Gamecube Classic Controller?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

If you have a GBA to Gamecube cable you can literally use your GBA as a controller for the GBP.

Simply turn on your GBA either with no cart inserted or while holding select and start with a cart in the slot so that you get the blank GBA screen. Then while your GBA is on and blank turn on your Gamecube with the GBA to Gamecube cable in controller port 1 to play using your GBA as a controller.

[SpaceBooger]

I have the SP and the head of the cable is so close to the shoulder buttons it's uncomfortable to use.
So I guess Ill either get an OG GBA or this controller... decisions, decisions.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Ah, I typically use my original GBA for GBA games in the day and for the GB player in general as the screen isn't used when in GB player mode.

As for the SP technically only the tips of your fingers are supposed to be on the shoulder buttons which makes the whole unit itself awkward to hold unless you play with it often. After the comfort of the original model this makes it a tough choice for me to use as I generally don't like the feel of it at times.

[toadhall]

Bumping old thread!

I've been looking for a good controller to play with emulators on the Gamecube and decided to test this controller out.

I've heard many good things about the form factor of the official Wii Classic Controller so I thought, well, this Gamecube controller has the same shape - at least in terms of feel, this should be okay. I didn't expect much from the quality of the plastics or the feel of the buttons considering the el cheapo price it's going for at Dealextreme, though. So I ordered it a few weeks ago and just received it yesterday.

First impressions:

Came in that sealed plastic package where you have to take a pair of scissors to open it, injuring your fingers in the process. Material quality of the controller is surprisingly good. They probably used the same plastics as the official controllers. Heck, perhaps it was even made in the same factory. The only difference I think is that the assembly quality is atrocious.

When I first plugged it in and tried a game, the d-pad had to be pressed really hard for it to register inputs. Likewise with the A button. So I disassembled the controller and noticed the rubber thingies (what are those things called, anyway?) that the buttons use to register contact on the circuit board were misaligned as well as specked with tiny plastic chips. The springs used for the analogue L+R buttons were also not placed properly. So I cleaned everything up (I also took an eraser to the contact parts on the circuit board), realigned everything and reassembled the controller.

And the results were amazing! It's almost like I bought an official controller. I don't have an official classic controller but I do have an official classic controller pro, which, apart from the slightly different shape, also lacks analogue L+R buttons. Comparing this cheap knockoff to my official ccpro, they're now very similar in terms of feel and button inputs being registered. Well, at least in regards to the face buttons.

The only remaining flaws are the analogue shoulder buttons and the ZL+ZR buttons. The analogue buttons feel too mushy. I could probably fix this by changing the springs, but I don't feel too motivated to do that right now. They also lack a satisfying click when fully pressed down. Don't get me wrong, they DO click... it's just not satisfying :p

The ZL+ZR buttons are simply terrible and I don't think there's a way to fix them, short of taking out the buttons from official classic controllers and replacing it with them. They're just too stiff. Thank goodness they're rarely used buttons. A bit annoying to use with the GB Player though.

Oh I almost forgot to mention the useless Slow and Turbo buttons that replace the Minus and Plus buttons. The Start button is assigned to the Home button. I really wished the manufacturers had assigned Start to Plus and add another Z button to Minus, so we could use it as a Select button in emulators. Home could have just been ignored. In any case, the Slow button did not work for me and the Turbo button is actually the Slow button. I wish I could ignore the Slow and Turbo buttons, except that when I want to pause a game, I instinctively press Turbo instead. I might have to mod the board itself to remove this ability outright... maybe even remap the Start and Z buttons but that sounds like a project I currently have no time for.

All in all though, I think it's a cheap, excellent alternative to getting a NES/SNES Retrozone converter; perfect for FCEUGX and SNES9XGX on Gamecube.

I'm interested in hearing Andy's thoughts as well but in the meantime, here's a review done by a person I know.

Oh btw, the site changed URLs. Here's an updated link. (For future reference, in case somebody comes to this thread looking for info about this controller. Not much about it on the internets!)

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Hm, I'm tempted to buy one of these neat-o controllers. What games work really well with it, and what others not so much?

[toadhall]

Any games where you would use a digital pad works great with it I suppose. I haven't really tested it out with Gamecube games just yet, only with emulators and the GB Player.

Works great with emulators, not so much with the GBP, thanks to the one-to-one button mapping. You have to place your thumb in an awkward position. I'd prefer using an OG GBA to play games on GBP.

I did some minor testing with MOH: Frontline, to see if the analogue shoulder buttons worked the same as a Gamecube controller and it seems like they do. The analogue sticks seem to be fine as well but I didn't really test them out as much. Because the controller lacked palm rests I didn't feel like playing an FPS for extended periods of time with it.

I'll do some more extensive tests when get home though. Maybe play some Wind Waker while I'm at it.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, this controller seems to spaz out in the Action Replay menu. I have to plug in an official GC controller, use that to load homebrew, then replug this controller in to use it.