8bitdo has just announced an interesting new arcade stick, that will work over USB, Bluetooth and has a 2.4GHz RF USB stick contained inside it as well. They claim the internal battery will provide 40 hours of play time on 2.4g connection and 30 hours on bluetooth with a 4 hour charging time. It’s available for pre-order now on Amazon for $90 and will ship in late October:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GJC5WSS
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08GJC5WSS
The stick is being advertised as compatible with both the Nintendo Switch and Windows, but I imagine many more devices will work with it as well. I can’t imagine it having issues with any device that can accept a standard USB or bluetooth controller, but I guess we’ll have to wait and find out. I’m also interested to see if it will be compatible with 8bitdo’s previous retro receivers, which would allow it to be used on classic consoles as well.
Another interesting feature, is it’s fully compatible with their “ultimate” software, which allows you to remap any of the buttons. This feature, combined with strategically-placed LED’s in the case allow the button labels to change, when your configuration is updated (as demonstrated in the picture above). You can even program two macro buttons and toggle between modes: https://support.8bitdo.com/ultimate-software.html
They claim the hardware inside the stick is fully-compatible with the follow arcade parts: Sanwa JLF / Sanwa JLW Seimitsu / LS 33, 55, 56, 58 / Seimitsu LS 32, 40 / Happ arcade sticks & IL arcade sticks. While that will guarantee anyone can customize it with their preferred feel, the single most important statistic for any pro gamer is conveniently missing: Solid lag measurements for each mode.
While I’m definitely interested in seeing how it performs and will definitely keep an open mind, the fancy images, “2015-modern-chic” website and lack of questions or criticism from any other blog gives this product a suspiciously familiar feel to it. The only thing that’s missing from the ad is “powered by FPGA”…
