Everything else is obsolete - Retro Fighter Brawler64 Controller
ShortCircuit
·ShortCircuit
·2022-05-05
·
2,437 words · ~12 min read
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- It's retro time! I don't know how many of you are
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nineties kids, but when I first saw this whole thing, it was kind of mind blowing.
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Like, why are there three? Why is it this?
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Why can't I use this? I mean, it's a classic
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but it doesn't mean that it can't be improved upon Enter, the Retro Fighters Brawler 64 Wireless Edition.
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Now this is wireless, like it says and it is a complete redesign
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of the original Nintendo 64 controller.
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In fact, it looks more like a switch pro controller than anything else.
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- [Jono] I thought third-party controllers suck.
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- Yeah. Third party controllers usually do suck. This is a, my super pad, 64 from back in the day.
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Oh, that's so rough. Oh, all the buttons feel terrible.
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This is the controller that I would've used for my sister or somebody.
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It's not good. For Christmas one year.
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I think my dad got it for me. Sorry, dad. This is a third-party controller.
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Yes, but it's a third-party controller developed
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by fans of the console and of retro gaming.
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Obviously we also have the Retro Fighters StrikerDC
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over here, which I think was their first controller? Didn't bring my Dreamcast today.
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Cause I didn't think we'd have them on set but there you go.
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The back of the box here, it's the next generation N64 controller.
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And I think that they are not lying. 2.4 gigahertz wireless technology.
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Well, I mean, that's pretty standard for wireless but hopefully that means it's zero lag.
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Wireless range over 30 feet. That's great. Ergonomic and comfortable design.
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We shall see. Compatible with memory packs. That is huge
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because like when was the last time this socket
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whatever connector has been made, like, I mean
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that's a Nintendo proprietary thing, I am sure. Responsible and responsible.
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(laughter) Responsive analog stick.
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Which if you compare to this third party thing, like
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Oh, you can hear that it's creaking.
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I don't know how much that comes through, but it's it's a bad experience.
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Let's take a look at this.
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All right. So obviously we've got the red plastic one. I'm just going to take it out of the tray here and lay it
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to the side. We've got this. Ooh, a little key chain.
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It's like a little, a little pixelated figure. I think that's one of the mascots.
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Oh, approximately the 2.5 hours of fully charged. Oh to fully charged the battery.
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Approximately 10 plus hours before you need to recharge. Oh, this is really cool.
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Instead of having a, like N64 memory pack
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adapters slot in the back here, it's got it on
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the connector. So it just goes straight in like that.
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And it like stands up. Like it plugs in vertically
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and I actually have my old memory card
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but that you have just go straight in like that.
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No clip or anything. Cause you don't really need it. You're not like banging it around.
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Like you might with an N64 controller
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because this is connected directly into the console and oh,
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oh the feel, the feel is much nicer. Like the plastic feels
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like it's got a kind of a cheapish texture but it's actually more like a satin finish.
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You can tell that-- I'm trying to like flex it and it's not
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it's not flexing like at all, basically.
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It is, it is solid plastic. Compare that to my original N64 controller.
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Yeah. It's waving to you. Triggers feel--
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little less snap to them than the in 64 controller. Face buttons, they're a bit snappier.
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Yeah. Yeah. The original N64 face buttons were a little bit mushier than this.
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So that'll be interesting to see how that plays out in gameplay.
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It'll probably break in over time but I remember this being always kind of mushy
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164 grams. That is 0.361 pounds or 5.7 ounces.
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0.182 grams or 0.401 pounds or 6.4 ounces.
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So that's significant. And if I add the cable, that's like
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what is it like twenty-five percent more? - [Jono] They both don't have rumble.
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That's true. They both don't have rumble. The main thing about the Rumble Pack, was
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that it was actually an add-on so you'd have to plug it into this slot here.
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Even if this had rumble built into it the game would need to support it.
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And you wouldn't be able to use a memory card at the same time the memory card slot or the expansion slot
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I guess, controller expansion pack, only slotted in one device
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at a time there was no hub or split or anything like that
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that was available. Games that support both a memory card and a rumble pack,
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you had to remove your memory card and insert Rumble Pack for game play.
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Then when it came time to save or move your Rumble Pack and insert your memory card to save.
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Well, let's just we had to put up with back then. - [Jono] Not on PS1!
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Yeah, because Sony had to like one-up Nintendo and actually make a standard
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for controller design that lasted.
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I'm like, ah, well that, which nobody wants to touch.
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(laughter) There's the charging cable and it's along with everything else,
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this is type C like holy crap. And it obviously comes in a multiple different colors.
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This here is the classic one that actually looks pretty classy.
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Yeah. I'm, I'm really excited to get this going. And I'm really excited to talk
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What should I play? - [David] GoldenEye. - Yeah. GoldenEye.
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This has to be a very old monitor, super thick. This is why we need a Retro Tank 5X Pro.
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You know what? GoldenEye has a sixteen by nine mode. - [David] What?
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(laughter) - Did you know that? - [David] No.
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- It does. - [David] That's awesome. - Check this out.
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Oh God. The frame rate's so bad.
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Did I change the control scheme back? What control scheme did I like? Was it kissy? Okay. I'm just going to change this to
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the default control scheme. I don't remember how to play this anymore.
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With that control scheme.
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This is not the most precise controller.
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Okay. I think that's enough of that. Let's try sniping with the other one.
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There we go. Here we go. All right.
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Just pick right up. Yeah. The C buttons are a little rough, but this stick
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is way nicer. It is super easy to move that cursor around.
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I can't see the thing is like smudged. The game is so blurry except I know this is how
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it's supposed to look because there are people who actually
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go out of their way to make it look, not like this. However, I will say the stick feels amazing.
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The C buttons will take a little bit of getting used to. They're a little bit snappier than I would prefer.
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I kind of prefer them a little bit mushy like the N64 controller, but that could just be like force
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of habit, but yeah, GoldenEye in sixteen by nine. How about that?
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Okay. So, okay. Let, let me, let me just quickly try the bad controller.
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Oh no. Is it as bad as I think it is?
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Or am I just hamming it up? Like if I try to aim like, each one
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of these little steps that I'm doing is the controller, like the stick, like moving a little bit because
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it's like stuck. Little, little motions I'm trying to make.
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I cannot do because This thing is so
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bad. Like I'm not, I'm not even kidding. The ergonomics of this controller is so bad
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that it actually hurts. God. This stick is super tall too.
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It's stupid. Oh, that feels so much better.
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It's almost like putting on an ice pack. Okay. Let's try something less shootery and more
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drivery that should that should maybe give the performance pat, a bit of a--
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I dunno. Oh, my saves are, wait.
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Yeah, they are still here. There's my sister and there's me.
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I need a game. Like I need a game shark, like right now to copy all the off
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of this onto a new memory card, because this thing is going to die any day.
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Seriously, these, are bad battery backs. Like this is a CR 2032 from back in the day.
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I need to get these saves off of here
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Anyway.
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Okay. So just flying around, this feels pretty normal but I mean, I'm using a normal N64 controller.
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Let's let's swap out to the Retro Fighters and see how that feels.
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- [Jono] It said not to swap it out during gameplay.
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- My saves!
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Oh. (laughter)
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Okay. I think I grabbed it by the power pack and that made it like it jostled a little bit.
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Let me make sure that the saves are
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We can test the functionality - [Jono] I'm gonna feel so sad if it's all gone.
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- [David] Come on, game! - [All] Yeah!
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- I need to, I need to get a game shark like, now. I'm not-- I don't remember how to play this game
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but like, I can actually like make subtle movements with it.
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Like I don't have to be like banking completely all the time.
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Like I can just of sort of smoothly do it
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which is not something I can do with the N64 controller that I had.
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Yeah. Don't grab it by the power. That's a, that's a bad idea.
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Yeah. Actually this is, this is pretty easy to play. I like it.
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I don't know why I didn't like it as much as Mario Kart, maybe because of the frame rate.
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So they try again with the Retro Fighters.
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Oh, oh no, it did do that.
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Oh, interesting. So the amount of power that required caused my old N64 to blip
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out for a second there. Probably because of old capacitors in this thing
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but that is something that you'd have to bear in mind. Is that a, it does require power
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more power than a normal controller would.
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- [Jono] Dude, look at that drift!
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How does it feel? - It feels good. It's it's a little bit weird.
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Cause I'm still not used to the position of the Z button.
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The fact that I can get to every button on the controller is really nice.
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I don't know why Nintendo didn't let you do that before
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but like, yeah, I can take that turn and I don't have to be like constantly like back and forth like that.
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I can be like, yeah. Well, I came in first this time and I came
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in second last time. So I guess that's a win for the Retro Fighters.
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I'm not going to try this. I know that was a meme. I'm not going to try this.
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I don't know. What's the price of these things?
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I feel if they're 50 bucks - [David] In my head, it's 50 bucks. It's $39.99.
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- Oh wow! Okay. Well at 40 bucks, this thing is a steal.
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Let me tell you that right now, if you get 10 hours of battery on this for charge and you can plug it
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into a computer and you can, can you, can you can you give me your laptop real quick?
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I want to see if I can, like, this thing is cheap but it's cheaply made like it's solid.
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See if it shows up, maybe I need to--
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On this? It may purely be for charging.
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In which case, I mean, it's not a huge deal.
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If you have an N64 to USB adapter, this will work.
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- [David] Wait, we have one don't we? - Do we? - [David] Let's see.
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All right.
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We're setting up for play port one. Hmm. Foreplay.
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Game controller settings, properties.
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It's not that one. Oh man. I may need the power supply for this.
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- [David] It's not worth it. - Yeah. It might be that this requires too much power. Just like when I plug it into the N64, it
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does this whole thing. Oh, it didn't do it this time.
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This thing is amazing. Like there's so much more precise control you can get
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for the N64. This feels so much more freeing.
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It's difficult to really describe how much better it is.
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And at $39, if you've got an N64, you really
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probably should look at it. And it's wireless. Like you get a wireless controller
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and the color of your choice, that is solid.
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And if you've got an old N64 that you're trying to run and you've got like a creaky old controller that, you know
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may or may not still be useful, it seems like a no-brainer because like buying one
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of these in reasonable condition is going to
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be roughly the same price, probably. Can't speak to the quality of the Hyperkins
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but I can speak to the quality of this. This is amazing.
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And I would recommend it. And that's it for this one. I don't know if we want to do one on this.
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I dunno. Let me know if you want to do more retro stuff like this.
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I mean, it doesn't seem to do that great. But if you want it, we'll do it.
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Thanks for watching and subscribe. Mm, foreplay.