8Bitdo Sn30 Pro USB Wired Gamepad for Switch, Windows & Raspberry Pi(Gray Edition)

It has been a long time coming to have a controller of this quality to exist on the market after years of searching, testing, and using alternatives. My long time preferred USB SNES style controller was the iBuffalo controller that everyone seems to have and has raved over, but I believe that reign is finally over with the release of the 8BitDo SN30 Pro wired USB controller. I have the Bluetooth version of the SN30 Pro as well and that was my first experience with this controller. This wired version features the same great build quality as the Bluetooth version and it appears to be completely identical, except the presence of the USB cable coming out of the top. Batteries do not last forever and this is the reason why I still prefer to keep a stock of wired controllers for the future in case something should happen to my Bluetooth version. The overall controller has solid build quality and parts from what I can tell. The buttons offer a satisfying click and the D-pad feels good, almost like a stock SNES controller did back in the day and is also very comparable to a fresh SNES classic controller from Nintendo. After doing some testing in Street Fighter 2 Turbo, I had no issues pulling off moves. The L and R shoulder buttons are a bit small and will take some getting used to for players that are accustomed to resting their index fingers where L and R would originally exist on a regular SNES controller. The L2 and R2 trigger buttons are towards the back and offer up a bit more real estate for your fingers to press. All feel fine to the touch. The analog sticks work fine and feel good, but be aware that the right analog stick is very closely placed to the two face buttons on the front, so if you tend to have your fingers jump around during play, you might accidentally hit the stick. I'm currently using this controller exclusively on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ and although the feel of it is great, I had some issues getting it properly recognized by the device. When first plugged into an existing setup, it currently detects as an Xbox 360 gamepad and during the mapping of buttons, the L2 and R2 shoulder buttons constantly either were unresponsive or skipped over as if it did not exist. After doing some research online, I installed the Xbox driver within RetroArch but that did not seem to fix the issue. I ultimately ended up updating the Xpad driver within RetroArch and that seemed to solve the issue as all buttons are properly mapped now. I recommend backing up your RetroPie setup and image before making any system changes as if something happens during the update process or if you get unintentional results, you can revert back, so definitely heed that warning! Overall, this is a solid controller and is perfect for an emulation build and is the definitive controller to have in my opinion. Yes, there are minor issues here and there mentioned above but it is a good controller to have. This definitely replaces my older set of USB controllers and I believe that 8BitDo has a winner here!

In my decades on Amazon, i've only left a few reviews. But i really felt compelled to write one for this great controller. I have tons of PC controllers. I've been gaming for over 40 years (I'm a literal "classic gamer") and have accumulated quite a collection. I bought this one because it was inexpensive, and I liked the classic look of it, so I got it to use with some of my classic and retro games, not expecting to play with it a lot. As soon as I plugged it in and tried it out, I was HOOKED. This thing is amazing. I was worried about build quality, and the size of it and the buttons, but it is PERFECT. I honestly have not used another controller since I got this one. Now, I'm not a pro by any means, but this controller works for me for everything: fighting games, action adventure, stuff like Fallout and Starfield, Baldur's Gate 3, and of course classic arcade and console games. It's comfortable, it works very well, and you forget you're even holding it: what you want to happen on the screen just happens, which is the highest praise for a controller! Also, it's the most compatible controller I've used on PC! Lots of games on the various online shops' launchers get picky with your controllers and don't always work. This one has worked for EVERYTHING. I love it so much. It's so good. If you're even considering grabbing one of these, just go ahead and hit the buy now button. I highly recommend it!

Great controller, works for pc, nice buttons, perfect price

I've been following 8Bitdo's product line for a while, and I had always been curious to try out one of their controllers, even more so when they somehow managed to take the SNES controller design and add analog sticks and 2 extra shoulder buttons. However, I was always hesitant to do so, because I just prefer wired USB over Bluetooth when it comes to using a controller on a PC. When I saw that 8bitdo had recently released a wired USB version of the SN30 Pro, and for a cheaper price than its wireless version, I finally took a leap at it. I've had this controller for a couple of weeks, because I had wanted to give it some playtime before I wrote a review on this thing, now here are my impressions of it... This controller feels quite good. As mentioned before, they took the SNES controller design and added on analog sticks and 2 extra shoulder buttons, which is good for newer 3D games, and despite these additions, it still feels comfortable in my hands (your personal experience may vary depending on the size of your hands), and it's the best carbon copy of what I grew up with that I've ever used, by far. The turbo function is quite handy, and the vibration is a nice feature of its own as well. I'd like to try out Retroflag's USB gamepad sometime, but I digress. The buttons feel good, the D-pad feels good too, not like the Tomee SNES shaped USB gamepad, which the D-Pad on that felt like complete mush, so I've learned my lesson: You get what you pay for. Now here is the reason why this controller didn't reach 5 stars from me: the diagonal inputs on the D-Pad are a little oversensitive. the casual gamer might not notice, but the more invested gamers will, because some games have tricks that you can pull off (like Super Metroid's wall jump for example), and when you're in the middle of doing a maneuver that requires hitting left and right, or up and down, sometimes a diagonal input will end up registering instead and disrupt said maneuver. It can get annoying, but maybe after some more time and use, the d-pad could break in and lose its oversensitive diagonals. Two more thing, and these are only personal nitpicks: 1. I wish 8bitdo had kept the old designs that made their controllers look more like the SNES controllers, like with the two buttons being purple and the other two lavender, and with the angled start and select buttons, but it's not a deal-breaker, and this gamepad is quality built for sure. 2. I don't know if it's just me, but when plugged into my laptop, the controller seems to keep my laptop from going into sleep mode, and I don't know if there's a remedy for that or not. Again, not a major deal-breaker for me, and I can just unplug the controller when I'm not using it. Closing thoughts: 8bitdo, you really should invest more into making USB counterparts of your controllers, but that's just me! I know you're making an SN30 Pro with grips on it, so if you made a USB version of that, it'd be just as awesome. UPDATE as of 7/16/19: I've gotten around to playing some games that utilize the analog sticks and the digital trigger-like buttons, and the analog sticks feel great and responsive! It barely gets uncomfortable for me at times (which I'm basically saying it doesn't strain my hands). If I could give my rating for this controller 4 and a half stars instead of just 4, I would.

Works absolutely amazing, favorite out of my many controllers, fits in my hands perfectly, and a 2 PACK? Absolutely incredible, I wish I could rate it 100 stars.

Great controller I recommend. Easy to use a configure.

I've been gaming since NES (technically Atari, but I was like 2 or 3 at the time). I remember when we finally got the SNES that was immediately my favorite controller ever. But, over the years things have changed and evolved and I've used every controller made since then. There have been a lot that I've liked and a lot that were interesting. Currently, I use wireless Xbox 360 controllers and PS4 controllers the most. Sometimes on the console and sometimes on my PC. I also own a Wii, Wii U, and Switch. I also own actual Nintendo Gamecube controllers and N64 controllers in case I want to emulate some of the games I used to own and have it feel as close to still having the cartridge as possible. I wanted you to know my background with controllers before I start my actual review so you know I've felt some buttons before. I was hesitant about this purchase because at $30-$40 that isn't cheap to take a gamble when there is some questionable feedback about certain things. But, I decided I couldn't resist purchasing this and finding out for myself first-hand... because, as I said, the SNES was always my favorite controller. So, yeah... this controller is excellent. The buttons better than expected. The DPad feels great. The joysticks are just the right snappy feeling, I'd say a lot like the PS4 controller. Speaking of which, a lot of people told me they think it looks small so I held it up to the PS4 controller and it's the exact same width. The joysticks are a tiny bit closer. I think the worst part is the shoulder buttons. They are a little crammed, but I love the controller so much otherwise that I don't even care. It's a small adjustment for me to get used to. I plan to buy more of these. I don't even want to use my Xbox or PS4 controllers on the PC anymore. These are my PC controllers. Oh, did I mention it registers as Xinput (aka an Xbox controller on the PC?). Brilliant.

I ordered this controller to have an SNES style controller with a good D-Pad for RetroPie. I had been using the Buffalo controllers but both of mine developed ghosting issues. I left the 8BitDo controller connected to the Pi for 4 hours monitoring the output of jstest; no ghost input was observed in the output logfile. I'm able to rock the D-Pad left-right & right-left quickly without any Up or Down presses registering. On RetroPie, the controller reads as an Xbox 360 controller. This caused a conflict with my Retrobit Genesis controller in X-Input mode so I had to adjust my settings for it, no biggie. The star button acts as a turbo enabler to set turbo on other buttons; it is not a programmable button. The right bottom button is programmable and acts as the Hotkey for RetroArch. I tested the controller's input lag with 240p TestSuite on RetroPie (Pi3B). I'm getting about 0.5-1 frames which is on par with my other wired/wireless controllers (DS4, Retrobit, Buffalo, Saitek). Build quality is heavier than I expected for a wired controller. When it is plugged in, a green light appears on the bottom and the controller vibrates to let you know it's connected. I don't have a Switch to test it on so I cannot comment on that. In Windows 10, it works well with RetroArch for N64 emulation. Racing in Mario Kart was comfortable. Overall, I'm very happy with the controller for the price. My only compliant is the short cord (6 ft), but I'm spoiled by the longer 10' cord on the Retrobit. When needed, I've been using a 6' USB extension cord and don't notice any lag or drop in signal. Highly recommend this controller.