GameCube Controller Supported on Nintendo Switch
There are a few hiccups, but you can actually play Switch games with GameCube controllers via the USB GameCube Controller adapter. This support came with the 4.0 update to the Switch system software. There are two obvious use cases:
- A new Smash Bros
- GameCube Virtual Console
There's a third possibility too: Nintendo may be opening up the Switch to allow it to work with any USB gaming controller in an effort to give developers more options for porting.
I don't know about you guys, but the GameCube controller still remains one of my favorite game controllers ever made. Plus, I'm excited for a new Smash or GameCube Virtual Console games. Of course, two out of the three Star Fox games with Krystal as a playable character are on GameCube.
Discovered by Master Mewking. Video by GameXplain. News via GoNintendo.
Update: Looks like the third option was closest to the mark. Nintendo didn't even know they were enabling GameCube controllers. It was a byproduct of planned future support for third party controllers.
Comments
the gamecube controller is okay, but playing one like it on the wii u with wii u games, it doesn’t feel right, probably perfect for smash bros. series. i don’t know i like the wii u pro controller already, the only negative thing about is it doesn’t have octagonal gates like gamecube.
i doubt nintendo would let any usb controller work on the “switch”, that not made by nintendo, but you could get a 3rd party adapter like mayflash: http://www.mayflash.com/Products/NINTENDOWiiU/MAGIC-NS.html and use any controller on it, wire or wireless.
gamecube is still my favorite controller, I would like to see what exactly follows up from this before getting my hopes up on things but we’ll see how it goes
Whoa! That’s really cool!! I think that both a new SSB (Even though I am absolutely terrible at Smash)… and GameCube Virtual Console would be so awesome! Don’t get your hopes too high up though, because you never really know with Nintendo! XD
I had a feeling a new Smash Bros would be coming (Krystal BETTER BE IN IT, Nintendo). However, “Of course, two out of the three Star Fox games with Krystal as a playable character are on GameCube.” does that mean that Star Fox Adventures and Assault are bound to get imports for the Switch (correct me if I’m wrong)?
I heard about game cube controls for the switch but I don’t have the addapter needed to try it.
Probably, but only because they’re first-party games – if they were from any other developer they’d have been totally forgotten (they’re not exactly revered as classics nowadays). It’s interesting to see Nintendo still support this controller four generations removed from its debut; having played it along with Xbox 360 quite a lot recently, I can attest to its superb design, and Nintendo wisely never put it out to pasture (it has the best damn shoulder trigger buttons I’ve ever used), or even improved on it – all of its successors have used completely different controllers, but this has always been an official alternative. The irony is that the GameCube was decidedly not the winner of its round.
What I’d like to see is use of this controller not merely to play blasts from the past but new games. The SSB games are obviously a step in that direction, and I personally don’t know of other games that actually use these controllers on the Wii or later consoles (I could be totally wrong though). Nintendo are wisely sticking to the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” keeping this bad boy around while never changing a thing because nothing needs to change about it. I’d love to see more games made with it; if it became the default controller format for Nintendo consoles going forward, I’d probably be through the roof – so many games I loved playing with this controller, and I’d be psyched to see what else they could make on it.
Especially if it were sequels to games I loved.
Sorry, folks, but it looks like GameCube controller support for the Switch has been dropped now. Nintendo pushed out a new update for the Switch that removed said support.
According to Reggie Fils Aime, the 4.0.0 update was meant to add third-party controller support to the Switch, so it came as just as much of a surprise to them as it did to us when it was found out that the GameCube controller could work as well.
As such, they pushed out a 4.0.1 update in the last couple of days which removed support for the GameCube controller. So we may not be seeing Super Smash Bros. or GameCube Virtual Console on the Switch for the foreseeable future.