Review: Should You Buy the Old Skool Wireless Pro Controller For the Nintendo Switch?
54In this video, we take a quick look at the Old Skool Wireless Pro Controller, designed to be compatible with the Nintendo Switch and Windows PCs.
On a recent trip to Live Action Games in Champaign, Illinois, I noticed some new controllers on the shelves. One of them, designed for the Nintendo Switch, looked a lot like a Pro Controller. For $25 I figured I'd give it a shot.
The outside of the box said all the right things. It indicated that it supported motion controls, the button placements and everything looked like they were pretty accurate, the only thing that looked like it could be missing potentially was Amiibo support.
Inside the box, the controller itself comes with a bluish looking plastic wrap stuck to it. I was a little bummed initially, I actually thought this was quite good! Also included in the box is a small instruction sheet and a USB-C charging cable. I was glad to see USB-C and not Micro USB, it's just much more versatile.
When I initially held the controller, it actually didn't feel bad. The balance felt good, and again the buttons were in the right locations for the most part. The analog sticks actually felt very good. I was looking forward to pairing the controller to my Switch, and that's where it kind of fell off the rails.
Normally, to pair a new wireless controller to the Switch you simply go into the change grip order screen and press the L & R triggers. Unfortunately, that's not how Old Skool decided to do it on their controller. Instead, the manual says that you need to hold the home button and the Y button for about 5 seconds. I did that. I did that a lot. The controller still did not pair to my Switch. The only way I could get the controller to pair to my Switch was to connect it with the USB cable. Not cool
Next up was to test it playing some games. I must say, I don't know that I've ever pulled off the dragon uppercut as easily in Street Fighter II is I did with the Old Skool controller. It was quite remarkable actually! Playing NES games from the Switch Online catalog felt great, as did playing the Castlevania Collection. When I fired up Yoshi's Crafted World, I was able to actually experience the rumble feature. While not as HD Rumble as the pro Controller from Nintendo, it wasn't bad at all.
Why it RoX:
- $25
- Analog sticks felt great
- USB-C Charge port
- Rumble
- Motion Controls
What could be improved?
- The pairing process is hot garbage
- The USB-C port on the controller is far too narrow and does not accept many other cables
- No Amiibo support
- Plastic case is very slick and cheap feeling
- I am not a fan of the angled plus and minus buttons
- Capture button is not easy to access
Should you buy one?
This is a hard one for me. The analog sticks are so good, and for $25 it hits an amazing price point. The pairing process, however, was a nightmare, and I consider myself fairly technically astute. If I had an issue with this, what is the average consumer going to experience? I'm also not a huge fan of the placement of the capture button, and I don't quite understand why they had to make the plus and minus buttons so large and at an angle. This would not be a primary controller for me, but I wouldn't hesitate to hand this off to someone else to use as a second, third, or fourth player controller
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