controls (and Oddjob isn't cheap).

@Windy red flag, perhaps. However, they have already produced a NES controller. It's likely this will be produced and shipped, so I, personally, wouldn't worry about it if I was backing.

This is a cool idea but, I think I'll pass because it takes away from the original iconic design of the Nintendo 64 controller.

Not for me I much prefer the layout of the original N64 pad but I would consider it to use with emulators as modern pads are poor at replicating the controls, particularly the c buttons

@BulbasaurusRex blasphemous 😃 I actually hated PlayStation controllers and twin stick shooters for years because of how much time I had spent with the N64 pad, however each to his own

@BulbasaurusRex I've played it, and it's actually a pretty good game.

But the original N64 GE with modern twin stick controls plays so much better. It's a shame this device doesn't allow you to fully configure the controls like you could with an emulator.

AWESOME! Just backed it! I was looking for a good controller for my N64 since my collection of games have grown and I found a good way to get great picture quality using my HDTV.

Here are some quotes directly from their Kickstarter page:

Why no USB?

It would have cost us a lot more time and money to come up with a controller with both N64 and USB functionality, the software and time to do so would have been too long to complete and too costly.

However, If you do want to use the N64 controller for PC, it is possible, there are several cheap adapters in the market that you can purchase online to play the N64 Retro Fighters Controller with your PC / MAC / or RetroPie etc.

If this Kickstarter is successful, we plan to release a 2nd USB version of this controller.

Cost

We wanted to keep the cost down as much as possible, yet not skimp on quality, we are essentially passing on the savings to our backers to get this product made. We are selling these versions at $20 each.

It looks like their Kickstarter is very successful. At the time of posting this they are now up to $80,967 and their goal was $13,000 so it looks like they will be working on the USB controller. They also mention how they want to pass the savings onto their backers and I have no problems with that. It sounds like the controllers will cost more outside of this Kickstarter.

Just looking at how quickly they reached their goal just shows how popular the N64 still is!

BTW Here is a link to their Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1247448559/next-gen-n64-nintendo-64-controller

It's not an N64 controller without three handles...

...just saying...

@yuwarite No, that's not true! That's impossible! No dual analog control scheme for a first person shooter can possibly play better than the Wiimote's motion controls.

@carlos82 Sure, dual analog sucks, but that awkwardly placed trigger (and of course only one analog stick) is even worse.

@BulbasaurusRex The Wii pointer is great for fine-aiming, I agree, but turning is really awkward, slow and erratic. As a result, I didn't find Wii FPS games very comfortable to play on the couch, and much preferred a regular Gamepad for them.

That said, I really loved Metroid Prime's Wii controls, but that game was much slower paced and also had a lock-on button.

@yuwarite The motion controlled turning is just fine as long as you have your turning speed cranked up and your deadzone settings set to your liking. It's certainly much better than awkwardly trying to turn with one analog stick while using another identical one to physically move your character without getting mixed up.

@BulbasaurusRex I found even adjusting those settings felt too awkward to get used to. I felt like I spent more time tweaking the controls settings than actually playing the game. Also, using my Wiimote hand to grab a drink or something would always be fiddly with those sort of games.

I much prefer how motion control is handled on the Steam Controller, where it's only activated whilst your thumb is touching the right trackpad. With the Steam Controller, motion controls work sublimely; I could even play CS: GO and get headshots with it. Not as efficient as using a mouse, obviously, but it came close.

Really good video demonstration of what I'm talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B43ibnztDLc

@yuwarite Why would you grab a drink while playing a shooter? If you're taking a break, just pause the game and put the Wiimote down. It's not like FPS games are among the genres where you need to use the wriststrap.

@BulbasaurusRex Yeah, but when I'm on the couch playing a console game, I don't like to feel physically constrained and restricted like that. It's just a comfort and convenience thing, I guess.

I don't hate the Wii mote for shooters, I just think it could have been implemented better. For example, the motion controls should only be activated whilst a button is held down (like the Z button), then it wouldn't feel so erratic all the time.

@yuwarite Like I said, just don't use the wriststrap unless you're playing a game that uses swinging gestures. Just holding the Wiimote and Nunchuck in no way makes you feel constricted or restrained.

@BulbasaurusRex No, it's more like I feel locked into the experience, moreso than with a regular Gamepad. And yes you can pause the game, but pausing for doing something like itching my nose or whatever every time gets awkward. Not saying it's bad, it just never felt entirely comfortable or natural with me.

@yuwarite If you say so, although I don't get how it helps you get "locked in."

A traditional wireless controller would still require you to put the game on pause to grab something else. The only difference there is that you have to put down part of the Wii's controller in your lap while doing so, hardly an inconvenience.

@BulbasaurusRex But that's my point, every time I would put down the Wii mote in a Wii FPS, it would also affect the aiming, causing it to spaz out. I just found instances like those jarring and not enjoyable in the context of couch-based console gaming. Whereas when you lift your thumb off a right stick you don't have to worry about stuff like that. I do really like the Wii mote though, just not all that much for shooters.

@yuwarite That's why you pause the game first, just like you do if you're using a traditional controller. You just point the Wiimote back at the screen before you unpause, and it's not jarring at all. If you're between matches or levels, then the problem doesn't even exist.

Besides, despite any minor niggles like that, the Wiimote more that makes up for it in the ease and intuitiveness of the aiming while playing the game itself, which overall is far better than anything you can do with dual analog controls.

I suppose it could be modified the way you suggested, but that would be awkward itself holding down a button the whole time you're playing, plus it would mean you'd be unable to use that button for a different action. I'd prefer the original method. Although, there's no reason it couldn't be included as an alternate control scheme. More options are almost always better.

@BulbasaurusRex Dude, what is your problem? Do you have some sort of mental illness or something? I calmly expressed my subjective opinion that Wii mote FPS' were not for me. But for some reason you won't simply accept my personal preference. Now just leave me alone.

Well, for 20 $ I will buy it.