Williams Pelegrin
I love the Nintendo Switch, but I have a bone to pick with the company regarding the Joy-Cons. Having different colors for the detachable controllers is nice and all, but can you imagine slapping some GameCube-inspired Joy-Cons on your Switch? Thanks to the Shank Mods YouTube channel, I don’t have to imagine anymore.
The idea is simple enough: take a pair of Joy-Cons, remove the internal components, split the GameCube controller in half, and wire the GameCube controller’s buttons and sticks to the Joy-Cons’ boards. Things proved to be much more complicated in practice, as Shank received help from others to cut out an additional button, get custom buttons, and paint the new controller.
As for what Shank did himself, he started with the wireless GameCube WaveBird controller. He split the controller in half and attached 3D-printed components to each half. From there, he mounted the Joy-Cons’ rail attachments to the components. Shank also modified the triggers and thumbsticks, created 3D-printed internal mounts for the Joy-Cons’ Plus, Minus, Home, and Screenshot buttons, and drilled holes to accommodate the extra buttons.
Here's some gameplay pic.twitter.com/a5n91VJNIX
— Shank (@ShankMods) January 11, 2020
The result is arguably the most unique-looking Joy-Cons I’ve ever seen. Better yet, most of the original Joy-Cons’ functionality made it through. That means the now-detachable GameCube controllers retain the Joy-Cons’ HD Rumble, Amiibo support, gyroscopic aiming, and wireless gameplay. The only missing feature is the IR camera.
Don’t expect these puppies to go on sale anytime soon, unfortunately. Shank doesn’t have plans to sell his GameCube Joy-Cons, so your only hope is to make them yourself. Even then, you’ll have a hard time—Shank only recommends the mod work to seasoned hardware modders. You can always try your hand at Nintendo 64 Joy-Cons, however.
Source: Shank Mods via The Verge
