3 Coins’ Switch controller is less than half the price of Nintendo’s Pro Controller, but is it worth even that much?

Gather ’round, children, and listen to a story of the days of video gaming yore. It was a time before microtransactions, when flagship franchise releases didn’t require a day-one patch to play, and when, believe it or not, controllers weren’t expensive.

Yes, it may be hard to believe when looking at the current landscape of the hobby, but for the first several generations of consoles, video game controllers cost somewhere around half the price of a game. Nowadays, though, controllers can easily equal or exceed new game prices, especially since, unlike software, video game hardware rarely gets deep-discount sales.

The situation is especially irksome for Nintendo fans, since the hybrid design of the Switch means you don’t even get a single traditional gamepad as part of the base package, just the detachable Joy-Cons. But every time our game-loving Japanese-language reporter Udonko found herself wanting a Pro Controller for her Switch, she’d remember that Nintendo wants 7,678 yen (US$52) for the thing, enough for at least one brand-new major publisher game, and maybe two or three indie or retro games.

But Udonko recently stumbled across a ray of gamer hope in an unexpected place: 3 Coins.

3 Coins is a Japanese lifestyle brand that gets its name from its original concept of all items being priced at 300 yen (US$2). You can think of it as a sort of an alternative to Daiso, but with higher quality and more stylish design while still being very affordable, which has made the brand especially popular with young women.

▼ Some of the kitchen organizer items 3 Coins produced in collaboration with Marie Kondo.

But in addition to elegantly understated dishware, tote bags, and cosmetic pouches, 3 Coins also sells video game controllers.

Now, as you can probably guess, there’s no way to make a working game controller that retails for just 300 yen, so this is one of 3 Coins’ premium products that costs more than the chain’s namesake price (like their one-person rice cooker cup or home cotton candy-maker that we fell in love with.) Still, with the 3 Coins Wireless Game Controller priced at just 2,750 yen (US$18.60), this is a fraction, or a little less than 36 percent, of the cost of Nintendo’s Switch Pro Controller.

When looking to keep costs down, one of the easiest corners to cut is to get rid of wireless connectivity and require the controller to be plugged into the console (or dock, in the case of the Switch) at all times. However, just like its name indicates, 3 Coins’ Wireless Game Controller works wirelessly, though it does include a cord for charging and directly pairing the device to the Switch.

Size-wise, it’s a nice, healthy medium, not too big, and not too small. In keeping with 3 Coins’ aesthetic sensibilities of understated elegance, the button layout is clean and uncluttered, and in addition to the ivory color of our model, the controller also comes in pastel blue, yellow, or pink, as well as a chocolatey brown. In a departure from Nintendo’s pro controller, the analog sticks are adjacent to each other, with the D-pad taking the upper position on the controller’s left half.

There’s a nice touch right below the home button in the center of the controller, where you’ll find a row of LED lights which light up to correspond with which controller number you’ve synched to the Switch as.

Reliability is always a concern when buying third-party controllers, but Udonko’s mind was put at ease when she saw that included in the box is a six-month warranty card.

After firing up her Switch, Udonko had no problems synching the controller, and then it was time to see how it handled by playing some games.

Starting with the good stuff, the 3 Coins controller handled Mincraft like a champ. Whether gathering, building or even in life-or-death battles with hostile monsters, Udonko experienced no hiccups, unwanted inputs, or lag.

▼ This zombie was no match for Udonko’s sword and stylish budget controller!

Udonko also loved that the 3 Coins Switch controller has a rapid-fire button, a feature the Nintendo Pro Controller doesn’t provide. Granted, rapid button-mashing is a less critical part of video game play mechanics now than it used to be, but rapid-fire still comes in handy for menu-driven games like Pokémon, where it saves you the trouble of having to hit confirm over and over again to select your main attack, for example.

So in terms of controlling, Udonko is completely satisfied with the 3 Coins controller. There were, though, two drawbacks she feels she should mention, with the first being something she noticed while playing Animal Crossing.

Like we said earlier, even at this low price, the 3 Coins controller is still wireless. It retains rumble support too. However, it doesn’t boast the same sophisticated, multi-strength rumbles that the Nintendo Pro Controller standard Switch Joy-Cons. Instead, it appears to have only a single, all-purpose rumble strength. 99 times out of 100, this isn’t going to cause you any problems, but in addition to making the rumbles feel a little less immersive, this also created an issue when fishing in Animal Crossing. The game is programmed to give you gentle vibrations when a fish is nibbling on the line you’ve cast, then a stronger jolt when it chomps down on the bait. Playing with the 3 Coins controller, those incremental steps were flattened out, which made it a little harder to tell when to start reeling the fish in.

▼ Not that that stopped Udonko from landing this aji (horse mackerel), though.

Another quirk of the 3 Coins controller is that it can’t be used while you’re charging its battery. Sure, you can press the buttons and wiggle the sticks, but they won’t register as game inputs, so you’ll want to remember to charge it up after you end your play session. On the bright side, Udonko felt like the battery life is pretty good, so she doesn’t see this as being a major sticking point.

Finally, we can’t confirm, at this time, whether or not the 3 Coins Wireless Game Controller is compatible with the Switch 2. Theoretically, it should work. The Switch 1 Joy-Cons and Pro Controller work just fine with Nintendo’s new system, and we’ve seen reports of other models of third-party Switch controllers being compatible with the Switch 2. However, since Udonko doesn’t have a Switch 2 to test this particular controller on, we haven’t been able to test it yet.

▼ You hear that, boss? This is why we need a Switch 2 for the office conference room (and also so that we can sneak in and play games on it during our shifts).

But for now, Udonko can say that she’s extremely satisfied with both the quality and the price of 3 Coins’ controller.

Marie Kondo collaboration photo: PR Times
All other photos ©SoraNews24
Screen shots：MINECRAFT（Nintendo switch)、あつまれ どうぶつの森（Nintendo Switch）、ポケットモンスター バイオレット（Nintendo Switch）、(C)2022 Pokémon. (C)1995-2022 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc.
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[ Read in Japanese ]