Well, this is a surprise.

According to IGN, Switch's latest update allows for the use of the Wii U's Gamecube controller adapter, and unlike the Wii U it works for all Switch games.

What does this mean? Are we actually going to see the fabled addition of Gamecube games to the Virtual Console when it comes out? Is Smash U going to be getting a port after all?

For me personally, it's just nice to see that my favorite controller ever is managing to stay alive for all these years.

EDIT: Thought it was removed, but still there.

@kingbonesaw: I think it's that "gotta have it now" mentality, especially since Wii U's version of Smash didn't have nearly the same amount of exposure that the others did. Why wait for a whole new game when you have a perfectly good version sitting on a dead console that's still pretty recent? I can't personally say that I'd buy it, especially considering my buyer's regret over the 3DS version, but I understand the thought process.

@nicksmi56 said:

Well, this is a surprise.

According to IGN, Switch's latest update allows for the use of the Wii U's Gamecube controller adapter, and unlike the Wii U it works for all Switch games.

What does this mean? Are we actually going to see the fabled addition of Gamecube games to the Virtual Console when it comes out? Is Smash U going to be getting a port after all?

For me personally, it's just nice to see that my favorite controller ever is managing to stay alive for all these years.

This is completely wild. Does software need to patch this into specific games, or do the controllers appear like any other controller (pro, joycon) when doing the sync? I'll need to experiment with this when I get home.

Not selling my Gamecube controllers like ten years ago has continued to pay off in spades.

Smash is obviously coming to the Switch at some point (it's a Nintendo home console after all), but the big question is why add GC controller support now? The only people that demand GC controller support are Smash players. Was this just something they could do easily so they thought "What the Hell?" It just seems weird to add this functionality in before a Switch Smash game has even been announced.

@nicksmi56: Sorry to hear they caused you pain. I personally thought they were the most comfortable triggers ever. Plus that clicking! They are each two buttons at once. The c stick and the lame z button are trash, but those triggers are the best ever made.

Um, I think you meant to send this to @kingbonesaw XD

So this only works with actual GameCube controllers and a USB adapter? So there's still no way to use a Wii-style connector with the Switch? That's a shame, because that'd give access to an incredible range of controllers.

That works with the Hori Pokken Pro Pad so I assume this would as well.

People will be able to play Smash Melee even after the apocalipse

I now have enough controllers for an 8 player game of Super Bomberman R. Now I just need 6 more friends who give a shit about Bomberman.

@kblosnack: It ain't really Melee if it ain't on an actual Gamecube and a CRT.

Cool for the people who like that controller, but speaking on behalf of the rest of humanity, can we let that controller die already?

@clagnaught: It's basically the arcade stick of Smash Bros. For that reason alone, it almost has to stick around.

Plus, all they have to do is patch whatever system they make to recognize the Wii U adapter. If they had to put out new GC controllers and adapters with each new system, then there'd be more of a case for leaving it behind.

It makes total sense. The rumors of the Switch having GameCube virtual console games have been floating around for a LONG time and the questions of how the analog triggers would be handled has been raised.

This solves that problem.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

I have to laugh at myself cause the previous weekend I just sold my Wii U adapter since I didn't plan on playing Smash again. I do have 2 Joycons, a Pro, and an 8bitdo though but it would've been nice to have controllers wired since it is never a fun time trying to use the 8bitdo from charging and syncing.

Looks like theyll have to redo Steal My Sunshine on the Switch.

Ehhh I'm not sure how much I'd be into a Gamecube VC. We're far enough away now that a lot of those games would benefit from actual remasters, especially after seeing how good a job they did updating the Gamecube Zeldas for Wii U.

It's definitely interesting that they snuck this into an update now though, instead of waiting for an actual use case.

@clagnaught: You can pry my Wavebird from my cold dead hands!

@clagnaught: NEVAH!!!

This is cool, and with any other Nintendo console I'd be all for it. But I feel like the pro controller is actually quite good this time around. I don't really feel the need to dig out my wii u GameCube controller.

This is actually pretty damn neat. I tested my Wavebird with Zelda and Mario Kart 8. Zelda feels a little awkward and the controller doesn't actually have enough buttons (you can't use the binoculars) for the game. Mario Kart works as well as you would expect.

I'll be picking up an adapter soon. My 8bitdo controllers are great, but a Wavebird is nice, too.

Nintendo is totally about to announce a "Smash 4 Complete" that contains high-res versions of all of the 3DS stages bundled in with the Wii U content. Can't see any other reason why they would patch this support in otherwise? I can't wait to see how this works with some of my games!

This is nuts. (from this reddit post)

This is fantastic.

Just the right level of dumb.

Can anyone give a quick comparison of the Pro Controller and the GameCube controller? I understand that due to having less buttons, the GC controller is more limited. But for me, it's free since I already have the adapter and a WaveBird versus having to spend $70 on the Pro Controller. Will I be missing the buttons that aren't mapped?

@dranakin: Depends on the game and how it uses the buttons, the "Minus" button might be the most important missing button since you get no map in zelda and so on. Still you should be fine for Puyo Puyo Tetris and maybe games like Mario Kart 8.

My first impression is that that the C-stick is way more sensitive when using the camera in Zelda.

If it's free then just plug it in and see how it goes.

@forcen: Thanks for the thoughts. Sorry, I meant that I already have the adapter and WaveBird and was planning on buying a Switch. Given that a case is a must have along with some initial games, I didn't also want to drop $70 on a Pro Controller if I could get away with using my existing accessories.

@dranakin: In that case I would say you should be fine with two joycons for singleplayer stuff for a 2nd or third controller for games that dont need all the buttons. Then you can test it and see if you need a pro controller in the future.

@dranakin: The Pro definitely isn't your only option. There's also the Horipad which is only 27 bucks on Amazon currently, and the 20-dollar Mayflash adapter which will let you hook up basically any USB and Bluetooth controller to your Switch.

And, of course, there's the Joy-Cons. They already give you all the buttons you need, so there's absolutely no reason to buy an additional controller. In fact, detached Joy-Cons is Nintendo's recommended way to play Super Mario Odyssey, and you're reminded of that fact every time you load the game.

Seriously? I've been meaning to test out that controller style, but I can't imagine not having a controller to hang on to. Wouldn't it just feel so odd?

@nicksmi56: Yeah, apparently the director already mentioned this in an interview back in June, but it's in the game as well.

I dunno, I guess it'd be the same as using the Wiimote+Nunchuk combo. I've never owned a Wii myself, but I know some Wii users swear by that playstyle.

@axersia: I mean, that style worked well for games like Metroid Prime and Galaxy, but Joy-Cons are way smaller than Wii remotes, so I feel like it would feel like less control somehow. I guess I'll just see for myself next time I pick up the Switch.

THEY REMOVED IT?? EDIT: Or maybe not

https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/78s8u5/gamecube_controllers_no_longer_work_on_the_newest/

@forcen: ????

So did they add it in too early or something? What is going on?

Either it was bugging out HDMI for some like the changelog said, or it wasn't done?

Or maybe they were debugging it for smash and never intended to ship it, maybe never intended it to work with any game....

Maybe they will patch it back in for smash only..., they don't want old hardware being valuable maybe?

or it comes back for everything and it everyone's happy.

@nicksmi56: False alarm? https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/78rzrd/new_switch_update_out_now_version_401/dowaijc/

@forcen: And this is why it's bad to knee-jerk react XD

@nicksmi56: I was too busy disabling wifi on my switch thinking I would test mario using the adapter. Still, it was scary because it seemed too damn perfect.

@axersia: Oh, I wasn't aware of third-party options. I thought that your only options were Joycons or Pro Controller.

So how's everyone's GameCube controller experience been? I finally received my adapter from China. Took some doing to get it to work, but it seems to be fine now.

The first game I tried was Mario Odyssey, which works pretty well because Nintendo allows you to register the map to Up on the d-pad (coincidence?), whereas the default is the Minus-button not present on the controller (Start is mapped to Plus, of course).

That said, you can keep both the Joy-Cons and the GameCube controller active simultaneously, so even if you do run into a game where you need the Minus button, you can still hit it on the Joy-Con.

Unfortunately it registers L/R as L/R, when it probably would've been smarter to map those to ZL/ZR. This means that in Mario, the triggers are basically useless, and you need to long-jump and butt stomp using the Z-button. With a little bit of luck Nintendo will allow for system-level button remapping like Sony, but we probably shouldn't expect that.

In any case, it's clearly not the end-all-be-all solution. Doom has to be played with Z for shoot, and Zelda would be problematic until we can get button-remapping.

It works great for Mario + Rabbids, and I don't foresee any real problems with Xenoblade 2 either. You probably don't wanna use it for 2D games, so hopefully you still have a Hori Game Boy Player Controller lying around.

So basically, 3D games that aren't too action-heavy. That'll be your main use case.

I don't understand why you should want to play with another controller.

@mortierke: It's nice to be able to play some simple 4player local games without buying two more joycons or another pro controller and instead using the hardware from the last generations that are not getting used. Lots of games work fine with an analogstick and two buttons like Puyo Puyo Tetris or Overcooked.

I was thinking the other day, Someone should make a adapter that let you plug other controllers to a gamecube port. That way you could play switch games with any controller like 360 or something.