8Bitdo announces new wireless adapter to connect old Nintendo wired controllers to Switch/mobile

[Pancakes R Us]

This looks pretty neat!

I have two wired GC controllers and 5 wavebirds! I wonder if it'd be possible to connect a wavebird receiver to it and play using a wavebird...?

 

[Resilient]

fuck this means the Wii fighting pad will work on switch now? game changer!?

 

[jediyoshi]

And works on PC? Neat.

8Bitdo's product line putting in work.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Tempted, but I'd be concerned about latency. Eh, my GameCube controller cables are long enough anyway.

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lol i wonder that the input lag would be on a wavebird through this.

 

[Gundam]

8bitdo is consistently the best 3rd party hardware manufacturer for Nintendo.

 

[Deleted member 36622]

8BitDo confirmed to Ars that only one controller works with this adapter at a time. Meaning, you cannot connect both a classic GC controller and a Wii-connector controller and expect both to work on your Switch at the same time.

I was hoping that'd be a secret double-controller perk, but alas. Still a slick-looking and reasonably priced gizmo; what is lag like for other 8BitDo Switch adapters? I imagine that'd inform what to expect from this one.

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Added to the OP.

Do you know what's the deal with the micro usb port? Because i don't think it has a battery inside (it has a slot for a standard AA battery), maybe it does work wired too.

 

[Barn]

This particular product isn't for me, but 8bitdo's industrial and graphic designers are absolutely fucking ace.

 

[out_of_touch]

Yup there is. It's on the site as well. It looks hype

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hEck yea

 

[Cup O' Tea?]

Holy shit. I still have a bunch of Gamecube controllers I wheel out for Smash Bros. This device is perfect for me.

EDIT: Oh it only has one port. Still cool but I guess I can't chuck out my current adpater just yet.

 

[Kenagain]

I'm a little confused about the 1 controller part, if I buy four of these can I use them all at once for smash? Or only one at a time?

 

[Deleted member 36708]

8bitdo is consistently the best 3rd party hardware manufacturer for Nintendo.

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Ow we just need them to find away around Nintendo shitty voice chat solution.

 

[BlkSquirtle]

Pre ordered, but I want to see a review on the lag before this thing ships I hope. I wonder how bad it'll be with my wavebird

 

[Barrel Cannon]

Pre ordered, but I want to see a review on the lag before this thing ships I hope. I wonder how bad it'll be with my wavebird

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It says lag free which I don't believe but I'm hoping it's minimal as the main use for me would be smash bros on the go.

 

[signal]

Cool device.

 

[Plasmid]

I got mine ordered, i already have the wired adapter, but this is neat. $20 is pretty cheap too.

 

[Radarscope1]

Really cool. Too bad about the ZL/ZR buttons though. This would be great for the NSO NES games if it had that function.

 

[Shadow]

Read this if you own the 8bitdo brick block adapter! (8bitdo makes no mention of this ever for some odd reason, and I found out by a review on Amazon when I bought it)

If you have the brick block 8bitdo adapter (the one that supports PS4 and others) you can connect a Wii Remote and plug your controllers (NES Classic, SNES Classic, Wii Pro controller etc) into it and it works perfectly. It doesn't have ZL/ZR, but neither does this. Don't try to plug a Nunchuck tho because it just spams random buttons for some reason.

Just saying this so you don't buy this just for an NES classic controller or something, and already have the old adapter and a Wii remote.

 

[Onilink]

How much?

 

[Mark1]

Pre ordered my copy.

But have a question regarding this working on the Switch. Can Nintendo block usage of this via future firmware updates?

 

[BlkSquirtle]

Pre ordered my copy.

But have a question regarding this working on the Switch. Can Nintendo block usage of this via future firmware updates?

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All 3rd party accessories have this potential issue. I hear 8bitdo is good on releasing updates to keep up with Nintendo on their controllers though so I'm less worried personally.

 

[zma1013]

So theoretically I could plug my Wavebird dongle into this dongle and be fully wire free?

 

[AnthPerri]

They are really killing the design game lately. Lovely little throwback touches all over this thing.

 

[Bazry]

They show it being used with NSO NES games, but neither this adapter or the SNES and NES Classic controllers have ZL and ZR, and you can't use those buttons on controller 2 to access the settings either, so that's kind of false advertising. If your controller doesn't have ZL and ZR, you can't do everything you need to do in NSO NES.

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Nothing stopping you using those pads as a 2nd player though surely?

 

[neoak]

People need to start lining to AmazonSmile

Also, it's not up for preorder anymore

 

[hotcyder]

Super Mario Odyssey Nunchuck Only Run here we come

 

[Pancakes R Us]

So theoretically I could plug my Wavebird dongle into this dongle and be fully wire free?

Click to shrink...

This is what I'm hoping. I have 5 wavebirds!

 

[BlkSquirtle]

People need to start lining to AmazonSmile

Also, it's not up for preorder anymore

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Even friends that aren't hard core gamers posted about this on my facebook which really surprised me all saying they were preordering. It probably sold out on guaranteed pre orders.

 

[Radarscope1]

Anyone know if you keep a real Switch controller linked as 2P and use the Z buttons to pull up the menus for the NSO games? Not ideal but at least workable.

Speaking of that - how will the upcoming new NES controllers from Nintendo themselves handle the menu issue?

 

[El Sabroso]

Anyone know if you keep a real Switch controller linked as 2P and use the Z buttons to pull up the menus for the NSO games? Not ideal but at least workable.

Speaking of that - how will the upcoming new NES controllers from Nintendo themselves handle the menu issue?

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those have zl and zr included in design

 

[Pancakes R Us]

Sold out already? How annoying :(

 

[maximumzero]

Wish someone would come up with an adapter so I could use my NES Classic Controller on my actual NES hardware.

Still might nab this to play the Switch Online NES games, assuming it works.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

those have zl and zr included in design

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They do? It sure doesn't look like it unless they are not labeling the buttons correctly: https://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/special-offers/

I'm sure they will work (they must, right?) but I'm not 100% certain how it will be done unless you have the official word.

 

[Ororo]

Would there be too much lag if I use my USB controllers with a USB micro adapter?

 

[Green Mario]

Sold out already? How annoying :(

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Yeah, I didn't know this was a thing until just now and would love to have one. Hopefully they produce more soon.

 

[Ororo]

Does Nintendo even sell the NES/SNES classic controllers separately?

 

[FlaygletheBagel]

Honestly not a fan of how the rest of 8bitdo's stuff works on Switch. Tried an NES30 and got a pretty significant amount of input lag, enough to where playing Sonic Mania wasn't fun at all.

Will probably just go with the official wired adapter for Cube controllers. I don't really need to use them when undocked anyway.

 

[El Sabroso]

They do? It sure doesn't look like it unless they are not labeling the buttons correctly: https://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/special-offers/

I'm sure they will work (they must, right?) but I'm not 100% certain how it will be done unless you have the official word.

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oh I see, was thinking it was the needed buttons for the shortcut anyways, need to get home to see but should be able to do it with L+R as well, because that's the point of those 2 shoulder buttons on the NES controller for switch

 

[gyrspike]

In case anyone was wanting to order one of these and missed it. They are currently back in stock for preorder on amazon.

 

[Jahranimo]

Damn this seems legit. I'm curious how well it would work on Dolphin emulator..

 

[Dunnymeister]

Already bought the 8bitdo USB Bluetooth Adapter so I could use my Wii Taiko Drums on the Switch, but the lack of button remapping kills that dream.

If this has button remapping I'll buy four :|

 

[secretanchitman]

In case anyone was wanting to order one of these and missed it. They are currently back in stock for preorder on amazon.

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Thanks for this! Just pre-ordered one - will come in handy traveling so I don't have to bring the dock to use the GCN adapter and controllers! :D

 

[Pancakes R Us]

Amazon UK also has pre-orders available, just placed my order.

 

[Prattle]

I'd love them to build a scruffy little dongle to attach with multiple adaptors on it, because my original pads are still going strong .

 

[goonergaz]

Amazing, now I don't need to wish that I could find my wavebird adapter.

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Surely you still need the adapter?

 

[Pancakes R Us]

Surely you still need the adapter?

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure you'd need the wavebird adapter.

That said, looking st the pics...I'm not sure the wavebird dongle would fit. The connector would obviously fit, but look at the way the plastic around it recedes in a chunk. Unsure if it'd work. Fingers crossed it does.

 

[mentallyinept]

I'm bumping this thread to see if anyone has gotten shipment confirmation from Amazon.

We're getting down to the wire here (no pun intended).

 

[Pancakes R Us]

Isn't this releasing in December? I have mine pre-ordered on Amazon UK, nothing yet.

 

[samred]

Howdy, y'all. I'm going to include impressions of the 8Bitdo GBros. Adapter, which we just got in the office this evening, in Ars Technica's eventual coverage of Smash Ultimate. (No, I do not know when that will be.)

For those who've been following the adapter and are curious about its performance: I just played a bunch of NES games with a Wii Classic Controller connected wirelessly, and then the new R-Type Generations release with an old wired GameCube controller. Both held up to my input-lag scrutiny, possibly a hair faster than the Switch Pro Controller. The extra buttons on the top of the adapter double as "home" and "screenshot" buttons, which effectively makes this a superior Switch menu-navigation option than the USB-GC adapter (though, of course, you have the caveat of only one controller per adapter).

Random trivia: The adapter effectively tells the Switch that you're using a Pro Controller, whether you stick something into the Wii side or the GC side. If you plug controllers into both the Wii socket and the GC socket, the Wii socket takes priority. Also, its shape does *not* support the WaveBird adapter's GC plug. The adapter includes instructions for connecting to Windows machines via Bluetooth; I'll test that out later. (Gonna see how nicely it plays with my Android phone as a Bluetooth pad, as well.)

All in all, great first impression. Nice build quality, solid results. Do not take this as a review; I've only tested for roughly an hour of gaming. (The included micro-USB adapter is incredibly short, so I haven't bothered testing it with the Switch dock, if you're wondering.)

 

[blueredandgold]

Howdy, y'all. I'm going to include impressions of the 8Bitdo GBros. Adapter, which we just got in the office this evening, in Ars Technica's eventual coverage of Smash Ultimate. (No, I do not know when that will be.)

For those who've been following the adapter and are curious about its performance: I just played a bunch of NES games with a Wii Classic Controller connected wirelessly, and then the new R-Type Generations release with an old wired GameCube controller. Both held up to my input-lag scrutiny, possibly a hair faster than the Switch Pro Controller. The extra buttons on the top of the adapter double as "home" and "screenshot" buttons, which effectively makes this a superior Switch menu-navigation option than the USB-GC adapter (though, of course, you have the caveat of only one controller per adapter).

Random trivia: The adapter effectively tells the Switch that you're using a Pro Controller, whether you stick something into the Wii side or the GC side. If you plug controllers into both the Wii socket and the GC socket, the Wii socket takes priority. Also, its shape does *not* support the WaveBird adapter's GC plug. The adapter includes instructions for connecting to Windows machines via Bluetooth; I'll test that out later. (Gonna see how nicely it plays with my Android phone as a Bluetooth pad, as well.)

All in all, great first impression. Nice build quality, solid results. Do not take this as a review; I've only tested for roughly an hour of gaming. (The included micro-USB adapter is incredibly short, so I haven't bothered testing it with the Switch dock, if you're wondering.)

Click to shrink...

You are a saint.

Thank you.

 

[Starwing]

Howdy, y'all. I'm going to include impressions of the 8Bitdo GBros. Adapter, which we just got in the office this evening, in Ars Technica's eventual coverage of Smash Ultimate. (No, I do not know when that will be.)

For those who've been following the adapter and are curious about its performance: I just played a bunch of NES games with a Wii Classic Controller connected wirelessly, and then the new R-Type Generations release with an old wired GameCube controller. Both held up to my input-lag scrutiny, possibly a hair faster than the Switch Pro Controller. The extra buttons on the top of the adapter double as "home" and "screenshot" buttons, which effectively makes this a superior Switch menu-navigation option than the USB-GC adapter (though, of course, you have the caveat of only one controller per adapter).

Random trivia: The adapter effectively tells the Switch that you're using a Pro Controller, whether you stick something into the Wii side or the GC side. If you plug controllers into both the Wii socket and the GC socket, the Wii socket takes priority. Also, its shape does *not* support the WaveBird adapter's GC plug. The adapter includes instructions for connecting to Windows machines via Bluetooth; I'll test that out later. (Gonna see how nicely it plays with my Android phone as a Bluetooth pad, as well.)

All in all, great first impression. Nice build quality, solid results. Do not take this as a review; I've only tested for roughly an hour of gaming. (The included micro-USB adapter is incredibly short, so I haven't bothered testing it with the Switch dock, if you're wondering.)

Click to shrink...

Sounds awesome!
Thanks for the impressions!