Looking to buy a Hori N64 Mini Pad or 2. Or 3.

[Thaddeus Grey]

I don't really care what color, but I'd PREFER (in order): clear blue, clear red, clear white, black, blue, red, clear purple, yellow, and lastly green. Any offers?

Oh, I also need a black Gamecube digital gameboy player controller by Hori.  Found one on eBay for a good price.



I use Paypal like none other. And I think I cam do Amazon payments. Not sure, but I use amazon all the time too. Thanks! I have money, but my job pays only so-so, so be gentle, know what I mean?  

[Zelimpdna]

I've never heard of that Gamecube Game Boy Player controller. Now I want one. I found one on Ebay, but it's £100.

[Thaddeus Grey]

I've never heard of that Gamecube Game Boy Player controller. Now I want one. I found one on Ebay, but it's £100.

They were made about 7 years ago up until 2007. Initially it was import only, but hori got smart and made some for the West. At one time they were $10 new. I was stupid not to get one then. It's not worth $150, that's for sure. I would say about $50 tops for used, $60 tops for new. Those controllers at that price don't sell, which is why they are still there. In the past few months on eBay, some indigo ones have sold brand new for ~$60. But as I said, it's gotta be black. Another (and much cheaper) option would be to get an SNES-GC adapter from retrousb.com, but I personally would rather have the Hori pad.

[MisterCreazil]

Holy crap those look genius!  I wish Nintendo used that design for their controllers.

[Thaddeus Grey]

Holy crap those look genius!  I wish Nintendo used that design for their controllers.

The Nintendo brand N64 controller was sort of an experiment for the big N. They weren't sure how well 3D games would be accepted by the general public, so they made it to where both the joystick and the D-pad could be accessed comfortably. Very few games used the D-pad exclusively (the only ones I can think of that were better with the D-pad were the Mortal Kombat games), so that left wing of the trident was hardly used. Many people (including myself) often complain of how fast the joystick wears down. So Hori got with Nintendo and put the Mini Pad out (looks like a Gamecube controller, eh? Where do you think Nintendo got the idea?). The Joystick is phenomenal, much better than any other N64 joystick, but it does have it's faults. For some it's too sensitive. It's pretty much the exact same as the Gamecube, so take that for reference. The D-pad (clearly) sucks. And it is a "mini" pad, so big-handers might find it difficult to use. Why did it never make it over here to the good old USandA (or Europe for that matter)? I dunno.  Japan gets everything good?

The Gamecube digital controller is really only good for the Gameboy Player and a few fighting games. If you look, you'll see a select button. The GCN didn't have one. It's another Y button, which in the GBPlayer is select (along with X, so it could have been either). After playing Legend of Zelda, Minish Cap on the Player recently, I decided that I need one. Those shoulder triggers suck for GBA games, and use of the D-pad is painful. Hori was smart with this one and sold it over here in the West, but I think it was only through online retailers. Estarland had it at $10 a pop about 4 years ago. I should have bought one then, but I was dumb.

BTW, I would also consider one of the Pelican knockoff controllers for the Cube.



They are DEFINITELY not worth as much as the Hori Pad. I'd pay about $10 used, shipped for the Pelican, and $15, MAYBE $20 for new, shipped.

[tiktektak]

Who at Hori said that THAT place would be the best for the D-Pad?

I suppose this person doesn't work there anymore....

It's good that it isn't used for much on the N64 but still there it looks unusable.

[Thaddeus Grey]

I dunno, but Nintendo seems to think it was a good idea. Look at the Gamecube controller. That D-Pad isn't even worth mentioning. I find it funny with the Hori Mini Pad that the D-pad is in the exact middle. Kinda like how the stick was on the original controller.

BTW, found a black Gameboy player pad on eBay for $43 on eBay, gently used.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320507619600&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Best price I've seen on one in a while. So now I just need a mini pad for the N64.

[BadChad]

I bought one of those black Hori Game Boy Player SNES pads a couple years ago. Love it to death. The way I look at it, if you have one of those and a Gameboy Player on your Game Cube you pretty much have youself an advanced SNES. Playing games like Mega Man Zero just couldnt get any better with that pad.

[shenske]

BTW, found a black Gameboy player pad on eBay for $43 on eBay, gently used.

GameBoy Players at Gamestop are only $20 

[Thaddeus Grey]

The Players are $20, but I doubt the controllers are. Gamestop didn't get any. I don't think anyone did except online retailers like estarland. I paid like $40 or so for my player, but it had just come out, so I don't regret it.

[shenske]

Oh my mistake,  thought you were just referring to the gameboy player for $43 (not the controller).

[AppleQueso]

Is that pelican pad worth the money? I imagine the hori is better, but if spending $30 less means I still get a functional snes-esque pad I'd gladly go for the pelican.

[KaiserWAVE]

Is that Hori controller really that rare and pricy? I got mine when it was released off play-asia.com for a measly $22 including shipping (which was around 18 Euros at that time). Worth every cent indeed. Got it with the Mega Man Anniversary Collection and it's incredibly good.

...both the controller and the Anniversary Collection

[shenske]

You could always go to retrousb so you can use actual nes and snes controllers on your gamecube/wii.
http://www.retrousb.com/index.php?cPath=22&osCsid=ad686e7114f285275b5dfe677787c6d2

That still doesn't help with the hori n64 problem but at least it may be a much cheaper alternative to the hori "snes" style gcn pad. (I want one of those hori n64 pads to).

[satoshi_matrix]

Yes, I wholeheartedly recommend the Retrozone SNES adapter to GC over the Hori Digital Pad. I bought one when they were first introduced in Japan (I think I paid like $60 for it!). It does a great job emulating the look of the SNES controller, but for reasons I cannot comprehend, the controller maintains the same Gamecube oddball layout of the face buttons. 

With the adapter, you can play Gamecube and Gameboy games as well as Wii VC and a number of Wii games all with your classic real SNES controller all without any lag or cable splicing.

As for the Hori N64 Mini Pad, I also own one. They're expensive, and I'm not sure it's quite worth the price.

Pros:
-An excellent Control stick. It's similar to the Gamecube's but a bit looser and also slightly bigger.
-You can access all the buttons without having to change how you hold the controller.
-Supports all existing controller addons.
-Great conversation piece amongst videogame friends.
-Two Z buttons below L and R. Use whichever one you want.

Cons:
Just like the OEM Gamecube controller, the dpad on the Hori N64 Ministick is placed as an afterthought. Any game that is played with a dpad your much better off to just use a real controller.
-The buttons are too close together.
-Expensive.

If you still want one, check ebay.