October 5th, 2012

More impressions of the Wii U Pro Controller

40 Comments
Wii U Pro Controller

We’ve heard some not-so-favourable things about the Wii U Pro Controller in the past, but Nintendo Life has shared a set of impressions that are much more tightly-packed with praise:

…aside from the weak rumble, it performed admirably. It’s a comfortable, responsive and well-constructed pad, which is pretty much all you can ask for with this type of controller.

You can read the full preview for their complete thoughts.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001024220386 Will Rowe

    Already Pre-orded this along with my Black Wii U, Black Ops 2, and Mario. I hope Battlefield 4 comes to the Wii U. That would be amazing.

    • Dead Scream

      People from EA say it is, but it also could be just rumored!

    • http://www.nintendoworlds.com/members/turbopikachu.22921/ TurboPikachu

      You can preorder controllers?! Looks like I’m going to GameStop again, for the 6th time this week. X3

    • bbcrisp_03

      Haha, SME here! Smh….

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sharlo-Galmo/736321849 Sharlo Galmo

      yess dude it was confirmd that battlefield 4 is coming to the wii u!!

  • a gamer born

    anyone who thought there wasw any truth to the anti pro pad talk and gamepad talk is themselves a sony or ms fanchild

    nintendo doesnt make poor controls or analog sticks so to even TRY say it makes them look total FAN-TARDS anyone with even a gram of commonsence understands both pro pad and gamepad and cjuck for that matter will have vastly better analog feel than any pad from ms or sony THATS JUST PROVEN FACT

    • http://www.nintendoworlds.com/members/turbopikachu.22921/ TurboPikachu

      That grammar and spelling almost made me cry…
      But I agree. Sony fantards are going to say the dualshock series has better sticks, even when they pretty much know for a fact that both MS’s and Nintendo’s controllers stomp their’s in the ground… But actually, the stick placement of Playstation controllers causes Playstation Palm; an itchy rash on one’s hand because of prolonged sliding of the palms on the akwardly-angled handles of the controllers, so I don’t even know why Sony fans even bother to defend the controller from bashing when many of them have admitted that they’ve suffered from PS Palm.

    • Nintendo

      This isnt english class, aslong as you get the point across, and people understand what ur talk’n about, its all good :)

    • Tails the Foxhound

      Playstation controllers are best left alone unless you’re playing something D-pad heavy (like a fighter). Station has the best D-pad on the market, 360 has the best triggers (best analogues too some say, I don’t agree), Nintendo has the best face buttons and had the best form factor for a while (still do if we’re talking Nunchuck). Now if only there were some kind of franken-controller on the market.

    • James

      I’ve never liked Sony controllers to be honest, I always used a tiny wireless Mad Catz controller for my PS2, and I got a 360 instead of a PS3. The 360 pad it pretty damn good, so I’ll reserve judgement on this pro controller until I’ve actually used it, like any sensible person would.

    • lolque

      I have a 360/GameCube/whatever else, and I seriously prefer the playstation controllers. Maybe it’s just because I use that more… But the shoulder buttons (ps3 L2/R2) are garbage.

    • http://www.nintendoworlds.com/members/turbopikachu.22921/ TurboPikachu

      Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I haven’t had my own problems with Nintendo’s controllers.

      They made the best shoulder buttons ever with the GameCube. You could press them in at any pressure, so for example, in racing games, you could control your speed. But after pushing them in far enough, you’d get a click like a button.

      So basically, while on 360/PS3 where triggers and shoulder buttons are separate, the GameCube has triggers that become shoulder buttons when fully pressed down. But what happened to that?!?! Why were there only shoulder buttons on the Wii? They should have had trigger functionality (which would have been great on Conduit/CoD). Also, the original Classic controller had the same R/L buttons as the GameCube, feeling like triggers with a button response when fully pressed down, but for some reason, there is no trigger-like pressure functionality with the controller, proven in Wii games that use CC/CCP. The GameCube made use of the Trigger-to-shoulder-button technique in many games. It makes no sense that they did not include that in all controllers after it. And the Classic Controller Pro baffles me. 4 shoulder buttons and no triggers?!?! WTF

      If the Wii U GamePad and Pro Controller don’t have triggers but rather opt for 4 shoulder buttons, then I won’t be able to believe Nintendo makes the best controllers anymore…

    • CBNS

      I still hope that atleast pro controllers will have those pressure sensitive triggers or some of the best gamecube games and driving games will have some serious controller problems.

    • James

      That’s absolutely not a proven fact? The gamecube controller was ok, the analogue on the nunchuck was pretty good and the Wii pro controller wasn’t bad, but I still prefer a 360 pad. Maybe this will be better, but you can’t assume that without having used it, and insulting other demographics doesn’t help you. Funnily enough, it makes you part of the Nintendo fan-dumb.

    • BellaKazza

      The GameCube controller is one of the best controllers of all time.
      Also, the 360 controller is very similar to the GameCubes.
      I loved the butten layout on the GameCube controller, the different shaped X, Y, B and A buttens were awesome, the pressure triggers were awesome and the single Z butten took the cake.
      The only issure was the C-stick, it needed a bigger thumb pad.
      But other then that, there really isn’t a comparable controller.
      The 360′s is solid, but the GameCube’s is amazing.

    • James

      I think it’s been systematically proven that having just one shoulder button is one too few; controllers have too few buttons as it is. I think that, combined with the C stick, which I thought was very poor indeed, make it an inferior controller to the 360 pad, despite it being more comfortable and having the more distinctive button layout, which I agree was excellent.

    • BellaKazza

      Having one sholder button is not too few, I never had a problem playing the GameCube controller with a single Z button.
      Controllers in general do not have “too few” buttons as it is, I have not played a game on a console where I had too few buttons to play.
      The C-stick is the only flaw of the GameCube controller.
      Likes and dislikes though, this is opinion of which is better I just prefer the GameCube controller.

    • http://www.nintendoworlds.com/members/turbopikachu.22921/ TurboPikachu

      I’m really going to miss the GameCube controller. Mostly due to the L/R buttons actually being triggers that turn into buttons after being fully pressed.
      But also, I’m going to miss DAT A BUTTON….. and the unusual shape of the X/Y buttons as well, not to mention how perfectly the Y button was placed over the A button. It allowed for much better gameplay on hectic things like Smash Bros, making a short-hopped air attack a piece of cake.
      I just hope the Wii U controller (or my existing Wii Classic Controller) can pass for muster when SSB4 comes out, but it’ll probably take some getting used to…

  • briantriplex

    lets hope it ain’t slippery because i seen pics and it looks like it has some sort of gloss paint and i have sweaty hands :O

  • Hybrilynx

    well until it goes down to $20, nope. especially if the rumble sucks becuz why else would it be so expensive? i rather wait until mad catz make a micro version of it if i dont want rumble. which i know would be cheaper but they made this micro gamecube controller and that was a awesome controller.

    • lonewolf

      ur are right with the gamecube controllers i have off brand nintendo controllers

    • BellaKazza

      Off brand Nintendo controllers normally suck.
      I’ve had four off brand GameCube controllers and they all broke.

    • Hybrilynx

      the micro wireless mad catz one i have still works after so many years. i would use it again but nintendo gave us the cheap disc reading wii’s. and the wii u and even wii wont play gamecube games so i probably wont use it ever again either. but it was definitively better then nintendos extra large controllers.

  • http://www.facebook.com/tyrell.jones.9 Tyrell Jones

    I hate it when ppl claim that a gaming controller is a ripoff, acting like a specific company just started that controller design and style..That’s just ignorant as all controllers are meant to be correct for the hands. My apologies, just had to vent a little.

  • http://www.facebook.com/8xBIT Thomas Reifenberg

    You know, we wouldn’t need this stupid thing if we could just use the Gamecube controller. How many people still have Gamecube controllers and would like the option to continue to use them? I have 16 controllers and 4 Gamecubes, yes, I held tournaments.

    • Captain Falcon

      The Pro adds more gaming mechanics. The GCC does not have clickable analog sticks.

    • http://www.facebook.com/8xBIT Thomas Reifenberg

      It doesn’t need them.

    • http://www.nintendoworlds.com/members/turbopikachu.22921/ TurboPikachu

      Yeah, the GameGube (and especially the Wii) should have had clickable sticks…. I mean, even the PS2 had them.

      But unlike the PS2/Xbox/PS3/360 which needed separate shoulder buttons and triggers, the GameCube only needed one pair of L/R buttons, because they were triggers, that became buttons when fully pressed.

      >why won’t Nintendo implement that into the Wii U gamepad? So far, it’s just gonna be four shoulder buttons, and no triggers. T-T Either Nintendo should turn the Wii U’s zR/zL buttons into triggers, or just do away with them and make it’s L/R into triggers that become buttons when fully pressed.

    • http://www.facebook.com/8xBIT Thomas Reifenberg

      I am guessing people stopped reading at stupid thing. OK, the point is, the option would be nice to use the Gamecube controller still, that is it.

    • Captain Falcon

      true, true

    • Marty

      well the idea of a usb converter for gamecube controllers isn’t out of the question.

    • http://www.facebook.com/8xBIT Thomas Reifenberg

      They have those, but why not just keep the port on there as an option?

    • Marty

      Do you want the Wii U to be over 400 because of a gamecube hardware? Disk reader, compatible gpu, cpu, chipset, controller ports ect? Or do you just want to wait for third party controllers or adapters.

  • Marty

    classic controller pro+Wii u gamepad – screen + triggers = Wii U pro controller. And one happy gamer :P.

  • The Flomsat

    Used one to play Rayman at the EB Expo in Sydney. It feels much lighter than a 360 controller. Felt natural in the hand too which is what you would hope for.

  • Bleh

    Honestly what bothers me is how far in the dpad and buttons are.
    The sticks should move just a smidge to the right and the buttons should move slightly down and then far to the right.

    Why didn’t they arrange the pro controller in the same manner as the gamepad? It makes zero sense.

    • http://www.nintendoworlds.com/members/turbopikachu.22921/ TurboPikachu

      They did that so you could comfortably slide your thumb down to the buttons without bending the thumb…. If the controller’s layout was as you described, then it’d be very difficult to use the controller, as you’d have to slide your hand down, just to comfortably rest your thumb on the buttons…
      The buttons are far into the controller for the same exact reason as the right stick placement on the GameCube, Xbox, and Xbox 360. It’d be idiotic to have the buttons directly below the right stick, and vice-versa.
      The controller you described is not ergonomically sensible. Nintendo designed the controller with comfort and ease of use in mind.

  • FunkyKong84

    Just like most Wii peripherals, I’m sure that it will feel like cheap plastic and won’t be as good as an Xbox controller.

  • RETLAW545

    For those complaining about force feed back
    Get a DILDO

  • Max

    Pre-ordered! and getting mine free at http://www.points2shop.com/?ref=uin1324468172