Is It Worth It To Buy A Nintendo 64 Controller From AliExpress?
Nintendo 64 is one of the system with a special place in my heart. I still own mine since my childhood days, and I still play with it from time to time. I have two original controllers for it (although one of them has a bad stick), and they work quite well, so I never thought about buying another controller. One day, and while I was browsing stuff on AliExpress, I found a very cheap Nintendo 64 controller replica. I knew it’s not original at all, but it was too cheap & tempting, so I bought one to give it a try. Who knows when I will ever need to have one.
Overall, the controller worked very well for me. I got used to it after a short while. The issue I faced with the Z button was sorted out quickly, and you may not encounter it yourself (hopefully). I never encountered any incompatibility or issue during my gaming with it. So I can say with confidence, it was totally worth it.
There are surely much better & more expensive options. Like the 8BitDo 64. But if all you want extra controllers to use for multiplayers, or you just want something cheap that doesn’t cost much, then I think the cheap replica will work very well for you.
Buy The Controller From AliExpress
Playing Games With The Cheap Nintendo 64 Controller From AliExpress
At first glace, the replica looks controller exactly the same as a regular Nintendo 64 controller. The translucent red color I picked looks fantastic. The buttons themselves feel different. They are lighter to press compared to the original controller. That makes them easier to press, but that also gives them a bit of cheap feeling, whatever you prefer.
The controller worked well after a quick testing on Super Mario 64, except for one issue with the Z button, which required a little bit more force for it to register. I disassembled the controller & moved it up a bit. That improved the situation a great deal. It’s still not 100% perfect, but it totally works. Stuff like that makes me wonder whether the button is bad, or if I am just nitpicking. I kept playing with the controller for a while, never touching my original controllers during the experiment. After a while, I got totally used to it, It didn’t come to mind that I am playing with a replica controller. I also never had issues with the Z button in any of the games I played. There was no time I wanted to press it & failed. Just for reference, some of the games I Played are vigilant 8, Resident Evil 2.
One noticeable thing about the controller is how the cable is quite long. I tried the official memory pack accessory on it, and it worked quite well.
Aside from the translucent red I picked, there are many other colors to choose from.
And Finally
Stuff like that makes me appreciate AliExpress. You get quite a lot for what you pay for. Especially if you don’t want to spend much, like if you want temporary controllers for additional players or some other reason.
I actually bought a replica SNES controllers from Aliexpress the same way, and I plan on writing about it here in the near future. It’s a console I didn’t have any working controllers for at all, so getting any controller saved my day.
I hope you find this experiment useful, and see you in another article. Check out the mobile apps I developed, which I hope you find useful.
Buy The Controller From AliExpress