My “Low-Key” Obsession With The Famicom Controller
Like many video game enthusiasts and aficionados out there, I like to collect various bits & pieces, and my area of focus are controllers. Primarily from the 8/16-bit eras.
I tend to avoid software, considering how pricey everything’s getting (I laughed my ass off when fellow Import Club member Jessen messaged me an eBay auction for Moonwalker that was up to $78 to also ask: “Explain this bullshit to me?”), plus everything can found “for free” anyway. As for hardware, getting old systems to play nice with new displays can be a massive headache, plus let’s be honest here, emulation has gotten undeniably good.
Yet no matter how accurate that Akumajou Densetsu rom might be running on a MiSTer, I can only play if there’s an actual NES controller… or a very close facsimile… in my hands. And that’s my primary obsession, the original Japanese version to be precise, for the Famicom.
It all began with the image above, which I’ve highlighted a few times already, originally in an assortment of Game Culture Snapshots. All I knew at first is that Nullsleep picked it up while in Tokyo and was absolutely in love with it. More than anything else, it simply introduced the very concept of enjoying the controller that set the mold that all others would be cast from, sans being attached to the hip to the console it’s associated with.
I would eventually discover that was Jeremiah had was the FC30, which I believe is to be the first product from 8BitDo…
Here is my original review, which I really need to update; thanks to the latest firmware, the thing now runs like a champ (I own four atm)…
There was also a special edition of FC30, aka The Gold Edition…
According to the original press release, which GBAtemp has thankfully archived, the gold portion of the controller is actual gold, 99.99% pure, supplied by a famous Hong-Kong jewelry brand. Only 30 of The Gold Edition were ever made, to further emphasize the 30th anniversary of the Famicom.
Cue my favorite part of the press release, which discusses the FC30 as a whole…
“This FC30 is to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the released of FC on July 15, 1983. And It will be released on July 15, 2013.
We spent a lot of time on the button feedback, it’s 99% closed to the original FC GamePad.
We spent a lot of time on the plastic shell, it’s 1:1 size of the original FC GamePad.
We spent a lot of time on the hardware and the software developing, we own the all technology…
FC30 looks like the original FC GamePad, how about the copyright problem? Don’t worry about the copyright problem, the D-Pad of Nintendo copyright has expired at 2005. And FC30 has more than 3 obviously parts different from original FC GamePad to against the copyright law.”
I’m also glad GBAtemp also saved these other promotional images…
On my long list of things to do is a detailed history of 8BitDo; the FC30 made an immediately impact, as an absurdly high quality product from a then no name vendor from HK, where entirely forgettable controller from anyone other than Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft were simply par for the course.
Though it was their follow-up the SF30 (another Bluetooth controller, one that was essentially a carbon copy of a stock Super Famicom controller) and the SN30 (same thing, just a Super Nintendo-looking variant) that put 8BitDo on the map. Yet this wildly successful follow-up did not, in fact, have “3 obviously parts different from original” and shortly thereafter they moved towards semi-original designs to avoid any potential litigation, or at least that’s my theory.
But back to the FC30: as much as I love the classic form factor of the Nintendo’s original 8-bit input, the adjustments made to help modernize the design are a mixed bag; as noted in my review, the two shoulder buttons don’t feel all that great, but as useful as having four face buttons might be, they mess with the original design. Plus the extra inputs are unnecessary for me anyway, since I mostly just play NES/Famicom games with it (I own five SN30s for SNES/Super Fami titles).
Hence the concept of using the original controllers in a modern fashion, and one of the first (but not the first, more on that later) instances was the aforementioned Love Hultén’s FC-PVM…
I distinctly recall being approximately 50 times more excited to see Famicom controllers made wireless; many thought it was neat, but I was again very excited. Cue another 8BitDo product, their DIY kits that allows one to modify original controllers to have Bluetooth functionality. Which is a smart way to offer people a modern way to play games with that classic feels, sans the fear of Nintendo’s lawyers.
Thus, began a search online with hopes of performing a similar mod, yet I was never able to track any down. I believe the fact that they’re hardwired to the system is a primary reason why they’re so rare; I can’t recall the last time I saw any on eBay, and even if they did, the asking price would probably be exorbitant. Meanwhile, here’s someone who found a pair in the junk bin at some secondhand shop in Nagoya (which is where such a thing usually ends up, me thinks) for just 99 yen…
Yet my search has always been half-hearted (case in point: it took a backseat when I was actually in Japan several months ago). Largely due to the fact that I always assumed fitting 8BitDo’s NES DIY PCB into a Famicom controller housing would be tricky, an assumption that was proven corrected by this tutorial. I mean, it doesn’t appear to be that difficult, but still…
In actuality, 8BitDo’s method is way simpler to implement when compared to this earlier approach, from just a few years ago. Whereas nowadays you make some minor adjustments to the supplied board, this one requires flat-out destruction to the controller’s innards, a total deal breaker in my book, along with hot glue…
Let’s compare that end result here with the end result from before, shall we…
To further illustrate how far things have comes, here’s a video that details yet another method for getting classic controllers to operate wirelessly, one that’s just a few years older, yet even more complicated; 8BitDo’s contributions to bridging the gap between old and young cannot be celebrated enough…
Back to where we are today; one can find several other attempts online, along with slight variations, made largely possible due to so much of the headache being taken out of the equation. The first is purely aesthetic; instead of the blue light that’s part of the mod (which allows one to know if the controller has paired with the system), someone changed it to red & green…
Next we have someone else on Reddit, who not only modded the controllers, but also wired the USB charging cables into the system itself…
Meanwhile, over at Twitter, someone has the done the same thing as above, but instead of plugging anything in, charging pads were installed so the controllers charge when docked…
It’s worth pointing out that 8BitDo aren’t the only ones to produce such DIY mods; I don’t know who makes it, but BEEP in Akihabara offers the same thing, but it connects a Famicom controller to a MSX instead (not wirelessly, but via whatever interface that the computer uses)…
On that note, something else I’ve been on the lookout for has been Famicom controllers with other types of interfaces. Perhaps the best example, which I also once featured in a different round of Game Culture Snapshots, is courtesy of everyone boutique retro gaming brand, Analogue. They used to offer such a thing with the red & gold version of the original Nt (the one that used actual NES/Famicom guts, before going FPGA)…
According to this one person, the mod is actually very simple, with no modification of the PCB apparently, or at least none is mentioned whatsoever…
But again, I haven’t been able to find any out in the while. I then began to seek out other 3rd party alternatives, preferably ones with a more common interface. The only one that sticks out (cuz it’s practically the only one out there) is the now discontinued USB controller from Buffalo…
I had it for a little while. And it was okay; the build quality was surprisingly decent, but it drove me up the wall that 1. the red and gold is a considerably darker when compared to the Famicom original or even the FC30 (which far as I can tell is identical to its source of inspiration) & 2. the X & Y buttons were sapped and it was driving me NUTS. Though I wish I held onto it; as noted, it’s no longer available, and what used to go for about $20 is now… over $300?!?
Anyhow, while looking for an image online, I just discovered that it came in other colors; the grey one matches another 3rd party Famicom controller, made by Hudson, which is neat…
But the real hotness is the silver one…
And… that’s it? There’s actually something else, but it’s AliExpress-caliber junk, not worth the trouble of hunting down a decent looking image. Otherwise, I’m flat out shocked by the lack of options; I basically assumed such an iconic design that everyone in Japan at the very least grew up with be more pervasive today. The number of cheap-o USB controllers that resemble the original Nintendo Entertainment System’s controller when compared to those resembling the Family Computer’s is literally 50 to 1.
Further digging around online would produce this image for a Famicom-esque wireless controller, from Retro-Bit of all parties (which has famously gone on to produce carbon copies of a stock 6 button Genesis and Sega Saturn controllers), that was never produced. Note the Buffalo-like swapping for the X & Y buttons…
Oh, so I know what you’re asking… what about the controllers for the Famicom Twin? I dunno, they just don’t do anything for me! Though what I do love is the controllers for Sharp’s C1, which again is from the aforementioned Game Culture Snapshots round up…
I guess the most interesting detail that many might not have noticed here is how the A & B buttons resemble the ones found on the very first edition of the Famicom…
I’m also assuming if anyone has been waiting for me to post a picture of the Famicom Edition Game Boy Micro, but instead, I offer friend of Attract Mode @blizzardjesus’s Famicom Edition Game Boy DMG…
Back to the GBA, another thing that I basically never see is the very first version of the Famicom Edition SP. Generally speaking, you see the all-white follow-up way more, which isn’t that often to being with. @ATARIHAZURE4’s, with Miyamoto’s autograph, is even rarer…
Another question you might be asking is if I have Famicom Classic, and the answer is no, cuz the controllers are too damn small. But as this person on the Atari Age forums demonstrates, if there’s a mod, there’s a way (to play it however you want)…
And yes, he would eventually modify an original Famicom controller to have the Wii controller connector…
Bonus video time: looking at the Famicom controller so much has more than likely reminded you a question that’s long been in the back of your mind, one that has never been answered: why the buttons are “backwards”. And perhaps you’ve seen a video that recently offered an explanation? If so, that YouTuber undoubtedly ripped their intel off from the Gaijillionaire (and probably had the gall to ask you for to contribute to some Patreon)…
