Apple Devices Now Support Nintendo's Classic Game Controllers

Apple snuck a nice little surprise in its round of Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV updates yesterday with the addition of support for Nintendo's updated classic game controllers. From a report: As spotted by developer Steve Troughton-Smith and confirmed by MacStories, Nintendo's modern SNES and N64 controllers now work with updated Apple devices with macOS 13, iOS 16, and tvOS 16 and up, whether using a wired or Bluetooth connection. While neither MacStories nor Troughton-Smith was able to test whether the Sega Genesis and NES controllers work with Apple's devices, we're assuming Apple added the same functionality.

Bluetooth

[ArchieBunker]

"classic" as in shaped like the original controllers.

Re:

[zarmanto]

Came here to say much the same: By "classic" they must be referring to the controllers which came with the more recently released mini-consoles, and which were merely modeled after the original classic controllers... since the actual classic controllers had neither USB nor Bluetooth, and therefore would have no direct means of connecting to a modern computer.

(Of course, today's youth wouldn't have a context for all of that, as they have never known a time when USB was not a thing.)

Re:

[GoTeam]

I was wondering if this means Nintendo online might make some games available on iOS devices. Wouldn't be the worst move, but Nintendo rarely works through other people's hardware. Those semi-Nintendo games already on iOS were underwhelming, but at least it shows a little partnership and willingness to utilize non-Nintendo hardware.

Re:

[Misagon]

The support is for new controllers [theverge.com] for the Nintendo Switch that are shaped like the NES controllers. They are intended for games running in emulation on the Switch.

The mini-consoles had wired controllers which used the same connector and protocol as the Nintendo Wii's "nun-chuck".
Nintendo did release a few controllers for the Wii (through the WiiMote) and those also work with the mini-consoles, including the Home button.

Re: Bluetooth

[saloomy]

The best controllers ever were the original, original massive XBox controllers that seemed perfectly fit to play Halo on. The white button turned on the light, everything. Was. Perfect. Was not a fan of the refined smaller one.

Re: Bluetooth

[ZERO1ZERO]

The xbox controllers have that annoying led light on the âXâ(TM) button that glares up at you constantly causing eye strain especially when playing in dark room. Can it be turned off?

Re: Bluetooth

[saloomy]

I am not sure. It never bothered me. Did it glow on the first gen original X box controllers 15 years ago?

Fuck you Slashdot

[Anonymous Coward]

My "Ads Disabled" checkbox is checked, what the fuck is that fucking huge full-screen-height "JOBBIO" listing?

I'm done here, I can endure a lot of bullshit, but this is it.

Add to your browser's stylesheet:

[bruce_the_moose]

div.jobbioapp {display: none !important; visibility: hidden !important;}

Re:

[Joce640k]

Or just get a real web browser.

Re:

[Khyber]

I used ublock origin to wipe it and it has come back - my ruleset is still in place. I'm suspecting the people at slashdot are deliberately changing things to bypass security measures users have installed in their browsers.

I'm wondering if the guys that helped me sue the shit out of Electronic Arts over SecuROM would think this a worthwhile thing to pursue.

now supported... for what?

[Sleeping Kirby]

So Apple TV and iOS devices support those controllers. But what for? Hopefully not to play nintendo games. Because that would require an emulator and nintendo famously has a stance that emulators of all kinds are piracy and is, therefore illegal. Why isn't nintendo suing apple for promoting anything remotely linked to emulation or using their IP like they do everything else? (Well, I know the cynical answer why.)