N64 Dual Stick Controller...best thing ever!

[+GoldenWheels]

To me the 64 controller was always a function over form unit. Looked like crap but played well with games desgined for it. Goldeneye was a revelation at the time IMO control wise for a console--I loved the c button controls for strafing.

 

I would also say my sticks held up very very well until the Mario Party series, which put such a high value on frantic spinning motions. I mean, I had people holding the things sideways and using palm pressure to spin the stick for max speed. Controllers I kept aside for non-Party play are still largely mint to this day. Any other issues aside...game was a stick destroyer.

[NightSprinter]

SatoshiMatrix, something of note on Nintendo's first-party N64 controllers was that the "3D Stick" as they called it utilized a pair of optical encoders. Much like the kind found on trackballs or vintage computer mice. The only difference that I know of was they set it up to function in an analog way. This is why so many third-party sticks allegedly had such problems with some games (being they used actual analog hardware as opposed to the optical stuff).

[Chuck D. Head]

To me the 64 controller was always a function over form unit. Looked like crap but played well with games desgined for it. Goldeneye was a revelation at the time IMO control wise for a console--I loved the c button controls for strafing.

 

t

 

I decided to give a N64 FPS a try for the first time in a while last night and selected South Park of all things (built on Turok engine). As far as the C buttons functioning as the right hand stick, I feel that while the up / down axis is just atrociously oversensitive, with too short a range, I think the use of the buttons for strafing works very well. I think I will be looking to do the Gamecube stick swap before playing this, Turok or Goldeneye again.

[Tr3vor]

t

 

I decided to give a N64 FPS a try for the first time in a while last night and selected South Park of all things (built on Turok engine). As far as the C buttons functioning as the right hand stick, I feel that while the up / down axis is just atrociously oversensitive, with too short a range, I think the use of the buttons for strafing works very well. I think I will be looking to do the Gamecube stick swap before playing this, Turok or Goldeneye again.

 

looking up and down isn't that bad on 007, I think you just picked a terrible game.

[NightSprinter]

I had an N64 stick refurbished with the thumbstick from a Gamecube controller. Attempting to aim in GoldenEye was quite a thing. Didn't someone also post an additional mod for that showing how to allow that stick to be more usable for that and Mario 64?

[+wood_jl]

For far less money, time, effort, skill etc you could get rafnet's GameCube to N64 adapter that lets you use the GC's twin sticks with games like GoldenEye. Oh, and it also has a dpad.

 

That's pretty cool. I was wondering if it would then work with a Gamecube--->PS1 adapter, because the D-pad is just too small for my taste (why did Nintendo do that?) on the Gamecube controller, but he answers that question (NO!) in the video. He doesn't say whether or not the Rumble Pak is emulated in the Gamecube controller, because he's using a WaveBird that doesn't rumble, of course. The site for the adapter doesn't mention it, either.

 

 

I know the N64 controller itself is usually a love-it-or-hate-it opinionated thing. I think it's OK, not as bad as those who hate it think. It's generally comfortable, but the quality of the original analog stick is certainly questionable; thankfully there are 3rd-party replacements all over Ebay that resemble the Gamecube stick.

 

But I don't understand the choice of the 3-tit design of the N64 controller that mandates a mutual exclusivity between analog and digital control - without having to reposition your hand. That makes strafing impractical in DOOM 64 (etc) where you need the analog stick and the L shoulder button too. The 3-tit design is probably just a gimmick to make the controller look interesting, which it certainly does.

 

 

I really like this controller, the "SuperPad 64" or "SuperPad 64 Plus" by Interact: (don't know why there's a Plus and what extra it implies)

 

 

Which solves the problem of not having 3 hands to use the original N64 controller in some games. It's a great controller for DOOM 64. The N64 controller should have been this style.

They're all over Ebay.

 

But the name is the same as this one by Performance.....

 

 

......which is obviously just a 3rd-party ripoff of the original N64 controller. I don't know why they have the same name. If Interact and Performance are (or were if either's gone now) different companies, one should have objected to the use of the same name. If they're both brands owned by the same company, it was dumb to call 2 different products by the same name.

[Rex Dart]

Never understood the hate for the N64 controller. By far my favorite controller of any 3D system.

 

I can't play Wipeout with it. It's physically impossible to hit all the necessary buttons during gameplay.

[Satoshi Matrix]

That's pretty cool. I was wondering if it [GameCube to N64 adapter] would then work with a [he means PS1 to Gamecube] adapter.

 

In other words, daisy chaining two adapters to get a PS1 or PS2 controller to work with the N64? No, that will not work because of cross talk, not to mention voltage differences.

 

He doesn't say whether or not the Rumble Pak is emulated in the Gamecube controller, because he's using a WaveBird that doesn't rumble, of course. The site for the adapter doesn't mention it, either.

 

No. The N64 rumble and GameCube rumble are very different from each other and COMPLETELY incompatible. There is no signal carrier in the N64 pinout that could carry rumble support to the internal motor of the GameCube pad, as the N64 had an external, battery operated module rumble unit that's differently from any other controller type made since. Even if this were not an issue, there's a voltage issue - the N64 controller pinout can't provide enough power to supply both the GameCube controller and the rumble motor.

 

So long story short, you can't get rumble out of any GameCube controller using the GameCube to N64 adapter.

[+wood_jl]

There was one brand of aftermarket Rumble-Pak copy that did the rumble without a battery. I had one years ago. This probably put a strain on the system, then?