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[Kazza]

Having recently released officially licensed Sega Megadrive and Saturn controllers, Retro-bit have finally revealed their Dreamcast controller prototype:




The biggest departure from the original design is having 6 face buttons rather than the 4 of the original. A more subtle, but equally important one, is that they have discarded the NES-style d-pad for a Saturn-style one (I know the original Dreamcast d-pad gets a lot of hate, especially among 2D fighting fans).

As with the Saturn and Megadrive ones, the first iteration will be for the console itself (wired and with original connectors), with wireless bluestooth versions (compatible with modern consoles and PC) likely to follow. They even confirmed that there could possibly be a dual-analogue version with extra trigger/shoulder buttons:




Here's their dual-analogue bluetooth Saturn controller:

2 things remain unknown:
1. What will they do about the VMU?
2. Will the wire still come out from the bottom as in the original, rather than from the top as in all other controllers?

The Saturn and Megadrive ones have gotten very positive reviews, so hopefully these Dreamcast ones will be great too.

 

[Kazza]

Actually, now that I look at the prototype again, it really looks like a Dreamcast/Saturn 3D controller hybrid:

Same button layout and d-pad, but with the an altered version of the Dreamcast's analogue stick.

 

[Kazza]

As well as the Dreamcast prototype, Retro-Bit also had another prototype on display at E3:

As you can see, it's a 6 button Megadrive controller, but in the shape of the original 3 button one. The Retrobit rep said that some people had requested it, so they decided to make it. Here's the full video showing a tour of their E3 stand:

 

[socksfelloff]

Unfortunately the biggest issue with the dreamcast controller still stands. It's too "vertical"

I have one of their saturn PC controllers and it's very nice. I've seen reports of the Dpads breaking but Retro Bit seems to be very good about replacing them.

 

[Kazza]

Unfortunately the biggest issue with the dreamcast controller still stands. It's too "vertical"

I have one of their saturn PC controllers and it's very nice. I've seen reports of the Dpads breaking but Retro Bit seems to be very good about replacing them.

By "too vertical" do you mean that the groves on the back are parallel rather than slanted?

 

[socksfelloff]

By "too vertical" do you mean that the groves on the back are parallel rather than slanted?

Yeah it's similar to when the Joycons are in the clip. I 3d printed a new holder that puts them on an angle and it's so much better

 

[Kazza]

Yeah it's similar to when the Joycons are in the clip. I 3d printed a new holder that puts them on an angle and it's so much better

Hmm, maybe you should contact Retrobit and make the suggestion. They seem really open to improving the original design, so they might actually take that into consideration.

 

[Kazza]

Some more info on that redesigned Dreamcast controller:

It looks like that double analogue stick Saturn controller is still some way off yet: