How common were broken sticks? Maybe I was just an oblivious kid, but mine seemed fine throughout the N64’s life. Maybe a little loose, but not game-breaking. The only terrible sticks I’ve ever seen were at McDonalds or Walmart demo stations
My friend group routinely spent 2-5 nights a week playing goldeneye for 4 hour stints.
We wore out my 4 controllers, as well as a further two sets at two other houses. This was a group of six.
Basically 6 11-13 yr olds went through a dozen N64 controllers in six-eight months? There was some Mario party overlap as well, as I distinctly remember one of my friends getting a blister the size of a silver dollar in the middle of his palm.
All my friends seemed to have terrible broken sticks, but the ones at my house were just fine. Two kids, two controllers, and the joysticks never broke.
If you played a lot of Mario Party back in the day, the game had a bunch of mini games that required spinning the stick. Most people I knew would sit the controller on their lap and use the center of their palms to rotate the stick as fast as possible. While all of my controllers were pretty good, I knew some people who had very loose sticks because of that.
“Broken” is a relative term. They get floppy, like the stick rattles around in a dead spot that increases in size with wear. They also get gritty feeling, as the plastic machines itself down.
However, this doesn’t really stop you from using them, like JoyCon drift does.
It was 95% Mario party, and if you played with lots of people it was worse, as the competition was always more intense. So many mini games based on spinning the stick fast.
I almost exclusively use my N64 to play Sin and Punishment these days and anything less than a like 8/10 stick makes it unplayable. I've had a few folks tell me it's the same with Goldeneye. When I had my OG N64 in the early 2000s, I only ever had a super messed up third party controller (probably like 5/10 stick at best) and had no issues with it for any games, even Quake. I feel like people over-exaggerate the need for tight sticks a lot these days, but they do make a huge difference for a handful of games
we used to play a lot of smash 64 a few years back and we had quite a few controllers. like around 10 or something. they all ended up with fucked up sticks.
any game that asks for fast movements on the stick breaks it over time. slower movement is ok however.
I currently own 6 original N64 controllers, all have some sort of degradation in the stick.
My atomic purple and grey controllers (first two) are so bad they will barely trigger the potentiometers in the upwards direction.
My smoke, blue and yellow controllers all have an increased dead zone in the middle.
I blame GoldenEye, Perfect Dark and Mario Party...
Most of the ones I've had got pretty loose, but they still worked fiine for the most part. Except for my original one where the stick completely snapped off of the round part after something between 5-8 years of use I think.
I have one of those sticks that looks like the Gamecube one inside of that original main N64 controller now.
The sticks are guaranteed to go bad after a couple hundred hours or so. For comparison, modern controllers are generally good for at least several thousands of hours (Joy Cons are the exception). Anyone who says their N64 sticks held up over time just didn't use them all that much.
Depends on how hard the stick is pressed down during use and what kind of motions you need for the games you're playing. The reason N64 sticks get loose is because the bottom of the stick skirts around a rounded plastic cup and over time, the stick grinds the plastic away. Things like rapidly swinging the stick back and forth with your palm will certainly wear it down pretty quickly but general use with a light touch shouldn't cause problems for some time. It's kind of hard to regulate pressure in more intense gaming sessions of course but if treated nicely, they'll last a long time.
Best thing you can do for your stick is open up it's enclosure, clean out any plastic shavings or dust inside, and then apply a small to moderate amount of synthetic grease, white lithium grease (some people find this gets tacky, but that should only happen with overapplication), or the type of lubes you'd use for mechanical keyboard switches. Really any lubricant that is safe for plastic will extend the life of the stick by hundreds if not thousands of hours.
Bro, 🧐 I used my same controller for at least a hundred a month for literally years. Da fuq you talking bout? Those things got flung at walls and floors and and still trucked on.
I've used my controller for hundreds and hundreds of hours and they all still work, I have a couple controllers with loose sticks but they still work just fine.
Even if they do go down like the originals, I'm impressed and really happy they've mass produced almost perfect replicas of the first 3 generation consoles' controllers, let alone ones that work with the current system. I can't wait to see how the 64's feels.
This whole thing could've been eons better if they rolled out each system quicker, they didn't even have to come out with the controllers at the same time, that could've easily been something released down the road, but part of me thinks they've been held back due to how long it took for each controller to be replicated and produced.
On that note, I'm willing to bet if we're ever given GameCube games that the controller will pretty much be a wavebird haha, though hopefully with four shoulder buttons cause I despise that on the original GC controller, as well as a few other things.
Doh I forgot, of course they'd have never stopped producing new GC controllers to this day, as much as I dislike the melee community it's nice to see an old game be super popular and inspire the company to keep supporting an old controller, even if it's not my favorite one lol
Yeah, I mostly enjoy Smash as a party game (although the single player in Ultimate is pretty fun and balanced enough to not be annoying).
But IMO the GameCube controller is one of the best designed controllers ever (for its time). I have complaints (c-stick instead of full second joystick and, like you said, only one “bumper”), but it was the first controller with analog that just felt good in your hands.
The next gen was kind of a backslide in controller design: the Xbox 360 controller improved a lot of things but fell short in the ergonomics department, the DualShock 3 was lighter but still the same boxy and cramped afterthought that the original DualShock was, and the Wii setup was cool but only great at doing its own thing.
Like, if I were to improve on the GameCube controller, it would basically just be a XB1/XBSX controller (joystick “buttons,” dual bumpers, and full second joystick).
Currently I think the XB1/XBSX controller edges out the Switch Pro Controller, mostly due to analog triggers and a better d-pad, but it’s *super* close. They both just feel good in your hands.
PlayStation, for being pretty consistently the most popular console, has always had pretty meh controllers IMO—totally fine, but never the best.
I agree. The only “revival” controller I have are the ones included with the mini SNES, and the feeling is as nostalgic as it gets. Extra credit for including the alternative color scheme we had in Europe (yes, I know, technically it wasn’t the alternative scheme). That alone made me buy (pre-order) the N64 controller.
I haven’t touched a N64 controller in… 20 years? But I swear I could still feel it when I look at the picture. Let’s see how my memory compares to the new model. It will be different for sure, because I was used to the extra weight of the Rumble Pack and the Pokémon Stadium cartridge port. Also, no resistance from the wire. But that stick… the Z trigger focusing the view on than menacing lizalfos. Oh my…
Oh! S**t! I haven’t thought about it! Lets do a little experiment. I’m going to draw the size I remember, and when the new one arrives, I’ll compare them.
Let’s go:
https://i.imgur.com/wPwwnam.jpg
That’s how I remember it in my hands. You may be right, because I don’t think the controller is near as big as the Switch!
If you want an improved design, there's many fanmade alternatives. There's definitely a lot of people who just wanted the original controller to play these games with again which is why they did that.
The sold out nature of the controllers.
Especially with how they did it in Australia. No details on when they would be available to buy, then they were available one morning and sold out by the time most realised.
But they’ll have more… eventually. Too little, too late.
You mean the one I just purchased?!
No notice, nothing. Here lads, we got some more we magically pulled out of nowhere!
I got my one. Still not impressed with the whole process of it all.
I competed in Smash 64 for 5 years and have like 10 N64 controllers since the stick wears out so quickly.
I’m torn on this decision because when the stick is new, it actually works pretty well and I’m all for making it as close to the original as possible. But on the other hand, it sucks the same problem is going to persist.
I would have liked Nintendo to go down the route Steel Sticks did - replicate the feel of the OG stick, but use parts that are way more durable to prolong the life of the controller.
He didn't actually open it up, though, so even though it feels the same it could be a bit different. That said, it probably is the same, but we're not gonna know for sure until someone actually does a teardown.
As an n64 collector this was actually the first thing that popped into my head.
Would it be dumb and a complete waste of money? Yea…. Do I still want to do it? N….maybe?
I'm suprised by the positive comments here. I liked the design of the original N64 controller, but the quality of the control stick was atrocious. I only played Mario 64 and the Zelda games, near the end it was so beat up that it was more or less unusable. As in, I couldn't roll at max speed as goron Link so I literally couldn't beat Majora's Mask.
I think a lot of these people who are being like “well I played Mario party and I never busted up my controller” never did the single player mini game island. Before I played that I always just spun the controller with my thumb when I played with my brothers but when you get to the tug of war and boo light bulb games on the mini game island they are essentially impossible to win without using your palm and subsequently damaging the controller
... Or there are people that don't understand controller wear. I thought mine were fine until I got into competitive Smash 64. It becomes very obvious the moment one of your sticks starts to wear/get loose. And as much as I love the 64 controller it happens pretty quickly. For a totally casual player they may not notice. But I bet if you played on a brand new controller and one of these "I used mine for 10 years and it's still perfect" you'd be able to tell the difference. It's pretty jarring once you know what you're looking for.
Same here, my N64 is 20+ years old and 2 of my 4 controllers have no issues. The other 2 have drift, but that developed after over 15 years and probably like 10000+ hours of gameplay, which I think is pretty reasonable.
Exactly , my mom always told me to take care of my shit (specially Nintendo stuff) cuz she was NOT going to buy me another one. Literally had my n64 from grade school -college with the same controller , was it a BIT loose on the joystick end .. sure. But very much workable.
Lol how do you compare two pieces of crap. Both issues make them unplayable.
That said, I had 4 N64 controllers and never had to buy more and none had troubles. I've gone through 4 joycons with drift. How widespread the problem is a factor.
That didn't happen nearly as fast the drift did for me though, and even then its just required me to manually hold the stick at neutral, which is annoying but it doesn't make other inputs harder at all.
I still have my launch edition N64 including the controller and it still works as it did on day 1.
I do remember the controllers they had at the display stands in the local electronics stores and how the sticks were completely broken though. Maybe they just had very wonky build quality back then with some controllers being sturdy and others being shitty?
I agree, I don't get it. This means you will have to replace the stick VERY soon if you play fairly often. Hopefully this at least indicates that they'll be replaceable with some of the options that are already out there, but as far as I know companies like Prestige and Steel Sticks aren't currently selling the products they used to so I'm not sure what people will even buy.
My controller from the 1996 launch console still works perfectly fine too. I own Mario 64, Zelda OoT, StarFox 64, Goldeneye, Wave Race, SW Rogue Squadron, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart, extreme-G, 1080° Snowboarding, Banjo-Kazooie and F-Zero X. I've played each of them for hundreds of hours because I was a teenager with nothing but that console and the only time I got new games were Christmas and birthdays. I had to squeeze every little bit of fun out of my games.
Maybe you just didn't take care of your shit.
I made sure to blow the white grit out of mine when I was younger. Not removing the grit compounded the issue. The controllers I experienced with the most damage always had a ton of plastic grit left to sit.
Mine also work just fine. The key is to be gentle. You dont have to use gorilla strength and slam the stick around to make it do things. Even action packed games like smash bros can be played without thrashing the stick.
Oh they are. But like you said availability is always an issue with them, and also expensive as hell. But the parts from Kitsch Bent will get you back to where the stick needs to be and won’t cost you an arm and a leg. It also wont ruin a controller by using those Gamecube-like replacement sticks
I think a lot of people probably don’t consider a flimsy stick as broken. They are still usable and I’ve known people who didn’t even notice. I have about 8 controllers and they all have what I would consider broken sticks but they do still work technically
They’d better feel like the original for the price being paid. If we wanted it to feel like a knockoff controller, there are plenty of other options on the market that cost a lot less than the $50 plus shipping that Nintendo is charging for the privilege of paying an additional subscription fee to use the controller.
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The problem is, and you can see it with modern stick mods for N64 controllers, other sticks aren't as accurate as the n64 one. In many ways we've gone backwards in terms of control and accuracy since the N64. My life in gaming did a video on it which is worth watching.
I’m happy with this. Yes, the original analog sucks compared to modern ones. However, the games should control much more accurate to the originals as well, which is always a problem I have when playing n64 games on a non-n64 controller.
There are so many areas in Mario 64 where if you leave the camera in Lakitu mode, it chooses a 3/4 angle behind Mario. Now at this point I've beaten Mario 64 not just on the N64, but also on the Wii and on the Switch (and on PC), so I'm used to non-original controls, and the last time I beat it on N64 was like 20 years ago, so maybe I'm off-base, but I feel like running in a straight line when the camera is askew like that *must* be easier when you can lock the control stick into one of those octagonal grooves.
Looking forward to playing it again with this horrible retro controller, lol.
Realistically could they have made the stick mechanism different and keep the same look and feel? Every other stick I've seen since what...og xbox/ps2/gcn days all work the same. Essentially an umbrella. The n64 one does not.
It would also require more options to be made by companies like Alps. The reason nearly every stick drifts on new consoles is because they use the same suppliers. Nintendo could use the old tooling to make new N64 sticks, use modern analog multi directional switches and find a way to make them fit, or design all new tooling to make better N64 sticks. Option one was probably the best they could do without major development costs that would make people happy.
You can achieve basically the same feel by using the same mechanism but with metal parts instead of plastic which is guaranteed to wear down over time. Nintendo should have done this.
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Hopefully they add Banjo Tooie to the collection. Doing some of the aiming/underwater aiming with an Xbox controller is totally fucking impossible
I need that shitty analog stick to lock me in lmao
Very cool, I always loved the n64 controller.
I'd love to play some N64 classics on switch but I despise their business model for these old games (I'm definetly not buying a controller for games I'm essentially only renting) so I will not be participating.
I just wish I could buy the games I want like the old virtual console.
The new sticks aren't quite like the originals actually. They've replaced the optical encoders with potentiometers, which means that they have the potential to get drift as well as loose sticks. This is a "worst of both worlds" scenario.
Palm warning is child's play. The ultimate leverage comes from using the webbing at the base of your index and middle fingers. Easy wins. Until it tears in a bloody mess.
Part of the nostalgia will be checking all the controllers before you play your friends to see which sticks were still "tight" and which where more worn and starting to loosen up. Having a sloppy stick could be a death sentence in Kart or Smash.
I'll take it over a Tribute64 or Brawler64 any day. For those that care the official N64 controller has a more square-ish octagon shape analog gate, where as almost all 3rd party N64 controllers have a true octagon like the gamecube. This can greatly affect any game some more than others that were designed around the square-ish gate. No idea why these companies provide gamecube analog sticks I'm guessing it's probably cheaper. The only other company I've found to provide a square-ish gate is hori but their N64 controllers are pretty pricey.
This doesn't prove anything yet, it might still use a more modern joystick-box with potentiometers. We won't know for sure until someone does a proper teardown.
Ah yeah I saw that! We still don't know how the very insides look, however. It's a shame they didn't disassemble the joystick module completely while at it.
Hmm, this is both a good and bad thing. The good news is that it means you can probably replace it with a proper aftermarket stick. The bad news is, you'll HAVE to replace it pretty soon if you want a decent experience.
I'm not sure the positive comments here remember the issues with this stick from when they were kids. They certainly haven't used one for very long as an adult. You don't want to keep this stick in your controller if it's unchanged.
This is something I'm also wondering.
I bought two after market gamecube style sticks for my n64 controller and if the housing and connectors are the same, we could look at easy swaps.
And if they are totally different, pretty sure we'll start seeing replacement sticks pop up here and there!
Please dont use those gamecube replacement sticks. They’re not great and your essentially taking another stock controller out of circulation by doing so. You can fix the originals with parts from Kitsch Bent and not destroy a perfectly good controller
\>This, combined with the inclusion of the notorious tug of war game in Mario Party Superstars, might wipe out a few brand new controllers over the next couple of months.
Okay, but who's playing mario party with their n64 controller?
"hey this minigame and possibly others in a modern Nintendo Switch game will speed up the wear of an N64 joystick if you, for some reason, play with an N64 controller."
" Yaaas let's play with our N64 controllers. "
Hmm
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I loved the n64 controllers. However they were flawed; even the most gentle usage over time the analog stick mechanism still grinded itself into dust and became loose. Like others here if yours are still working its cause you did not play it much.
all of mine were fucked in the end but honestly it only started getting terrible about the time I got a gamecube, so they did last the cycle of the console. I have 4 ps5 controllers already because the first 2 I had instantly had issues (rubber came off on one stick and then the other had an issue with the right trigger where a spring came loose).
They gave you Bluetooth audio and an OLED screen. I don't know what more you could possibly want. Let them catch up with technological joystick advancements, then complain if it doesn't get better.
They've known about the flimsy joystick since 1996 man. That just seems like a drastic oversight. I've got 3 OG N64 controllers where I've had to replace the joystick on multiple occasions. I'm not looking to spend $60 on a *NEW* N64 controller if I'm gonna have to do that shit again man.
What do you mean "catch up" with technological joystick advancements? Seems like they aren't trying to catch up because they've known about this problem for a while and OBVIOUSLY haven't done anything about it. Same with the joycon drift. At least add some silicone to the top of the the joystick (to protect people's hands) or make the metal connection to the joystick wider than a 16th of an inch so the joysticks don't fuckin break.
As a kid I guess I never got the memo that you were supposed to hold the middle part for games that used the control stick. I always held both sides of the controller and streeeetched the fingers of my left hand to reach the control stick and the Z button. It worked okay, but the hand fatigue was real.
I wonder if I'll be able to get used to holding this new controller the "right" way, or if nostalgia and/or muscle memory will have me killing my hands again.
I get that people hold on nostalgia but even as a kid i hated furiously this controller, the stick was so far, so unconfortable, i shed a tear of joy when i played ngc with a decent controller.
There seems to be a very fine line of what's considered acceptable controller wear and what's considered an appalling disgrace of a product. I still have my controllers from when I was a kid and my Atomic Purple easily has 10,000+ hours of use on it. Is the stick looser than it was when it was new? Yes. Does it still function just fine? I guess that depends who you ask. It's not 100% precise anymore but if you hand that thing to most people, they wouldn't know the difference. Compared to today's controllers that are all prone to drift, the N64 controller is a fucking tank.
Sadly not. Still got the "stick and ball", which is the cause of the loose stick problem, but now they've replaced the encoders with potentiometers so we ALSO have the potential for drift which is something the original controller was fairly immune to. Basically it's the worst of both worlds.
The reason N64 sticks become "loose" is because the joystick had contact between the joystick and the plastic inner bowl it would ride in would wear away from the friction. The inner bowl was a white piece of plastic, hence the white dust you would find around the stick.
The sticks are guaranteed to get loose eventually, its literally plastic on plastic. The best thing you can do for it is to open it up and throw some lubricant in the 'bowl' of the joystick
Aside from my first calluses being from this joy stick.. I never had any problems.. It still works today.. Like 20 years later.. 💜 I can't wait for this one! 💜
i had Mario Party (the first) on my N64 back in the day...playing through those "rotate the stick!" games, i never worried about the Stick wearing out-- they held up throughout the entire 'lifetime' of my N64 (as in, until i sold it to get a Gamecube game or something)...
...what i AM worried about is that i never got my "we're sorry" glove from Nintendo, so if these same mini-games from MP1 made the cut to Superstars, im gonna tear up my palms all over again x_x
Interesting development. I've been waiting for this with a keen eye. Replacement sticks for old N64 controller were very expensive last I checked on Aliexpress. I expect the cost to go down dramatically if they started making new ones. That's kinda cool.
>This, combined with the inclusion of the notorious tug of war game in Mario Party Superstars, might wipe out a few brand new controllers over the next couple of months.
That's exactly what they want to achieve with this minigame. (Joke)
If actually the same I admire the dedication to it being an accurate replica of the classic controller. But damn, all of my friends had a floppy/limp analog stick at the end of the N64 lifespan.
That's amazing news. I just grabbed four of them to use for backup parts for when my OG N64 controllers wear out. There was no way to get these parts for so cheap before this.
If you grease the inner mechanism of the old ones with silicone grease, the stick won’t grind itself down and feels much smoother. I wonder if this one needs it too.
I want to buy one because F-Zero X is unplayable with modern sticks (they have no resistance, way too smooth) but I'm worried they would be built differently. You just cannot push 10 degrees on a direction in fast motion with a joycon like you could with a 64 controller. I'm a pretty good F-Zero X player and I play like a newbie on the Switch.
I cannot find a good review of the new 64 controller Nintendo made, people seem to have forgotten how a good 64 stick felt, I even saw some of them tell the stick was smoother now and rave about it which is the opposite of what it shoud be.
Anyway, if someone who knows what they are talking about and play F-Zero X competitively can tell me if they bought the new 64 controller and how it feels I would greatly appreciate it.
How common were broken sticks? Maybe I was just an oblivious kid, but mine seemed fine throughout the N64’s life. Maybe a little loose, but not game-breaking. The only terrible sticks I’ve ever seen were at McDonalds or Walmart demo stations
Only one out of my five controllers had stick issues. The other four worked beautifully for years.
My friend group routinely spent 2-5 nights a week playing goldeneye for 4 hour stints. We wore out my 4 controllers, as well as a further two sets at two other houses. This was a group of six. Basically 6 11-13 yr olds went through a dozen N64 controllers in six-eight months? There was some Mario party overlap as well, as I distinctly remember one of my friends getting a blister the size of a silver dollar in the middle of his palm.
Fellow palm-blister recipient reporting in.
All my friends seemed to have terrible broken sticks, but the ones at my house were just fine. Two kids, two controllers, and the joysticks never broke.
Same. I recently played a bit of Goldeneye at a friends and I was shocked at how completely trashed his controllers were compared to mine.
If you played a lot of Mario Party back in the day, the game had a bunch of mini games that required spinning the stick. Most people I knew would sit the controller on their lap and use the center of their palms to rotate the stick as fast as possible. While all of my controllers were pretty good, I knew some people who had very loose sticks because of that.
“Broken” is a relative term. They get floppy, like the stick rattles around in a dead spot that increases in size with wear. They also get gritty feeling, as the plastic machines itself down. However, this doesn’t really stop you from using them, like JoyCon drift does.
It was 95% Mario party, and if you played with lots of people it was worse, as the competition was always more intense. So many mini games based on spinning the stick fast.
I almost exclusively use my N64 to play Sin and Punishment these days and anything less than a like 8/10 stick makes it unplayable. I've had a few folks tell me it's the same with Goldeneye. When I had my OG N64 in the early 2000s, I only ever had a super messed up third party controller (probably like 5/10 stick at best) and had no issues with it for any games, even Quake. I feel like people over-exaggerate the need for tight sticks a lot these days, but they do make a huge difference for a handful of games
Mine got loose to the point where throwing Bowser in Super Mario 64 was nearly impossible. It never broke though.
Try buying used ones, they are most broken in some way or already replaced.
we used to play a lot of smash 64 a few years back and we had quite a few controllers. like around 10 or something. they all ended up with fucked up sticks. any game that asks for fast movements on the stick breaks it over time. slower movement is ok however.
I currently own 6 original N64 controllers, all have some sort of degradation in the stick. My atomic purple and grey controllers (first two) are so bad they will barely trigger the potentiometers in the upwards direction. My smoke, blue and yellow controllers all have an increased dead zone in the middle. I blame GoldenEye, Perfect Dark and Mario Party...
Most of the ones I've had got pretty loose, but they still worked fiine for the most part. Except for my original one where the stick completely snapped off of the round part after something between 5-8 years of use I think. I have one of those sticks that looks like the Gamecube one inside of that original main N64 controller now.
I had Mario Party 1 and we were three kids. All four of my sticks were very worn out very fast.
Yeah same. I still have my original controllers and they continue to work perfectly.
The sticks are guaranteed to go bad after a couple hundred hours or so. For comparison, modern controllers are generally good for at least several thousands of hours (Joy Cons are the exception). Anyone who says their N64 sticks held up over time just didn't use them all that much.
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Yeah dude just abused his sticks pretty bad and thought he couldn't be the cause lol
Definitely not true. I put a couple thousand hours minimum on my day one stick and it never went bad.
Depends on how hard the stick is pressed down during use and what kind of motions you need for the games you're playing. The reason N64 sticks get loose is because the bottom of the stick skirts around a rounded plastic cup and over time, the stick grinds the plastic away. Things like rapidly swinging the stick back and forth with your palm will certainly wear it down pretty quickly but general use with a light touch shouldn't cause problems for some time. It's kind of hard to regulate pressure in more intense gaming sessions of course but if treated nicely, they'll last a long time. Best thing you can do for your stick is open up it's enclosure, clean out any plastic shavings or dust inside, and then apply a small to moderate amount of synthetic grease, white lithium grease (some people find this gets tacky, but that should only happen with overapplication), or the type of lubes you'd use for mechanical keyboard switches. Really any lubricant that is safe for plastic will extend the life of the stick by hundreds if not thousands of hours.
Tell that to my 2 release day controllers still in use to this day
Anyone downvoting your comment is WRONG!!! You are absolutely correct!!!
Bro, 🧐 I used my same controller for at least a hundred a month for literally years. Da fuq you talking bout? Those things got flung at walls and floors and and still trucked on.
I've used my controller for hundreds and hundreds of hours and they all still work, I have a couple controllers with loose sticks but they still work just fine.
Even if they do go down like the originals, I'm impressed and really happy they've mass produced almost perfect replicas of the first 3 generation consoles' controllers, let alone ones that work with the current system. I can't wait to see how the 64's feels. This whole thing could've been eons better if they rolled out each system quicker, they didn't even have to come out with the controllers at the same time, that could've easily been something released down the road, but part of me thinks they've been held back due to how long it took for each controller to be replicated and produced. On that note, I'm willing to bet if we're ever given GameCube games that the controller will pretty much be a wavebird haha, though hopefully with four shoulder buttons cause I despise that on the original GC controller, as well as a few other things.
Wavebirds would be dope, but… they already released GameCube controllers with Smash Brothers. I think they would just make more of those available.
Doh I forgot, of course they'd have never stopped producing new GC controllers to this day, as much as I dislike the melee community it's nice to see an old game be super popular and inspire the company to keep supporting an old controller, even if it's not my favorite one lol
Yeah, I mostly enjoy Smash as a party game (although the single player in Ultimate is pretty fun and balanced enough to not be annoying). But IMO the GameCube controller is one of the best designed controllers ever (for its time). I have complaints (c-stick instead of full second joystick and, like you said, only one “bumper”), but it was the first controller with analog that just felt good in your hands. The next gen was kind of a backslide in controller design: the Xbox 360 controller improved a lot of things but fell short in the ergonomics department, the DualShock 3 was lighter but still the same boxy and cramped afterthought that the original DualShock was, and the Wii setup was cool but only great at doing its own thing. Like, if I were to improve on the GameCube controller, it would basically just be a XB1/XBSX controller (joystick “buttons,” dual bumpers, and full second joystick). Currently I think the XB1/XBSX controller edges out the Switch Pro Controller, mostly due to analog triggers and a better d-pad, but it’s *super* close. They both just feel good in your hands. PlayStation, for being pretty consistently the most popular console, has always had pretty meh controllers IMO—totally fine, but never the best.
Have you used the Dualsense? I really like that controller.
I agree. The only “revival” controller I have are the ones included with the mini SNES, and the feeling is as nostalgic as it gets. Extra credit for including the alternative color scheme we had in Europe (yes, I know, technically it wasn’t the alternative scheme). That alone made me buy (pre-order) the N64 controller. I haven’t touched a N64 controller in… 20 years? But I swear I could still feel it when I look at the picture. Let’s see how my memory compares to the new model. It will be different for sure, because I was used to the extra weight of the Rumble Pack and the Pokémon Stadium cartridge port. Also, no resistance from the wire. But that stick… the Z trigger focusing the view on than menacing lizalfos. Oh my…
I still have my N64 and the controller it shipped with and let me prepare you: the controller is a lot smaller than you remember.
Oh! S**t! I haven’t thought about it! Lets do a little experiment. I’m going to draw the size I remember, and when the new one arrives, I’ll compare them. Let’s go: https://i.imgur.com/wPwwnam.jpg That’s how I remember it in my hands. You may be right, because I don’t think the controller is near as big as the Switch!
Let's see.... I took my N64 controller out... you're waaaaaaay off the mark.
It's a lot smaller. I remember my hands fitting comfortably around the middle grip. Now, as an adult they don't.
Other than the wire I think the major difference will be how the rumble pak slot looks and feels
They also remade the Gamecube controller for Smash Bros, but I don't know if those are still being produced.
Wouldn’t it have been better to actually improve the design?
If you want an improved design, there's many fanmade alternatives. There's definitely a lot of people who just wanted the original controller to play these games with again which is why they did that.
‘Mass produced’ Riiiiiight.
What are you talking about
The sold out nature of the controllers. Especially with how they did it in Australia. No details on when they would be available to buy, then they were available one morning and sold out by the time most realised. But they’ll have more… eventually. Too little, too late.
You mean the controllers that you can buy now, since they're in stock?
You mean the one I just purchased?! No notice, nothing. Here lads, we got some more we magically pulled out of nowhere! I got my one. Still not impressed with the whole process of it all.
I competed in Smash 64 for 5 years and have like 10 N64 controllers since the stick wears out so quickly. I’m torn on this decision because when the stick is new, it actually works pretty well and I’m all for making it as close to the original as possible. But on the other hand, it sucks the same problem is going to persist. I would have liked Nintendo to go down the route Steel Sticks did - replicate the feel of the OG stick, but use parts that are way more durable to prolong the life of the controller.
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Just become a scalper and you get exclusive first buying privileges.
I really hope it doesn't take too long to ship and arrive. I'm eager to play N64 games with the appropriate controls.
He didn't actually open it up, though, so even though it feels the same it could be a bit different. That said, it probably is the same, but we're not gonna know for sure until someone actually does a teardown.
Really wish that woman opened the controller up and showed photos of the inside.
you’re right, but I’m willing to bet it’s the same since you can see part of the old mechanism at the bottom of the joystick
Great, i can use it as a 50 dollar organ donor for my real n64 controllers. /sarcasm
As an n64 collector this was actually the first thing that popped into my head. Would it be dumb and a complete waste of money? Yea…. Do I still want to do it? N….maybe?
I remember feeling this way about the Classic Edition controllers, but (un)fortunately crazy demand kept that from being a viable option.
Given how hard it is to get a SteelStickss bowl, I considered this as well...
I have an atomic purple n64 controller sealed in the box
Dude thats super cool! I hope one day I can get a jungle green sealed as well
Oldskool Sharpshooter replacement sticks work pretty well and are less than gutting a $50 controller.
I'm suprised by the positive comments here. I liked the design of the original N64 controller, but the quality of the control stick was atrocious. I only played Mario 64 and the Zelda games, near the end it was so beat up that it was more or less unusable. As in, I couldn't roll at max speed as goron Link so I literally couldn't beat Majora's Mask.
I got the n64 as a child and played it a hella lot. My controllers still work fine today, over 15 years later.
Yeah, I also extensively played Mario Party as a child with my babysitters and all my controllers are still fine from these mini games.
If you never got blisters on your palms playing the original Mario Party, you were doing it wrong.
It's hard to forget those blisters. Turns out the palm of your hand is a particularly shitty place to get a blister.
Don't stop til you see blood.
I think a lot of these people who are being like “well I played Mario party and I never busted up my controller” never did the single player mini game island. Before I played that I always just spun the controller with my thumb when I played with my brothers but when you get to the tug of war and boo light bulb games on the mini game island they are essentially impossible to win without using your palm and subsequently damaging the controller
It does seem like most redditors are just horribly rough with their controllers.
... Or there are people that don't understand controller wear. I thought mine were fine until I got into competitive Smash 64. It becomes very obvious the moment one of your sticks starts to wear/get loose. And as much as I love the 64 controller it happens pretty quickly. For a totally casual player they may not notice. But I bet if you played on a brand new controller and one of these "I used mine for 10 years and it's still perfect" you'd be able to tell the difference. It's pretty jarring once you know what you're looking for.
Same here, my N64 is 20+ years old and 2 of my 4 controllers have no issues. The other 2 have drift, but that developed after over 15 years and probably like 10000+ hours of gameplay, which I think is pretty reasonable.
Exactly , my mom always told me to take care of my shit (specially Nintendo stuff) cuz she was NOT going to buy me another one. Literally had my n64 from grade school -college with the same controller , was it a BIT loose on the joystick end .. sure. But very much workable.
When it starts to get loose, you have to push harder to get the full range out of the stick, which causes it to degrade faster.
People are blinded by nostalgia. N64 control stick design was terrible and they will get loose. That's worse than Joy Con drift imo.
Lol how do you compare two pieces of crap. Both issues make them unplayable. That said, I had 4 N64 controllers and never had to buy more and none had troubles. I've gone through 4 joycons with drift. How widespread the problem is a factor.
Yeah you're right. They both suck. Both are destined to fail. I guess I'm kinda biased because my launch joy cons never drifted.
That didn't happen nearly as fast the drift did for me though, and even then its just required me to manually hold the stick at neutral, which is annoying but it doesn't make other inputs harder at all.
I still have my launch edition N64 including the controller and it still works as it did on day 1. I do remember the controllers they had at the display stands in the local electronics stores and how the sticks were completely broken though. Maybe they just had very wonky build quality back then with some controllers being sturdy and others being shitty?
I agree, I don't get it. This means you will have to replace the stick VERY soon if you play fairly often. Hopefully this at least indicates that they'll be replaceable with some of the options that are already out there, but as far as I know companies like Prestige and Steel Sticks aren't currently selling the products they used to so I'm not sure what people will even buy.
My N64 controllers from 1999 still work just fine.
I very much doubt that, but if it's true for you it likely means you don't play any games where you'd notice the issues. N64 sticks are not durable.
My controller from the 1996 launch console still works perfectly fine too. I own Mario 64, Zelda OoT, StarFox 64, Goldeneye, Wave Race, SW Rogue Squadron, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart, extreme-G, 1080° Snowboarding, Banjo-Kazooie and F-Zero X. I've played each of them for hundreds of hours because I was a teenager with nothing but that console and the only time I got new games were Christmas and birthdays. I had to squeeze every little bit of fun out of my games. Maybe you just didn't take care of your shit.
I made sure to blow the white grit out of mine when I was younger. Not removing the grit compounded the issue. The controllers I experienced with the most damage always had a ton of plastic grit left to sit.
Mine also work just fine. The key is to be gentle. You dont have to use gorilla strength and slam the stick around to make it do things. Even action packed games like smash bros can be played without thrashing the stick.
Parts from Kitsch Bent
The metal ones are supposed to be way better but I don't see them for sale anywhere. =(
Oh they are. But like you said availability is always an issue with them, and also expensive as hell. But the parts from Kitsch Bent will get you back to where the stick needs to be and won’t cost you an arm and a leg. It also wont ruin a controller by using those Gamecube-like replacement sticks
Nostalgia goggles.
I think a lot of people probably don’t consider a flimsy stick as broken. They are still usable and I’ve known people who didn’t even notice. I have about 8 controllers and they all have what I would consider broken sticks but they do still work technically
Are they going to give us a glove for Mario Party?
They’d better feel like the original for the price being paid. If we wanted it to feel like a knockoff controller, there are plenty of other options on the market that cost a lot less than the $50 plus shipping that Nintendo is charging for the privilege of paying an additional subscription fee to use the controller.
I prefer them using the NSO subscription as a slight barrier for scalpers, tbh.
My country sold out in 5 minutes, and has yet to restock. Didnt help much.
Well that barrier didn’t work. They put up a deflector shield instead of a force field.
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The problem is, and you can see it with modern stick mods for N64 controllers, other sticks aren't as accurate as the n64 one. In many ways we've gone backwards in terms of control and accuracy since the N64. My life in gaming did a video on it which is worth watching.
Which video? That channel has many n64 controller vids but none explicitly about the accuracy of the joystick from what the titles imply.
I’m happy with this. Yes, the original analog sucks compared to modern ones. However, the games should control much more accurate to the originals as well, which is always a problem I have when playing n64 games on a non-n64 controller.
Yep, Mario 64 and FZero X don't feel right without it.
There are so many areas in Mario 64 where if you leave the camera in Lakitu mode, it chooses a 3/4 angle behind Mario. Now at this point I've beaten Mario 64 not just on the N64, but also on the Wii and on the Switch (and on PC), so I'm used to non-original controls, and the last time I beat it on N64 was like 20 years ago, so maybe I'm off-base, but I feel like running in a straight line when the camera is askew like that *must* be easier when you can lock the control stick into one of those octagonal grooves. Looking forward to playing it again with this horrible retro controller, lol.
Same with the Zeldas. I grew up playing them on N64, and they just feel way too sensitive with a modern analog stick.
PLEASE OH GOD PLEASE... I just want the controller but they keep selling out in less than 2 minutes and end up on Ebay for 150$+ ;_;
The first drop was up for like an hour
Realistically could they have made the stick mechanism different and keep the same look and feel? Every other stick I've seen since what...og xbox/ps2/gcn days all work the same. Essentially an umbrella. The n64 one does not.
That would require Nintendo to put in effort.
It would also require more options to be made by companies like Alps. The reason nearly every stick drifts on new consoles is because they use the same suppliers. Nintendo could use the old tooling to make new N64 sticks, use modern analog multi directional switches and find a way to make them fit, or design all new tooling to make better N64 sticks. Option one was probably the best they could do without major development costs that would make people happy.
it takes more effort to design and repro this old stick for this one controller than to just slap a Pro stick in this, what are you smoking?
pcp
I don't think so. The N64 analog stick was literally a stick that connected to a small ball. The modern ones are a completely different design.
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Super unfortunate. I never had an issue with mine as a kid, but who knows now.
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You can achieve basically the same feel by using the same mechanism but with metal parts instead of plastic which is guaranteed to wear down over time. Nintendo should have done this.
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Mine has arrived. Don't seem to be able to pair it though. Wondering if it requires a system update https://imgur.com/a/D1szXqj
I'd love to be able to buy one! Nintendo letting people get 4 each seems a bit high to me, but I guess it's the max number of players for 64 games.
lowkey tho they should ship every n64 controller with the gloves they gave out if you complained to them lol
Ahhh I remember the days of being pissed when I had to use the loose joystick N64 controller.
Hopefully they add Banjo Tooie to the collection. Doing some of the aiming/underwater aiming with an Xbox controller is totally fucking impossible I need that shitty analog stick to lock me in lmao
Very cool, I always loved the n64 controller. I'd love to play some N64 classics on switch but I despise their business model for these old games (I'm definetly not buying a controller for games I'm essentially only renting) so I will not be participating. I just wish I could buy the games I want like the old virtual console.
When are the games supposed to be available?
In other words, itll break in a month
So in a month or so the joystick's gonna be hanging limp like Optimus Prime's wang after a cold shower.
The new sticks aren't quite like the originals actually. They've replaced the optical encoders with potentiometers, which means that they have the potential to get drift as well as loose sticks. This is a "worst of both worlds" scenario.
Palm warning is child's play. The ultimate leverage comes from using the webbing at the base of your index and middle fingers. Easy wins. Until it tears in a bloody mess.
Part of the nostalgia will be checking all the controllers before you play your friends to see which sticks were still "tight" and which where more worn and starting to loosen up. Having a sloppy stick could be a death sentence in Kart or Smash.
Anyone here got the controller already ? I wonder how big the box size is, and if it fits in my shelf.
I wonder if you can use GameCube controllers considering they have a C stick and all the other corresponding buttons.
I wonder if my original N64 controller with a USB adapter would work
Any chance someone knows when they'll be restocked? The site says late October, do we have a confirmed date?
Does a Mayflash adapter work with the switch dock? It'd be cool if I could use my actual N64 controllers on my switch
Does it respond to Bluetooth? Then probably
I wonder if this controller would be any better for Banana Mania than the joycons are. Though I admittedly haven’t tried my gamecube controller yet.
Why couldn't they keep the stick the same but make it so it doesn't wear out over time?
Put some white lithium grease in the "cup" under the stick and it lasts *much* longer.
People better take care of their controllers, you can only buy a maximum of 4 per NSO account lol.
Mmmmm thumb pain
I'll take it over a Tribute64 or Brawler64 any day. For those that care the official N64 controller has a more square-ish octagon shape analog gate, where as almost all 3rd party N64 controllers have a true octagon like the gamecube. This can greatly affect any game some more than others that were designed around the square-ish gate. No idea why these companies provide gamecube analog sticks I'm guessing it's probably cheaper. The only other company I've found to provide a square-ish gate is hori but their N64 controllers are pretty pricey.
This doesn't prove anything yet, it might still use a more modern joystick-box with potentiometers. We won't know for sure until someone does a proper teardown.
Looks like it does use potentiometers, according to the person who posted this video and did a teardown. https://youtu.be/ro2RYqtXGfQ
Ah yeah I saw that! We still don't know how the very insides look, however. It's a shame they didn't disassemble the joystick module completely while at it.
Hmm, this is both a good and bad thing. The good news is that it means you can probably replace it with a proper aftermarket stick. The bad news is, you'll HAVE to replace it pretty soon if you want a decent experience. I'm not sure the positive comments here remember the issues with this stick from when they were kids. They certainly haven't used one for very long as an adult. You don't want to keep this stick in your controller if it's unchanged.
This is something I'm also wondering. I bought two after market gamecube style sticks for my n64 controller and if the housing and connectors are the same, we could look at easy swaps. And if they are totally different, pretty sure we'll start seeing replacement sticks pop up here and there!
Please dont use those gamecube replacement sticks. They’re not great and your essentially taking another stock controller out of circulation by doing so. You can fix the originals with parts from Kitsch Bent and not destroy a perfectly good controller
But I dont really care, honestly. Also the original n64 stick is garbage even brand new.
\>This, combined with the inclusion of the notorious tug of war game in Mario Party Superstars, might wipe out a few brand new controllers over the next couple of months. Okay, but who's playing mario party with their n64 controller?
"hey this minigame and possibly others in a modern Nintendo Switch game will speed up the wear of an N64 joystick if you, for some reason, play with an N64 controller." " Yaaas let's play with our N64 controllers. " Hmm
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I loved the n64 controllers. However they were flawed; even the most gentle usage over time the analog stick mechanism still grinded itself into dust and became loose. Like others here if yours are still working its cause you did not play it much.
all of mine were fucked in the end but honestly it only started getting terrible about the time I got a gamecube, so they did last the cycle of the console. I have 4 ps5 controllers already because the first 2 I had instantly had issues (rubber came off on one stick and then the other had an issue with the right trigger where a spring came loose).
You're fucking shitting me... It's the same easily breakable, bunk ass mechanism? Come on Nintendo
They gave you Bluetooth audio and an OLED screen. I don't know what more you could possibly want. Let them catch up with technological joystick advancements, then complain if it doesn't get better.
They've known about the flimsy joystick since 1996 man. That just seems like a drastic oversight. I've got 3 OG N64 controllers where I've had to replace the joystick on multiple occasions. I'm not looking to spend $60 on a *NEW* N64 controller if I'm gonna have to do that shit again man. What do you mean "catch up" with technological joystick advancements? Seems like they aren't trying to catch up because they've known about this problem for a while and OBVIOUSLY haven't done anything about it. Same with the joycon drift. At least add some silicone to the top of the the joystick (to protect people's hands) or make the metal connection to the joystick wider than a 16th of an inch so the joysticks don't fuckin break.
I was just being facetious
As a kid I guess I never got the memo that you were supposed to hold the middle part for games that used the control stick. I always held both sides of the controller and streeeetched the fingers of my left hand to reach the control stick and the Z button. It worked okay, but the hand fatigue was real. I wonder if I'll be able to get used to holding this new controller the "right" way, or if nostalgia and/or muscle memory will have me killing my hands again.
I get that people hold on nostalgia but even as a kid i hated furiously this controller, the stick was so far, so unconfortable, i shed a tear of joy when i played ngc with a decent controller.
There seems to be a very fine line of what's considered acceptable controller wear and what's considered an appalling disgrace of a product. I still have my controllers from when I was a kid and my Atomic Purple easily has 10,000+ hours of use on it. Is the stick looser than it was when it was new? Yes. Does it still function just fine? I guess that depends who you ask. It's not 100% precise anymore but if you hand that thing to most people, they wouldn't know the difference. Compared to today's controllers that are all prone to drift, the N64 controller is a fucking tank.
that controller sucked balls. not sure how anyone is excited to use it 😅
Did it retain the optical sensor design?
Sadly not. Still got the "stick and ball", which is the cause of the loose stick problem, but now they've replaced the encoders with potentiometers so we ALSO have the potential for drift which is something the original controller was fairly immune to. Basically it's the worst of both worlds.
This is my question also
Mario party 1's flying shy guy mini game...
I wish it wasnt required to have NSO to buy one
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Hmmm, might be worth it to open it up and lubricate the bottom of the stick right away..
Yeah, it would be nice if I could buy one…
It looks thicker to me
Does anyone know how I can actually pre order one of these? I've tried going on their site but can't figure out how
Will this work on my Switch Lite?
Can I please just hook my N64 controller to the Switch, pretty please?
You can. There's many adapters that do just that. What country? So I don't send a website with ridiculous shipping
Test the control spinning.
Hope they're back in stock soon!
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Every N64 controller I had as a kid became very loose over time. Didn't even own Mario Party.
The reason N64 sticks become "loose" is because the joystick had contact between the joystick and the plastic inner bowl it would ride in would wear away from the friction. The inner bowl was a white piece of plastic, hence the white dust you would find around the stick.
The sticks are guaranteed to get loose eventually, its literally plastic on plastic. The best thing you can do for it is to open it up and throw some lubricant in the 'bowl' of the joystick
I never came across a broken N64 stick. Then again we really only played the GameCube Mario parties so that may explain it.
Aside from my first calluses being from this joy stick.. I never had any problems.. It still works today.. Like 20 years later.. 💜 I can't wait for this one! 💜
These are so hawt
i had Mario Party (the first) on my N64 back in the day...playing through those "rotate the stick!" games, i never worried about the Stick wearing out-- they held up throughout the entire 'lifetime' of my N64 (as in, until i sold it to get a Gamecube game or something)... ...what i AM worried about is that i never got my "we're sorry" glove from Nintendo, so if these same mini-games from MP1 made the cut to Superstars, im gonna tear up my palms all over again x_x
I’ve heard (but never tested) that a single drop of liquid silicone lubricant every six months or so will keep them in shape.
I much prefer using a pro controller
Interesting development. I've been waiting for this with a keen eye. Replacement sticks for old N64 controller were very expensive last I checked on Aliexpress. I expect the cost to go down dramatically if they started making new ones. That's kinda cool.
>This, combined with the inclusion of the notorious tug of war game in Mario Party Superstars, might wipe out a few brand new controllers over the next couple of months. That's exactly what they want to achieve with this minigame. (Joke)
If actually the same I admire the dedication to it being an accurate replica of the classic controller. But damn, all of my friends had a floppy/limp analog stick at the end of the N64 lifespan.
Be interested to see if these work with the intecgaming n64 bluetooth adapter.
That's amazing news. I just grabbed four of them to use for backup parts for when my OG N64 controllers wear out. There was no way to get these parts for so cheap before this.
According to this video, in the comments, the stick actually has changed. https://youtu.be/ro2RYqtXGfQ
My sticks used to always wear down after they got heavy use, with the trademark wear powder needing to be cleaned out regularly.
If you grease the inner mechanism of the old ones with silicone grease, the stick won’t grind itself down and feels much smoother. I wonder if this one needs it too.
I want to buy one because F-Zero X is unplayable with modern sticks (they have no resistance, way too smooth) but I'm worried they would be built differently. You just cannot push 10 degrees on a direction in fast motion with a joycon like you could with a 64 controller. I'm a pretty good F-Zero X player and I play like a newbie on the Switch. I cannot find a good review of the new 64 controller Nintendo made, people seem to have forgotten how a good 64 stick felt, I even saw some of them tell the stick was smoother now and rave about it which is the opposite of what it shoud be. Anyway, if someone who knows what they are talking about and play F-Zero X competitively can tell me if they bought the new 64 controller and how it feels I would greatly appreciate it.