Like many others, the GameCube Wavebird was the primary sport controller I ever significantly liked. All the pieces that got here earlier than it was high-quality; at greatest a novelty, at worst an outsized ache, however principally only a means to an finish. Now there’s a brand new controller for the Nintendo Swap that appears precisely like a non secular successor to the 2002 peripheral and claims to have not one of the stick drift points the Pleasure-Con have turn out to be infamous for.
“The Nyxi Wizard combines the retro look of our long-run NGC controller with a way more ergonomic design and works completely with any Nintendo Swap console,” Nyxi not too long ago tweeted. The controller is on sale for $70, that includes replaceable joysticks and adjustable turbo and mapping choices. However the true draw are the corridor impact joysticks that use magnets to stop drift.
As Chris Individual factors out at The Verge, Sega used this know-how for the Sega Saturn 3D and Dreamcast controllers. Through the use of components which might be much less liable to put on, the sticks ought to last more with out succumbing to float whereby the directional controls are engaged even when the stick is left within the resting place. As somebody whose fashionable controllers solely appear to final a pair years earlier than the pin springs break down or the rubber begins to vanish, it’s an interesting proposition, and one 8bitdo and different speciality controller producers are working on offering.
The Pleasure-Con’s points are well-known at this level. I’ve gone via three pairs in six years. There have been points with the locking mechanisms on the perimeters and button springs, however the drift is essentially the most notorious, leading to lawsuits, regulatory investigations, and overworked restore facilities. I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Sony’s DualShock 4 and new PS5 DualSense haven’t worn properly through the years both. My previous Wavebird in the meantime? Nonetheless high-quality for a pleasant sport of Smash Bros.
And that’s the opposite main enchantment of the Nyxi Wizard: offering manufacturing polish to a nostalgic design that modders have been emulating for years now. Whereas the look instantly conjures pictures of late evening GameCube periods, it additionally follows within the footsteps of a controller that will turn out to be the wave of the long run, from the dearth of wires to the offset joysticks. Virtually precisely 20 years later, we’re nonetheless residing sooner or later Nintendo’s Wavebird constructed.
Having not tried it but, I do not know if it should truly really feel nearly as good, or maintain up as properly, as the corporate boasts. However it’s nice to see the present renaissance in gamepad design proceed to unfold.