Nintendo Classic Mini announced

[Flojomojo]

I don't care much for TURBO buttons on NES games. For me, these are just extra buttons you can map for other things ... like Genesis and SNES games. Not a problem from where I sit.

[0078265317]

I don't care much for TURBO buttons on NES games. For me, these are just extra buttons you can map for other things ... like Genesis and SNES games. Not a problem from where I sit.

 

Exactly. We did not have turbo buttons as a kid on the pads that came with our NES so why do we need them now.

[NE146]

I dunno.. the NES Advantage had turbo and I used that for all sorts of games.. e.g. worked great on the last battle in Zelda 2 giving you a chance to get in some sword hits to that crazy shadow Link

[F34R]

I specifically told 8bitdo on twitter when they announced it that I wouldn't buy it because the button position is terrible. It's the first time they've changed from the "traditional" layout of four face buttons.

[Flojomojo]

[derFunkenstein]

I specifically told 8bitdo on twitter when they announced it that I wouldn't buy it because the button position is terrible. It's the first time they've changed from the "traditional" layout of four face buttons.

 

Have you ever seen an NES controller?

[Tanooki]

The point of the NES Advantage is not able to be made here. That had the smart design of a button switch that enabled turbo or not, not a second set of active turbo buttons. Had that space wasted on TB and TA beeing Turbo ON/OFF for each as a switch I could see no reason to complain.

 

Design flaw or comfortable problem, whatever it is, the larger problem is what was said hours ago. Shoddy detection, crap battery life (even when not on they die quickly), d-pads that flake on diagonals, and the other complaints. That's far more damning than an active turbo button. It's not like Nintendo didn't do that either, check out the MAX.

[F34R]

Screen Shot 2018-07-02 at 3.53.18 PM.png

I know you're not talking about me. I've been playing NES since it was released in the US.

 

 

Have you ever seen an NES controller?

I have the original controllers still. That's TWO buttons, not four. I simply don't like it. What's the big deal? When you don't like something, you don't tell the company? You buy it anyways?

[Andromeda Stardust]

I probably could, but I'd have to go find an empty plug and leave it hanging out of that I suppose. I have actually two of their devices and both are perpetually dead due to lack of use as I have the NES30Pro dual analog device as well I grabbed for the Switch and stuff. I just don't ever think to plug them in, it's not so much like how I could just have an active USB port on a PS3/PS4 and just leave the cable hanging out of it as that's not a choice on the Super NT. I would think the Switch probably would work on its dock though but never tried it.

 

 

Kosmic I know, mostly just griping I can't find a couple of them due to well Nintendo.

Kind of off topic, but I thought I should bring this up. The SN30 Pro Switch compatible controller can be tethered to a wall wart near the area you are playing and still communicate wirelessly with the Switch. It's easy to sync up but it cannot wake the Switch from sleep mode like the official Pro controller.

 

Also be sure to use a dedicated plug for charging the 8bitdo. The Switch does not like having it connected to the dock as of firmware 5.x. If at any time you connect the SN30 Pro 8bitdo pad to the usb port on the dock, the Switch will go into black screen of death mode with "An error has occured..." and you will lose any current unsaved gameplay progress. Disconnect the 8bitdo controller and reboot the Switch to resume usage of the system. I'm not sure if 8bitdo have an update to fix this or not, but I imagine it could be devastating to users of third party wired Switch controllers.

[Andromeda Stardust]

2_N30_2.4G.jpg

 

What is wrong with this controller?

 

People who play NES games generally do not consider this button layout to be a good design. We have seen this design on many, many clone or knockoff controllers made in the past 30 years.

 

The list of issues with 8bitdo products is legion, pairing issues, too easy to hit diagonals on D-pads, latency, battery life, firmware issues and now layout.

 

A NES controller needs independent turbo buttons and more than one setting for a button! Try playing Contra, Super C or any other game that assigns one button to fire and one button to jump with this layout.

How ironic. I prefer and actually use this exact turbo layout for my NES Arcade controller, and never had any issues with it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/albums/72157629736738048

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/albums/72157634800361528

 

I have the two turbo buttons (black) hooked up to the rarely used NC terminal on the A and B micros, and the output of a 555 timer to the NO of the turbos. Pressing A or B (red) grounds the input pin on the 4021 chip, but pressing either of the turbo buttons passes the output of the 555 timer through the NC terminal of the A and B buttons, allowing the 555 timer to hijack the input. Pressing A or B disconnects the turbo signal at the NC terminal so no worry of shorting the 555 timer output to ground if both buttons are pressed simultaneously. The red buttons always override the black ones.

 

I kinda prefer discrete turbo buttons for NES so that I don't accidentally leave turbo enabled for a button after gameplay, then input AAA for high score or skip any important dialog boxes or menus. Another issue is shmup games where you want to charge your shot, toggling turbo functionality on the fly can mess up your timing. Discrete turbo buttons allow easy and instant access to either rapid fire or the charged shot.

 

The spacing of the buttons on my arcade NES controller is 2 inches so that's 2.88 diagonal, still within reach with my index and ring finger, or thumb and middle finger, for doing turbos on one button simultaneously with solid presses on the other. When I designed the diamond pad on the SNES controller, I made the spacing ever so slightly tighter. The spacing on the diamond is 2.5 inches horizontal and 2 inches vertical, placing adjacent action buttons closer together for easy combos. I can easily do running spin jumps in Mario World utilizing Y+A with my index and ring finger, an extremely difficult manuver to perform on a thumb pad.

 

And before anybody asks, the switch on the nes controller is for gimmicky slow mo feature, and the single dial sets the turbo speed for all buttons. I did not feel like wiring up three 555 timers so I stuck with one. And the SNES controller features two L triggers for convenience, one above the diamond and one near the joystick.

 

You can't hit the turbo B button and the non-turbo A button without mashing the rest of the buttons, so jumping in Contra is an issue if you want turbo. Not a deal for me but I could see how people who want turbo would be unhappy.

It's a non-issue for me. See above.

 

I'm confused with how that layout would be an issue. The primary buttons are right where they need to be with turbo as a plus just above.

 

I didn't know how much of a PITA that 8bitdo stuff was when I got the NESPro30, and the SNES30 came with my NT. I wouldn't buy something of theirs again as the battery life is shit and you're right about the pairing issues to a point and definitely the diagonals don't feel right in a few titles either. I never really felt a latency problem but that probably exists too and I haven't done the right game to expose it.

Thank you on the controller layout.

 

As for your other issues, yes, 8bitdo controllers slowly discharge themselves when neglected and left on a shelf. So do other 3rd paties, and 1st party controllers as well if you wait long enough. Invest in some good wall-warts with quad usb plugs so you're not using one controller per outlet. Some surge protectors also now have usb charging ports built in, so there's that.

 

I believe Sony were the only company dumb enough to make controllers that can't be charged from wall warts. My PS3 controllers were all like that. I even had one where the battery ran out while playing using wired connection on Retrofreak. That's idiocy...

[Tanooki]

You're right about Sony, I had to charge my PS3 on my laptop or the console, same with the PS4. I just let the damn things die after I retired them to being movie boxes since I have remotes. It's just the 8bitdo stuff seems to die far faster than anything wireless I've had for a controller and the Sony stuff croaks on the short end enough as it is.

 

 

Kosmic I had no idea Nintendo put a sabotage setup to it in there accidentally or not, or if it's just bad coding by the 8bitdo people. I guess I won't do it. Truth be told I'll probably just sell the damn thing as I ended up getting a sweet deal on a pro controller for switch anyway awhile back (paid $40 for an open box one basically.) I do have some spare jacks I could charge a few things and a couple generic USB/AC adapter modules lying around to go that route. But given I have really zero use for the thing it just sits in my cabinet and I don't think I've used it once sing getting that legit controller. The black one for the NT though I could see sparing its existence as I was using it.

[NE146]

The 8-bit do pads don't flake on diagonals.. they're TOO sensitive to diagonals.

 

Most games it doesn't matter much.. but in some like Super Mario 2 it's easy to careen left or right when you're just trying to climb up a vine

[Austin]

The 8-bit do pads don't flake on diagonals.. they're TOO sensitive to diagonals.

 

Most games it doesn't matter much.. but in some like Super Mario 2 it's easy to careen left or right when you're just trying to climb up a vine

Yep, I am not a fan of these controllers because of this. I had major issues with games like SMB2 and Life Force. Add a tiny bit of input lag on top, I was pretty happy to get rid of them.

[Tanooki]

I still consider it being overly sensitive flaking out. Perhaps calling it an autist controller would fit more than a flake out as it's overly sensitive to the slightest touch. I remember the lame Retron5 I annoying attempted to use that ugly brick they supplied and quickly tossed it where it remained in that spot on top to use real controllers as it got lag and angles wrong too.

 

 

Gamestop sent me on a wild goose chase a moment ago for the 1st party controller. Dude felt bad, saw they had a shipment of them in transit, so he took my name/number offered me a call and a hold on one or two and a 10% off on it as well. I'll grab one after the holiday tomorrow it appears which puts an end to that mess thankfully.

[Great Hierophant]

How ironic. I prefer and actually use this exact turbo layout for my NES Arcade controller, and never had any issues with it.

 

Thank you for voicing a different perspective.

 

With your home-made arcade style controllers, I can see the advantages to having separate buttons for turbo and non-turbo. But I see them far more clearly with an arcade controller that has to be used with fingers rather than a thumb. The space between each button is wide enough that the thumb cannot possibly cover all of the buttons. Playing Contra with the upper left and lower right buttons may still be a little awkward.

 

With a D-pad, most people use their thumb to cover the buttons. This layout isn't very convenient for a Contra-style game because the buttons are so close together. Pressing Turbo A may result in a short jump or constant jumping. Positioning your thumb diagonally across the buttons will result in unwanted button presses and a sore thumb given that all the buttons are concave instead of convex.

 

How many good NES shooters have a charged shot feature? I cannot think of any off-hand, but the number of shooters released for the NES is very large. R-Type was never ported to the system.

 

Finding a USB to charge a PS3 controller, other than those attached to the system itself, was always a PITA.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Great Hierophant

[derFunkenstein]

Managed to complete my matched set today finally.

[Tanooki]

Very nice thats how mine are but swapped inside a small shelf area in a repurposed wood glass front stereo rack. The low profile fits it and spare controllers perfectly

[eightbit]

I really like the 8Bitdo SNES pads. I have two of these for the SNES classic and they kick ass. I have preordered the NES versions due out the end of August specifically because I was so pleased with their SNES offerings. Good company and good quality product.

 

On a side note, I woke up this morning and decided to hack my NES classic. I was on the fence for a bit. Not because I was worried about hacking it but just because I thought it had a good enough selection that I wouldn't care. But I kept thinking back to Jackal, Gyruss, Popeye, Breakthru, Blaster Master and the hundreds of other great games I would love to play using the official controller...and on an HDTV. So, I did it and I don't regret it at all! Man, what a blast it is to play these titles using the "real" gamepad on a modern TV.

 

I did *not* add any alternate emulators (like retroarch) and am letting the games rely on the Nintendo written emulator. Very impressive I must say. Some games needed to be removed that did not work properly, but for the most part everything else works as expected. I have not detected any lag, audio issues or whatever with dozens of games I have played over what turned out to be the entire day

Edited July 8, 2018 by eightbit

[0078265317]

[0078265317]

And the boards inside are slightly different.

 

[derFunkenstein]

Much ado about nothing but getting clicks. Nintendo may have "changed" it slightly, but hakchi2 doesn't seem to mind. Last release was in February and it was focused on the SNES. I initially put the entire US library on mine and then realized that meant I had now included about 500+ games that I had no intention of ever playing. Instead I limited what I added to 30 extra games. 60 in total representing the best of the NES (IMO) and not leaving out anything I felt like I needed.

[Tanooki]

I can imagine a lot of psychotic screw loose variant lovers all over this superficial garbage. A few little box tweaks, and a more sleek and Nintendo branded AC adapter and USB cable on the physical visible side of things. I'm sure that OCD is churning as this info gets around.

 

I think we need to get one of those AniGIFs going of Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds where he was saying 'nerrrrrds!' and instead caption in 'collectaaaaarrds!' instead.

 

The only worthy question is, does the software behave the same or were there tweaks there?

[Gamemoose]

I actually, for the first time ever, found the Nintendo-branded controllers. I picked one up for my Wii but got to thinking about the NES mini. For the lag faults that it supposedly has, I cannot find videos about it that are consistant. I watched comparison videos that demonstrated the audio lag. However I watched a playthrough and the guy was ripping through Mega Man with (to me) no perceivable audio or input lag. So is it just a case of YMMV?

 

I like the thought of the system: a legit way to play some of my favorite games.

[NE146]

Controller lag doesn't really matter for the most part unless:

 

A. It's crazy bad where you press a button and a half second to 3 seconds later, the character jumps, Or;

B. You're as crazy good as a speedrunner and fractions of a seconds matter to you, and you also count individual frames of animation in games to find out where you need to make a move.

 

For the rest of us between the two, miniscule lag is mostly ok

Edited July 10, 2018 by NE146

[derFunkenstein]

I don't feel any controller lag on my TV. I do hear the audio lag, but it's pretty minor and does not at all bother me. It's more obvious on the SNES, but again, not a big deal. As long as the input lag is down (which it is) then I'm all good.