Modders hack N64 controller to work with Xbox One

Back at E3 this year, Microsoft announced a fancy new Xbox One controller that will let users modify it by swapping out the analog sticks and D-pad, and even remapping buttons to new paddles on the bottom. That controller is going to be priced at a steep $150. But they also announced a new Xbox One game titled Rare Replay, a collection of 30 games from developer Rare's last 30 years, including several hits that were originally on the Nintendo 64. So what's going to be the best way to play those games? Why, with a modded N64 controller, of course!

That's the idea the people at Hyperkin had too. They're makers of the Retron 5, a system that combines nine classic game consoles into one. Since they know their way around hacking and modding old gaming hardware, they set out to get a N64 controller to work with the current-generation Xbox One.

As their video clip reveals, they've done most of the hard work. They can use Nintendo's old, weird three-pronged controlled to navigate menus and make selections on the Xbox One, but then they hit the basic limitations of the hardware. The N64 controller only has one analog stick, missing the second that the Xbox One, and just about every other modern controller, offers.

This means a N64 controller, in its standard form, can't play Xbox One games, regardless of how much wiring magic is pulled off. Hyperkin isn't giving up, however, as they say they want to build "an awesome controller" that will work in time for Rare Replay's release in early August. It probably goes without saying they need to get a second analog stick on there somehow.

SOURCE Chris Gallizzi/YouTube

VIA Kotaku