This was posted 4 years 4 months 16 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

Related
  • expired

[Switch] PowerA Wireless Gamecube Controller $39 ($44 with Delivery) @ JB Hi-Fi

710

Long-time lurker, first-time dealer. Just noticed the PowerA wireless controller for the Nintendo Switch has come down to $39 @ JB, cheaper than the wired version @ $49. Deal's available for both purple and black, click and collect also an option to save on shipping. Heads up if you're not already aware, this controller doesn't have rumble (sigh) and is powered by 2x AA batteries.

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/gamecube-wireless-control…
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/gamecube-wireless-control…

EB's Cyber Monday sale had these @ 68 bones.
https://www.ebgames.com.au/product/nintendo-switch/247599-ni…

Related Stores

JB Hi-Fi
JB Hi-Fi

closed Comments

  • -5

    Not sure about these specifically but wouldn't advise the use of third party controllers whatsoever

    • +8

      Good for little brothers.
      But at least this is a licensed third-party controller, much better than reverse-engineered counterfeits.

    • +2

      Also does anyone still sell official gamecube controllers?

      • +1

        You can often get accessories direct from Nintendo for their past consoles, for example the 480p cable for gamecube was available up until 2015 (when they finally ran out of stock) even though people were flogging second-hand ones on ebay for ridiculous amounts ($100+).
        Try ringing (03) 9730 9822 (during business hours) and asking if they've got any gamecube or smash controllers (the new run they made for SSBU) available.

        • you mean the regular gamecube component cable?

          • +1

            @J6: Yes, the component cable - as seen on Amazon currently for $861.

            • +2

              @ssquid: They generally got for about $200-$300 on ebay. That seller is dreaming.

              • @idonotknowwhy: Still a joke when people literally had cupboards full of them bought for original prices.

                • +1

                  @ssquid: i doubt this, the component cable for the gamecube was a special order from Nintendo at t had a property chip to convert the digital output to analogue signal for tv. It was never sold outside in stores.

                  • @godofpizza: Yes? That was my point, there were people who called up and ordered dozens of them to sell for profit on ebay (because most people didn't know you could just ring up and buy one or didn't have that option in their country). Nintendo didn't care, they were happy to clear out their out-of-date hardware.

      • Official ones have been in production for every Nintendo console since the GameCube, and yes they're still available.
        https://www.ebgames.com.au/product/nintendo-switch/225697-su…

        • +1

          Looks to be out of stock

    • +9

      I have one already, pretty solid controller apart from the rumble being non-existent. Build quality is solid, thumbsticks feel clicky like the original, buttons feel good. Second gripe is the R triggers being slightly different to the original, but they still did a decent job with it. This'd be better for people with Gamecube nostalgia, the Pro Controller still wins out in almost every facet otherwise. No issues from a functionality standpoint though!

    • +5

      S/O thinks this is a pretty good controller. Refused to use anything aside from a GC shaped controller for SSBU, now she's beating me regularly. I regret buying it for her.

      • I've heard build quality is solid for beating people.

    • +1

      PowerA is fine. Iirc, the Smash community (its main demographic) prefers the build quality of these over the other two alternatives, pdp and hori but the other two alternatives are a bit more responsive.

  • +4

    PowerA Wireless Gamecube Controller

    …for Nintendo Switch

    • +1

      Good pickup, my bad. Updated the title and description

  • +1

    Any smash players own this? Keen on getting a wireless one when I go to a friend's house without being a show off with my Gamecube adapters and all those cable mess. What are your thoughts on this?

    • +6

      I can only play Smash with a Gamecube controller so I had high hopes for this. My muscle memory renders me absolutely useless with a Pro Controller. In saying that, I was pretty surprised how close they got it to the original Gamecube controller. It's about 80% there, nothing will feel like the original, but for a 2019 replica it gets us pretty close. For the benefit of going wireless for a decent Gamecube-style controller, I'd happily let that 20% slide.

      Also needs to be said, they got the shade of purple wrong. You won't know it unless you had the original and PowerA side-by-side, but that's part of the 20 haha.

      • Thanks! I bought one. I hated setting up the cables and people expect me to be amazing and a snob in smash. I am useless with a Pro Controller as well, played smash from melee onwards purely on gc controllers. Can it take the abuse of the original with the control stick?

        • +2

          So far no complaints on durability. If you know what the OG controller feels like, you'll dig these thumbsticks a lot.

          • +2

            @SneakyDiquey: I still have 2 original GC controllers and they are still going strong. Can't wait to pick these up after work and compare them. Thanks for your review

    • wavebird…

    • Majority of older smash players won't even consider anything other than a wired original controller, only smash 4 fans and onwards are leaning towards the pro haha

      • +5

        Not a professional smash player nor do I plan to be one. But as sneakydiquey said, muscle memory. It's difficult to reprogram a control scheme that I'm used to for over 17 years.

    • The smash community doesn't like the triggers compared to the alternatives, but they really like the build quality. I don't think it has any input lag, seeing that it's brought to tournaments (assuming of course, ucf patch or similar alterative been applied).

  • is this worth it compared to normal controllers?

    • +1

      at $68, not unless you've used a Gamecube controller in the past I don't think. $39's way more palatable if you wanna dabble

    • Yes at this price over the official pro controller at $66 (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/500656). A good $27 savings. I say buy it.

  • +2

    Given that the switch uses Bluetooth to communicate with the controllers. Could this be connected to a PC through Bluetooth and be used to play on GC emulators like Dolphin?

    • Yep, I use it on Dolphin too. I have Dolphin running on a Mac though, the dev versions of Dolphin get a bit strange with controllers sometimes. Haven't heard of there being issues with using this on PC though, but for a Mac there's a select few dev versions which go alright with this.

      • +1

        Doesn't have analog triggers like the original controller, which makes it pretty poor for games that use that functionality.

        • That's true too, forgot about that. Not so much an issue for Switch games as the pro controller has digital R triggers also. The R triggers also have slightly less travel and tension on the PowerA version.

    • Retropi?

      • It's a Bluetooth controller so as long as the retropie has Bluetooth I don't see why not. Someone can correct me on that though

        • +1

          Pi has bluetooth

  • I wish new deals for 8bitdo adapters come in soon so I can pair my ps4 controller with switch :)

    • Me too, does anyone here use one currently?

    • Where are these?

    • -1
      • As its on the Amazon US can you get it shipped it for free to Australia as a Prime member? Conversion rate of the lightening deal means the adapter will cost around ~AUD$23 and int that case this deal is better.

        It has been previously advertised as low as ~AUD$12 on ozbargian before I think and that was over an year ago!

        • Do i need 2 for two ps4 controllers?

          • @asa79: yes, one per controller.

    • +1

      I use Mayflash dongle to use Wii U pro controllers on Switch.

  • can you still play smash bros with the joy-cons, or is it recommended to use this

    • +1

      joy cons work ok but you'll find it harder when you need to do a lot of things at once/quickly since the controller isnt as ergonomic.

    • +1

      You can play smash bros with joy cons, my friend plays it that way. I would say depends on how serious you would get into the game because joycons are small and not very rugged for some of the input methods. I would recommend going for the pro-controller since they have the same button layout as the joycons. I just purchased this one because of muscle memory for smash but then again, great price for this one

      • So for kids they will be fine then :)

        • Depends on how rough your kids are with joycons and how often they play. These gamecube controllers are great for kids because they are not expensive and very durable. Joycons are close to $100 for a pair and they feel flimsy for a fighting game.

          • @azngamer: Maybe i should return the joy cons and get two of these

            • @asa79: You'll need the joy cons for motion controls. Games such as Mario Party requires each player to have a joycon. Sorry, this is a lot more complicated than it should be.

    • Depends. If you're using the default controller scheme, it can be a bit limiting. On something similar to the bidou controller scheme where you map everything onto the shoulder buttons, joy-cons are the best controller.

    • +2

      You can still play smash with joy cons, they're just not as en…joyable (I had to sorry)

      • +1

        A smashing pun, I say.

  • can it connect to apple tv?

    • Pretty sure the answer is no. Read something about Apple TV controllers needing to be MFi certified. "As long as the controller is MFi certified (which is Apple’s certification process for iOS/Apple compatibility) it should pair just fine with the Apple TV."

  • Since I bought my daughter a switch for xmas I am buying everything switch related on sale!
    BTW how do you charge these controllers?

    • It uses AA Batteries

      • so not rechargeable?

        • Correct, that's probably another negative I should've mentioned.

          • @SneakyDiquey: Guess depends on how quick they goes thru the batteries

        • Eneloops?

          (Or other rechargable AAs)

        • +1

          Advertised as up to 30 hours battery life, but that'd be dependent on what type of AA batteries you're using tbh. Battery lasts long enough for me. No rumble favours longer life, so that's a plus at least.

  • +1

    This is a great price, thanks OP

  • These are good for ssb but they are wireless and have latency compared to a wired version. If latency isn't as issue it's a great buy.
    Other recommendations are the PDP controller available on Amazon

  • Any issues with using this for MarioKart?

    My wife finds the joy cons too small.

    • +2

      Will work for any game, it's just a different layout of buttons

  • Will these work with Wii and Wii U as well.

    • Not official games, they could work with homebrew stuff if support was added.

  • -1

    Would these work with the Wii U?

  • It's PowerA

  • This is nothing like the original GCN controller. It feels completely different and not in a good way.

    • +4

      I disagree, do you mind specifying why you feel it's nothing like it?

      • I disagree

        Yeah, while the differences are there, whether or not they're good is subjective +1

        do you mind specifying why you feel it's nothing like it

        Yeah, okay. I only used mine a bit before I put it in the cupboard so I don't remember all the details about why I disliked it at the time, but I'll give it a try. Note: I still use the SSBU one at least monthly so it's not rose-tinted glasses.

        Firstly, they're not equivalent, this has more buttons than the original GCN controller (updated to work with switch games). An original GCN controller wouldn't be able to play a lot of switch games as a result.

        1. There's no force-feedback.
        2. It's extremely light, but not in a good way.
        3. The control sticks sound completely different and provide less resistance.
        4. The triggers are digital.
        5. It's got additional buttons (control sticks press in, there's another 'z' button, +/1 and screenshot/home buttons). This isn't a bad thing though, as I said above it's necessary to map all the buttons for switch games.

        It's got an overall cheap feeling to it.

        Something else which annoyed me about it is that I don't understand why it has a detachable micro-USB type B cable when it's a wired-only controller. And the gap around the Micro-B port is very tight. This allows the provided cable to connect, but other random Micro-B cables won't fit which makes it feel even more pointless.

        I'm pretty interested in controllers and have got almost all of controllers from the PS1/N64 era onwards from Sega, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and 8bit-do.
        This one, and the Pokken Tournament one, are the least impressive to me.

        • +1

          1- I've never heard of 'force feedback' on any Nintendo controller before. Vibration, yes, but this isn't included to improve battery life.

          2- the two AA batteries in the controller give the controller a decent heft, the only weight lacking is in the thighs because of the absence of vibration motors.

          3- not completely different, but yes cheaper feeling and a little less resistance. But good enough for a secondary controller.

          4- yeah that's annoying, but analog triggers would be wasted on a switch pro controller as the console doesn't as of yet receive analog input for any game. Sucks if you wanted to use it for PC/dolphin though

          5- as you said, this isn't a drawback

          And from what you're saying about the cord, I have a feeling you're talking about this wired variety of controller: https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/gamecube-wired-controller…

          The advertised one is the wireless variety, so although this doesn't invalidate All of your criticism, you don't even have the same controller.

          Thanks for clearing up what you dislike about it though

          • +2

            @CaptainNewspeak:

            The advertised one is the wireless variety, so although this doesn't invalidate All of your criticism, you don't even have the same controller.

            You got me, didn't realize! In that case, $39 for a wireless form of what I bought is a good deal (just upvoted).

            But I will add, even the wired varient doesn't have "Vibration".

            'force feedback'

            The draft I didn't submit actually referred to "L3 and R3" for the thumb stick buttons.

  • +1

    Thanks for posting this. Bought a purple one for the wife to use :)

  • +1

    Bought one and love it. Played again Zelda Wind Waker; brings back a lot of memories.

  • Would eb games pricematch these for gold & sliver ones?

  • +1

    bought two
    good controller

  • No rumble no deal

  • Damn it, doesn't have analogue triggers like the original Gamecube controllers and the more recent wired versions of these otherwise I would've been all over this.

Login or Join to leave a comment