Third-party peripheral maker NYXI has announced the NYXI Wizard, a new Switch controller that riffs on the design of the original Gamecube controller, in particular the beloved Wavebird.
The NYXI Wizard has a couple of neat things going for it outside of its form factor though, starting with the fact that NYXI promises it won’t be subject to the dreaded “Joy-Con drift” thanks to the fact is uses Hall effect sensors instead of traditional potentiometer joystick sensors. Hall sensors use magnets that don’t require physical contact, meaning they’re far less prone to wearing out and also have no deadzone – two things that current Switch, PlayStation and Xbox controllers struggle with and contribute to that nasty drift.
The Wizard isn’t the first video game controller to use Hall sensors, but it’s certainly among a select few, including SEGA’s own official pads from the Saturn and Dreamcast. Despite the fact that NYXI as a brand seems relatively unproven and looks to sell a lot of identical controllers to other brands that rebadge and distribute third party gear on marketplaces like Amazon, this particular controller is quite an attractive proposition.
The NYXI Wizard also has the benefit of being able to split and attach to the sides of your Switch in portable mode much like Hori’s popular Split Pad Pro, only far cooler looking thanks to the purple Gamecube-esque flavour. The controller also features button mapping, interchangeable joystick rings and quick-fire triggers.
If you’re interested, the NYXI Wizard can be had for around $100 AUD direct from the NYXI website, though at the time of writing it is sold out:
