In the past, hardware company 8BitDo has released some pretty nice and pretty useful retro-inspired control pads. They, mostly, look really nice, but more importantly, they get the job done. The Snes and Genesis pads being some of my favorites.
Those two can move over as I now have a new favorite, at least to look at.
Available to pre-order now for shipping at the end of next month, 8BitDo have announced a couple of wireless control pads based off of the new Switch Lite range.
Available in yellow or turquoise, the two pads will retail at $25 and be compatible with the Switch as well as PC. I do have some concerns about the pads, but firstly, just look at them:
They both look absolutely stunning and 8BitDo has done a wonderful job on that front. What concerns me though is the pads themselves and whether we actually have a need for them at all.
I know the Switch Lite cannot be docked and there are no removable Joycons, so if you want to play the console on a stand you are out of luck unless you buy a separate controller. The one thing this pad has going for it is the portability.
If you wanted to play a 2D platformer they could be ideal, having a D-Pad for such games is an absolute must, however, having to use a second D-Pad to control a camera would not feel very comfortable in my opinion.
The shoulder buttons also look to me as they could be a pain to use. I can’t imagine the L2 and R2 button being very comfortable to reach. I definitely can’t imagine me not pressing the R and L buttons by mistake.
As expected, the pads don’t support any additional functions such as gyro, rumble or amiibo, not that you would expect them to for the price.
I would like to get my hands on these pads to put my concerns to the test, but in the meantime, I’m more than happy using my GameCube controller. I love that thing.
