Switch 2 GameCube Controller Rumours Resurface Following New Nintendo Filing – Nintendo Life
GuestGuestLogin | Sign UpNintendo LifeGuestLogin or Sign UpDon’t call it a comeback…The GameCube generation ended years ago, but the controller for this system is still a popular choice for many Nintendo enthusiast when it comes to select titles. If you are hoping to see support for this particular gamepad on the Switch 2 in some way or form, you might be in luck.A new FCC filing by Nintendo for a “game controller” has recently gone live. The model number prefix attached is ‘BEE’ – matching up with the Switch 2. One other bit of information suggests it will be a “wireless Bluetooth controller” and attached are some basic images.This is where the rumour part kicks in – with some detective work on Famiboards suggesting one of the images (showing a label location on the rear of the controller) matches up with the back of the GameCube controller, where the C-Stick is located.The possibility of this filing being a ‘Switch 2 Pro Controller’ has apparently been ruled out, as it doesn’t appear to support NFC functionality (which is seemingly set to return based on a separate filing last week).The fact it’s also a “wireless Bluetooth controller” has led to speculation this controller could have possible links to the Switch Online service, as Nintendo has already reworked other classic controllers into wireless models (including USB-C connection and cable to charge). Wired connections are typically preferred for fighting games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.Nintendo’s current Switch Online subscription service includes the NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy libraries. Legacy platforms like the GameCube have been requested during the Switch generation, but the most we’ve seen are GameCube re-releases like Super Mario Sunshine (as part of a limited-time collection), Metroid Prime Remastered, and more recently Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.Nintendo will share a full reveal of the Switch 2 at the beginning of April in a special Direct broadcast, which could include updates about Switch Online. This latest GameCube controller rumour follows a few others updates over the past year.It’s time for Switch 2Smile and wave(bird)Sorry, GameCube fansIf we hear any significant updates about this latest filing, we’ll let you know.[source fccid.io, via famiboards.com]About Liam DoolanLiam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He’s been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief.Comments 60Day one. Please. I need some GCN goodness back in my life!I’ve been saying it, I predict that GameCube, Wii, DS, 3DS (maybe Saturn, Dreamcast) libraries will be added to the NSO2, only available on Switch 2, to get people to want the new console.@MontyCircus there is no way they’re gonna add Wii and 3DS games to NSO, those games aren’t old or dated enough to be given away in a subscription serviceThis is literally what I’ve been waiting for. The wallpaper on my mobile phone is the GameCube controller and I don’t want to change it until the Nintendo Switch Online GameCube controller comes out.I have the Nintendo 64 Switch controller and it’s excellent. It’s exactly the same controller as the wired original one and that’s what I’d like for the GameCube one: for it to be exactly the same as the wired original.As much as I love the design of the GameCube controller, the damned thing is too small for my hands.I’m not even a fan of GameCube controller design as it looked out of place.
I prefer the PlayStation style controller with symmetrical analog buttons.I have about 20-25 GameCube controllers. I have 7 GameCubes. I have about 6 Wii and Wii Us that I can play GameCube games on. Does it look like I need more smegging GameCube stuff in my life?Where do I pre-order?Nintendo: (produces diagram showing two rectangles and the word “Label”)Fan detectives: “IT MUST BE FOR A GAMECUBE CONTROLLER!”There’s no way Nintendo would add GameCube games to NSO right? I mean Metroid Prime Remastered sold pretty dang well, and whenever they finally decide to release Wind Waker and Twilight Princess HD those both will sell millions. Could an NSO subscription really be more profitable than the individual remaster/rerelease model?Please Nintendo. Please add GameCube games to NSO. I will be very happy.The Gamecube controller has its issues – the nubby D-pad and C-stick to name a couple – but it’s still probably my favorite controller ever. It just feels so right,I might be down for this. The Indigo GCN controller was fantastic, as long as you don’t use it for traditional Fighting games or 2D sidescrollers(D-pad was useless, stiff & tiny), 2 genres that didn’t even really exist on GCN anyways. But eh, I don’t know, i think my NSO days are pretty much over, even for Switch 2. the emulation lag(1 frame/16ms at best), combined with OLED/QD-OLED TV lag(10ms in game mode) is a wee’ bit too much latency for my liking. If I’m feeling that GameCube nostalgia, I’ll play it on my CRT with the actual game/discs, or as a secondary option, pair it with a RetroTINK4K scaler and use it on a QD-OLED.I’d rather roll with the former mind you. GameCube hooked up to a 32” Sony WEGA Trinitron SD CRT TV using component cables, overall(Zero motion blur. Perect blur-free motion clarity stomps all over oled, zero upscaling, and no latency.) can’t be beat.Would love to see it happen (it’s still one of my favorite controllers) and even more so if it meant getting GameCube games on NSO – while I hope Nintendo will keep on releasing the occasional remasters/remakes of that system having them also on NSO would mean getting more of them, potentially including those which are unlikely to get the former kinds of rereleases!Could just be confirming another Smash game.GameCube on NSO would be amazing, especially if it included the original Animal Crossing (with the most hilarious and nasty villagers in the series)I’d also be very happy if Sega added Saturn or Dreamcast to the service!This has nothing to do with Switch 2… Gamecube is being added to NSO. It will be available on Switch or Switch 2.@Uncle_Franklin I’m not sure we’ll ever see a new Smash game! What could they possibly add?!OK apart from Waluigi…@Anti-Matter with Gamecube you can easily feel which button is which without looking. It’s good for intense gaming, or children learning to use a controller.Best controller ever made. But it should get some modern additions.Not thrilled with the possibility of GCN NSO being exclusive to Switch 2, or maybe even another paid tier, but whatever. I miss playing Wario World and this will be the only way to play that silly, little game on a current system again!@LXP8
Sorry, but GameCube controller with asymmetrical analog buttons & out of place ABXY button placement was really difficult for me to navigate the gameplay and definitely GameCube controller is not suitable for playing Dance Dance Revolution games on Wii due to buttons placement that doesn’t mimicking DDR pad placement.@MontyCircus Nah, I don’t think that makes any sense at all. Brand new Mario and Mario Kart is how you get people to pick up a Switch 2.Gamecube on NSO is about driving subscriptions. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Switch or Switch 2 subscriber. NSO will be universal – play any platform on any Switch.Nintendo missed a trick waiting this long. I cancelled my NSO a while ago because I had better options to play those games. Gamecube, though? I don’t have better options for Gamecube. They should have added it 12 months ago.@Anti-Matter Yeah I guess it depends on the game. For me, the Donkey Kong Country games were tough to play using a Gamecube controller, but it’s perfect for Super Mario Sunshine, or Wind Waker. I can imagine it would be really awkward to emulate the layout of a dance mat with those buttons.10 times out of 10 I would rather buy a Gamecube game physically, ported on to a cart than have a subscription game library. If Gamecube is added to NSO that’s going to make stuff like TTYD remaster, Metroid Prime remaster, and others happen a lot less, if at all. You’ll end up paying hundreds of dollars for your NSO and that library will vanish in 10 years when Switch and Switch 2 is done.While I certainly wouldn’t put money on there being a GameCube NSO service, the fact they threw Link’s Awakening DX on the Game Boy service threw me for a loop. I don’t know if they take it that seriously. People will still buy widescreen, HD versions of classics, even if they play identically.Today we have “game day” whit my brothers, cousins, nephews lol. With 3 screens on we are going to play:1: SwitchPS5:Other:@nocdaesWell for one thing ‘Ultimate’ doesn”t have every Smash stage, nor many modes.There’s also a number of glaring Nintendo character omissions to my mind, which I’d prefer to the third party stuff.Oh s proper wireless gamecube controller I’ll take 4. Bring on the double dash and melee.@NeonPizza I’m with you there, honestly I mostly look forward to NSO updates for the controllers they add, I’ve been spoiled by wireless gaming these past two decades and I can’t go back to wired anymore 😂I hope Gamecube titles are made available in a deluxe expansion pack NSO bumping the price again. Not that I really want to pay that, but the meltdowns will be glorious even if it’s a minimal hike.…so? What does “Label” have to do with GCN?FYI, Switch Pro controller has higher latency wired compared to wireless…@Sylamp the Wii is about twice as old as the N64 was when it got added to VC. The 3DS is also a little older.I’m not saying this will happen as I’m skeptical about file sizes and the fact they’ve already started porting those games but saying they aren’t old enough simply isn’t true.GameCube games on NSO would be great.I have a feeling if this is legit it’s meant to launch with the new Smash Bros, not necessarily for GC on NSO. Maybe the new Smash has some strong connection to the GC Smash.@Sylamp They’ve been rolling out a new console library for NSO every couple of years. If we get, say, GameCube games this year and DS games two years from now, that would mean Wii games coming out four years from now (2029) and 3DS games coming out six years from now (2031). That would be 20 years after the 3DS initially released and 23 years after the Wii first released. I think that’s plenty of time for them to be considered “retro” consoles.It’s also far enough away that Nintendo has plenty of time to remake/remaster games like Kid Icarus Uprising, Mario 3D Land, Link Between Worlds, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Triple Deluxe, Planet Robobot, etc. before offering the original version of those games to us again via NSO.Hope this means GameCube NSO, many of my favorite games of all time are from GCN so this would be a great addition!The Gamecube controller should be the main controller for the Switch 2 anyway. Perfect controller for gaming.I think I would legit cry tears of joy if Nintendo confirms GameCube games for NSO. I think it will happen eventually, but right now just feels too soon, though.We’ve gotten lots of GameCube remakes this generation like Thousand-Year Door, Metroid Prime, and (to a lesser extent) Pikmin 1 and 2. I think there’s still room for more remakes. Imagine how gorgeous remakes of Chibi-Robo, the original Luigi’s Mansion, and Twilight Princess could look–especially with the added horsepower of Switch 2 for added realism. I would also much rather have the HD port of Wind Waker with quality of life improvements as opposed to the GameCube original. Then there’s Metroid Prime 2, and I know some people have been wanting an HD remake of F-Zero GX.I think Nintendo should get those remakes out of the way first so they aren’t competing with themselves in terms of sales. Granted, they could do what they’ve done with Super Mario RPG and Mario vs Donkey Kong and just withhold releasing those games on NSO so you can only buy the full-priced remakes, but I get why that practice might feel scummy for some people.Once they’ve remade all those games, then they can add GameCube to the NSO library with stuff they would never bother to remaster like Melee, Double-Dash, Mario Party 4-7, Wario Ware: Mega Party Games, Wario World, Kirby Air Ride, Four Swords Adventures, Star Fox Adventure, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (wireless bongo peripheral??) etc. It would be great to have emulated versions of all those games with added online functionality.I just want phantasy star online ep 1&2 back minus the gamebreaking npc in the shopping area.My greatest gaming time was playing pso and melee on gamecube.I still have 2 wavebirdsWould actually get the online expansion if it had Saturn and Dreamcast and GameCubeAs much as I criticize NSO at times, I do get some use out of the retro service (as much as I still wish they’d allow us to digitally buy games we want as well, like the VC) and would eventually pony up for the higher sub tier if GameCube support happens. I completely missed both it and the N64 back in the day and have mostly had to rely on ports and remakes to play what I want.@tdub154420 depends… I’d play eternal darkness again via NSO but probably not a remaster. Same as starfox adventures, he’ll even f zero (was it?) GX if they ain’t gonna port it. There’s games there that don’t necessarily scream “port”, and there is the opposite, and some that straddle the line. As a value added feature, it could be worthwhile for a few titles, and it isn’t as if they’re throwing like 6 games a month at the list currently for one format, so perfectly doable, IMOI’ve always felt in the minority on this. GameCube is Nintendo’s worst system. I still remember A LOT of systems behind the counter on launch day. This was a Toys R Us. I played mine. Repacked it. Had my sister return it. I was scared. Lol… I bought another one. I think when Sunshine came out. The only Mario game I’ve played and didn’t finish.@LXP8 yeah, I always felt like the GCN controller was good for some games and brutal for others. Mixed feelings for me on it. Now the wii u pro controller…hands down, my favorite!@Djreisat I just bought a Wii U Pro Controller (better late than never, right?) And I like it so far! I just which it had gyro and NFC.If this is true, that sounds like a great addition to the controller options!I don’t know if I “like” the GC controller design, or if I’ve simply gotten used to it. LOL.We got our GC controllers with our GC. Used them with our Wii and Wii U. And even use them with our Switch with a pair of 8BitDo Gbros adapters. So ‘been using them a long time.https://www.8bitdo.com/gbros/And more recently I took a broken GC controller I picked up and installed the 8BitDo Mod Kit for Original NGC Controller to add Bluetooth / Switch support to the OG GC controller.https://shop.8bitdo.com/products/mod-kit-for-original-ngcWhen company comes over, the GC controllers are the first to be grabbed.as much as I want GameCube NSO on Switch 2 exclusively as one of many reasons to buy a Switch 2 how do we know it doesn’t also come to Switch 1GameCube controller can only mean smash. We did get GameCube controller bundled with smash for switch tooIt NEEDS to have Analog controls or it will be useless if there are going to be any more GameCube ports!Sunshine (my favorite 3D Mario game) is unplayable on Switch!@Anti-Matter PS Dual Shock was made to induce severe hand cramps!GameCube controller was perfection!@Not_Soos >Added realism>Fantasy gamesChoose one!@outsider83 GCN was sold out constantly when it was released back on Long Island.I got super lucky to be able to get mine on release day!No pre-order, no anything. I didn’t even know it was coming out til the day of!I use the Power A GameCube controller for EVERY game on my Switch!I’d use my official, original GCN controllers, only I don’t have the adapter!@ZenibeansI have the NSO Genesis 3-Button controller, but it’s d-pad is too recessed/sunken in, and feels kind of gross to the touch. Everything else feels great though. Although the classic neon/orange accents aren’t as colourful or vibrant as the original 1989 3-button controller which was kind of a let down. And because of that the controller doesn’t pop or look as fun as it should. But ya, I wouldn’t recommend it solely because of it’s D-pad.https://images.nintendolife.com/c17dbca8e12b9/nso-mega-drive-pad.large.jpgThere’s always the JPN Mega Drive 6-button NSO controller, but I’m worried that it might be just a little too small in the hands, compared to the NA 6-button. Ultimately though, i would never want to use NSO controllers for the NSO service, only for MiSTer if possible, paired with a CRT TV.NSO controller – (Supposedly 1 frame/16ms of lag)
NSO emulated game – (At least 1 frame/16ms or more…)
QD-OLED/OLED game mode – (10ms)That’s a whopping 42ms of lag, at least, best case scenario. Not for me! Where as with MiSTer paired with a CRT, you’d only be dealing with 16ms from the NSO controller. Still, I’d much rather buy the original wired controllers and either pair them with the original consoles(Zero lag), or get just 1-2ms from a MiSTer SNAC adapter, when using MiSTer.I have 2 white Wii GameCube controllers with the extra long cables. It’s great on the Wii U and my deck with the usb to cube block. Used it on my switch so hopefully it will be usable on switch 2.I was thinking about it and there might need to be a new NES/Famicom NSO controller since the current ones with rails on them wouldn’t work for long on the Switch 2 unless you charged them up on a Switch or recharging stand.@nocdaes The product code in the filing matches with those for the Switch 2. It’s not likely to be compatible with Switch 1.@Spider-Kev I live in Los Angeles. I was surprised to see so many GameCube’s on the shelves. Especially given how hard it was to find a N64. In retrospect, it’s not that surprising. Nintendo had made some bad moves that hurt their brand. The N64 was on life support by the end of its run. Also, there was no sequel to Mario 64. That’s what cooled my excitement for the system. Luigi’s Mansion was my first game. 👎 😆 Never finished it. The PS2 was my savior during that era! 😆Ever since Nintendo introduced the Virtual console, I have been forever waiting for them to bring out the GC classics. I hope this bares fruit. Show CommentsLeave A CommentHold on there, you need to login to post a comment…Rumour: Xbox Expected To Join Switch 2 With A New Handheld This YearMicrosoft could be testing the waters…Switch 2 Predicted To Cost “$400 Or More”It could also be the “biggest console launch ever”Switch 2 Filings Show Support For Wi-Fi 6Better, fasterRumour: Nintendo May Have Already Shipped A Boatload Of Switch 2 Units To North AmericaFingers crossed for an early summer releaseSwitch 2 GameCube Controller Rumours Resurface Following New Nintendo FilingDon’t call it a comeback… 9Poll Box Art Brawl: Mario’s Picross 1News Gundam Breaker 4 Receives “Free March Update”, Here’s What’s Included 16News First 4 Figures Teases New Banjo-Kazooie Statue, Pre-Orders Open Next Week 9News Emio – The Smiling Man Wins Best Adventure Game At Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2024 18Random Switch 2’s Joy-Con Could Really Benefit From Nintendo Alarmo’s TechNews Niantic Sells Pokémon GO And Entire Gaming Division For $3.5 BillionGuide Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: Mystery Gift Codes ListGuide Best Cheap Nintendo Switch GamesNews New 18+ LEGO Mario Kart Set Is A Better Build Than We ExpectedNews Chrono Trigger To Celebrate 30th Anniversary With “Various Projects…News Nintendo & Pokémon Company Had An “Adversarial Relationship&qu…Guide Best Nintendo Switch RPGsNews Star Fox Veteran’s New Game Is Channelling Serious Lylat EnergyNews Splatoon 3 Version 9.3.0 Out Now, Here Are The Full Patch NotesNews Capcom Provides Update On Game Changes In ‘Fighting Collection 2’Popular Right NowShow More Join 1,511,103 people following Nintendo Life:© 2025 Hookshot Media, partner of IGN Entertainment | Hosted by 44 Bytes | AdChoices | Do Not Sell My Personal Information
