You might already be aware of 8BitDo's Pro 2 controller, which is considered one of the best and most popular Nintendo Switch controller offerings on the market, and now it's getting a separate version for PC and Xbox.
The downside? This version is wired, rather than wireless like the Switch alternative. The upside? It's slightly cheaper as a result, with pre-orders now available at $44.99. The release date is December 8th.
With the controller, you get an "enhanced grip", trigger vibration, a 3.5mm audio jack, 2 Pro back paddle buttons and access to 8BitDo's Ultimate Software, the latter of which allows you to alter things like the vibration effects, trigger ranges, button mapping and thumbstick sensitivity — and this can be configured over Bluetooth when using an Android or iOS device. The controller also allows you to adjust the volume and game/chat balance.
"Play like a Pro with 8BitDo's most advanced controller ever - now on Xbox. An evolution of Pro+ in every way at a fraction of the price of competitor pro controllers. Ultimate Software gives you elite control over every piece of your controller. Customize button mapping, adjust stick & trigger sensitivity, vibration control and create controller profiles."
We've had a chance to get hands-on with a couple of 8BitDo products here at Pure Xbox over the past year, and have found them to be excellent options for Xbox owners. Let's hope the Pro 2 controller follows that trend.
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Interested in the 8BitDo Pro 2 Controller? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments.
Comments 24
Joysticks are in the wrong place for me - I can just about cope with them when playing on PlayStation, but the Xbox controller layout I find much easier to play with and more comfortable.
And has to be wireless for me.
Shame though as it's not a bad looking controller
Hopefully the next iteration is wireless. Everything else about it is perfect, just can't go back to wired controllers at this point.
Read wired.
Completely lost all interest.
That is one of the ugliest controllers i have ever seen. Its like if Playstation tried to make an xbox controller... I laugh at this design with my entire belly... ew.
@Rural-Bandit @Widey85 Since this is based on the SNES controller, the focus is on the d-pad as the main input, which makes it ideal for 2D platformers
I would have agreed about the placement of the sticks if it were any other controller, but in this case the placement makes perfect sense.
The point of this controller.
The heads of the posters above.
Whoosh. Right over.
Good attempt at some console war jabs over a third party controller based on a SNES controller from before PS or Xbox was a thing though. Haha.
Anyway yeah great great controller. Wireless for me though I can handle the nano second input lag.
@Rural-Bandit same. 25 years in and I still don’t like PS’s stick placement.
I will say this would be a great controller for a lot of Indie titles. Mighty Goose, Flynn, Huntdown, Blazing Chrome, etc.
@JoakimZ Thanks for explaining in a helpful manner rather than the condescending approach others have taken.
If aimed at 2D games it's something I'd expect to see in the sales pitch, my bad.
Still not a fan for the price given it's wired and for a bit of a niche (and I wouldn't find it comfortable for games outside that) but understand it better now thanks
I use the 8Bit sn30 pro for pc.
One of the best controllers i had. Maybe second place next to xbox controller (xbox controllers are still number one imo)
Eww! Symmetric thumsticks? That's disgusting!
Yo what the h is up with Xbox controllers being wired all the time. It's bad enough I have to get batteries all the time or buy the rechargable ones. Would kill for Xbox to release regular rechargeable controllers as options outside of the elite variants
Although I prefer the Xbox style joysticks for most games, I do like the PlayStation style positioning for games that focus primary on the d-pad. It would be nice to have one of these around for those type of 2d games.
I also think PlayStation fans will appreciate having an option that lets them play xbox games with the joystick positioning they are most familiar with.
That said, wish they offered a wireless version even if it required a usb dongle.
@Kilamanjaro most of us prefer to be able to change the batteries so the controller is not dead the day the battery life goes south.
As for being wired, almost every Xbox, PS4 and PS5 third party controller is wired because of proprietary protocols that exist mostly for latency reasons (and so both companies can charge extra licensing fees to any third party manufacturer that wants to compete in the wireless controller space.)
The only one using plain Bluetooth for their controllers is Nintendo.
@Tharsman I have been with Xbox for 20 years and can say I do not prefer to change the battery all the time. I'd be curious to know how many people prefer that as the other major console manufacturers with a MUCH larger install base do not have the same limitations from using double AA batteries. From an environmental standpoint, swapping batteries all the time is far more wasteful for the environment when you look at the number of physical batteries you go through compared to rechargables. I have never once had a rechargable controller die on me with the internal battery but can understand how that could be a problem for hardcore gamers (ones I have had for many years and plugged thousands of hours into: PS4, Wii U, 4 Switch joycons / 2 pro controllers / NES and SNES wireless). Although not gonna lie, it does feel cool sometimrs, like I'm reloading for battle XD.
Second point you made, that makes total sense. Totally forgot about that. Would be great if the market was a bit more open to offer better options for consumers.
@Kilamanjaro for one, I don’t swap batteries all the time. I buy recargable battery packs and those last quite a few years each. I have plenty of controllers from the other consoles that are basically useless because after enough use the battery lasts barely an hour.
There are plenty cheap options on rechargeable battery packs that even come in sets, you can have them all recharged nearby and swap when needed.
I also find 2 rechargeable AA batteries tend to last a LOT longer than any built in battery pack. Only controller that gets close to an Xbox with good AAs is the Switch Pro controller.
The one thing I wish Xbox would add to controllers is a built in charger, so I can just hook a usb cable to them and it would recharge standard rechargeable batteries on its own. Also wish it would ship with 2 rechargeable AA batteries instead of disposable ones.
@Tharsman yeah that would be dope. Having rechargable ones packed in with the Series X or S would be great. I bought some 3rd party rechargable packs a few months back but those backs were so tight it felt like I had to break my controller to take it off, so returned it.
I'm going through a ton of AAs as the first party rechargable battery pack is pretty hard to come by at market price, bunch of resellers have it way too high online. Really want those rechargeable ones. On a side note, I think the Wii U pro controller had the best battery life of any controller I ever owned, very rarely ever needed to charge it.
@Kilamanjaro there been at least 3 Xbox controller revisions so the ones that come with its own battery cap with a hole for charging can be hit or miss if they are not properly labeled. I just got something similar to this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DKLR42X
This way when I’m having a ridiculous long, lazy weekend I can spend a whole day playing and just grab a fresh charged pack and swap, keep on going without ever worrying on tethering my controller.
Before getting these I just would always slap in some rechargeable energizers. I always have some around the house charged up for multiple things through the house.
I hate throwaway batteries.
As for that Wii U pro controller… but that right analog stick placement!!!
@Tharsman nice! Thanks for sharing, just ordered a related item from your link. Let's see how these bad boys hold up!
As for the Wii U pro controller, yeahhhh, didn't say it was the most comfortable XD but to be fair, didn't play many shooters on it ( & the Wii U hardly had any games at all). The Nintendo first party games tend to only have the right stick occasionally rotate the camera or for Smash / Tilt attacks on Smash bros, but yeah definitely not as nice-in-the-hands as the Xbox controllers. Excited to try out these nee battery packs, sound like a lifesaver
@Tharsman my dude, I got some of those rechargeable batteries. THANK YOU.
@FraserG haha I know I tagged you in the Chit Chat thread pondering the lack of an article on this and I wondered whether I'd just missed it. My apologies, I just found this through a Google search.
Some of these comments seen familiar though, so I actually must have seen this article and forgotten about it completely! 🤦♂️
@ralphdibny No problem! After 4000+ articles, I forget what I've written about sometimes as well
@FraserG haha yeah, I must have been tired that day or maybe there were a lot of articles that were of interest to me all in one go. It's funny y'know, I feel like once I've read all the articles I want to on PX, PS and NL, that I deem myself to have "run out of internet" to look at for the day 😅.
4000+ though?! Just crazy how far this site has come since the relaunch! Congratulations and keep it up! 👏👏👏
@ralphdibny Thank you!
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