N64 Controllers discussion

[sjnromw]

I've searched as best I can for opinions on what is the best way to go when replacing controllers but all the answers are convoluted and unnecessarily difficult to sort out. My original N64 controllers are breaking and the sticks are making it very difficult to get the right moves off.

What are all the serious players using to play on the console or emulator? There must be some solution I'm missing as getting original controllers is expensive as are the mobi controllers that I've seen mentioned. I've ordered two different styles of n64 controller stick replacements for my controllers, and I am hoping that they control well. It seems this community should really have a definitive thread for the best controller information.

Please help guide me to the most elegant solution, as I'm sure somebody has figured out a great way to keep up this hobby for a reasonable price.


EDIT - Years Later
I've finally found my controller! Way back when I started this thread I was suffering from poorly made replacement sticks and a couple poorly described "like new" controllers I ordered from ebay, and I had resigned to using whatever controller was available.

Recently I ordered a Gamecube to N64 adapter from http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/gc_to_n64_adapter/index.php and I feel I've finally arrived at my perfect solution.

This adapter is great for a few reasons:
Gamecube controllers are cheap and easy to replace should they wear out
I cannot find any input lag difference from the standard N64 controller
the joystick sensitivity is perfectly symmetrical
tilt range and deadzone feel great
reprogrammable buttons make it easy to find your most comfortable button layout
ability to save multiple controller profiles in case you ever find a reason to play something other than smash
the length of a gamecube controller cable is certainly a plus as well, I can sit wherever I want!


For me, the only drawbacks of using a gamecube controller are the L and R buttons. It does take some getting used to, but I have little trouble getting my z cancels now that I have adjusted my muscle memory. ( I find that setting the L and R buttons to be Z and R respectively, and then programming them to register a press at the 50% threshold instead of the fully depressed 'click' makes things very comfortable.)


The adapter is around $30 shipped to the US (keep in mind the price on the site is Canadian currency). I figure this could be a great option for many people who already have a gamecube controller, and even if you have to get a controller plus the adapter, it is probably cheaper than any Hori controller you could find. I have also seen a Hori controller wear out and have deadzone problems, which makes the gamecube adapter a safer option.

If you are a super serious player you might want spend the money and play with Hori controllers because the Z and R buttons are definitely preferable, but for $30 this adapter satisfies all of my needs and has breathed a new life into my smash game. I didn't improve much just from getting this controller, but at least I can't john about messy N64 sticks anymore.

I didn't mean for this to be so long so I apologize, and I want to say that I am in no way affiliated with raphnet-tech. I only hope that this can make the game more fun for some of you struggling to find a good controller.

 

[SheerMadness]

You've got a few options.

You can still find decent n64 controllers with decent sticks. Either on amazon or ebay (just make sure it describes the stick as being exceptional, obviously kinda risky though), or at a used video game store like play n trade. I've found quite a few good ones at my local play n trade.

Buy a Hori. If you don't know what they are google Hori mini pad. They're somewhat expensive though.

Buy a replacement joystick. Obviously you've already gone this route. There are 3 different kinds as far as I know. The gamecube style one is worthless for smash, hope you didn't buy that one. The other 2 are better, and the same style as an original but each has it's pros and cons. IMO the "repair box" 3rd party replacement sticks are the best. The other one is very cheaply made.

 

[Battlecow]

People say good things about greasing the n64 sticks once you get good ones

 

[RockinRudy]

I've searched as best I can for opinions on what is the best way to go when replacing controllers but all the answers are convoluted and unnecessarily difficult to sort out. My original N64 controllers are breaking and the sticks are making it very difficult to get the right moves off.

What are all the serious players using to play on the console or emulator? There must be some solution I'm missing as getting original controllers is expensive as are the mobi controllers that I've seen mentioned. I've ordered two different styles of n64 controller stick replacements for my controllers, and I am hoping that they control well. It seems this community should really have a definitive thread for the best controller information.

Please help guide me to the most elegant solution, as I'm sure somebody has figured out a great way to keep up this hobby for a reasonable price.

Ebay has replaceable Controller sticks for 5 bucks.

 

[Nintendude]

Ebay has replaceable Controller sticks for 5 bucks.

I'd be wary of cheap stuff. Does anyone here have any experience with those?

 

[prisonchild]

I bought this replacement joystick: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/370762504770?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

it was great to use but wore out really fast


i bought four of these: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/360597051497?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

they lasted a little longer



personally I think the original joysticks last way longer, if you look around you can find great controllers for 10-20 bucks, I bought one from japan for 15 + 5 bucks shipping and it's still mint.



another option is what my friend does. it's easier to find N64 packages, he buys like a console, some games, controllers, etc. and keeps the controllers and sells the rest. it's a little more work but he usually makes all his money back, sometimes comes out net positive.

 

[RockinRudy]

I bought this replacement joystick: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/370762504770?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

it was great to use but wore out really fast


i bought four of these: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/360597051497?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

they lasted a little longer



personally I think the original joysticks last way longer, if you look around you can find great controllers for 10-20 bucks, I bought one from japan for 15 + 5 bucks shipping and it's still mint.



another option is what my friend does. it's easier to find N64 packages, he buys like a console, some games, controllers, etc. and keeps the controllers and sells the rest. it's a little more work but he usually makes all his money back, sometimes comes out net positive.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/360597051497?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 These don't wear out easy. I bought 1 awhile back for my controller. I am a Collector and I like to keep everything original. But I do want to play my games XD. I have 2 controllers that I replace every couple of years with these sticks.

I had a Launch N64, I used the controller for many, many years 12 years. I replaced the Joystick Last Year and the new stick is STILL nice and hard and tight. I don't know how you guys blow through controllers in like months. I'm a hardcore player but calm it down a bit lol.

 

[sjnromw]

Thank you all very much for your many replies! I'm writing to update on my progress. The two replacement sticks I bought finally came and they are fantastic so far. I got them off amazon, they are the "repair box" brand original n64 type sticks. I'm having no trouble with the dead zone, and smashing and tilting feels natural. Hopefully these sticks last a long time, now that I know about greasing.

 

[Nintendude]

Do those sticks feel identical to the originals?

 

[SheerMadness]

Do those sticks feel identical to the originals?

They have a bigger deadzone than original sticks and the other replacement sticks out there. That's the biggest con. Harder to do short hop up airs and some other stuff. It actually makes Pika's recovery incredibly hard to use. They seem to be very durable though.

I thought they were a perfectly acceptable replacement for about a month, until one day I randomly decided to use Pikachu and couldn't recover. That pissed me off and I switched back to my other stick after that.

So I kind of take back my recommendation of them earlier in the thread. They seem fine in most cases, but don't buy them if you play a lot of Pikachu.

 

[jimmyjoe]

I bought five Lol..
Yeah they aren't bad but I'm sticking to my filthy wHORI.
My buddy loves his repair box stick but he is a Samus main, so he rarely uses tilts or short hop Uairs. Now that i think about it samus is proabably the most compatible character with this type of stick.

 

[B Link]

If I buy a used controller with a tight stick, will it just get loose after a couple of days? Should I just keep it in storage except for tournaments >_>?

I guess I could try greasing it up immediately. But one of the controllers I have is greased and it doesn't feel that great.

 

[SheerMadness]

Haha sorry jimmjoe I never really play Pika, so I hadn't found that flaw when I first recommended them to you in the social thread. My bad. The deadzone was slightly annoying but really didn't cause any serious issues with my Yoshi, Fox, or Ness.

B Link I try to stay with one stick as my online controller for as long as possible and leave my good sticks for console. But yah you should definitely grease your sticks IMO. Even if it doesn't "feel great" it should still help extend it's lifetime significantly. Which is definitely worth it.

If you're dedicated enough to open it up once or so a month, and reapply grease if needed who knows how long it may last.

 

[Nintendude]

What are some better replacement stick options?

 

[SheerMadness]

Like I said in my earlier post in this thread, there appear to be 3 types of replacement sticks out there. A gamecube style one which is terrible for smash. The repair box one I've talked about, and another 3rd party one that has no name to differentiate it by.

The no named 3rd party ones are found everywhere. Amazon, ebay, nintendorepairshop, lukiegames, etc. I THINK they're all the same but I can't tell for sure since all of them are just referred to as "replacement sticks". It's possible there could be multiple 3rd parties out there making them at different quality levels but probably unlikely, so I'm just gonna lump them all together.

I bought one from lukiegames. It had the same deadzone and all the same parts. Exactly the same, just made with far cheaper plastic. It took far less effort to move the stick than an original and it seemed wear at the 2-3 times the rate (I greased it too). But it had none of the functioning issues the repairbox or gamecube style one had.

So yah there's pros and cons to all the options, and none of them come close to a stock n64 stick.

 

[KoRoBeNiKi]

They have a bigger deadzone than original sticks and the other replacement sticks out there.

They have a bigger deadzone, unfair advantage. should be banned

 

[SheerMadness]

Koro I really fail to see why you'd leave your keyboard legality salt here lololol...

 

[Sangoku]

They have a bigger deadzone, unfair advantage. should be banned

How is it an advantage (fair or not)? Bigger deadzone means smaller range for tilts and uair-without-jumping and possibly incapacity to walk at the slowest speed. What kind of advantage does it have to counter balance?

 

[SheerMadness]

I'm pretty sure he was just jabbing me for being against keyboards. I can't fathom why he'd do it in this thread though. Way to bring an innocent thread into the keyboard legality mix Koro.

But yah clearly a bigger deadzone is in no way an advantage, if he actually thinks that for some reason.

 

[Sangoku]

I know he was joking and answering seriously was my way to joke back.

 

[KoRoBeNiKi]

I know he was joking and answering seriously was my way to joke back.

Exactly
but tbh it just was poking fun, that is all

still warranted a bunch of replies though
let's get back to topic shall we

 

[Komotonoto]

dat 3d printer.

 

[RockinRudy]

I'm pretty sure he was just jabbing me for being against keyboards. I can't fathom why he'd do it in this thread though. Way to bring an innocent thread into the keyboard legality mix Koro.

But yah clearly a bigger deadzone is in no way an advantage, if he actually thinks that for some reason.

Against keyboards /support.​

Play the game they way it was meant to be played.​

The Instruction manual doesn't show a Keyboard last time I physically checked (50 seconds ago). ​

​

 

[cmu6eh]

Against keyboards /support.​

Play the game they way it was meant to be played.​

The Instruction manual doesn't show a Keyboard last time I physically checked (50 seconds ago). ​

​

The "How To Play" doesn't mention z-canceling.

 

[Grizzmeister]

Please help guide me to the most elegant solution, as I'm sure somebody has figured out a great way to keep up this hobby for a reasonable price.

I have quite a few N64 controllers that I keep in excellent condition by lubricating the analog stick with ceramic grease.

The new third-party sticks work well with racing games like Wave Race 64 and F-Zero X but they're not too great for Super Smash Bros. as they make pulling off smash attacks very inaccurate. Here's a picture of my smoked colored controller which has the new "GameCube-like" analog stick installed.

 

[KoRoBeNiKi]

The "How To Play" doesn't mention z-canceling.

The Japanese n64 advanced how to play mentions it

 

[Grizzmeister]

I've got tons of extra N64 controllers lying around. I used to get them dirt cheap from people selling them on Craig's List but now N64 controllers with sticks in good condition are getting really hard to find. Thank God I stocked up.

 

[Kefit]

I used to be able to find multiple good condition n64 controllers at a single retro gaming store pretty frequently. Maybe back in 2010 or so. But now it's 2013, I desperately need a couple new controllers, and I'm having a hell of a time finding any. All the local retro stores have like one authentic n64 controller with the stick practically falling off. They try to hawk off the imitation first party controllers on me, but those things are all complete garbage.

Goodwill and other thrift stores will occasionally have N64 stuff, but this is a complete lucksack. I passed through a couple this afternoon and they only had ps2 and xbox stuff.

So now I'm playing the ebay/amazon lottery, I guess. In the past I've ordered controllers with sticks described as "perfect" and "near mint" only to get delivered a stick that's obviously seen 20 hours of Mario Party play. On the other hand, Jel's ordered a couple in the past that were totally perfect. The fact of the matter is that competitive SSB64 players have much higher standards for stick quality than any other kind of gamer, so you can't really rely on a seller's assessment.

Last night I grabbed a controller off ebay described as "mint, never used." Here's to hoping it lives up to that claim!

 

[Sangoku]

My friend's girlfriend told me the other day that she has an n64 and she almost never played. I said I'd buy her controllers and she said I didn't even need to give her money and she would give them to me. They should be in good shape!

 

[Grizzmeister]

In my travels I've been able to pick up some really beautiful N64 controllers with nice tight sticks.

 

[jimmyjoe]

Last night I grabbed a controller off ebay described as "mint, never used." Here's to hoping it lives up to that claim!

Are you greasing your sticks to ensure you get the maximum mileage on those bad boys?


also..


I had a crazy lucky find the other day, I already told a couple people in person about it an Zenith..
My parents found a box headed towards the trash in their building, and after hearing some of the things rattle around inside, decided to take a peek inside, and what they found can only be, in my very biased opinion, a sign from the gods for me to play smash forever.

-A working N64 with power adapter (no video cables)
-A copy of smash bros, golden eye, mario64, and some other not-quite-as-awesome games.
-An N64 gameshark! ZOMFG YES!
-two original controllers, both in usable shape for smash :D

BEST.

 

[Cobrevolution]

two original controllers, both in usable shape for smash :D

YOU USE A HORI!

 

[jimmyjoe]

I'm thinking of making the switch back..
I want easier fast fall Uairs and plat drop U-airs.. that's not to say i want a c-stick though!

 

[SheerMadness]

Pretty lucky find jimmyjoe.

On another note I actually tried the super glue repair method on one of my poor sticks. Where you put some super glue in the bottom of the bowl where it's worn down, and let it dry. It actually worked somewhat decently which surprised me. It didn't make it into a good stick but it did make it better.

 

[jimmyjoe]

never heard of that, but you could try using some epoxy.
Did you ever see that video banze posted about how to repair worn down sticks? it looked like a lot of work cause you have to apply a bunch of epoxy and do some sanding and what not, but it seems like all the old worn out sticks could be fixed this way, and then greased to ensure longest lifespan.
ill see if i can find a link either way..

Here it is. It is from a Brazilian guy, and there isn't any sound, but he shows what he's doing well enough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX9sF-xuXhI

 

[Grizzmeister]

I swapped the shells on some of my controllers to make them look more customized. Wouldn’t it be cool to bring something like this to a tournament?

Oh, someone mentioned greasing the analog stick; I do that on all my N64 controllers that are still in good condition when I get them. Ceramic grease is amazing for this as it’s very light, doesn’t gum up and last almost forever. Ceramic grease uses space-age nanotechnology so the grease actually penetrates the plastic parts and reduces friction like no other product I’ve ever seen.

 

[cmu6eh]

Oh, someone mentioned greasing the analog stick; I do that on all my N64 controllers that are still in good condition when I get them. Ceramic grease is amazing for this as it’s very light, doesn’t gum up and last almost forever. Ceramic grease uses space-age nanotechnology so the grease actually penetrates the plastic parts and reduces friction like no other product I’ve ever seen.

I use petroleum jelly because the it is useful for penetrating other things besides controllers

 

[Grizzmeister]

I use petroleum jelly because the it is useful for penetrating other things besides controllers

Ha ha ha, that's very funny!

A lot of people say that my red N64 controller is very sexy. It's the color I tend to use most often when playing SSB or Killer Instinct Gold semi competitively.

I like to use red for the psychological effect it has on my opponents. It's sorta like how a matador uses a red cape against a bull.

 

[Cobrevolution]

a lot of people swap tops and bottoms (not a reference to steve's petroleum jelly joke)

i have a yellow bottom/grey top. i've seen blue top/grey bottom, green/purple atomic, and probably the coolest looking one - knitephox's blue LED controller.

where can you find ceramic grease? also knitephox, what was the name of the grease you had at zenith? i plan on picking some of that up.

 

[Grizzmeister]

Not long ago I acquired a Funtastic series Ice colored N64 controller with a badly worn analog thumbstick. Today I decided to cannibalize the very good condition Nintendo manufactured stick from one of my standard grey controllers to use that as the donor for the blue one.

I had ordered several "GameCube-like" third-party sticks so I opted to put that in the grey controller as those pads are hardly worth anything anyway. On the other hand, the Ice controller is much more valuable if it has a tight OEM stick installed.

I took the Ice Blue controller apart and washed the shell and all the buttons with steaming hot water and antibacterial soap. I then used an electronic component cleaner that I got from Radio Shack and used it to clean the contacts on the controller's motherboard. With that done I lubricated all of the moving parts in the analog stick module with ceramic grease which I purchased at my local bicycle shop. Here's a picture of the final result. Pretty huh?

On the open market I'd probably try to sell this controller for about $40 because in many ways it's actually better than new. The ceramic grease will allow the analog stick to last for a very long time and the contacts being cleaned makes this controller function like a precision instrument. Think of it like a car engine that's been blueprinted and to ensure that I've done a quality job I test every controller I refurbish by playing Super Smash Bros. with it.