My first GameCube controller finally arrived

Last time, I mentioned about how hard to play Super Smash Bros. for Wii U on the Wii U GamePad. I decided to go online to buy a offical Super Smash Bros. themed GameCube controller from Play-Asia as I don't want to buy from my local game store due to the recent unhappy incidents. Moreover, the price of offical GC controller adapter is super expensive. Luckily, Play-Asia has a controller bundle which includes an adapter (of course it is unofficial one) on sales and its price is reasonable.

Although Play-Asia had notified me that my order has been shipped out last Saturday (13 Dec), I just received it yesterday (nearly a week later). As the website is based in Hong Kong, we, Hong Kong shopper, usually can enjoy a free shipping discount for spending certain amount like US$25. So I always try to reach the minimum amount by buying something extra. But it seems Play-Asia has canceled it and now we have to pay around HK$22 for local shipping no matter how much we spent. If you don't want to pay, then you can go to a physical game store in Sham Shui Po (SSP) to pick up your order. But unless you work or always hangout in SSP, I don't think this is a very good option. Take myself as an example, I have to spend over HK$22 to go there and I haven't calculate the time cost yet. That's why I never choose their store pickup option before and decide to pay the shipping cost for my GC controller.

If I have to pay for the shipping, I expect the delivery to be fast and reliable. But based on my recent shopping experience, their delivery service is getting much slower than before. Now with free shipping gone, I think I would consider much more carefully before placing the order.

Besides the controller bundle, I also ordered a copy of Monster Hunter 3G HD Ver. and it will become the 3rd Wii U game in my collection. The last and only MH game I played is Monster Hunter Portable 2nd on PSP. Although the Monster Hunter series is very popular in Asia Pacific regions, I never seem to be very interested in it. I think one of the main reasons is that  I don't have too many monster hunting buddies to play with, so I usually play the game alone.

The MH game is best to play cooperatively as different players can work together to take down the giant monster. Some may draw its attention while the others try to cut of his tail or some other parts. Anyway, I think I will play Monster Hunter 3G HD Ver. on my own again, but hopefully it will be more awesome to kill monster on my TV instead of the tiny screen on the PSP.

Back to the main dish, the Super Smash Bros. themed GameCube controller and the unoffical adapter. As my home is still under construction, I can't play any game and try out how the controller feels.

The controller has both black and white color. I chose the white one to match with my white Wii U console. I have never used a GC controller before, so I may need some times to get used to it. But judging by the positive response from the Smash fans, I still think it worths buying.

Based on the description on the back of the box, it seems the only Wii U game supports the controller is Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, so it is useless without Smash Bros. I hope Nintendo will update their games like Mario Kart 8 to add support for it. Well... at least I still have several Wii games that can make use of the new controller.

According to the box, the players have to use the offical adapter to connect the GC controller to the console. Thanks to this reason, everyone wants to buy one and it becomes very expensive. I also have heard people in US are willing to pay double for it. Originally the Japanese version of Smash Bros. has released a special bundle including the adapter, but the bundle is very limited and pricey (the extra cost is enough for me to buy the above Play-Asia order which has a game, a controller and an adapter). So I just bought the game only and ordered from Play-Asia instead.

I am pretty suprised this unoffical adapter has the Play-Asia brand on it, the manufacturer even used the website's main color for the adapter. There is a simple diagram to explain how its work. The player simply has to plug the adapter to a Wii Remote and connect it with the GC controller.

On the back, you can find a more indepth instruction and its feature list. The adapter also has turbo feature for players to use and customize. I may try it out later but I don't think it is useful in Smash Bro. They even added the line "This product is not designed, manufactured, licensed or endorsed by Nintendo" at the bottom to remind us this is not the offical adapter.

For anyone interested to order the bundle or just the adapter from Play-Asia, you can find them in the links below:
GC Controller Adapter for Wii/Wii U (PLAY-ASIA.COM Edition)
Controller Adapter for Wii U with White GameCube Controller (Play-Asia.com Bundle)
Controller Adapter for Wii U with Black GameCube Controller (Play-Asia.com Bundle)

Both black and white are in the same price, so just pick the color you like.