Gallery: Here's How The Switch Online N64 Controller Compares To The Real Thing

Just a shame can buy it as its always out of stock

Just waiting on a restock on these in the UK 🤞🤞🤞

Also... "Hopefully, that doesn't mean we'll all be complaining about it going all limp and floppy in a few years. Oo-er!" 😂😂

I've been waiting for restocks of the SNES controller for ages, I bet I'll just never be able to get my hands on them, just like this controller. Sad times

Tear downs show that a few years before it’s limp, floppy and experiencing drift would be VERY lucky.

Damn, i need this to go with my SNES controller, but its out of stock, guessing scalpers grabbed them. Ah yes, on eBay they are going for £100!!!!
RESTOCK IT ALREADY!!

Hopefully the stick isn't as crappy as the original. That's probably the worst stick on any Nintendo controller besides the Joy-Cons. Actually, scratch that. At least the Joy-Con sticks are somewhat comfortable to use before they start drifting.

I want to get one of these. Been enjoying Ocarina of Time, Sin and Punishment, Dr Mario 64, Mario 64, Starfox 64, Yoshi's Story, etc. and would love to play with this wireless N64 controller.
Also, I can't wait for F-zero 64, Pilotwings 64, wipEout 64, Worms Armageddon, and hopefully a Bomberman game or two.

@Gwynbleidd same notoriously bad stick setup without the optical sensors. So you’ll get the flop, AND the drift. Really terrible stuff.

Hopefully, that doesn't mean we'll all be complaining about it going all limp and floppy in a few years. Oo-er!

If it only lasts a few years, it will still be better than the Joy Cons.

I can’t wait to use it with smash.

Have we had any word on restocks?

I'd actually be surprised if these are as prone to drift as the joy-cons because the pots in the N64 stick are outside of the bowl, so any debris that does manage to get in there won't be able to reach the pots to impede their reading. Bowl wear might be an issue but it took about 15 years for it to be a significant problem in my N64 controller. A new steel bottomed bowl has permanently sorted that out! 😂

It's those silly rubber flaps on the joy-con sticks that allow debris in that causes drift. I don't know why Nintendo don't make the whole stick a dome like on the PS and Xbox controllers as that seems to offer better protection.

Nintendo knows how to bring "commodity fetishism" to another level when they release stuff no one can buy.

"...making this the best way to play these games".

Sure about that one?

@FernandoMachado I got one on a resupply a few days ago, blame scalpers, not Nintendo. The only thing more that they could have done is restrict the number bought from 4 to 1 for a few months.

Now, anyone using this controller for the first time in a while, can you please tell everyone how it feels to hold and actually use?

Note: And I don't mean judging it by the apparently pretty crappy quality of the Switch Online N64 line-up of games, but rather just the quality of the controller itself.

@Pillowpants I just bought one of the Snes controllers two weeks ago no issues.

@Crono1973 Nintendo could essentially kill the scalpers market by making the high-demand products always available for purchase on their stores. Even when they are out of stock, more is on the way and a customer should be able to place an order (with a longer delivery date)

Drift and loose sticks won’t be a widespread problem on the N64 controller because within 2 weeks the majority of gamers will move on from NSO. It’s the hot thing now but it soon won’t be. The controllers will get little use. Mine will but most others won’t.

@Gwynbleidd I think when it happens in other controllers it's usually the carbon track of the pot wearing out, I often see it in my arcade machines on the pedals as the springs on those tend to be quite violent. Unless the PS/Xbox/Pro controllers are wearing out in a similar time frame to the joy-cons?

@FernandoMachado EXACTLY. A centralised ordering for ps5 and Xbox would have done the same…. You buy one and get one when it’s your turn. Even if your “place/order” is outsourced to one of the suppliers like game or Amazon

@FernandoMachado Exactly. The same thing that the Steam deck does (and Tesla) . It's what pretty much every manufacturer in the world should be doing right now with the prevalence of scalping. People would prefer to wait months with a spot in line than to constantly be fighting to acquire a product.

I'll be sticking with my Pro Controller, still working perfectly after four and a half years of intensive use and still the most comfortable controller I've ever used.

@FernandoMachado That's true, they should do that too.

Apart from collecting, I honestly can't understand why anyone would want to buy this. Sure it will feel 'right' when playing N64 games, but the analogue stick was a joke even back in the day. They become loose after no time at all.

wonder if it makes the new monkey ball game any easier??

Still patiently waiting for a restock. Missed my chance earlier this week. Dumb scalpers ain't making it any easier.

The N64 not competing with the PlayStation commercially has far more to do with Sony's underhanded tactics they used to get retailers to push their system and force others to carry it.

I had a friend that managed Electronic Boutique at the time. He said that it was widely know at the time that Sony was using secret shoppers to visit stores that sold the PlayStation and competing systems. If a customer came in and asked about a competing system and the sales rep steered them towards a PS, if that customer just happened to be a secret shopper, that sales person could win one of many different prizes. I personally witnessed this on several occasions.

Sony also used strong arm tactics on some retailers that didn't carry video games at all like Circuit City telling them if they didn't carry the PlayStation then they were no longer allowed to sell other Sony products. Sony TV's at the time were still selling well, so retailers like Circuit City agreed.

Used it for the first time last night on Starfox and Mario Kart, feels and response is wonderful. Surprisingly heavier than I was expecting.

I thought maybe we'd get some teardown pics.

Why couldn't they put a ZR, ZL on the grip itself? That would be the way to add more functions to it or that would make it more functional for other games that use those two other buttons. But as of now I want it but missing those two buttons will refrain until they update with those other two buttons and NFC reader.

Seriously? Who is using this N64 controller for other consoles or other games on the switch? It’s designed for the Nintendo 64 library on Nintendo online. Stop trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. If you don’t want to use Nintendo’s controller… there are great 3rd party controllers that will do all of that for less price.

@mohr365 Problem is, as far as I can tell the Switch doesn't recognize any of the retro controllers as N64 controllers, which means even if they HAVE c-buttons you still have to hold ZR to access C-Right and C-Up.

Received the controller the other day but haven’t opened it yet. Waiting for Nintendo to patch the latency issue on the emulator.......if they can.

Got mine on Wednesday, no issues what so ever with it and loving playing the old games on the original controller (albeit wireless). As I have a Nintendo account, received email 2 weeks or so ago asking me if I wanted to pre-order and obviously I did!! Anybody trying this out on other hardware should just try playing it on the intended hardware on the intended NSO N64 expansion pak.... Problem solved

Having seen the insides now, these are a big disappointment. They've done nothing to the mechanism to prevent the stick wearing out, but they've replaced the optical encoders with potentiometers, which means drift is now possible. It's literally the worst of both worlds.

I was hoping they'd keep the optical encoders and increase the durability of the mechanism.