The 8Bitdo Bluetooth Wireless Classic NES Controller is a wireless gamepad with nostalgic gaming in mind. If you are an avid gamer who remembers the 8-bit gaming days of the classic Nintendo Entertainment System then you would definitely love this controller. It is now possible to relive those good old days of gaming in the eighties and nineties with this classic NES controller by playing all of your favorite games on your iOS, Android, Mac as well as Windows PC platforms.
The 8bitdo Bluetooth gamepad is perfect for hardcore gamers as well as casual gamers who need a wireless, portable video game controller. If you who have a soft spot for one of the most successful home video game consoles of its time from Nintendo, well then this controller is perfect for you.
Anyone who would have been lucky enough to own a Nintendo Entertainment System – or at least knew a neighbor who they could go by to play 8 hours of Ninja Gaiden – would definitely love this controller. When I was growing up, my parents could not afford to buy an NES, but the rich kid on the block was lucky enough to get his very own NES system. So, every Saturday we would ride our bikes over to his place and cram into his house to play Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt and Contra (one of my favorites) which was a popular side-scrolling running gunner game. I miss the nineties!
Anyway enough with the nostalgia, let’s get back to the product overview. The 8bitdo Bluetooth wireless classic NES controller is compatible with tablets and smartphones on the iOS, Android, and Windows operating systems as well as Mac and Windows (i.e. from Windows 10 down to Windows XP and Vista) computers.
Anyone familiar with the classic NES controller would notice that it’s the exact replica of the real thing with some minor additions. On the left hand side you have your familiar 8-direction d-pad and on the right hand side you have your four action keys labelled A, B, X and Y. The center of the controller has the start and select buttons. Now the original controller did not have shoulder buttons but due to the nature of today’s modern games, the 8bitdo Bluetooth Gamepad does come with left and right shoulder buttons.
The firmware for this controller is upgradeable and the keys are programmable as well which is great. So you will have the ability to map the controller keys depending on whichever game emulator you’re using or whatever game you’re playing.
Now let’s summarize the pros and cons.
One big pro is that it looks exactly like the original NES controller with the same color scheme and design. Another cool feature is that it is pretty much not machine specific, so whether it’s a PC, smartphone or tablet it will work seeing that it is compatible with all of the popular operating systems. The keys are programmable and the firmware is easily upgradable.
The only two cons that I can find is the fact that there is only one shoulder button on either side of the controller and it would be great if they had six action buttons as opposed to four, located on the right hand side, which would have made this the perfect gamepad to use with fighting games. But to be honest, you cannot have the best of both worlds seeing that the intent was to create an exact replica of the NES controller. That being said, we are stuck with 4 buttons.
The 8bitdo Bluetooth Wireless Classic NES controller retails for about $30 and you can purchase one from Amazon here if you are interested.