8BitDo, a third party peripheral manufacturer that has made a name for itself with retro-inspired hardware, has surprised again with the reveal of the simply-named Arcade Stick.

What sets the Arcade Stick apart is the amount of functionality packed in here at the price of $89.99 (~R1 526).

First there’s the native support – out of the box the Arcade Stick supports the Nintendo Switch and PC. One of the dedicated knobs on the top left corner can turn the stick off, set it to Switch (S), or to PC (X-input, signified by the S).

Then there’s the way to connect to stick to your machines, with three options available: Bluetooth, 2.4g and wired USB-C. The 2.4g receiver has a hidden compartment to keep it out of site while still inside of the Arcade Stick case, and the wired option is detachable and has a gate to prevent breakages should the wire get snagged.

The bundled 8BitDo Ultimate Software does the usual button mapping and macro creation. The P1 and P2 are macro buttons and you can create profiles that can be switched between. The Switch support, three connection types and this software mean that you could potentially use this stick across all the games you play.

All of this is soft customisation. If you want to open the Arcade Stick out and swap out the physical components – as serious fighting game players do – that’s encouraged.

“Arcade Stick is ultra moddable. You can swap out 30mm/24mm arcade buttons. Arcade Stick is even designed with a universal joystick mounting plate. It supports virtually every arcade stick ever made: Sanwa JLF / Sanwa JLW Seimitsu / LS 33, 55, 56, 58 / Seimitsu LS 32, 40 / Happ arcade sticks & IL arcade sticks,” reads the product page from 8BitDo.

If you’re in the US the Arcade Stick is up on pre-order from Amazon with a 20th October 2020 release date.

While shipping is available to South Africa it would cost almost the same as the product itself when using Amazon’s own delivery. Unfortunately 8BitDo doesn’t have an official presence in the country, with only one or two of its products finding its way here occasionally. If the Arcade Stick proves to be popular overseas maybe we’ll see it on our shores without the need to privately import.