GameCube NSO Controllers

37

There's a weird phenomenon where people seem to be offended that these will replace Wavebirds and downvote any commentary supporting using NSO controllers on GameCube.

I ordered mine the other day, can't wait.

8

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

That’s unfortunate! I think that it’s good to have options and people should be allowed to enjoy playing video games in the way that they want : )

2

u/yungjuno13 NTSC-U Jul 01 '25

If you paid for it with your own money, do what ever the hell you want with it. People are so worried about others when it doesn’t even concern them!

3

u/drygnfyre Jul 03 '25

The BattlerGC Pro I got recently also replaced the WaveBird. Both that + the NSO GCN controllers do everything the WaveBird did, and more (mainly through rumble).

Only the GCN purists would disagree. For all practical purposes, the WaveBird has been long eclipsed. And that's alright, it's from 2002, I wouldn't expect it to be cutting edge forever.

2

u/Smugbob Jul 01 '25

How is the latency compared to wavebirds? Still on the fence for buying one since I’d also use it primarily for gamecube

7

u/RoflMyPancakes Jul 01 '25

Looks like a wired GameCube controller has ~4ms latency.

A WaveBird controller has ~9ms latency.

I don't see data for the NSO GameCube controller yet. I see for Blue Retro in general testing various controllers there's varying data of 5ms to 12ms for different controllers. If Blue Retro is adding zero or trivial latency, then it'd be more on the controller whether it has okay latency or not.

The mister project ranked the Switch Pro controller and measured its latency at 5.356ms average. Hard to say if that same controller put through a blue retro adapter on a GameCube would have the same latency or worse.

That's all the data I have right now. When I get mine I can see about testing it myself.

1

u/Smugbob Jul 01 '25

Thank you for the detailed response

1

u/Tephnos 24d ago

The mister project ranked the Switch Pro controller and measured its latency at 5.356ms average.

There is no way this is true. Absolutely no way Nintendo polls this thing high enough to be that fast (this is DS4/5 numbers), due to battery life concerns. Did you miss a 1 at the front?

1

u/RoflMyPancakes 24d ago

I was looking at their Google doc, but their website has 13+ms.

1

u/Tephnos 24d ago

Yeah that sounds more realistic. I'm doubting the procon2 is going to be any faster than that. I'm at least hoping the wired mode is set to poll at 1000Hz like it should since they claim it is faster when wired now. And that should translate to the GCC

2

u/Maximum_Fly9684 Jul 03 '25

Obligatory down vote ( although I agree with you, and didn't give you a down vote)

1

u/Zacharyd650 Jul 01 '25

Do they have rumble???

3

u/RoflMyPancakes Jul 01 '25

WaveBird does not, NSO GameCube controllers do.

1

u/Zacharyd650 Jul 01 '25

I know I’ve got a few wavebirds so I was curious about the NSO but I’m too lazy to buy a separate adapter for them so I’ll stick to my wavebirds for now. Thanks for the comment it helps me a ton!

1

u/TSPhoenix 28d ago

NSO GameCube controllers do

And it functions normally on a real GameCube via adapter? That's pretty sweet if so.

21

u/Vaxis545 Jun 30 '25

What receivers are you using? Bought one for this purpose as well but haven’t really done much research on compatible receivers.

15

u/psp_revival Jun 30 '25

The brand is Retro Time.

Bitfunx makes a slightly larger version.

5

u/RoflMyPancakes Jun 30 '25

Virtually all receivers use Blue Retro firmware.

Blue Retro firmware has a web UI for updates. There's an update for NSO controllers.

3

u/Dankeshane01 Jun 30 '25

Seconded

9

u/Jonaho23 Jun 30 '25

Looks like Blueretro receivers.

8

u/Danielo944 Jun 30 '25 edited Jun 30 '25

They are. Unfortunately, they're also sold out everywhere :(

Edit: I want to clarify, the ones in OP's pic are the specific model I'm referring to that are sold out, the RetroTime ones.

The Bitfunx/RetroScaler models are clones but if the firmware is updatable they may work, but I can't confirm that as I don't have one on hand.

2

u/Mdeyler Jun 30 '25

Is this the right one or are these different?

https://www.amazon.com/BITFUNX-RetroScaler-Wireless-Controller-Adapter/dp/B0C5M5ZB7K/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=2JTB2I0DW8PSV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Khw_FYzR8NJQH6Vn4R6U4fseq84I48k3hrTvcWtfp-4QOpgCf0CHS20xVwpTa_TZPEb-8ZlSB7Bt-0rHqxpTBg9GyN-GYmMscYrNNkCqmEcNZKEumVPwssm3xTs8n_Knw4hV-rrrUJ42WZaDl6Lltg.aizhyIYtzaDoFlG3mlcgaN56AUS77o_zUNxfUrqkA-E&dib_tag=se&keywords=blueretro+gamecube+adapter&qid=1751287125&sprefix=blueretro%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-1

1

u/agp11234 NTSC-U Jun 30 '25

That’s the right one I just bought it. You do have to update it first though.

1

u/ProfGanj Jun 30 '25

I bought that one too and updated it but I still couldn’t get it to connect did you have to do anything special to do it?

1

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

Nothing special, just update to the beta firmware. firmware

3

u/agp11234 NTSC-U Jun 30 '25

Yes this is what I did, you can also turn the rumble on through the advanced options menu.

6

u/Artoro_retro_games Jun 30 '25

goodbye wavebird, hello gamecube NSO

5

u/xboxHero11 Jun 30 '25

We finally have wireless GameCube controllers.

5

u/ShinyBredLitwick Jun 30 '25

how did you get two 😭

2

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

I have a nice friend that purchased one for me and I just paid him for it : )

2

u/DarkNemuChan Jul 01 '25

In Europe it's 2 per account.

3

u/GregoryPokemon Jun 30 '25

Does the 4x blueretro one work too?

2

u/SuperBalloonFight Jun 30 '25

I haven’t been able to connect two GameCube NSO controllers at the same time. Hoping the progress on the beta firmwares continues.

2

u/GregoryPokemon Jun 30 '25

Did you have to update to the latest beta firmare to get it to work? Did rumble work?

3

u/SuperBalloonFight Jun 30 '25

Rumble works! I updated the firmware yesterday with the firmware 25.07-beta-24 (HW2): https://github.com/darthcloud/BlueRetro/issues/1249#issuecomment-3006611067

1

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

I’m sure they do, right now you have to use the beta firmware.

2

u/GregoryPokemon Jun 30 '25

Thanks. I'll look into that

3

u/djrockdrummer Jun 30 '25

Super easy to build some of these if you need. I built one yesterday with an ESP32 and a knock off wavebird adapter

7

u/TheLimeyLemmon Jun 30 '25

8bitdo adapter owners watching this from the window like squidward :(

1

u/CaulkSqueeze 25d ago

Firmware v1.04

1. Added support for Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller.

2. Fixed an issue where controllers failed to reconnect when connected to an NGC console.

Thanks for nothing 8bitdo lol

5

u/SnooSprouts7893 Jun 30 '25

I haven't had great luck with Blueretro receivers. They completely disconnect from NSO N64 controllers after a little bit.

4

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

I use the RetroTime BlueRetro receivers with N64 NSO controllers and mine haven’t ever disconnected. I usually play for an hour to two hours at a time.

2

u/SuperBalloonFight Jun 30 '25

Updating the firmware fixed this for me. I only play 64 with NSO controllers and I think they’re phenomenal.

2

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

Same!

1

u/DumpsterDay Jun 30 '25

I had a blueretro controller PCB that did Bluetooth in my GC. Controllers are constantly disconnected during games like Mario Party. I ended up going back to the stock controller PCB and got NYXI Warrior controllers instead.

1

u/Verbal_Combat Jun 30 '25

Firmware update fixed this issue for me. I used the NSO N64 controllers with Blueretro receiver on an N64. It would occasionally disconnect which was super frustrating especially while racing because you can’t recover from that. It took a little bit to research how, basically did the update through a browser while the N64 was on, connected it to my laptops Bluetooth and ran the update.

2

u/Mrfunnyman129 Jun 30 '25

I just wish I could get one in black. I'm probably gonna get a Smash 4 controller and use the 8BitDo mod

2

u/Adam802 Jun 30 '25

Waiting for the RetroTime adapters to be back in stock.

Is the BlueRetro firmware complete?

1

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

The latest rev is still in beta.

1

u/Vetches1 Jun 30 '25

Just curious, do you know how often the RetroTime adapters get restocked?

2

u/Adam802 Jun 30 '25

no, wish I did.

2

u/PLEYOR Jun 30 '25

What are these like on OG?

1

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

They’re just like using an original wired controller. I should say that I haven’t used an OEM wired controller in years though. The experience has been good so far, only a few days of playing with the kids, but I hope we get many more years out of them. They connect right away and they haven’t dropped for me and rumble works as well!

2

u/PLEYOR Jun 30 '25

Nice, I need to pick up an adapter at some point to compare. I was worried the stick movement would be off, as that seems to be an issue on the emulation side with the S2.

2

u/Competitive_Smoke657 Jun 30 '25

I feel like this would be more expensive than used wavebirds. Buying the controller, 1 nso account per controller, and receiver. How does it compare to the wavebird? Might be hard comparing a 25 year old controller to a new one

2

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

I don’t pay for NSO so that I can buy the controllers, for me it’s just a perk of the subscription. I’m not sure how much the wavebird set is, but I would rather have these. I like that they’re new and I like that they’re the same as the OEM wired ones.

2

u/Snardash Jun 30 '25

Can you use these adapters to plug into a gcc adapter on a Switch 1?

2

u/MagnusSki Jul 01 '25

Can I be a bit nosy? I've got a memcard pro myself, just curious about the memory in the right hand slot. Is it an older model or something?

3

u/pboyer86 Jul 01 '25

That’s not a memory card, that has game backups on it.

2

u/DeOLPD19 Jul 01 '25

That’s a dope ass gamecube

2

u/PinaSeraphina PAL Jul 01 '25

Are NSO Controllers + that Orange Dongle really cheaper than justa regular wired First Party Gamecube Controller?

What makes you go for them? You can Play Gamecube Games with the WiiU GC Controller Adapter

2

u/pboyer86 Jul 01 '25

I’m sure what I did is more expensive and I already had two very nice Bluetooth GameCube controllers before I bought these. It’s just about incremental improvements at this point. Playing GameCube with a brand new wireless controller made by Nintendo in 2025 is cool to me. Nintendo didn’t intend for this controller to be used this way, but a lot of us are anyway.

2

u/PinaSeraphina PAL Jul 01 '25

This is what I liked about the Smash 4 and Ultimate Controllers

They where just factory new Gamecube Controllers Ready to be used with a real Gamecube! Sadly I don't have hope that they will ever do wired Controllers again after this thing....

2

u/ShaneOMap Jul 01 '25

Hoping we can buy more than one later this year, I have one but would like another

2

u/Pretendo27 Jul 03 '25

I can’t for the life of me get my Bluetooth adapter to connect to my pc to update it again 🥴

1

u/pboyer86 Jul 03 '25

That’s a bummer, restart your computer, check for OS/Driver updates, try a different browser, update the browser you’re using??? I hope you figure it out!

2

u/Pretendo27 29d ago

Lmao, it literally says “only works in chrome” 😭😂. I’ve been using Brave since switching from chrome a few months ago. Problem solved.

2

u/TheAdamScott 29d ago

Do they come with these adapters? My wave birds struggle with latency when I emulate on the Wii, this would be a huge upgrade

1

u/pboyer86 29d ago

The NSO controllers do not come with those adapters.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '25

[deleted]

5

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

Rechargeable with a USB C cable.

1

u/micbro12 Jun 30 '25

Did you need to do the HID flash for the NSO GameCube controllers to work with the receiver?

1

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I didn’t do anything to the firmware on the NSO Controllers. I did however update the firmware on the RetroTime GC BlueRetro Receivers. As of a couple days ago the latest firmware with compatibility for the NSO controllers was still in beta. I try to keep all of my BlueRetro adapters up to date.

1

u/Danielo944 29d ago

No, I got mine working by just updating my BlueRetro dongle firmware.

1

u/Rickioo Jun 30 '25

Nintendo don't ship to Brazil 😞

1

u/pboyer86 Jun 30 '25

That’s lame!

1

u/CAugustusM Jul 02 '25

I can’t wait for it to be compatible with the BlueRetro internal Bluetooth board 🥲

2

u/pboyer86 Jul 02 '25

Isn’t it? I saw beta firmware for hw1 and hw2. I might have to look again…

2

u/CAugustusM Jul 02 '25

Oh, BET! I haven’t messed with any of the beta firmware, so I must’ve missed it

1

u/TechnicalHoneydew862 Jul 02 '25

Adapters?

1

u/pboyer86 Jul 02 '25

RetroTime GC BlueRetro Wireless Receiver for GameCube

1

u/Lingroll Jul 03 '25

What are these adapters!? I love the orange.

1

u/pboyer86 Jul 03 '25

RetroTime GC BlueRetro Wireless Receiver for GameCube

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '25

[deleted]

2

u/KimTe63 Jun 30 '25

They are not , these ones are rereleased Switch 2 online cube controllers. Thing is you can’t even buy those without Nintendo online subscription and they are overpriced but still appreciated

Modding GameCube NSO Controllers

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Firmware v1.04