We love the old Nintendo wired controllers, but if you want to play games on a retro console like the NES, you might have to sit across the room. A company called RetroTime has found a solution to that.
Some of you may know that the NES has an expansion port on the bottom, but if you don’t, it’s probably because it has a gray plastic cover that hides it from view. The Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES, had accessories such as a modem that worked with the expansion port, but other versions did not. Now, RetroTime, through retro accessories store 8BitMods (thanks to The Verge for the tip), is releasing the NES HUB, a Bluetooth receiver that lets you connect up to four wireless controllers to your NES.
This is a big upgrade for older consoles, not only because it unlocks wireless capabilities, but also because they typically only support up to two wired controllers out of the box. Admittedly, many NES games didn’t support up to four players due to this limitation, but the NES Four Score accessory allows you to couch up to four players in certain games such as Cooperative play is now possible. bomberman 2, gauntlet 2and the Jeopardy game.
You can pre-order it from the store for $57 and expect it to start shipping in December. Looking at the instructions, installation seems pretty easy. Simply remove the expansion port cover, connect the HUB, and attach the antenna to the back of the console.
Additionally, the HUB unlocks enhanced audio, allowing certain games to access more audio channels for improved sound quality, and adds three ports for other accessories such as controllers. RetroTime also offers a SNES add-on that allows you to use a SNES controller through one of the additional NES HUB ports. 8BitMods will cost $26 and will also ship in December.
Finally, if you want to configure the controls, you can connect to your PC via Bluetooth and open BlueRetro Config via Chrome.
