like many others, gamecube wavebird was the first game controller I seriously loved. Everything before that was fine. A novelty at best, an outsized pain at worst, but mostly just a means to an end. Now there’s a new controller for the Nintendo Switch that looks exactly like the 2002 peripheral’s spiritual successor and claims to be free of the Joy-Con’s infamous stick drift problem.
“The Nyxi Wizard combines the retro look of our long-running NGC controller with a more ergonomic design that works perfectly with the Nintendo Switch console,” Nyxi recently said. murmuredThe controller retails for $70 and features interchangeable joysticks and adjustable turbo and mapping options. But the real draw is the Hall-effect joystick, which uses magnets to prevent drift.
As Chris Parson points out so The BargeSega Sega Saturn 3D and Dreamcast controllersThe use of wear-resistant parts allows the stick to last longer without succumbing to drift, such that the directional control works even when the stick is in a rest position.As someone whose modern controllers only seem to last a few years before the pin spring fails or the rubber startss vanish, an attractive proposition, one 8bitdo and other professional controller makers working to provide.
Joy-Con issues are well known at this point. I have experienced 3 pairs in 6 years. There were problems with the side locking mechanism and button springs, but most notorious for drifting, develop into a lawsuit, Regulatory investigationWhen overworked repair centerI’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Sony’s DualShock 4 and new PS5 DualSense haven’t aged well in years either. Meanwhile, my old Wavebird?Friendly games still ok super smash bros
And that’s another big draw of Nyxi Wizard. the modder is emulating for years. The look immediately conjures up images of late-night GameCube sessions, but it also follows in the footsteps of future-wave controllers, from the lack of wires to the offset his joystick. Almost exactly 20 years later, we’re still living in the future that Nintendo’s Wavebird built.
I haven’t tried it yet, so I don’t know if it actually feels good or holds up as the company boasts. The current renaissance of gamepad design keep expanding.