Switch Online N64 Controllers Were Restocked Today, Did You Get One? (North America)

That is so cool, Nintendo. Thanks for restocking them for 10 people. You absolute saints.

There were controllers in stock last week. Maybe this means they’re working on restocking every week or so?

Ugh. I missed it again? I’m gonna have to get Tweet Notifications from Wario64. 95% of it will be completely worthless to me though.

Me checking the website:

I still don't understand why these controllers are available to people who aren't Expansion Pack members. You're practically begging people who have no desire to pay for the expansion pack to scalp these and profit rather than pay for the higher tier subscription.

This is great for all 3 of the people that actually subscribed to the expansion (with n64) online service! None for me, thanks. (No loss).

What? Noooooo! Next time Nintendo, next time. These should be restricted to members though.

I got it when they restocked last week, luckily.

@Kiyata
A bit of a smug comment. If it's no loss to you why are you taking the time to even post?

I'd really like to get one, but in nintendo's way of doling things out in drips, it ain't gonna happen any time soon.

@KayFiOS nah plenty of people got in on the restock and the last one. It was up for like 40 mins and if you saw it in the first hr you got them. There’s just a huge demand so they sold out quick. The first drop was up for a couple of hours but the system was janky. I even got 2 controllers myself the first time after being an hr and a half late

Managed to score one when they were in stock last week, so I will finally upgrade to the expansion pack when it arrives

Yeah I have no nostalgia for the N64 so I'm not in any rush to buy one of the worst controllers ever made.

@Ryu_Niiyama
They ARE restricted to members. And limited to 4 controllers per active Nintendo Online account. And even WITH THAT, they still sell out in minutes, despite Nintendo not announcing ANYWHERE ahead of time that they are coming back in stock.

This is beyond infuriating.

I have a plenty of original ones thanks.
All in different colours.
I have no need to hire N64 games as I own all the N64 games I want.

Shame they only come in one colour.
You can have any colour you like as long as it is grey.😜

@PeterAndCompany I received an email from Nintendo saying they were being restocked two hours before they restocked. And I managed to nab one Finally going to upgrade my membership now.

Why are they allowing people to order four at once? That promotes scalping. It should be one or maybe two per person until they can produce these in greater quantity.

@Burning_Spear because many 64 games are for 4 players and 4 players is the typical default max multiplayer for I dunno...like 30 years.

Restock here in Australia. I just got one. Omg im so excited to play N64 on the online service. Fingers crossed for fast shipping

@PeterAndCompany
They are only restricted to Nintendo Online members, they are not restricted (as they should be) to Expansion Pack members and 4 per household

Arrg, I want one of these so badly...

Just grabbed 2 of them here in Australia.

I do not have the expansion pass but I do want the controller anyways just so I can play Super Mario 64 with it, playing it from my copy of Super Mario 3D All-Stars. I also wanna play Mario Party Superstars with this controller by setting the mini-games to N64 only.

id like one but its hard to get these in time man. Shiz sucks

@steventonysmith I fall in the camp of waiting to upgrade to expansion until I can get the controller. One more here stated the same. So there are likely many in the same situation.

It would be cool to have this, but what I would really love would be wireless GameCube controllers.

Come onnnn UK 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

@Edward_J_Grug_III
Okay... what did you do to get them to send you an email notification about the restock? I have the controller added to my "Wish List" on the site and they have NEVER emailed me about it. After seeing this article, I double-checked just to make sure I wasn't blind, and NOPE... no email.

Is there another step you have to take to get them to actually notify you when it's coming back in stock? I just need ONE controller, I'm not even looking for multiples.

@PeterAndCompany I'm in Australia, and am signed up to the Aus Nintendo mailing list. I don't believe I did anything more than that, although it's possible I opted in to an email when I signed up for the online membership. I also can't say if they sent out such emails in other countries. They are currently still in stock in Aus, although the SNES controllers did sell out.

@PeterAndCompany the controllers are not restricted to expansion pack members as they should be (at the very least until stock normalizes). So that still means a larger percentage of the population has access to these which constrains stock even more.

For months I've have a permanent Chrome tab open and check if it's available every day. I want to get the N64 and Genesis controller at the same time to save on shipping.

@molkom
The thing is if they restricted this to those who have the Expansion Pack it would say least stop the scalpers. To sign up for a $20 annual pass is nothing got a scalper but the Expansion pass is to expensive for them to make a killer profit on eBay

Amazed people want these so bad? Do they forget how awkward they were to hold? Give me comfort of a pro controller and taking 2 minutes to get used to the control scheme any day.

@SteamEngenius A better solution would be if Nintendo at the very least gave you button mapping options within the app itself, like they did the Wii U Virtual Console. It took me 12 minutes to work out a control scheme for Donkey Kong 64 that "worked," and even then it felt awkward to play at times. I dread the day Nintendo adds that game to NSO N64, because it will require that I get used to a control scheme that someone else came up with, and if it's as good as the control schemes for the other N64 games thus far, then I'd rather use the controller the game was designed around, three-pronged monstrosity though it may be.

I've been waiting since November for Europe to restock them. I found banjo so hard to play I gave up 😭

Here in France it's going for ~150 Euros on the used market. Sure, let's blame the chip shortage, but it's weird that there is NEVER EVER any stock in the Nintendo Online Store.

I am just going to assume that I will never get one lol. Nintendo is notoriously bad with online security. People will pay for the online service to gain acces to eligibility to scalp, limiting by account does nothing.

@steventonysmith paying 50 bucks to potentially still make 600 is still worth it to scalpers. They should force people to do multiple tests and captchas to be eligible. If you suck at captcha too bad for you.

@Jokerwolf
Until supply issues are under control they should limit it to one per Expansion account

@steventonysmith My solution just fixes the problem outright.

@Jokerwolf
True I still think that users without the Expansion Pack shouldn't be eligible but yes I think what you said would help at least keep the bots at bay

Idk if 5 controllers is considered restocked.

At what times are they restocked? Everyone is saying last week I check everyday to see if they are. Is there a certain time?

I played hundreds and hundreds of hours of 1080, Goldeneye, Mario Kart, and Tony Hawk with this controller, and I have zero fondness or nostalgia for it😂

I don’t think I’ll be re-upping the expansion if I can’t get my hands on one of these. The whole purpose of me getting it was to play N64 with one of these controllers.

Oh well.

I managed to get one last week when they were briefly in stock and seemingly my package is out for delivery today!

Until there are enough they should be limited to 1 or 2 per person. Unless the sales show people only buying 1. Not everyone has friends. Or are scalpers.

@Edward_J_Grug_III Do you have to be an Expansion Pak subscriber to get notified of restocks? I never got anything but I just have the basic online.

The issue is that the standard controls are so horribly designed (and unable to be adjusted) that you almost are required to have one of these to functionally play anything from the N64 service.

I got Captain Falcon to Smash Elite with this N64 controller. Can recommend it for those that played with this as a kid / adult back when this was more popular on the original Smash. Not sure what younger people think of it!

@jorel262 - I only have the basic Online subscription, so no. Was waiting to get a controller before I upgraded.

One of my big regrets was not snapping up one of these when they were released. I wonder if we'll see more stock over here in the UK/Europe?

Still didn’t get one damn. Nintendo make more controllers supply and demand

@SteamEngenius What makes an N64 controller awkward to hold? It’s always been perfectly comfortable to me, and it’s different enough from the Pro controller layout that any possible mapping is a compromise.

I really hate Nintendo for stock shortages! So so annoying!

FFS, could they try restocking more than 12 at a time?

I've always wondered how aerodynamic those are. Might be a good use for em finally.

Got it! I just happened to randomly check this morning, and there it was. Can't wait to check it out.

Yay i got one here in australia... played around for a few hours last night. (N64 online). It definitely enhances gameplay. The button mapping now feels just right. Im in Love with this controller

They never come to Brazil. I got from eBay a SNES, Genesis (6b) and a N64.

I wonder if it’s possible to mod an original N64 controller to work with NSO.

Ugh, can you bring some to the UK also please, Nintendo? Its been over six months and we haven't had a stock refresh since launch. Not subscribing until I can get my hands on a controller.

Why cant they restock the UK? COME ON!!

Got mine in the first batch and they're totally worth it. Feel just like the real thing. Hope you all can get one too.

Is it only me or does anyone lose interest more and more every time something you want gets sold out? I really wanted one of these when they first came out but the longer I have to wait for one the less I actually want one and eventually I'll stop caring. 🤷‍♀️

@Kiyata,

Thought Nintendo said the online expansion subscription take up was very high.

@Kiyata
Just because you can't afford it doesn't mean many others could. I subscribed to the Expansion Pack Family Pass, and gave away my other 7 spots to friends and family.

I ended up being able to grab one this time, now all I need is the Sega one and I have them all.

This is borderline impossible. I missed out on the original release in fall 2021. I have been checking their website 2-3 times a day since the start of April and I haven’t seen a single controller available. WTF Nintendo? I get that there are chip shortages and other factors at play, but still, 8 months later and every once in a while you offer the few controllers you found in your couch for sale?

And isn’t purchase of these conditional on being an NSO subscriber? How the heck do scalpers/bots get these unless they are paying members?

Hopefully I can win the lottery and get a chance to give Nintendo $300 for 4 of these in Canada. The money is yours if you want Nintendo.

It's insane that most people buying these have them in a cupboard in their house and sitting on eBay for 4x the price. Never to be bought or used.

The third time within the last thirty days they've been restocked and immediately sold out...but on the bright side, SNES controllers are also back in stock. I got one this morning without issue; if you've wanted one for a while, now's the time!

EDIT: Just checked; NES controllers are also available. I got them back when they were discounted (by nearly 50%), but they're there as well if anyone's been on alert for them.

(Also, both of the above applies only to the US. I would not know if the same is true for other countries.)

Well son of a b#tch I missed it again! I check from time to time but apparently I have a better chance being struck by lightning

Again, no. Didn't even get notified.

Nintendo really should just do a pre-order page for these things, cuz it's kind of dumb that they just make a limited stock of these without any idea how much they are going to sell. At least by opening up a pre-order page, people can secure their purchase, Nintendo gets their money and knows how many to make, and then ships them out when they have the necessary stock. No more scalping, no more headaches.

Really want one and I’m in U.K. had notifications set up and never had a ping. I check often anyway.

Has U.K. ever been restocked? Anyone know a way of getting a better alert? Anyone found a Twitter or hotstock that does the job?

I want one to collect but don't think I'll even take it out of the box. Although didn't realise you had to have the expansion pack so not be sure if I'll buy now.

Again...North America. Never Europe.

***** this, you guys are used to using the Classic Controllers for N64 games on the Wii, and the Pro Controllers for N64 Games on the Wii U. Use the Pro Controller for this. In fact, I should just surrender more money to scalpers, because THEY should encourage Nintendo to sell at these prices! I mean, If I weren't so patient, I'd buy a Build-A-Bear Knuckles plush from a scalper, instead of waiting for a NEW Version from Build-A-Bear that will come out in time for "Sonic the Hedgehog 3!"

You know what I want to pay high prices for? A Gaming Laptop that is top of the line, and won't cause Mega Man X DiVE to close abruptly when lagging severely on BlueStacks!

I NEED ONE!!! Stop scalping already 😤

I only focused on two words here ...(North America)

...And so, the wait continues.

Dear scalpers,

I wish you all the worst and hope you all burn.

Sincerely,

Vil.

Payday is FRIDAY, Nintendo!!

@Freek apparently theres no shortages of “pats on the back” in your home either.

@Vriess Don’t worry. Scalpers will get Europe’s controllers too.

Darn, I missed it again! Oh well, I'll get get it on eBay for twice the price! Thanks scalpers! I'm sure your parents are proud of you!

Here’s an interesting thought. What if Nintendo is scalping their own product to up their profits? They wouldn’t do that, would they?

@Courtest1
Haha, unfortunately there isn't.
My kids will thank me when they sell them all for a small fortune, maybe then they'll give me one.😁

This is actually starting to piss me off now. I've been checking the page EVERY day. The ONE day I don't is when they restock, and of course Nintendo isn't going to just have enough to last an entire day! That would make too much sense, and Nintendo would rather piss off their fans at every chance they get!

Meh ever sense I got Retro Fighters controllers I can't go back to these.

FINALLY got one! I check that page all the time, I've noticed the restocks seem to happen between 12pm-1pm EST, so check then!

I was lucky enough to be able to get mine today, however unlike the last restocks this one lasted for quite awhile. To all who got one congrats! And those who didn’t don’t get inpatient, never pay scalper prices.

Nintendo- Scalper's best friend

Nintendo's loss. No way am I paying for an expansion pack if I don't have the n64 controller to play the games with. They need a better system to get a controller. One like what Steam has for the deck. Don't stop taking orders. Just ship it to the next customer when it's ready.

This Pre-orders or purchases of popular items NEVER go my way, yet somehow I grabbed this controller and XC3 collectors edition

Or you could just use a more comfortable controller for cheaper?

I'm waiting for the Arctic Purple one

Europe literally hasnt gotten a single restock. Meanwhile this is like the 3rd restock for the U.S.

I mean, just don't buy 'em from scalpers, gang. It's just a controller, and there are plenty of good options out there for less.

I've never ran from the toilet to my wallet so fast!
Now it will sit unopened in a box in my garage for 20 years!

Has U.K. had one restock?!? What’s going on?!?

My god, this is really starting to annoy me as well.

Honestly, surely there's a way that Nintendo could tie sales to individual switch online accounts (since you need at least the basic service to order these) and then lock the controllers sold to only be able to be used with the account sold to for 6-12 months? That may be a bit of a drastic measure but would solve the scalpers issue and only needs to be in place while they are in such high demand / short supply.

@NotoriousWhiz Yeah I think a good solution would be to do it like the Steam Deck pre-orders, where you have to have a registered account, you can only place one order per account, and it requites you to pay a pre-order fee, and you will only be able to buy a controller one time with that credit card/wallet/whatever.

@SwitchplayerJohn - haha I mean, yes of course - the ideal situation would be that they simply create more, but that doesn't seem to be working out since there's been 0 restocks in Europe since launch which is over 6 months ago, so just trying to think of alternative solutions

Once again I'm upset at Nintendo's compete unwillingness to just open orders, and fulfill orders bypassing idiot scalpers. Uggggg.

@steventonysmith same here, technically I pay for myself, my wife, two of my nephews, my sister and two of our friends. Í love doing it and it has been an exceptional value.

Dear, Nintendo,
Please stop selling N64 controllers four per customer.
What's that? You don't really care about scalpers?
Ah. I see.

Controllers were restocked again today (6/29/2022) sometime between 16:00 and 17:00 UTC. They disappeared quite fast again. Not sure if the availability of the controllers is regionally specific - maybe today's restock was only for North America. If we extrapolate from the few recent restocks, perhaps we can expect a restock roughly every 2 weeks at the beginning/end and middle of the month? I recommend checking the Nintendo store every half hour if you can lol. Good luck to everyone trying to snag a reasonable number of these FOR PERSONAL USE.

I had a feeling that they would go in stock this week so I had my wife checking periodically throughout the day every day this week and she nailed it at 12:10 p.m. Central Time, we bought four controllers. So glad to finally get some controlers, two for my home and two are for my sister's household. Uggg. Why so difficult?

Nintendo's whole distribution model for their catalogue titles is bum-backwards.

They really should have just issued a purchasable N64 compilation (or two) with the N64 controller available for sale in stores, but still include the games (or at least some of them) as a bonus for NSO subscribers.

@SuperToe they actually dont care... and its beautiful watching all the melts

You have GOT to be kidding. I swear this is gonna drive me to drink. Blippity Blippity!

I finally got one! I just happen to check while sitting on the can and noticed they were available! Logged in and purchased without hesitation.

@SuperToe I can understand the logic, since I'm sure there are some people out there who would like to play four-player multiplayer locally and have an N64 controller for each of their friends. But yeah, maybe start off limiting it to 1 or 2 per customer until most people have one. Or maybe where you can still buy up to 4, but you can only put one in your cart at a time for each restock.

What about Europe nintendo!!! 😭

Europe when? They haven't been in stock since the launch date and that was only for an hour at MAX.

They won't do this, because there's absolutely no financial incentive for it, but they really should limit these to a single controller per paid Expansion Pack account per restock (not 32 controllers per basic family account like it is now) until they can get things under control.

The way it is right now, if someone's using bots to buy a bunch of them up, the price of an NSO membership is completely negligible — when you're already paying $1,600 for 32 controllers (that you can then flip on eBay for double what you paid for them), NSO adds $1.09 to the price of each one. But make it one controller per paid account per restock and now each controller costs $100 if you're trying to flip them, but for the people who have an EP membership anyway and just want a damn controller that they've been trying to get for a year now, there's no negative impact — having to wait a few weeks to the next restock to get a second controller would be much less of an issue if normal people could actually reliably get on and buy one each time.

Also, this probably doesn't have any real impact on demand for the controller, but for me personally, it would be slightly less of an issue for me if Nintendo could just trust us to make our own control schemes (like they did on the Wii U VC) so games would actually be playable on joycons/pro controllers. It is inexcusable that there's no way for me to reassign buttons to be able to play Ocarina with the control scheme it had on the Gamecube, with the C-buttons assigned to X, Y, and the right bumper. A pair of joycons has almost twice as many buttons as an N64 controller, but the only way to have all the buttons actually mapped to buttons is to buy one of these.

And once again, Nintendo forgets that their hold in UK and Europe is actually pretty good nowadays.

@Phillips455 it was available for almost 24hours actually

@Bustacap I was on the site the day they came out and they were definitely sold out. I never even got the notification from the MyNintendo UK Store to let me know when it had went in stock.

It looks like they are now back in stock aaannnd they're gone

I'm giving up on getting one. I had no issue with buying the SNES and NES controllers but N64 is elusive as all get out.

@Phillips455 uk mightve been diffrerent, but other eu stores definitely had stock for longer

Still not available in Uk!! So guttered as feel the Zeldas on expansion pack are unplayable on switch controllers 😔

@damo U.K. is back in stock. If you wanna update. I’ve just grabbed one

@iLikeUrAttitude they are actually far from one of the worst ever made. They are in fact very good.