Ready to 
Wii need a classic NES controller
Matt Lincoln Russell
May 31, 2009 6:35 PM ET in Gaming
fail
The Wii arcade is an experience I can get behind. No need to blow on the cartridges, toggle the spring loader, or fiddle with the channel switch. Just download the classic you want to play and go. It’s exciting and convenient. We’ve dropped quite a bit of coin on classics here at Icrontic HQ.
There is one terrible fidelity problem though: the Wiimote.
OK sure, it simulates a classic controller if you turn it sideways. But that’s like saying a Penny-farthing simulates a bicycle. The proportions are such that you can get around fine, but it’s just damned awkward. And it’s two-decades-of-experience awkward. There’s this tiny bit of lag from the wireless that creates a little “give” in your timing and it doesn’t feel right.
It’s one thing for SMB3 to feel a little off, but it’s just unacceptable in a calculated digital ballet like Mega Man 2. Do you switch the dancer’s shoes the night of the big show? No, the shoe must fit comfortably or everything falls apart. So it is with the controller. I won’t touch Mega Man on the Wii arcade. To Hell with that.
Surely there must be a way to connect an NES controller to the Wii. You can, of course, get that SNES look-alike controller easily right from Nintendo. NES controllers with USB connectors are all over the place. So why not NES to Wii?
After hours of searching, I was crestfallen. I had my credit card out and was ready to buy, but no one had one for sale. Not a single enterprising individual. It’s days like this that my faith in my fellow geek is shaken to its very core.
Are you out there, hardcore NES geek with electronics experience and a soldering iron? I would throw 20s at you like a stripper.
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