Peripheral maker Stoga has released a series of Animal Crossing: New Horizons-inspired wireless controllers for the Nintendo Switch. These aren't the first Animal Crossing-style pads we've seen – PowerA has its own options – but they're certainly the most adorable.
The Stoga Cat (or "Stoga Animal Crossing Pad", as some people are calling it) comes with motion control support and around 8-10 hours of play time per charge thanks to its 300mAh battery. The basic design is the same across all three pads, but it's the brown variant which is the most interesting, because it looks just like Tom Nook's face.
We were lucky enough to get sent one of these pads by Stoga, and we came away more impressed than we expected to be – especially as the rather cheap and nasty packaging the pad ships in did little to engender confidence initially. The pad is surprisingly dinky when compared to the official Pro Controller, but it's still comfortable to hold and could be the ideal 'travel' option. If you've got massive hands, however, you might want to steer clear.
The L and R buttons are shaped like ears at the top of the pad, which sounds a bit gimmicky but actually works better than you might expect, as the 'lip' of the ear makes the buttons easy to find with your fingers. The D-Pad is also excellent – easily on par with the one on Nintendo's Pro Controller – while the face buttons are nice and responsive, even if they are perhaps a little on the small side.
The 'Home' and 'Screenshot' buttons are present and correct, but Stoga has also thrown in a 'Turbo' button as well, for those of you who like rapid-fire action. While it lacks NFC connectivity seen in the official option, it does have rumble, motion control and a rechargeable battery, which is charged using a USB-C connection.
The pad costs $39.99 / £31.19, and the other colour options are Sky Blue and Green. You can purchase all three controllers for $107.99 / £92.02. Input the voucher code NintendoLife at checkout and you'll get $6 off.
Thanks to Stoga for supplying the controller used in this feature.
[source stogagame.com]
Comments (38)
I would buy all three... This month I already bought the Pal Super 64 and the mClassic... But in the future they are on my wishlist
That's
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...
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Incredible
Really stylish, but the battery life is sub par for the price
Holy moly!!! That looks awesome. I do not own animal crossing but man i want these controllers. I just want t know how the dpad plays and the thumbsticks sensitivity.
That is all kinds of wonderful
Perfect for anyone that's ever wanted to poke Tom Nook's eyes out.
@Appleflap yeah was thinking the same. how long thats shocking low
I know he charges a lot of bells for that basement but I still don't want to be sticking my finger in his eye!!!
Lord forgive me what I’m about to do
Shame they couldn't have moved the right hand stick upwards a bit. As it stands, it looks like Tom Nook if his face was melting. ☹️
Me: Jump!
Tom: Ow! My eye!
Don't look great, and have bad battery life for the price. Tom Nook isn't happy.
The only thing I would add is a picture of a bell at the ends. But maybe that's a bit cocky to suggest.
FINALLY! I CAN BRUTALLY TORTURE THE GUY WHO TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! EVERYTHING!!!
Because why not?
They look nice, but I'm really not sure how I feel about the first one...
Nintendo should make a cat pro controller and market it alongside a 3D World rerelease.
I have too many controllers for my Switch as it is at this point.
If Nintendo would give us more official pro-controllers in different colors, I might buy them. But otherwise... I really don't need any more.
That 5/8 hours battery is very very very low. 20 hours is minimal these days. How they come up with these low battery charges lately is just weird. If you replace rechargable from other brand you can play a lot longer. Not sure about these controllers if they can be changed.. if not. that pricetag is too high even with Animal Crossing theme. 20 euro max
Does those include Motion sensor to play games like Splatoon 2?
I am still waiting on the K.K. Slider controller. Are the L R triggers the cat ears?
Looks pretty stylish.
@Sparkus Yes.
@Erchitu I just got the NTSC Super 64 and I love it. With the smoothing turned on, it looks as good as I remember N64 looking on a CRT. I don't have an mClassic yet, but I plan on picking one up down the line. Does it make a very noticeable difference?
I see this ugly thing advertised on Facebook, accompanied by broken-English captions and incorrect facts about which species Tom Nook is. Very disappointed to see this sort of tat being featured here tbh.
I have a controller that looks like this, except it has Grookey (Pokémon) colors.
It’s really nice, indeed. Though it’s sold by a different brand, and it was cheaper.
I would like to know how much time have they been tested since many of these brands tend to show their problems after one or two weeks, at least from personal experience. Good article by the way, it's appreciated that you cover third party options.
@ComposedJam I'll second that. I bought a wired Switch controller and there was something wrong with the left stick. I think it stuck in one direction. I had to open it up and fix it.
kinda creepy then. has all those eyes
@HexagonSun Yes, the mClassic makes it even better. There is a switch and you can select the retro mode, for the 4/3 image, it sharpens everything and there's no noticeable delay.
Really wish Nintendo would give us more Pro Controller options. In a way I'm slightly amazed they have never done an Animal Crossing version themselves, or will do something for Mario's 35th. Could do with another Pro controller, but probably just going to buy a black one and some different coloured grips and swap them out.
I bought one of these controllers! I love it, but the rumble is very strong. Does anyone know if there's a way to change it?
@StormRiser The button +/- can adjust the runble.
@zyf2756 Oh thanks! How do you do it?
@StormRiser Press Up and Plus or Minus at same time.
I bought the green one. The green color are clear and bright. It reveals a wonderful smell of teenage youth.
@chardir that’s..concerning
Ooh cute. Honestly as cute and pastel the cyan one looks, I’d probably go with classic brown. Brown don’t show the dirt as they say!
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