8Bitdo Neo geo wireless controller SNK licensed

[HellioN]

What really frustrates me of the current retro scene is the products don't last more than a year or two. Especially the Neo scene. I had been searching high and low for Rad2x hdmi cable for the Neo and the 2X scart retrotink with no luck.

I feel you on the 2X scart.
You can get an OSSC for around $140 and I've been considering just getting that instead.

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

Good idea on testing method but I only have one controller at the moment. Not sure if I'll get a second one as it's just me playing.

Play a game you played to death. You will notice if it plays fine. This stuff is subjective and you can adapt to it but it isn't a problem if you don't notice.

 

[Neo Alec]

I feel you on the 2X scart.
You can get an OSSC for around $140 and I've been considering just getting that instead.

I've got an OSSC I'm ready to get rid of. I need to check what they go for.

 

[Ralfakick]

Can we get this thing working on a PS4 now or nah? I see I can do the pocket and switch so that’s covered.

Thanks in advance

 

[KaedesDisciple]

Ah screw it, I already have 3 and just bought 2 more, that price is too good and I love this controller on the MiSTer, the Pocket, and the Switch

 

[kernow]

Yes we all need five

 

[KaedesDisciple]

Meh, I’m sure one will break at some point, and I’ll probably wind up using at least one as part of a trade somewhere down the line, and 3 will be active in this setup. No regerts

 

[Archdesigner03]

The boxes do looks nice on the shelf

 

[Heinz]

Ah screw it, I already have 3 and just bought 2 more, that price is too good and I love this controller on the MiSTer, the Pocket, and the Switch

The boxes do looks nice on the shelf

Ugh...

 

[NeoSeeD]

Good idea on testing method but I only have one controller at the moment. Not sure if I'll get a second one as it's just me playing.

I received both Neo BT and Retro Scaler's BlueRetro blue tooth adapter to use with the neo geo wireless controller. Though I don't have specialized equipment to measure the latency, I do "feel" the Retro Scaler's adapter have just a tiny tiny tiny more latency than Neo BT, but it's still quite good for $18 shipped from aliexpress / china. Hard to measure the "feel" as well since most neo games have slow downs on top of the my flat screen TV and framemeister's inherent input lag. I would say both products are pretty good though but I only used it with neo geo wireless controller, which I imagine what most people will be using here. Below are some product comparison.

Neo BT
- $54 shipped from SAG, really pricey for an adapter. Though on Humble Bazooka's website, a portion of the sales goes to the creator of this open sourced technology.
- It only comes shipped in a tiny zip lock bag with a QR sticker code for instruction manual. Prefer to come with some type of package to store the adapter when not in use.
- The adapter is extremely well made for a 3D printed product.
- Easy to pair with neo wireless controller. Just plug the adapter in and press start on the controller.
- Fireware update through bluetooth connection with the hardware / console turned on. I haven't use this feature and can't really comment further on ease of use.

Retro Scaler BlueRetro
- $18 shipped from Aliexpress.
- Comes with a printed box and printed manual. I prefer something like this for easy storage of the adapter when not in use.
- The adapter is injection molded. The adapter do comes with a dongle to connect the adapter to your system as some said the adapter itself is too wide to fit into the system directly. The adapter fits perfectly into my Omega CMVS without the use of the dongle. I'm waiting to get my newly moded AES back from Xian Xi and will report back if the dongle is required for the AES.
- Easy to pair with neo wireless controller. Just plug the adapter in and press start on the controller.
- Fireware update through usb-c connection from adapter to PC. I haven't use this feature and can't really comment further on ease of use.
- As discussed prior, the adapter "feels" it has more latency then Neo BT but this can be up for debate as I have no equipment to test nor do I know how to test other than the "feel" during gaming.

So which product I would recommend? Tough to say at the moment without further testing on the latency between the two product as I know the quality of bluetooth hardware technology varies. Perhaps people with both adapters can chime in as well.View attachment 71394

I have both of these as well and they do seem practically identical (in non-scientific testing). My wife and I played through Blue's Journey and Burning Fight and we suffered no interference and the connection was stable.

One interesting thing that I did notice is that the turbo function was much slower on the blueretro which is using the current 1.9.1 firmware while the Neo BT had much faster turbo on the older 1.8.3 firmware. When I updated the Neo BT to 1.9.1, turbo was also slow. I don't use turbo a whole lot but I do hope that gets fixed.

The retroscaler also seems to have its own branch of the blueretro firmware. It bricked when I used the one from the github. I had to email the vendor to send me the stock firmware and it installed flawlessly via usb c. Could have been user error or bad luck in the first place, but just something for users to keep an eye on.

Between the WOOT deal and the restroscaler, you're basically getting a fully functional wireless controller for the Neo for less than $40 vs the $70+ of the Neo BT and normal price of the 8bitdo controller. Both Neo BT & RS show up on the blueretro page as vendors so it seems both support the dev.

 

[prof]

Cool. Got one. I don't even like the Neo CD controller much honestly, but at that price might as well. Better than most modern controllers for playing old neo stuff on new consoles/pc.

 

[kernow]

Ugh...

The goobiness in this thread

"Meh, they're not that great.. bought five

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

 

[Neo Alec]

Yes we all need five

Considering the originals broke easily and these are cheap now, it's not that bad an idea to stock up a bit.

 

[Viewpoint]

The originals I liked but yeah the D-Pad was my main issue with it. Were these new controllers able to deal with that issue?

 

[HellioN]

The originals I liked but yeah the D-Pad was my main issue with it. Were these new controllers able to deal with that issue?

Without knowing what your d-pad issue with the og were I don't think we can answer your question.
I think these things are a very good facsimile of the original but IMO with a bigger dead zone that throws me off.

 

[Viewpoint]

Without knowing what your d-pad issue with the og were I don't think we can answer your question.
I think these things are a very good facsimile of the original but IMO with a bigger dead zone that throws me off.

It's the issue with the D-pad that anyone with a Neo-Geo had. They just wore down over time and would get bad to the point where they wouldn't work anymore.

 

[Neo Alec]

Without knowing what your d-pad issue with the og were I don't think we can answer your question.
I think these things are a very good facsimile of the original but IMO with a bigger dead zone that throws me off.

Ummm... The same issue everyone has?

I think only time will tell. Who has used theirs enough at this point to answer? I suppose with the design being somewhat different there's a good chance the 8bitdo ones won't have the same issue.

 

[HellioN]

Ummm... The same issue everyone has?

I think only time will tell. Who has used theirs enough at this point to answer? I suppose with the design being somewhat different there's a good chance the 8bitdo ones won't have the same issue.

Well Mr. Smelly pants the truth is I preferred the arcade stick for all the NEO•GEO games so my CD pads never got worn out.
I bought All these things to more or less satisfy my inner collectgoob.

 

[Neo Alec]

Well Mr. Smelly pants the truth is I preferred the arcade stick for all the NEO•GEO games so my CD pads never got worn out.
I bought All these things to more or less satisfy my inner collectgoob.

You haven't heard enough that the directions wear out and stop registering? You might have pads that are already broken.

 

[HellioN]

You haven't heard enough that the directions wear out and stop registering? You might have pads that are already broken.

I'm aware they wore out.
I wasn't effected by it so no, I didn't really pay much attention to it.

 

[kuze]

IMO the stick sucks for fighting games, it’s ok for puzzlers and NTM but otherwise you need a proper arcade stick. For example even something like a double tap to dash is more difficult than it should be on these. I can’t comment on the original CD pads as I never had one.

 

[HellioN]

Here's a thing I just did that improved the feel of the pad.

Skateboard tape + hole punch
No, the throw is still long but I definitely feel like I have better control of the ... Controller.

 

[NeoSeeD]

Without knowing what your d-pad issue with the og were I don't think we can answer your question.
I think these things are a very good facsimile of the original but IMO with a bigger dead zone that throws me off.

According to the measurements from Porkchop Express, the dead zones on the dpad and pressure needed on the buttons are identical and the wireless connection is faster than wired. Link

8BitDo claims they spent 3-years developing this controller and their attention to detail shows. Take for example the movement of the d-pad. Great care was taken to match the motion of the original Neo Geo CD pad. I have what looks to be a lightly worn example from a boxed Neo Geo CD. Both 8BitDo and the original pads have a 2.5-3mm dead zone in any direction, followed by a 2-2.5mm switch engagement. Both sticks also require 1.8N of force to engage the switch and 3.8N of force to max out the travel.

The face buttons of the 8BitDo controller measure in at 1.0N of force, again, just like the original Neo Geo CD controller. Scarlet Sprites noted in his review that the controller weight of the original Neo Geo CD pad was 3.7 ounces while the new 8BitDo Neo Geo controller weighs 3.9 ounces. In short, I have nothing bad to say about the controller's faithfulness. 5/5

 

[HellioN]

Don't care.
Feels wrong.