If you have an old but working Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) lying around your home, and you want to add a spice of new technology to it, then you might want to be introduced with the Retro Receiver. This peripheral puts the old gaming console to the new age, well, sort of. It is a Bluetooth-enabled adapter that can connect to several different wireless Bluetooth controllers.
The Retro Receiver Brings Wireless Bluetooth Technology to the NES
The Retro Receiver is a seven-pin female adapter which is able to fit into the controller port for the original NES or any other third-part console that uses Nintendo’s uniquely shaped controller port. This hardware is made by the builders found at Analogue, which are the same guys who made the Analogue Nt NES console last year. Analogue has teamed up with wireless controller company 8bitdo in order to design, as well as release, the Bluetooth controller adapters.
Users are able to take advantage of the adapter by connecting it to the NES console and then making a connection with a number of different wireless Bluetooth controllers. Compatible controllers include any 8bitdo controller, a Sony PlayStation 3 controller, or a PS4 controller. It can also work with the Nintendo Wiimote as well as the Wii U Pro controller. Furthermore still, it can even work with any arcade stick as long as it has Bluetooth capabilities. It has another feature as well other than connecting to a Nintendo Entertainment System. Users are able to use the adapters as a Bluetooth input device on a PC or Mac computer that has a Micro-USB output which connects to a USB port. Unfortunately, the Microsoft Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One controllers are not compatible with the Retro Receiver adapter.
This is not the first time that wireless technology was placed on the original NES system, however, this is perhaps the most successful one to-date. There are many others that precedes this device but a majority of them do have a fatal flaw. The caveat is that these wireless devices that are made for the NES, like the NES satellite, uses infrared technology. This means that you would have to play with a very steady hand lest you lose the connection and have to reconnect once again.
The Retro Receiver “works just like any next-gen system or wireless controller,” said Analogue’s founder and owner Christopher Taber. He also said that it can respond to player’s button movements or even the furious mashing of buttons just as fast as the NES’ wired gamepad.