While we hear Punch Out!! is quite good, it's safe to say the Wii hasn't exactly been flooded with great titles lately. The most enjoyable part of the system still comes from the Virtual Console and all the classic titles that populate it, and soon you'll be able to pair those games with the classic controllers they were written for thanks to Komodo's Retro Adapter. Sure, we've seen some rather...
unsophisticated ways of making N64 controllers work in the past, and Nintendo itself hopped on the retro bandwagon with a first-party Wii
SNES gamepad, but Komodo's adapter has no exposed solders, looks like a wee N64, and even lets you use your creaky old NES pad. No official word on availability, but expect a $20 price sometime in June. We'll be bringing you more from E3.
posted May 21st 2009 9:43AM
Perfect title.
So True...
Why has Nintendo created Wii-versions of the classic controllers yet? I thought they were in the business of printing money....
Punch-Out!! is awesome! The classic control play is nothing short of stellar.
ENGADGET IS BROKEN!!!!!!!!! ITS SHOWING SUFF FROM LIKE A WEEK AGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Dusty new Wii"
WOW.....burn....
but true.....
man...i have a dusty new 360, and ps3 too....no new title has interested me lately.....
I know - whats up with that?
I seem to go into a Game every week hoping to find something interesting for my PS3 - nothing for the last 2 moths :(
For the love of all that is holy BRING THIS TO THE PC!
word.
The only decent N64 to PC adaptor is the adaptoid, but they stopped making them years ago and now they go for silly money on ebay.
Also, wobbly analogue stick is a killer.
Other than that, N64 controller ftw. Give me ergonomics over aesthetics any day over the week.
just need to hack the end. it's only a 20 dollar risk, i'm sure benheck has the pinouts.
Well you can use this (http://www.prlog.org/10146192-3-in-1-magic-joy-box-use-xbox-gc-ps2-controllers.html) to connect Komodo's Retro Adapter to the PC. I have another similar adapter that I bought from Wal Mart for $10. I'll post a link later when I get home because I can't remember what the adapter is called.
that is 1.) freaking awesome, 2.) cheap which makes it even more awesome, and 3.) needs to come to the PC.
I hated the early N64 Controller with the 1 inch cord.....the N64 and SNES 5 inch cords were much better.
NES and SNES...not N64 and SNES....
I need more coffee
For a second I thought you needed more than just coffee, but then I looked at the picture again.
lulz, where did they even find a 1 inch N64 controller
Don't joke about my dusty new Wii. I have to send it in for drive and laser failure for a cost of $80.
@Sajon: Reasons I've been using the USB HDD loader. Best thing ever man, that way your DVD drive will last nigh on forever because you only use it to rip your games. And the load times PWN.
I've played more wii than I have PS3 in a while, with the exception of the Resident Evil 5 demo.
This product is freaking great though, I have been playing starfox on my old N64 instead of virtual console, because the joysticks of the classic controller are actually way too sensitive than the older games were designed for. This is the first cheapo gadget I've seen in a while that I'm certain to buy ASAP.
I've been waiting for three months to give my wife her (our) new Wii.
(Her birthday is on the 25th so she (we) have to wait a couple more days.)
Like a dope I bought the retro controller when I could be fishing my super-cool SNES controllers out of the attic!
Man. :|
I dont know, it just seems so wierd to have the cord comming out of the bottom of the controller. It just seems so awkward in the hands. I know that sounds strange to say that i like a perfectly rectangular controler over the new contorted one, but its true, I
wow, they really do exist. who would've thought?
I wonder if the NES gun will work with this. You can get Duck Hunt on Virtual Console right?
The NES gun does not work with modern tv's. They don't have the scanlines or something the gun looks for. I can't remember what it is but you can search to figure it out. Sucks. Would be cool to use the gun on a 50" plasma :) - However it only works on CRT tubes. :(
They were called light guns because they flash light at the tv and catch the reflection of the glass. Modern tvs don't have a glass covering on the screen.
If you install the Homebrew channel, there is a Duck Hunt available that uses the regular Wiimote. Maybe not as cool as the classic NES gun, but it works well.
my modern TV is CRT. hooray! only 720p, but still. duck hunt/ super scope 6!
@Joseph
How do you manage to have an HD CRT? Care to explain?
@mr nimblewick
First of all... modern TV's don't have glass? Where did you get that gem of misinformation? Second of all, the Nintendo light gun does not "shoot light", it RECEIVES it. When you pull the trigger, it's the TV that flashes light at the gun, and the gun has a sensor to read that flash. It relies on the timing of the TV's refresh rate to figure out the math of what part of the screen it is seeing. This is why PAL light guns don't work with NTSC sets and vice versa, because they have different refresh rates. Similarly, Nintendo light guns don't work with modern flat-screens because they use a completely different method of refreshing the screen. This doesn't mean that light gun technology could not be developed for modern TV's (and in fact, many have), it just means that Nintendo's light gun won't work because it was designed specifically for NTSC/PAL CRT televisions.
I have a Panasonic 26" HD CRT, 1080i
CRTs don't have pixels or resolution as such, but there's nothing to stop them showing a 1080 signal in very high quality. Often this means they produce just as good, if not better, of a picture than an equivalent sized plasma / LCD. Of course, they are one hell of a lot bigger, so much less practical.
FINALLY. What the heck took them so long. This was a no brainer peripheral from day one. Why wouldn't anyone have capitalized on that. WANT X1000000.
With regard to recent good Wii games, you folks should check out Excitebots Trick Racing. It's the most fun racing game I've played in quite a long time and it isn't getting the sales it deserves. Sigh.
With regard to this product, what I really want is not this, but a similar gizmo that plugs into a Wii Remote, instead of into a GC port. I want to be (more or less) wireless. Yeah, Club Nintendo might let me get one such SNES controller, and maybe not, but we need a way to buy these things.
Hahaha, the adapter even looks like the N64.
Amazing, need a pc version though.
Boom Blox Bash Party is another good recent release.
I don't care what you say Engadget. My Nintendo Wii is not dusty. It gets a lot of use.
I too play my Wii several times a week. This is a sweet device, but it's a shame it only houses one of each controller (or appears to, anyway).
@ Toon
Good observation Toon. Didn't notice that you can only connect on controller per console at a time. What I wonder if you will be able to use the SNES pad on NES games and the N64 pad on SNES games. What I also wonder is how will the buttons be configured. Will the Z trigger on the N64 pad trigger the same response in the Virtual Console game since it is actually using a GC port on the Wii? We really need more information or a video of this. By the way for those who wish to use this on the PC look at (http://www.prlog.org/10146192-3-in-1-magic-joy-box-use-xbox-gc-ps2-controllers.html). I have a similar device that I picked up from Wal Mart for about $10 but I can't recall the name of the company. Will post link to that device when I get home.
It should be noted that N64 games on the Virtual Console have customized button layouts (meaning that the button mapping is not the same for every game), so unless this thing supports some kind of custom button remapping feature it isn't going to work for every N64 game.
For those who want to use Komodo's device on the PC should check out the Gamemon Universal USB Convertor (http://savvygeek.com/2008/04/18/review-gamemon-usb-converter/). I have one and it works great. Just make sure you have the latest drivers.
I think it's safe to say that this is intended to only allow one controller at a time to function, not all three at once, so that it doesn't allow more then one of the same controller to be connected to it is moot. To use more then one controller of the same type, you need more then one Retro Adapter. For one thing the Wii is not expecting multiple controllers to be plugged into one GC port and they were it probably wouldn't know it.
thats a cool idea but isnt safe to say that if someone has those controllers they also have the old system thus not needing Virtual Console
Not necessarily Juan. My copy of Mario Kart 64 is lost, sold the N64, but I still have the gold N64 controller that I ordered through Nintendo Power. I still have SNES controllers and my SNES (that survived a flood!), but I never had a copy of Super Metroid until I got it on the Virtual Console.
guys there already are pc versions, plenty of them - and even cheap cheap cheap DIY kits.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/games/ba5a/
http://www.joystiq.com/2004/09/07/how-to-make-a-nintendo-controller-into-a-pc-joystick/
when is this comeing out and where can I buy?