These Retro-Themed Joy-Cons And Pro Controller Are An 8-Bit Dream

Does this controller have amiibo support?

That Pro controller is lovely. Wish their stuff was cheaper though!

lol @ those prices

I just wrote to them inquiring on the source controllers for these products. I'd only be interested if they used Nintendo's official products prior to customization, and even then I'd have to seriously consider that price. To be fair, once the Splatoon 2 pad sold out its first and only wave, its price shot up to something similar to what we're seeing here, same with the Xenoblade pad.

That much for a non offical controller? I think not

These Joycons look lovely! But I have a hard time affording even regular ones. And I already have an 8BitDo controller to play Shovel Knight with ;D

They look very nice but the price is far too much. They're charging the official prices for a Pro controller and Joy-con even though they can be bought for cheaper off Amazon. So for the price of 1 customised Pro or Joy-con set you could buy 2 normal ones and have change left over to put towards a vinyl decal.

"Richie Rich" prices

@Bunkerneath @sleepinglion I'm pretty sure Colorware only ever customise official products. These are all first-party and you are paying for the very high quality paint job on top of the official product. The price is too steep for me though - especially if your not a US citizen and have to pay import. It's about time they set up a Euro based shop.

These are beautiful, but yes, too rich for my blood. But why is this related to Super Mario Odyssey?

They’re super pretty, but those prices? I think not!

I know it's a nintendo website but omg look at the retro PS4 <3 :

http://www.colorware.com/p-734-colorware-playstation-4-pro-retro.aspx

(and it's price...)

Was sold until I saw those prices. Don’t know how they can justify that large a hike in price. It’s a shame. Think they would have had a lot more custom if they came in a bit cheaper

@smashboy2000 Amazing

They are VERY nice, but, god, even the ordinary controllers are expensive. I'll pass on these.

Im holding out for a Metroid themed pro and joy con

Looks at price, looks at controllers. No thanks.

If there was a VC and if these were good reproductions of the originals. Not that it looks bad, just not interested.

I'll stick with what colors are officially available (and at retail price), thanks. I have a pair of yellow and a pair of blue Joy-Con, and managed to snag the Xenoblade Pro Controller.

My friend actually customized her Joy-Con with translucent purple shells, and those are cool.

Did they fix the D-Pad issue?

Those look amazing and I would be tempted if the price wasn't so high. I think $125 or so would have been more in the range.

@sleepinglion That's completely different though... and there's nothing fair about low-life scalpers hoarding and gouging people. These prices are pretty ridiculous, but at least they're trying to earn their money with a legit business. Scalpers are subhuman filth. Fortunately Splatoon 2 controllers can still be found at retail price.

@Thisismycomment
The button layout for the pro controller appears the same. I’m pretty sure these are just shells they put on Nintendo controllers. As for the joycons, it looks like they added the d-pad onto the retro style, but it’s hard to tell in the one sideways view picture of the left joycon. Which is odd. If that thing has a d-pad, it should be one of the most important selling points.

That price is ridiculous!

How do they justify doubling the price for a paint job. I am not convinced the pro controller is worth the original asking price let alone twice the price would be surprised if they sell many of these.

I can’t be certain, but given that the hardware layout is the same as Nintendo, I I’m pretty sure these aren’t generic controllers, people. They are Nintendo controllers with custom shells put on them. So if that’s the case, you’re paying for Nintendo controllers, and the customized shells, and the labor of switching shells. While the price may be high, you can buy other shells for Nintendo controllers for around $30 and put them on. And it’s not just a simple matter of unscrewing the shells. There lots of little tiny things that come apart, that you have reattatch to the new shells. And those triwing screws are really easy to strip. So, still really expensive for these, but gives more context to the price.

If you want a d-pad though I actually really recomend the shells on amazon that you can get for $30, if you’re ok with opening up you’re joycons. I made my joycons look like a translucent purple gameboy color. And having a d-pad on my Switch is a dream come true.

Those prices though....yikes.

Is this article sponsored?

I just heard back from them, these are official Nintendo OEM products custom painted. So they retain all the regular functionality and build quality.

@memoryman3 I'm pretty sure these are just standard Joy-Con and Pro Controllers with custom-painted shells. All the insides that you'd find in the controllers are there. Usually what these companies do is buy up standard controllers from the original manufacturer, paint the outer shells, and then sell them with a slight markup to cover expenses and earn profit.

@DarthFoxMcCloud

"Slight". Those prices are insane.

@Flipbot D-Pad on the Switch? How...? Where ? Please share 😊

@Magrane They’re sold through Basstop, but you can buy from them through amazon. Just type in joycon d-pad. They are just shells, though, so you do have to take apart your joycons. It is worth it, though. And if you don’t care about having a matching pair, I think you can just buy the left one by itself for around $15.

@Flipbot Thank you! Just checked it out. What games has the D-Pad worked out for you on? Not to sound obtuse but do those 4-direction buttons perform the same task as the joystick in the Left Joy-Con?

And last, is the operation to put the shell on relatively easy?

I don’t know why this website supports 8bitdo.

They are trash. Maybe the $$$$

I got the fight stick and it says fully moddable and it wasn’t! The stick couldn’t be replace easily. Not like hori and madcatz. Waste of money.

Then I read the nintendolife review on the nes stick and I bought it and when it came in the crap didn’t work with my nes. The plug didn’t even fit!! Way too loose.

I replaced it and still nothing. I left s bad review on amazing and I won’t trust 8bitdo or this websites endorsement of them again.

It look nice and all but they got the buttons all wrong, NES buttons should concave, not convex.

Love the design don't love the price so much though

@Magrane Yeah, you might think it would feel wonky but it doesn’t. It feels and controls almost exactly like the Wiiu d-pad. I use it for any 2-d games. Mighty gunvolt burst, puyo puyo tetris, Master blaster all work great with a d-pad. I’m mostly looking forward to using it on all the megaman collections. And also Kirby and Yoshi and whatever we get as a virtual console. I also want to get Celeste. I think the d-pad would be better than the analogue stick on that one, too.

@Magrane And no, the shell replacement can be a little difficult. Watch some youtube videos and take your time with it. If it’s possible, try to keep the original triwing screws in tact. Sometimes the replacement screws they send might be inferior quality, and even break while installing, which isn’t good. So either order some good phillips screws or try to not strip the triwings.

@amnesia I was speaking in general, because there are other companies that do this sort of thing, and not just for Nintendo products. But I agree, this is a HUGE markup. But I was speaking more in generally because the original question was basically asking if these controllers have the same functionality as ones made by Nintendo. So I was more trying to say that these are the same products made by Nintendo with the same inside components and just the outer shell is altered....and of course these companies upcharge for profit.

It's nice but I'd rather shell out the money for a Super NT. Still not as bad as charging $70 for cardboard(looking at you Nintendo)

For as much as it takes to buy another Switch up here in Canada!? NO!!

Kind of cool looking, but like everything from colorware it is incredibly overpriced. Paying over twice as much for a pretty basic paint job just seems ridiculous. I have no idea who actually buys these things.

@Kobeskillz I had a similar experience with 8bitdo, it seems like a lot of people have been ripped off by their arcade stick.

I can see now looking at it on a larger screen, the joycons don’t have d-pads after all. Which make these even more pointless than I thought they were at this price. So I stick to my recommendation of finding some unique custom shells with the added functionality of a d-pad, for a fraction of the price.

Very slick but way too pricey.

@JayJ yeah their stuff is trash. I got burned twice. The second time because of this sites recommendation.

No more 8bitdo products for me.

Rip off.

On top of the extremely expensive prices, what about maintenance and repairs? Can you send them to Nintendo for repairs?

That's crazy expensive. But I suppose what you are paying for is the company taking the time to customize your controller for you. From the looks of it, it is a regular switch controller, that they take the time to re-case and change up all the buttons. That's a pretty tedious process.

Not worth it for me. I will stick to my Xenoblade 2 and regular pro controllers.

I like the look of them, but those prices are crazy.

I’d pay up to $125 because of the quality of how these look (I’m talking about the retro design, the carbon design, AND the “make your own” design) but $179 to $199 is just way too much money for what amounts to a novelty aesthetic

@sleepinglion Yes they are clearly Nintendo's own controllers.

@YANDMAN Thanks for the condescension, much appreciated.

@Kobeskillz Same thing happened to me too. I got burned twice on 8bitdo because they apparently have no quality control. Crazy how defensive some people get about them when they make so many defective products that effect so many customers.

WOW! Only $199?!! for a pair of joy-con?!........😂 good luck selling loads at that price. The standard ones are too pricey as it is,never mind hiked prices for custom ones. They do look good though,especially the pro controller

@Thisismycomment @Flipbot
Celeste and it's necessity for precision finally motivated me to fix up my Pro Controller d-pad (almost bought a 3rd party, but I just have too many Joysticks).

I tried a method for raising the center a bit, but that made the connections to hard to complete. So, I paired it back to the tape method where you cover about half the metal circle points on the board in each direction. I had to open and close that thing up 5 times or so, but I'm very happy with where it's at now. It still has a slight inclination to choose diagonal up/left or diagonal up/right when I'm trying to get up only, but nothing like that false connections it has by default.

I do recommend looking it up and making alterations because the difference is night and day and suddenly I'm way better at Celeste. lol.

The buttons on the Joy Con were my go to for precision when the Pro Controller d-pad started driving me nuts, but they are just not a good fit for my thumb as they are tiny and I cover too many buttons at once to get precision. I need a rocker d-pad to make that work. If anyone has a recommendation, I'm interested.

Overall, I'm disappointed that Nintendo shipped that d-pad on the Pro controller. It's the worst I've ever used from Nintendo who has always been the king of the d-pad.

I also just ordered the $25 Mayflash Magic-NS (For Switch) that also works for the PC just to be able to sync whatever I want wherever. (So many controllers!) If I'd had it, the Wii U Pro Controller, with perfect d-pad as far as I remember, would have been a quick solution. (Still wish Nintendo would have put motion/gyro in that Wii U Pro Controller)

On the price, these look like premium work with the buttons in particular looking like more than a simple paint job. These aren't churned out of a factory or anything. If you subtract the initial price they had to pay, I think it's pretty reasonable.

Not for me, mind you, and probably not for many people, but if this is your thing, I'm sure the value matches the desire pretty well.

@aaronsullivan I’m really happy with my d-pad. It doesn’t feel like a rocker d-pad. It feels just like the d-pad on the wiiu gamepad. Even though we don’t have virtual console, alot of interesting 2-d indie games like Celeste have been coming to switch. You can play some of them like vvvv with an analogue stick, but it forces you to play slower. I don’t think I could even play a game like megaman without a d-pad.

@Flipbot Cool. Yeah, it's tempting to go with that, but the Mayflash thing I bought works for my Wii U Pro Controller and actually, my Switch pro controller is almost perfect. Just has a little sensitivity left and right when you are pressing up so it can go diagonal when you just want to go up. Still, I finished Celeste with it so I'm pretty happy.

@sleepinglion No problem.

Wow.. This design really is sooo cool it almost justifies the astronomical pricetag.