The Best Thing To Happen To The Nintendo 64 Controller

[LordXaero]

A modern, similar to the GameCube, style control stick:

Before




After





Everyone who played N64 knew that the control stick would wear out after awhile, causing the controller to be completely useless.

These aftermarket sticks are awesome. Product of Taiwan, they seem very durable, and reliable, as if Nintendo actually made these themselves. I ended up getting three more so all my controllers can have them.

Pulling of mini boost in Mario Kart 64 is even easier than before.

[MikeW]

Awesome! Mine would wear out and get stuck drifting in one direction, lol. Cant believe people are not only still playing N64 but making aftermarket parts for them.

[LordXaero]

Awesome! Mine would wear out and get stuck drifting in one direction, lol. Cant believe people are not only still playing N64 but making aftermarket parts for them.

I've been playing Donkey Kong 64 lately. I'm trying to collect everything this time around. Haha.

[Night Wolf]

lol nice! I hated that huge old one. it hurt my thumb after a while

btw this reminds me of the short shifter mod

[Law Grandeur]

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!

[deevergote]

I guess I never played mine enough to wear it out! Mario 64 was the only game that held my attention. I couldn't even get into Zelda, and I love the Zelda games usually!

That's pretty cool, though. The Gamecube stick is definitely better than the N64 stick. The N64 stick was all floppy anyway, even when it was working properly. I always hated that controller design anyway. EVERY game used the control stick more than the d-pad, yet they put the stupid control stick in the middle, where it makes it awkward to hold the controller.

[Hondalover]

That looks amazing.

[MikeW]

I thought it was a short shifter mod, lol.

It was awkward to hold but after awhile you just got used to it. If you lob the sides off and hold the center piece with the stick and trigger, it kinda resembles the Wii controller, so maybe there's some kind of homage there...?

I really only played Goldeneye, GForce and cruisin, all of which utilized the joystick, so i just go tused to holding it like that, lol.

[cp[mike]]

Using gamecube or PSX thumb sticks is something a lot of people have been doing recently, its a big recent thing on HackaDay.. thought this acttually looks cleaner. I was going to do it w extra PSX sticks but I don't have the N64 at home right now, u say these are premade variants? Where di u pick them up from? i recently had replaced all mine with direct replacements but im considering this upgrade.

[Joshy]

That's awesome. Now I want to buy a few and give 'em a try!

I never ruined any of my control sticks - I still have the original gray controller that came with my N64 in 1996, and it has a full range of movement. I thank not having the urge to buy any games in the Mario Party series. Mario Party minigames killed control sticks like they had extra lives.

As for you guys complaining about the N64 controller's layout, the design was a safety-net of sorts for Nintendo. Consoles (and gaming in general) were evolving from 2D and gimicky 3D into full-on 3D. Thus the need for a joystick that could offer a more precise directional input, rather than the simple directional pad of yesteryear. At the same time, however, many seasoned developers at Nintendo were still skeptical if 3D gaming would even take off. Hence the fallback of the standard directional pad, and the "three prong design" of the N64 controller.

[Gemini]

i feel like buying a N64 and modding a few controllers so i enjoy GoldenEye and Wave race again

[crazymikey]

N64 was a great system. Loved Goldeneye. By far one of the best FPS games I've ever played.

Funny thing is, I've never actually owned a Nintendo console. Been a Sega and Sony devotee lol.

[GHOST 2.2]

i remember when my homies and i would fight who has to deal with the controller with the tired joystick when we played mario kart 64. horrible design.

[cp[mike]]

i remember when my homies and i would fight who has to deal with the controller with the tired joystick when we played mario kart 64. horrible design.

it was always the grey one that wore out first! visiting friends houses id always eyeball the joysticks before grabbing my controller of choice, if the stick was resting at an angle i tried to avoid it haha

[LordXaero]

u say these are premade variants? Where di u pick them up from? i recently had replaced all mine with direct replacements but im considering this upgrade.

I bought them from here.