Wireless NES controllers are nothing new but good ones are more recent. Wireless controllers contemporary with the NES were generally infrared based, which meant that they had to be within a direct line of sight to a receiver and within only a rather limited range and angle from the receiver. They also had high latency as the infrared pulses took milliseconds to transmit a full controller packet. More modern solutions use a 2.4g or Bluetooth receiver. Today we are going to compare a newcomer to the NES controller scene, the Retro-bit Origin8, to the reigning 2.4g NES controller champion, the 8bitdo N30 2.4g.
The 8bitdo N30 2.4g was released around February of 2020. It looks very much like an original Nintendo NES controller, it has sharp corners, arrow indents on the D-pad, black backing with red lettering surrounding the buttons and uses a gray plastic. It has dedicated Turbo A and B buttons and a home button. It came with a 2.4g NES receiver and a USB cable. These controllers used a microUSB connection for charging and wired controller support. A transparent edition released in August of 2024 changed the connector to USB Type-C but the controller's features otherwise remained the same. It has an 180mAh internal battery. The retail price is normally $24.99.
The Retro-bit Origin8 was released in September or October of 2023 and Retro-bit clearly took some notes from 8bitdo. It comes in three color varieties, NES ("Classic Grey"), Game Boy ("GB Grey") and their own "Red and Black" color. They are not as faithful to the Nintendo NES controller as the N30 , the D-Pad has smooth directionals and the corners are more curved. These controllers have primary (L & R) and secondary (ZL & ZR) shoulder buttons, togglable turbo switches for A and B and Capture and Home button. They come with a USB 2.4g receiver, a NES 2.4g receiver and a USB cable. Both receivers have a pairing button. The Origin8 claims to have an internal 500mAh battery but mine is marked 420mAh. It also retails for $24.99.
At first glance, one might think the Origin8 wins this battle hands down, you're getting a lot more features for the same price. The Origin8's build quality is pretty close to the N30, neither controller feels cheap. Personally I tend to prefer turbo toggle switches over dedicated turbo buttons because in many games you want turbo for one button but not the other. It would have been nice if Retro-bit had included a 3-position turbo (like the TurboGrafx-16 and later PC Engine controllers) but one must take what one can get. Also the extra buttons make the Origin8 usable on a greater variety of systems. You can play GBA games with this controller. SNES and Genesis games may be playable with the controller depending on how the buttons are used. In Super Metroid, for example, you can map the run button to the ZL button so you do not have to awkwardly shift your thumb between the shoot, jump and run buttons (typically Y, B & A). Golden Axe and Streets of Rage could benefit by having the special attack button being kept out of the way.
One quirk about the Origin8 is that it does not support a wired USB connection out of the box. You must update the firmware to enable this functionality using 8bitdo's firmware update tool. Once that has been done the controller will appear like a normal USB controller. The dongles are also firmware updatable, the NES controller dongle having a Type-C port for this purpose (the manual incorrectly says it is microUSB, there has not been any updates). The N30 does work as a normal USB controller out of the box.
The Origin8's Home and Capture buttons only work with the Nintendo Switch according to the manual. The controller supports the D-input and X-input modes over USB, selectable by a key combination (Start + B). The controller can also assign itself to be a left analog stick (Start + Left) or a right analog stick (Start + Right) for Switch usage. The controller can be reset to its default with Start + Up. The N30 supports only X-input.
The N30 has special firmware to allow the controller to pair with the Analogue Pocket + Dock and the Analogue Duo wirelessly. This firmware also improves the button mapping when connecting the N30 with a wired connection. Flashing this firmware to your controller removes your ability to use the NES receiver but you can flash back to the standard firmware to restore that functionality. I should note that the microUSB N30 has a different firmware upgrade procedure (drag firmware file onto a drive) compared to the USB Type-C N30 (run an executable), which appears to be the only functional difference between the two models. Also, as the N30 came with the Nt Mini Noir, the controller works flawlessly with that console and its predecessor, the Nt Mini.
One undocumented feature of the N30 wireless controller adapter is that it can be paired with another N30 controller adapter which did not come in the box, anything 8bitdo says on their website to the contrary notwithstanding. The NES controller adapter can be paired with an SN30 2.4g controller or an M30 2.4g controller although I believe these have to be those versions of the controller which came with original controller adapters, not USB or NES/SNES Classic adapters. Additionally, the NES controller adapter will only recognize a D-pad and four buttons. Retro-bit also sells the Legacy16 (SNES), Tribute64 (N64), Saturn and Genesis 2.4 wireless controllers. The NES controller adapter may or may not be pairable with these controllers, the FAQ hints that it is possible.
The Origin8 works fine in a NES and AV Famicom with the NES controller dongle, but if you have paired the controller to the USB 2.4g adapter first, you must Clear Pairings by holding Select + Start + R for five seconds. Although the FAQ says the Origin8 is supported on the Analogue Nt Minis accessing the Cores menu, Running a Cartridge or changing directories on an EverDrive (Nt Mini Noir only) will cause the Origin8 to lose pairing with its dongle. Repairing is a tedious process requiring removal and reinsertion of the dongle and clearing the pairing on the controller. The Origin8 does not seem to have a problem as a second controller or running a normal cartridge directly and booting straight to cartridge. I assume it works fine on Retro-bit's NES clone consoles as the FAQ indicates but I do not own any of them nor would I want to. Amazon reviewers say the Origin8 works fine in the retroUSB AVS.
I do not have an sophisticated way to test lag, but the wireless latency for both controllers is tolerable. I should also mention that both controller adapters have a very tight fit in an original NES or AV Famicom. I have managed to complete Battletoads Level 3: Turbo Tunnel with both without embarrassing myself.
Do I recommend the Origin8? As a wireless NES controller it cannot be beat on price, features and quality. As long as you do not intend to use the controller with an Analogue Nt Mini or Nt Mini Noir, for the price it is an excellent choice for a wireless controller solution.
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