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With Nintendo’s announcement that the iconic GameCube controller will work with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, we take a look at the controller’s history and long-standing relationship with Smash.
Creating a controller for one of the big console platforms isn’t easy. Microsoft, for example, ran through over 200 prototypes when shaping the Xbox One pad. These controllers need to be both intuitive to use for everyone who picks them up, and easy to work with all kinds of genres – everything from racing games to puzzle games, and one of the greatest franchise collaboration fighters out there.
Nintendo is no stranger to creating unique controllers: the Wii, Wii U, Nintendo Switch, and even the Nintendo 64 controller sport all kind of oddities that make them radical departures from more traditional pads. You could say that’s not quite the case with the GameCube controller though: it was designed to suit a wide variety of people – but it would go on to be the de facto input device of choice for the Smash Bros. community.
“Our target user for this controller is not very specific, it’s very general,” said famed Nintendo designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, when the controller was first announced. “A beginner who has never touched the controller can use it, your grandmother can use it, and even a child with small hands can use it."
Back in 2001, Nintendo couldn't have foreseen the insane popularity that the controller now enjoys within the competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee scene. Ever since the game’s release 17 years ago, the distinctive pad has been continuously used by players, driving a need for the controller’s support on newer Nintendo platforms as Smash evolves. Smash Bros., for all intents and purposes, *is* the iconic GCN controller.
“I'd say the GameCube controller is as popular as it is thanks to Smash, to be honest,” Melee analyst Andrew Nestico tells us. “It wouldn't still be used outside of speedrunning otherwise.”
While the GameCube controller has found some success outside Smash, being used by speedrunners to blitz through games swiftly, its primary boost in popularity was during the surge of Melee. The pad’s rise is tied to being both an easily moddable controller and being in the right place at the right time. It was part of the first significant competitive Smash Bros. community, and many of the top players have been using it since 2001 – and have continued to use it when playing Brawl and Smash 4 on later Nintendo consoles.
Jumping into mod madness
Fans of the controller agree that it has a great foundation with responsive rumble feedback, incredibly ergonomic handles and curves that make it easy to hold and train with. Smash Bros. creator, Masahiro Sakurai, has said that it’s the go-to controller for playing Smash – but that foundation was only a stepping stone to how modders would adjust the controller’s intricacies over the years.
“Melee, unlike other Smash games is about controllers meeting certain specifications,” Mike ‘Typo’ Bassett, a prominent controller modder, tells us. “I think the GameCube controller is good because Melee is fitted to it so well.”
The GameCube controller and Melee might be synonymous for some, but the core role of the controller was never to be a bastion of customisable options that cater to specific experiences. Melee modders have moved far beyond Nintendo’s initial creation, creating small hardware modifications that change the how the first-party controller feels.
As competitive Melee play has become increasingly precise – with down-to-the-millisecond movements mattering most – these modifications have become common place. People like Basset have filled that need by tirelessly digging into the hardware to create specialized equipment for a wide variety of playstyles.
“I think shield drop notches, as the first widespread functional mod, had the largest impact, Nestico says. “As a proof-of-concept that hardware mods could be accepted for competitive use, it opened the doors for other mods.”
Shield dropping, or dropping through a soft platform while shielding by tilting the analog stick down, is done by holding horizontally left/right before pushing the stick into the southeast/southwest notch of a controller. New controllers make some directional shield dropping inconsistent due to the way they were manufactured, but modders like Basset alter the notches to more accurately represent the directions needed to aim when performing the move.
As Netisco pointed out, shield drop modifications led the way for many other tweaks, such as snapback changes that fix the joystick’s tendency to flick backwards after releasing it; extended wavedash notches that use an angle to avoid bad wavedash jumps; firefox notches that help you pick angles that make it easier to hit dead zones, any many others.
Even though these modifications seem like they might have an effect on competitive play, Basset and others are confident that’s not the case.
“These controller mechanics are not the end of the world, it's a little like character counter picking,” Basset added. “If you’re a bad player, counter picking won’t help you just like a controller mod won’t. If you’re a good player, it might help. Overall low-skill players are not changed by controller modifications.”
A new approach
There have been a handful of scenarios where prominent players have had to use something other than their own personal controller, possibly giving them a disadvantage against someone playing with their own equipment. Many of these players, like Justin ‘Plup’ McGrath and Adam ‘Armada’ Lindgren at last year’s DreamHack Austin say that the issue is somewhat overblown, although still a problem.
To try and solve this, modders like Dan Salvato worked to create a solution that didn’t involve manipulating the physical elements of the controller.
“Aziz ‘Hax’ Al-Yami tried to make a guide to modifying controllers, but didn’t have the best luck. It was impractical but led us to create a software modification,” Bassett said. “We basically theory crafted a solution that you could load onto a memory card where you could fix backdashs and shield drops on entry controllers.”
The software, called Universal Controller Fix or UCF, was released last August. It fixes a few of the big issues that physical mods had been addressing. “UCF is a fantastic tool on a local and regional scale,” Nestico said. “As it means players can compete without needing to worry about controller inconsistency.”
While UCF has been incredibly useful for players and tournament organizers, it has shown how many problems the controller has that need to be fixed. “There are a lot of issues with controllers,” Bassett said. “UCF only fixes shield drop and dashback, but it's so much more efficient. Everything else would take too much work to fix when people could easily do that themselves.”
Besides that, the software mod has had a number of legal issues similar to the Project M mod, which aimed to retool Brawl to be more like its predecessors but was ultimately shut down by Nintendo. “Unfortunately, as UCF can't be used in Nintendo-sponsored events, players who travel to majors may still need to worry about having a suitable controller,” Nestico continued. “I'd argue that UCF's largest benefit is actually in the awareness it created among smashers around the controller lottery.”
A lot of large scale, Nintendo-sponsored events like DreamHack and Evo have forbid the use of UCF, and organisers don’t want to put any funding or support in jeopardy in order to make use of the mod. “The big motivator is that possible sponsorship,” Bassett said. “People have talked about adding a five dollar UCF fee to subsidise it.”
The legality of items like Project M and UCF do put the future of the GameCube controller into question, at least in its relationship to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. New controllers, like the ones produced for the Wii U and the ones that will be produced for the Nintendo Switch, don’t have the same malfunctioning elements that older ones do. The new games also don’t react the same way that Melee does to these physical adjustments.
But either way, controller mods and the people who work on them so feverishly won’t go anyway anytime soon. “One of the interesting things about UCF is that it fixed a lot of problems that would be handled by modders,” Bassett said. “But I didn’t feel like I lost work.”
A lot of Melee players see controllers as part of their identity and gameplay style, especially when some changes revolve around their main characters. As long as the players who love Melee continue to pass down their passion, the GameCube controller and all its quirks will stick around – even as newer games embrace the Smash standard.
