8BitDo has made a name for itself by offering quality game controls with stylish, retro designs. That holds true with the new 8BitDo Arcade Stick for gaming PCs and the Nintendo Switch. This piece of retro gear is built for modern arcade games with the old school buttons and controls of the NES era it represents. At $89, it’s even offering a surprising value for an arcade stick, undercutting many competing fight sticks. But let’s see if it can offer quality to match.
8BitDo Arcade Stick – Design and Features
The 8BitDo arcade stick is a Nintendo fan’s dream. From the gray plastic construction to the gray, black, and red color scheme, it oozes that original NES design ethos. But where its looks may be from a bygone era, its features are not.This stick dives right into gaming setups with multiple connection options. For those that demand fool-proof performance, there’s a direct USB-C connection that can handle both charging and inputs. 8BitDo includes an incredibly long USB-C cable that fits snuggly into a small enclosure, which locks the cable in place, keeping it safely plugged into and ready for competitive play.
And, yes, I said charging, because this arcade stick also supports wireless connection. That includes both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless over a chunky little USB-A dongle with some Super Mario Bros. brick block stylings. That dongle also fits into the small enclosure for a wired connection, allowing for safe storage.
The box is built out of a robust-feeling plastic. Four rubber squares on the bottom can keep the unit from sliding around, but long rectangles would serve better for lap use.
The layout of the 8BitDo Arcade Stick is fairly conventional for a fight stick. The joystick is on the left with a staggered set of eight 30mm buttons on the right in a Taito Vewlix-like arrangement. Two customizable macro buttons live in the top right, which are slightly smaller than the primary buttons at 24mm. A very nifty feature of the 8BitDo arcade stick is that, instead of having printed control labels, it uses illuminated control labels under a semi-transparent plate. Depending on whether the arcade stick is running in Nintendo Switch or PC mode, it will illuminate a different set of controls for easier use on different platforms.
