We love our old Nintendo wired controllers, but sometimes you want to play a game on your a retro console like the NES and you have to sit across the room. A company called RetroTime has found a way to help.
You might know about the expansion port on the bottom of the NES, and if you don’t, that’s probably because it has a plastic gray cover that shields it from view. While the Japanese version of the NES, the Famicom, offered accessories like modems that worked with the expansion port, it was never utilized on other versions. RetroTime, through retro accessory store 8BitMods (thanks The Verge for the tip), is releasing the NES HUB, a Bluetooth receiver that allows you to connect up to four wireless controllers to your NES.
This is a big upgrade for the older console, not just because it unlocks wireless capabilities but because it normally supports up to two wired controllers out of the box. Granted, because of this limitation, not many NES games supported up to four players, but the NES Four Score accessory allowed for up to four-player couch co-op on certain games like Bomberman 2, Gauntlet 2, and a Jeopardy game.
You can preorder one from the store for $57, and it’s set to start shipping in December. From the instructions, it looks fairly easy to install. Just remove the expansion port cover, plug the HUB in, attach the antenna to the back of the console, and that’s it.
In addition, the HUB unlocks expansion audio, where certain games can get access to more audio channels for better sound quality, and adds three more ports for other accessories like controllers. RetroTime also offers an SNES add-on that lets you use SNES controllers through one of those extra NES HUB ports. That costs $26 on 8BitMods and is also set to ship in December.
Finally, if you want to configure the controls, you can connect it via Bluetooth to your PC and open up BlueRetro Config through Chrome.
