Nintendo’s releasing wireless NES controllers for the Switch

Next week your days of playing Nintendo Switch games online for free come to an end — well, you can eke out another week with the free trial — but Nintendo’s trying to soften the blow of charging an online subscription by releasing a couple of special offers to coincide with it. Our favourite? The new wireless Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) controllers you can buy to use to play the 20 NES games you’ll get with your online subscription.

The controllers come in pairs and will set you back $60. You can order them now, but they’ll only ship in mid-December 2018… just in time to avoid festive-season family time, or at least make it a little more tolerable. The controllers charge like Joy-Cons by sliding onto the sides of the Switch console… but don’t get too excited, they’re regular controllers only and won’t support the motion controls regular Joy-Cons do.

We’re wary of buying these sorts of products in light of the South African Custom and Excise departments largely arbitrary approach to imposing import duties, but maybe Nintendo South Africa will get a few sets in and save us the trouble.

Nintendo’s also offering those players who sign up for a 12-month sub some exclusive Splatoon 2 gear for their Inklings… and at least customs hasn’t figured out how to tax DLCs yet.