Switch Online users get six-button Mega Drive controller — but only in Japan
Japanese Switch Online users will be able to pick up the controller for ¥5,478.
During yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, the company announced that multiple SEGA games are coming to Nintendo Switch Online. A part of Nintendo’s expanded online service, 14 classic games will launch on the system later this year. Nintendo also revealed that Switch users can pick up a six-button Mega Drive controller — but only in Japan.
According to Nintendo of Japan’s Twitter, the six-button Mega Drive controller will be available for Japanese Switch Online users alongside the Switch Nintendo 64 controller. The controller will launch for ¥5,478 (just under $50 USD, the same price as the Genesis controller for Switch users).
Switch Online players in America and Europe will be able to get their hands on a SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive controller as well, but for now, the six-button controller isn’t going overseas.
The six-button Mega Drive controller for Switch will launch in Japan only — what’s the deal?
The Mega Drive Six Button Control Pad (known as the Fighting Pad 6B in Japan) hit store shelves in 1993. It replaced the standard three-button controller that shipped with the system at launch, then quickly became the de facto way to play SEGA games.
It’s certainly not an ideal situation for non-Japanese fans, but unfortunately, the situation has precedent. When SEGA launched the Genesis/Mega Drive Mini in 2019, the six-button controller was also given an exclusive Japan release with other regions stuck with fewer buttons to work with.
We have no idea whether or not the Switch’s six-button Mega Drive controller will leave Japan at some point. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, we do have plenty of awesome SEGA games coming to Switch in October to look forward to. Classics like Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Streets of Rage, and Golden Axe will be available with the new online service.
None of these games are compatible with the six-button controller, so it’s not that big of a deal for now. However, if some essential Mega Drive games that do work with six buttons like Comix Zone and Virtua Racing (or God forbid, Shaq Fu) are put on the service, that could pose a problem for those outside Japan who want that golden six-button experience. That could mean an international release will happen at some point, but that’s pure speculation.
What classic SEGA games do you want to see on Nintendo Switch Online? Let us know!
Via Nintendo Life.
