In 2002 Nintendo released a ridiculous–looking for a GameCube controller with an embedded keyboard so that Phantasy Star online players could write to their friends. In 2021 someone modified it into an equally impractical, but much nicer custom keyboard, which I wish I could use write all my shitty places.
“You guys thought the gamecube keyboard was a joke,” creator HolyChipmunk recently wrote in the Keyboard subreddit at a post sharing your project this was first seen by PCGamesN. Inspired by another modder version for a few years, HolyChipmunk drilled some of the original plastic controller keyboard to result in the new highest quality aluminum board and Preonic PCB. Here are the full specifications:
- Keyboard: Preonic placed on a Sammy Gamecube keyboard controller
- Case material: 18-year-old Nintendo plastic
- Plate: mounted on an aluminum tray
- Switches: glorious lubricated pandas
- Stabilizer: Durock v1 lubricated with dielectric grease and 205 g0
- Damping: none
- Keys: DSA Vilebloom
HolyChipmunk went a step further and replaced the existing GameCube controller buttons and buttons with custom ones that matched Vilebloom’s color scheme perfectly. Best of all, everything works. HolyChipmunk showed that he went from writing messages to playing Super Smash Bros. Melee inside a video on YouTube:
The battle between gamepads and keyboards has people with too much time on their hands have been doing for years, but the solution has been in front of us all along. There are now a lot of PC games that support multiple drivers, and many console games now support the use of mouse and keyboard. But why choose when you can get the best of both worlds in the world GameCube controller with a super luxurious look and decades old.
Return the ASCII keyboard driver. Return the Xbox chatpad. Give the Switch Pro a sleek Joy-Con keyboard file and bless it with colored keys. Anything that makes the interface with the internet brain feel a little more whimsical.