Gadgetory

- When it comes to controllers for the Nintendo Switch right now, there aren't a whole lot of options. Your choices are, basically, to use the two included joy cons, although you can also buy more. You can use a single joy con by itself. Or, if you're willing to shell out a little extra money, you can get a Switch Pro Controller. The problem with this, though, is that thanks to Nintendo's pricing with this generation for accessories, this gets really expensive, really fast. I mean, a single joy con is 50 bucks. Eighty bucks if you get 'em in a bundle, that's still 40 a piece. And the pro controller is a full blown $70. That's ten bucks more than the MSRP on the Xbox One or PS4 controllers. But, there's thankfully, one new option, thanks to 8bitdo. Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with them, 8bitdo is a company that specializes in accessories that are all styled and themed after old-school Nintendo stuff. Get it? Nintendo. 8bitdo. Ha-ha. Anyways, their biggest line are these Bluetooth wireless controllers. This one here is based on the SNES, but they've made a whole bunch more based on the Famicom, NES, although those ones do have four buttons like this one, and shoulders. They don't have the two button set up like the actual old school controllers. They also have a line of pro controllers that add analog sticks, and a couple other button options, if you prefer. Now, normally, these controllers are designed to work with what you would normally expect to use a Bluetooth controller with. Your PC, a Mac, tablet, phone, whatever. But, thanks to a recent update, it'll now also work with The Switch. All you have to do is update your controller to the recent 4.0 firmware, you hit Start + Y at the same time, which puts it in Switch sync mode. You'll see the light up here blink four times. And, then, on your Switch, you go to the Arrange Grip Order section. Hit select button, which is for syncing. And.. It works. After a little bit of pause that scares us a tiny bit. Once you get it synced up to your Switch, it'll be read as a Switch Pro Controller. Now, how well does this actually work in practice? A lot better than I was actually expecting, to be honest. I went in half expecting there to be a bunch of issues, like input latency, or certain buttons not reading right. But, for all intents and purposes, while playing certain games, it feels completely natural. An important distinction to make, though, is that, while this is read like a Switch Pro controller, it's much closer to being actually like a joy con. Cause you'll notice, there aren't exactly enough buttons to do all the things a Pro Controller would do. So, it works really well with certain games like, Mario Kart, or some of the simpler downloadable titles. But, on something like The Legend of Zelda, you're not exactly gonna get full functionality. At the same time, unlike joy con, it also doesn't have an accelerometer in it, so any games that rely on controls that are motion-based, it's not gonna work for that, either. Now, there is one huge downside about this method that has to be discussed though, and that's connectivity issues. It's not anything like disconnecting once it's synced. Once it's synced, it actually works really great. But, getting it synced in the first place is really, really annoying. Which isn't too huge of a surprise. I mean, this is a recent firmware update, and problems like this tend to happen. Hopefully, there will be an upcoming patch that actually fixes this. But, as for right now, if you try to sync this to your Switch, you're gonna have a lot of problems where it doesn't detect it. Or, in one case, while actually shooting this video, it crashed the Switch. (loud beep) You just hit the Select button for syncing and.. Error. It shuts down the Switch. This happens sometimes. Another really cool thing 8bitdo has done, is not only have they updated their controllers to work with the Switch, but they've also updated their line of retro receivers to work with Switch accessories. Now, what these are are little Bluetooth dongles designed to attach to different old school systems. They have one for the NES, the SNES, and in this case, the Nintendo Classic Edition. And the idea is, it lets you use their line of Bluetooth controllers with old school systems, which is especially useful for the Nintendo Classic Edition, cause if you happen to own one of those, you'll know that the cord for the controller that comes with it is extraordinarily short and pretty much useless. And thanks to a recent firmware update, this will now also connect to Switch joy cons, and Pro Controllers. Now, setting this up is even simpler than using the controller with the Switch. All you have to do is update the dongle, plug it in to whatever device you're using it with, and then hit the sync button on that at the same time as hitting the sync button on your joy con. And, just like that, boom, works fine. If you're a huge Nintendo fan and you own all the consoles, this is an awesome way to consolidate using a single controller across multiple systems. Especially considering two of those systems are the original NES and SNES, and you're now playing wirelessly. The receiver only runs for about 15 to 20 bucks. The Bluetooth controllers go between 35 and 45. So, this is definitely an awesome alternative option for people looking for more ways to control their Switch. Assuming they update the firmware again.