NEW Nintendo Switch Online N64 controller teardown, compatibility, and review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ต.ค. 2021
- When Nintendo dropped the New Nintendo Switch Online service, I was excited, but what I was more excited for was the N64 controller... You see its been 20 years since the big N has made this controller and I cant wait to tear it open, check the compatibility with the controller from 20 years ago, provide my thoughts on design changes and well as tell you what I think of the controller to date.
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Would have been cool if they sold interchangeable face plates. One of the best features of the N64 era was just how colorful everything was.
I really wish there were more color options, I would absolutely cop one!
Maybe they will add more color options later.
This way they get to release more color options down the road and charge you full price for each :D
I wonder if there is any way to tell what kind of plastics are used in the thumb stick module. From what I gather, much of the problems of the original stick came down to the plastics not dealing well with friction between the various components. I’ve heard that using different kinds of plastics for different components can reduce that issue
Another great video, thanks for posting and sharing your thoughts. I gotta agree with other comments about wishing they had colored options. I always loved the smoke grey controller.
man... sign me up for one of those! Thank you!!
I was wondering about the thumbstick! Thats pretty cool they used a similar design to thr OG.
just got mine today, thank you for the teardown. I think this is one of the coolest products Nintendo has ever sold. I hope they do a gamecube pad like this that's wireless and has rumble because this thing brings me back in time.
It’s more like the way a ball mouse works than a solid-state optical mouse. ;) Ball mouses have the same encoder wheel + LED setup.
that is a very fair comment! This is why I normally dont record real time, lol. I try to be very carful with the words used, lol. This is a prime example!
Loved your teardown!
i really wanted to see some video footage of the mechanism, seems that the gear pieces are also slightly thicker than the original sticks
but the big question is, will those grind over time like the originals?
that is the million dollar question and I guess only time will tell. I wish I had more means to measure all of that, but durability ultimately remains to be determined. Whats more interesting is you need to factor in the pots into the durability question as those will wear over time too.
i use this controller for my origilan n64 with wireless adapter :D
Please do a teardown followup soon and dive in to see the wear of the parts over time.
Kind of wild that no one has bother to make a resin faceplate for the NSO controller
Do you trust the type/amount of lubricant that ships with it, or would you recommend adding some?
Man been looking forward to you reviewing the N64 Controller.
I can see some recasting and new development for rehabilitating old original controllers.
There is absolutely a bunch of stuff to take away from this, including what could be the blueprint for a new N64 stick. There would be quite a bit of work required on the back end to get it actually working, including the need for a microcontroller running custom code, but its there for the taking!
Thank you great video. wanted to ask how is the controller now thank you
man this is amazing! can wait to get this controller one day!
Did you try to replace the original gears and joystick with the new ones in the old controller?
Good breakdown on this sweet controller. Looks great i probably wont get this one but i have picked up the 6 button megadrive controller. Will you go to the trouble of making custom buttons for this one?
we shall see. I have a few other ideas for this one I would like to attempt first, I am just not sure I have the skill set for it currently, but I might ask a few other people to help me out!!
@@RockerGaming looking forward to what you do with this one. I think you could make some awesome buttons dude but would it be worth your while is the question. What ever you decide it will be awesome im sure👍👍👍
Wish they sold the purple version. Do you know if it’s possible to switch the case since it’s the same mould
Hi great video may I ask if you don't mind using part of your video for my tiktok channel explaining the differences in Spanish? Thank you
Regarding durability:
I didn’t really start to use mine until about a month ago when the N64 MiSTer core improved enough to complete some major titles. I got four at launch and immediately opened one to do a teardown but boxed it back up in the mean time.
After playing for a few days and 100% completing titles like Diddy Kong Racing and Super Mario 64, I noticed a change in the way the stick felt. I usually felt it when pushed to an extreme near the top of the range and then moving clockwise or counter-clockwise.
As someone very familiar with the feel of a truly new/unused original N64 stick (had the foresight to stock up in 2001) I knew better than to continue playing without cleaning it out. Otherwise, any loose debris would just grind between parts to make more.
Without Bluetooth on my MiSTer I had been using USB, so I opened a second NSO N64 controller and plugged it in to keep playing. I figured the factory charge was bleeding off and it could use a top off anyway. The next day I disassembled the first controller and found a tiny hair right on the base of the stick. I cleaned it off, added a tiny dab of silicone grease to restore whatever I wiped off, and reassembled. It now felt exactly like the new controller but I continued playing with the new one anyway.
The next day the new controller began to feel funny exactly like the first one did and, sure enough, I found a hair in the exact same spot… and when I say “tiny” I mean it. It was more like a piece of lint… much smaller than an eyelash or body hair. I almost always store the controllers upside-down or with bubble wrap on top specifically to keep things from settling in so this had to work its way in there while playing over the previous two days.
Anyway, both controllers felt great after removing the hairs so I switched back to the first one and resumed playing. Another day or so later it began to feel funny again, prompting me to unplug it and take it apart again. This time I found several shiny pieces, like glitter or chrome flaked off a screw. I can’t fathom how they got there but cleaning them out and re-greasing seems to have restored it 100%.
The issue is that I can’t keep doing this after every day or so. I probably got about 5 days of play the first time but even taking extra precautions I’m finding contaminants in there ever other day now. I do my disassemblies almost as if I were in a lab or “clean room” and make sure there is no contamination during reassembly.
Anyway, word of warning:
The first time I disassembled back when these things launched I used a metal tool like tweezers or something around the battery terminal and it has never been able to charge since. Since I wasn’t using it I didn’t realize it wasn’t charging until recently but it still works perfectly as a USB controller. Don’t make the same mistake! Now I use the plastic potentiometer adjustment tool or spudger for that.
Love the breakdown! What i cant wait for is the inevitable custom button set and light mod. XD
haha, we shall see what can be done about that, lol! Buttons can be done for sure, custom lighting is a much more difficult proposition!
Ok my question is stick is going to loose over time and use like the original?????
How feasible do you think it would be to mod an original N64 stickbox into the Switch online controller? I'm currently using the NSO controller on real hardware with a Blueretro adapter, but worried about the longevity of it, whereas the original has options for steel bowls, steelsticks, high quality replacement gears, etc. I actually got a steel bowl modded into my NSO N64 controller and am using a steel stick, but the gears are still a concern to me, since they're different from the original.
Podrías decirme si este joystick es mejor que el del original o se arruinaran con el uso? (Cómo pasaba con los originales)
Wow great overview .. They made a lot of change! That's crazy! :)
Its pretty crazy... it really helps justify the price tag on this thing... I mean its literally a BRAND NEW CONTROLLER... like the guts of this thing are newly engineered parts. I will say after pulling this thing apart, the price can be more easily justified. I know some ppl were unhappy about it.
Nice tear down and review! I'm in the camp that I don't like the design of the N64 controller but that's because I never had the console back in the day (had a PS1 and Saturn instead) so I'm not used to play with that design! Now the question remains: which crazy mods are you going to come up with that controller? I'm sure you'll come up with something awesome! Great video and keep up the good work!
its a very polarizing controller, its funny, the ps1 and saturn have some of the best controller designs even to this day! I have some wild stuff lined up, but its different from what you might expect :)
Great video, really enjoyed it!
Glad to hear it, thank you!!!
Is the battery the same as joycon or pro controller?
here's that comment you asked for. Thanks for your work!
Thank you 🙌🙌🙌
Can you please do a teardown of the Brawler64 Bluetooth NSO Edition? 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Nice video! I can connect the Pro Controller and the SNES controllers to my Mac via Bluetooth and play without needing to download anything. I'm sure you can connect the N64 as well. Not sure for Windows
Good to know!! I am going to mess with that next as I think there could be some interesting nuggets to pull out of there!
It's always sold out man, I never have the opportunity to get one... 😢
Man thanks for you going in to this first is a lot going on in there
There really is, I am just glad I had the opportunity to do so and present some of my thoughts and opinions on it. This is a good controller and I am curious to see how durable it is over time!
Os working on pc?
I went to order 1, but they were out of stock. Hope they can do different colored shells for this though.
I have a feeling this is something they will continuously stock, at least that is the case with the NES and SNES controllers. Mind you its taken them a while to get to that point, but I have a feeling they will eventually get there! And different colored shells would legit be amazing!
I’d be really interested to see if someone can swap parts to an original controller. I have a Pokémon N64 controller I’d LOVE to have wireless modded while still retaining Transfer Pak functionality.
I do believe that might be possible... It might be something worth looking into!
I thought about getting this for my emulation rig but I figured that i can get 4 original controllers and cheap USB adapters for about the same price.
let there be no doubt, it is nice to have something wireless, but let there be no double a usb adapter is sub $20 all day.
very good stuff!
I appreciate you homie, thank you!
was long awaiting this vid and im happy i did, ive already seen another person talk about the stickbox with a clickbait title claiming its 'worse' than original (lol). but as far as my opinions on this new controller, i still don't think the durability will be much different long term even tho the lube is a nice touch, i think it still seems great and im excited to see what modders will do with this thing in the near future. i can only dream it inspires a newer generation of people to try and find another solution for a more competitive stick because i dont want to buy a used steelstick on ebay if i need a new/tight stick controller(regardless of platform) especially when i can buy this brand new today for way cheaper and also use it on my pc eventually too without needing to buy another additional n64 adapter(even tho some people prob need a bluetooth adapter for pc, i dont). currently i use a funtastic green n64 controller for sm64 running but when i got it, after doing my research and seeing other peoples scuffed stickbox fixes, i just deep cleaned it out, lubed the inside, and put a tiny/tight rubber grommet from an old vape rda i had to hold it in place under the gears so it wont sink down and touch the bottom of the white bowl and it works great/moves tightly but i like to believe that in the future there will be a better concept to approach elongating its life because a rubber grommet isnt gonna last long and ive never gotten a email back from steelstick64 for another restock lmao
The problem with the new Stick is the use of Digital Sensors, not Optical Sensors.
The Controller won't be good to use on Shooters, like 007: GoldenEye 64.
@synclare - No clickbait here, its really not needed, Nintendo did a nice job with this controller. I suspect durability will be substantially the same, but its hard be sure as I am unable to measure the bowl to stick interaction as well as the materials used. There is also the new potentiometers to factor into the equation... those will break down over time as well.
I agree with your sentiments WRT a new stick needing to be developed and I this has only made me feel more brazen to take that on.
@ ドーブルX75 - the new sticks are analogue potentiometers, not digital sensors. The limiting factor with this controller for shooters is the lack of a second stick making it more difficult to move and aim at the same time. While we managed to find ways around that back in the day, I do believe those who are used to modern set-ups will struggle with that if we a release for Goldeneye or other N64 FPS.
@@SMEARGLEX75 ???
The new one uses analog potentiometers. The old one used optical encoders (digital).
@@emmettturner9452 Oh, whoops.
Do you think anyone will develop a dongle to use it on ORIGINAL hardware? That has been my question since I first found out they were making a controller. There still has not been anyone to make a new controller for the original N64 that can play in the same fashion or button layout as the original controller.
I am just going to drop this here for you 😉 th-cam.com/video/W_J43RwD48o/w-d-xo.html
@@RockerGaming THANK YOU! so excited
how close are you to a full n64 game collection?
I am very far away with no intention of ever getting there. I was VERY VERY lucky and never sold my games as a kid so this is my collection from then with maybe another dozen or two games added in. Its that factor that likely has kept my n64 collection small (on a relative basis). I also have an everdrive, so that helps to, lol
@@RockerGaming nice
Still plastic on plastic for the bowl and stick... I don't see how this is going to hold up any better unless the plastics used are notably different. Lubricant is nice to see, but I wouldn't be shocked if the original controllers had it too, and just nobody was tearing their controller apart to take pictures of it in 1996...
I confirm that this controller works on Windows without any drivers needed. The only problem is that you need to delete it and pair it again in the bluetooth menu each time the computer or the controller is shut down. Windows is just unable to pair it automatically on startup or without deleting it from the bluetooth menu and pairing it again. I tested it on Project 64, Dolphin, Cemu, and Steam. The lack of a second real stick and the lack of X and Y buttons make some games impossible to play even if you remap the buttons.
What do the C buttons show up as in Windows? On the Switch's button test screen, they show up as D-pad inputs for some reason.
You are lucky. For most people it seems that the N64 controller does not want to work on PC either at all or with serious issues that make the controller unusable, even with the support steam added for it.
@@Blazingflare2000Unsure if something’s changed in the last 7 months but it works perfectly fine on PC for me aside from Rumble, which i can’t get to work on any emulator with any controller really unless it supports Xinput, and even then Rumble seems broken on Project64 (though it worked with an Xbox controller on Mupen)
@@IceBlueLugia I'll have to give it a try again then.. But at the very least at launch it was mostly-totally broken for a large portion of people that tried it
At least the stick is useable the best bet why Speedrunners and SSB64 competitive scene try to look for is the sticks new and unused. Also Steel bowls would be the best option to help the stick to last long.
I agree with you, though if wanted to put a SS bowl into the remade controller, machining out the new bow would have me super nervous as they are likely going to be hard to come by.
Having said that I would love to try to make a more competitive stick for the OG N64 controller.
@@RockerGaming you should attempt to make a steel stick or 3D print stick i would be interested to test out.
Is there a way to get rumble and mapping on an og n64 controller
I think its absolutely possible. I think the way to pull it off would be to make a dongle to the N64 which will allow the wireless controller to sync up to it. From there the wireless N64 controller could work on the OG console and include a rumble feature!
I’m sure you are already considering how to mod this bad boy, or at the very least pop some new buttons on it.
NGL, there are alot of thoughts rolling around my head on how best to make something really cool out of this!!!
Wow didnt realize Nintendo actually went through with this
This thing is going to utterly fail again like the original controller, especially after taking it for a few rounds of Tug o' War in Mario Party SuperStars...
im assuming that either they still had stuff for the gamecube controllers considering they are pretty much the same as the old controllers (of course minus the trigger brace). wierd how vastly different it is, but at the same time not surprising
That is an interesting thought... I cant directly comment on it, but I have tried to buy those potentiometers from Noble directly and there are a lot of hoops they make you jump though. Its also interesting that Nintendo still has not made enough GC controllers IMO.
I agree if you really think about it, this needed to be redone from the ground up, unless they put out an adapter ala the GCC adapter.
11:45 that won't drift tho. If they used it nowadays it won't drift
is it even an n64 controller if it's not translucent
The redesigned stick doesn't look any different than the regular stick. I'm afraid that it won't take long before Mario Party 1 is released on the N64 Online Service and when it does....those sticks aren't going to last long
Its very possible, the one thing that is extremely hard to gauge is the stick to bowl interaction and more specifically the materials used for both. I think its likely you are correct with this, but its speculation for me as I couldnt measure that persay. The pots only drive the actual reading of the position of the stick and have less to nothing to do with durability... though eventually, they will degrade, which in theory wasnt an issue with the OG N64 stick as it was digital.
@@RockerGaming At any rate, I'm glad that we got modders and retro gamers like you that find new ways to work around these issues. Especially the N64 controllers. Thank you for taking the time to bring these old consoles and controllers back to life and bringing them to the modern Era
Man, I appreciate the hell outta that comment. I will do my best and I really want to find a way to drive the OG N64 controller into the modern era... I really feel like that would add a lot to the scene!
@@RockerGaming You and me both
HECK.... kinda yeah?
haha, its the correct reaction in a lot of ways! The controller is good and lays the ground work for someone to possibly push the scene forward using the ideas here... I am curious to see who does that first.
drift will happen.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHY, NINTENDO WHY??
Are you trying to make your brand synonymous with stick drift???
second
First
Uh ok good for you??