Old Skool ProMini Switch Controller Review
48Old Skool has a history of making some rather unique accessories for modern and retro video games. I've tried a number of them over the years, some of them have been decent such as their GameCube Digital Controller and their TurboGrafx 16 controller, others have left something to be desired. I recently saw them tweet out a message about their wireless PROmini controller for the Nintendo Switch, and it definitely got my attention. Attention. Aesthetically, it looked like a Super Nintendo controller with grips added to it, something that would be good for a player of the Switch online Super NES collection. Collection. I reached out to them and asked if they would provide a sample, which they graciously did.
The PROmini controller is fairly simplistic and how it comes out of the box. The controller itself is simply wrapped in a protective material, there's no plastic tray or anything to hold it in the box. Included with the controller itself is a USB-C charge cable and the multilanguage instruction slip sheet.
To get things up and running, normally I can just power a controller on to get through initial pairing. Unfortunately, that was not the case with the PROmini controller as it was completely dead out of the box. This is a bit of a concern as lithium-based batteries do not like to go below 3 volts per cell. Thankfully, it appears that Old Skool has designed a low voltage cutoff into the controller, to protect the battery. In case it is ever fully discharged. This should protect the battery and prevent it from being damaged if it is drained too low.
Once I charged the battery up, I attempted to pair it to my Switch and Switch OLED wirelessly. This was a tremendous failure for me. No matter what I did, I could not get the PROmini controller to pair wirelessly to any system. The only way I could get it to connect was if I connected a USB cable between the system and the controller. Once it connected for a few moments as a USB device, I could disconnect it, and then it would play wirelessly. If this is how the controller is designed, I have no problem with it. The issue I have is that there should be a note in the instructions that it does not pair wirelessly. This is not the first time I've had this issue with an Old Skool controller, as our original Old Skool Pro controller had this exact same issue.
Once everything was paired up, the PROmini controller was actually fairly nice. I thought the analog sticks were good, and the button presses were responsive. For my taste, I think the d-pad is a little bit too firm, and not as responsive as I would like. I actually found myself using the analog sticks for just about all gameplay.
In my opinion, where the Old Skool PROmini really shines is rumble. The rumble on this controller is crazy. How good it is. You never feel like the controller is going to pop out of your hands or anything, but man, it is really powerful. I also like the fact that this does have Amiibo support for those who are looking for it.
Why it Rox:
- Available in black or white
- Super powerful rumble
- Decent ergonomics
- Good for kids with small hands
- USB-C cable included
- Amiibo support
What could be improved:
- Wireless pairing is a mess
- D-pad is not as responsive as I would have liked
- Add convex and concave face buttons
- MSmall for those with large hands
- Battery did not have any charge to it out of the box
Should you buy one?
There's so much potential here and I honestly feel like Old Skool could really make this a terrific controller with some firmware updates. The pairing process is a nightmare, there is no way around it. I would not even try connecting via Bluetooth out of the box, simply connect the USB cable to pair your controller to your system. Connecting wirelessly doesn't even work 100% of the time 60% of the time. Above and beyond this, the D-pad was not quite as responsive as I would like, however, the analog stick I thought felt good. For kids, for a player three or player four controller, this is something you could consider, however, I really like to see Old Skool fine tune the overall performance to make this even better.
#OldSkool #Nintendo #Switch
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https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107
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(Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2546; Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 607, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5132; Pub. L. 102–492, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3145.)