Retro-bit announce new/official Sega controllers

"Slate Grey" nah son, that's the COOLPAD.

I'm all about it. They got my money unless the D-Pad somehow sucks.

 

The dual analog controllers have been pushed back again to September 2nd.

 

Yup, but the Bluetooth receivers for the consoles have gone forwards to May 30th, according to Amazon!

Considering they yet to announce a release date for the analog-less "classic" Bluetooth versions of the MD and Saturn pads, I assume they won't be coming any earlier...

 

I wonder if the bluetooth controllers will be compatible with Nintendo Switch. To my disappointment, there aren't any good controllers with a d-pad for the Switch other than arguably Nintendo's NES joy-con set. Even at that, the NES controller is just decent, the d-pad itself feels fine but the 2 face buttons and rectangular shape are more or less obsolete. Nothing beats that d-pad and shoulder buttons on the kidney bean Saturn controller.

If they're not natively Switch compatible (not that we have any reason to think they would be), 8bitdo has a convenient little bluetooth receiver that allows the use of PS3 and PS4 controllers (among other things) on the Switch, giving us at least SOME d-pad to use. I should also mention that their wireless SNES controller is, like Nintendo's NES joy-cons, really good but still way inferior to the Saturn kidney bean controller. I wonder if it it will work with the wireless Saturn controller on the Switch. I'm not an electrical engineer, but all these gamepads follow a mostly-common layout scheme (A button always seems to close the same voltage circuit and so forth), so I don't suspect compatibility would require any driver or firmware update.



EDIT: line breaks

 

I believe I've read on twitter that they will work the Switch - who knows if that's still the case though.

Also, I wish pre-orders were available in the U.S. I see the products on Amazon UK, but not Amazon US. Weird.

 

I don't see why Sega doesn't take advantage of this fact, cram a linux computer into them and dump, say, Taxman's remasters inside, and give them an HDMI output.

 

8BitDo is beating Retro-bit to the punch with Sega Genesis/Megadrive bluetooth controllers and receivers. Not that surprising since it apparently takes 2 years for Retro-bit to release a product.

 

But have they assigned Mode to the R button?

And has anyone told them they can make the same controller work on the Saturn yet? :v:

 

Insert my usual AVOID 8BITDO CONTROLLERS rant here. Buyer beware. If they've tightened up their D-pads finally after all this time, it'd be surprising.

 

This is looking good.



If these also feel like the originals, I'm definitely getting at least one when they release.

EDIT: For comparison, here's the controller they've been selling without the SEGA license:

 

Seems some of the Saturn pads are out in the wild, or being sent to reviewers - Here's an Xboxing of the Clear and Black ones, both USB and Saturn variants of each:


edit:
Turns out he has an unboxing for the Genesis pads too:

 

Another YouTube review, this time courtesy of MetalJesusRocks:


At the end he mentions that the USB pads can have their D-pads toggled between digital and analogue, which sounds interesting.

 

I am certainly going to buy one of these controllers, likely the USB Mega Drive pad, simply because if the build quality is good despite the low price, then it's certainly going to be more achievable for me than having to blow over £100 for a SLS Saturn pad.

 

Very excited to hear USB saturn pad impressions. If it's good, it will most likely become my main controller for retro games.

 

That's interesting, but one has to wonder why it's not changed by holding the MODE button for 5 secons, rather than the START button...

 

More impressions in of the Saturn and Genesis pads from Destructoid

 

Great to hear, I'll have to get one if the Dpad feels like the saturn one. Honestly no dpad made after it comes close to the level of quality. Actually it seems like since we stepped into 3D the dpads just keep getting worse and worse...

 

Will the USB controllers work on Switch?

 

Looks like they fucked up the shoulder buttons.