Interesting choice to stick with the gear design as that's what I understand to cause the notorious loose sticks over time, not the hall effect sensors vs. potentiometers. That being said I've also heard that keeping those gears lubricated will exponentially increase the life of the stick, and with the hall effect sensor it would likely be a reasonably long-lasting solution.
Yeah, the original stick doesn't even use potentiometers. It uses an optical sensor, which basically has all the same advantages as a hall effect sensor and none of the potentiometer issues anyways. The stick, bowl and gear wear will mean this is utterly useless in terms of improving longevity.
Having gotten this stick, I can say comfortably that this may be the best option for an alternative stick IF you don't want to have a GCN style stick. Pros: Feels authentic True to N64 design Hall Effect Cons: Sounds hollow and feels "mechanical" (not to be confused with "grindy". Stick does feel smooth) It DOES snap to cardinals, but as pointed out it's oddly not reflected too much in actual gameplay. True to N64 stick range Finally, I have two of these sticks. One I have in a wired controller and the other I have in an 8BitDo N64 DIY mod kit. Results for both are relatively the same, but there are some differences, albeit subtle. When testing inside the 8BitDo mod, the range is NOT octagonal. Instead, it's "squarishly" rounded. Still hits the ranges, though. On PC, the best emulator for control accuracy is Simple64. In controller settings, set the range anywhere between 95%~100% as it may vary pad by pad. TLDR: Only through Nintendo are you going to get a 100% authentic reading and accuracy, but unless Nintendo out of nowhere mass produces replacements, just go ahead and buy from Intec if you need a fresh stick for you N64 controller.
The one I received had a lot of lateral "play" in it like a worn out OEM stick module, but I found after swapping in an OEM stick, spring, and plastic ring it eliminates the "play" almost entirely. I don't have a control stick test suite to see how well the new module works though, but it feels and plays great from testing in games after the internal parts swap.
Very interested and have ordered myself one. Something I'm not sure a lot of people are aware of is when the N64 is powered on, L+R+Start will re-center the analog stick's position. Could be a possible solution if deadzones feel off-center such as is described with GoldenEye here. Rotate it around a few times clockwise and counter-clockwise then use the button combo above!
Why do retro controller companies keep adding axial deadzones? The Retrofighters Hunter has a big axial deadzone where the Original Xbox controllers didn’t and it makes precision aiming in FPS games impossible. Do some people actually prefer them? Great review btw.
Hall-effect sticks don't drift, but they do have jitter due to the sensors just being ever so slightly noisy. This noise can register as fake inputs near the deadzone and that is, obviously, unwanted. So in order to avoid that they often add just a very tiny deadzone. There's also just the physical aspect of trying to have the stick perfectly perpendicular to the sensor on every flick back, thanks to friction and inertia that's also generally never happening absolutely perfectly, and a small deadzone will mask that as well.
Hall effect on a n64 style stickbox is useless as that original stickbox uses optical sensors for hofizontal and vertical movement which aren't even effected by magnetational wear
Hey bro can you test the new Hyperkin Hall effect N64 drop-in stick that just launched when you get a chance? Would love to see if they improved the resolution from their wired controllers. Sticks were pretty decent other than that.
Yeah, would love to see him test the very new $15 Hyperkin Hall Effect one. Against the $20 8BitDo one(which I have & like) and this new $20 Intec one and an OEM 👍
Contactless? Absolutely not. The cause of wear on the N64 sticks is the friction between the bottom of the stick and the curved arms of the black gears, expanding the oblong hole size. These sticks would have the same problem. The best thing you can do is grease the oblong gear holes and stick.
I think that description may be a mistranslation. It's contactless in the sense that the mechanism that dictates movement isn't reliant on gears or any mechanical mechanism. Yes, there are gears inside the stick, but because it uses Hall Effects for movement, technically you can remove those "pinwheel" gears inside and in fact, this "may" make the stick move more freely. In fact, they serve no purpose as looking at a gear wheel, it's all solid! Be that all as it may, yes...I'd suggest to anyone buying this stick to apply your own trusted lubrication.
Man i hope amazon makes them available for the european sites too, i mean shipping isn´t too high but for 10eur more i can get a wireless controller from miadore. This is the first hall effect stick that has a good benchmark and i want one!
For pure accuracy to the N64 experience this one is the way to go. But, I need to see how it holds up before I can really say because if it wears down after a game of Mario Party the 8bitdo stick is the way to go for the casual experience.
I might give this one a try. I ordered 2 of the 8-bit do ones and am disappointed in the quality control. Both were noticeably crooked and their support is very slow so 45 days later I'm still waiting on replacements.
I have this setup and the only issue I've had is that about once every half hour for a few seconds it will disconnect then come back to life. It's yet to be an issue in game and may be solved with firmware (I only played stadium so far and haven't been assed with it)
Long ago i called Nintendo that i didn't want to throw my N64 controllers away just because the stick went bad and all the rest of the controller was good I asked if i could order some new sticks and that i knew how to install them.. They sent 3 free ones that day ^^
Being super-sensitive to cardinal snapping (I notice it straight away), this is disappointing. I really don't understand why they always do this. The og control stick has close to no deadzones at all. Odd to say the least.
This seems to be exactly the same as the original design, except using Hall effect sensors instead of optical sensors. The optical sensors were never the issue with the original design. What problem does this solve?
Having a reliable replacement option even if it doesn't bring anything new to the table is a big deal for these controllers. Most replacement options are complete trash. This will be a good option for the masses and Rocker's stick will serve the enthusiast market when it arrives!
I picked up one of these Intec sticks and I'm sorry to say it was terrible! Mine felt very grindy out of the box and was "catching" when the stick was pushed in the up direction, so I opened it up to take a look. The smaller, topmost gear piece is made of thinner, weaker plastic than the original, and had been bent out of shape by the spring inside the stick assembly. This can happen over time with OEM sticks, but was much more pronounced in this one out of the box. The grinding sensation is no joke either--pushing the stick around feels like pulling back one of those toy wind-up cars, and I cannot accomplish smooth motions at all. I can also confirm the problem with the large deadzone when pushing the stick to the right--I believe this is caused by the warping on the gear piece. Overall I can't recommend this one at all.
Really exciting progress on these aftermarket sticks.
Definitely a lot better than what we had 2 years ago!
Interesting choice to stick with the gear design as that's what I understand to cause the notorious loose sticks over time, not the hall effect sensors vs. potentiometers. That being said I've also heard that keeping those gears lubricated will exponentially increase the life of the stick, and with the hall effect sensor it would likely be a reasonably long-lasting solution.
Yeah, it was an interesting choice for sure.
Yeah, the original stick doesn't even use potentiometers. It uses an optical sensor, which basically has all the same advantages as a hall effect sensor and none of the potentiometer issues anyways. The stick, bowl and gear wear will mean this is utterly useless in terms of improving longevity.
Archades Games, cool content keep it up dude
Thanks for watching! Lots more N64 stuff coming soon and it excites me lol
Having gotten this stick, I can say comfortably that this may be the best option for an alternative stick IF you don't want to have a GCN style stick.
Pros:
Feels authentic
True to N64 design
Hall Effect
Cons:
Sounds hollow and feels "mechanical" (not to be confused with "grindy". Stick does feel smooth)
It DOES snap to cardinals, but as pointed out it's oddly not reflected too much in actual gameplay.
True to N64 stick range
Finally, I have two of these sticks. One I have in a wired controller and the other I have in an 8BitDo N64 DIY mod kit.
Results for both are relatively the same, but there are some differences, albeit subtle.
When testing inside the 8BitDo mod, the range is NOT octagonal. Instead, it's "squarishly" rounded. Still hits the ranges, though.
On PC, the best emulator for control accuracy is Simple64. In controller settings, set the range anywhere between 95%~100% as it may vary pad by pad.
TLDR:
Only through Nintendo are you going to get a 100% authentic reading and accuracy, but unless Nintendo out of nowhere mass produces replacements, just go ahead and buy from Intec if you need a fresh stick for you N64 controller.
The one I received had a lot of lateral "play" in it like a worn out OEM stick module, but I found after swapping in an OEM stick, spring, and plastic ring it eliminates the "play" almost entirely. I don't have a control stick test suite to see how well the new module works though, but it feels and plays great from testing in games after the internal parts swap.
Hello from Wisconsin. Nice video!
Hope your day over in Wisconsin has been awesome!
And here too! Never skipping a video, never skipping an ad to support your wonderful family ! :)
Very interested and have ordered myself one.
Something I'm not sure a lot of people are aware of is when the N64 is powered on, L+R+Start will re-center the analog stick's position.
Could be a possible solution if deadzones feel off-center such as is described with GoldenEye here.
Rotate it around a few times clockwise and counter-clockwise then use the button combo above!
Why do retro controller companies keep adding axial deadzones? The Retrofighters Hunter has a big axial deadzone where the Original Xbox controllers didn’t and it makes precision aiming in FPS games impossible. Do some people actually prefer them?
Great review btw.
Preventing the dreaded drift seems to be more important than responsiveness in some products.
@@ArchadesGamestraditionally makes sense but these are Hall effect devices we’re talking about which shouldn’t be able to develop drift
Hall-effect sticks don't drift, but they do have jitter due to the sensors just being ever so slightly noisy. This noise can register as fake inputs near the deadzone and that is, obviously, unwanted. So in order to avoid that they often add just a very tiny deadzone.
There's also just the physical aspect of trying to have the stick perfectly perpendicular to the sensor on every flick back, thanks to friction and inertia that's also generally never happening absolutely perfectly, and a small deadzone will mask that as well.
Retrofighters controllers are trash.
Hall effect has been used in the automotive field for decades. This will work well for long life with gaming equipment
Hall effect on a n64 style stickbox is useless as that original stickbox uses optical sensors for hofizontal and vertical movement which aren't even effected by magnetational wear
Hey bro can you test the new Hyperkin Hall effect N64 drop-in stick that just launched when you get a chance? Would love to see if they improved the resolution from their wired controllers. Sticks were pretty decent other than that.
Yeah, would love to see him test the very new $15 Hyperkin Hall Effect one. Against the $20 8BitDo one(which I have & like) and this new $20 Intec one and an OEM 👍
I just got the Hyperkin stick in the mail today, so tomorrow!
Contactless? Absolutely not. The cause of wear on the N64 sticks is the friction between the bottom of the stick and the curved arms of the black gears, expanding the oblong hole size. These sticks would have the same problem.
The best thing you can do is grease the oblong gear holes and stick.
Right, I will see what wear I can cause it over the next month regardless.
I think that description may be a mistranslation. It's contactless in the sense that the mechanism that dictates movement isn't reliant on gears or any mechanical mechanism. Yes, there are gears inside the stick, but because it uses Hall Effects for movement, technically you can remove those "pinwheel" gears inside and in fact, this "may" make the stick move more freely. In fact, they serve no purpose as looking at a gear wheel, it's all solid!
Be that all as it may, yes...I'd suggest to anyone buying this stick to apply your own trusted lubrication.
I would wait for the rockergaming one
Yup, looking forward to that one!
Man i hope amazon makes them available for the european sites too, i mean shipping isn´t too high but for 10eur more i can get a wireless controller from miadore.
This is the first hall effect stick that has a good benchmark and i want one!
I hope they get listed soon then!
I have the N64 8bitdo hall effect stick (which is awesome). Which do you like better?
For pure accuracy to the N64 experience this one is the way to go. But, I need to see how it holds up before I can really say because if it wears down after a game of Mario Party the 8bitdo stick is the way to go for the casual experience.
@@ArchadesGamesPlease let us know. Very interested in your ultimate findings
Definitely!
@@Plasma_117 Do you use the name plasma because you are a fan of plasma TVs? Or is it for a random reason? 😂.. I'm a big fan of plasma TVs.
I might give this one a try. I ordered 2 of the 8-bit do ones and am disappointed in the quality control. Both were noticeably crooked and their support is very slow so 45 days later I'm still waiting on replacements.
Yeah, I have rare good experiences with 8bitdo.
It sounds like one of these sticks and a 8BitDo wireless PCB is the best option for an authentic-feeling bluetooth N64 experience.
switch online controller and an adapter would be the best most likely
I have this setup and the only issue I've had is that about once every half hour for a few seconds it will disconnect then come back to life. It's yet to be an issue in game and may be solved with firmware (I only played stadium so far and haven't been assed with it)
Long ago i called Nintendo that i didn't want to throw my N64 controllers away just because the stick went bad and all the rest of the controller was good
I asked if i could order some new sticks and that i knew how to install them.. They sent 3 free ones that day ^^
Being super-sensitive to cardinal snapping (I notice it straight away), this is disappointing. I really don't understand why they always do this. The og control stick has close to no deadzones at all. Odd to say the least.
This seems to be exactly the same as the original design, except using Hall effect sensors instead of optical sensors. The optical sensors were never the issue with the original design. What problem does this solve?
Availability
Having a reliable replacement option even if it doesn't bring anything new to the table is a big deal for these controllers. Most replacement options are complete trash. This will be a good option for the masses and Rocker's stick will serve the enthusiast market when it arrives!
I picked up one of these Intec sticks and I'm sorry to say it was terrible! Mine felt very grindy out of the box and was "catching" when the stick was pushed in the up direction, so I opened it up to take a look. The smaller, topmost gear piece is made of thinner, weaker plastic than the original, and had been bent out of shape by the spring inside the stick assembly. This can happen over time with OEM sticks, but was much more pronounced in this one out of the box. The grinding sensation is no joke either--pushing the stick around feels like pulling back one of those toy wind-up cars, and I cannot accomplish smooth motions at all. I can also confirm the problem with the large deadzone when pushing the stick to the right--I believe this is caused by the warping on the gear piece. Overall I can't recommend this one at all.
Sounds like you got a lemon.
So it has cardinal snapping :/
Definitely in the controller tester but I haven't noticed it on either stick in real gameplay yet. Still more tests needing to be done though.
Where did you even buy this? I dont see it on Intec's website
I have an Amazon link in the description. They go for $20