Is your love for Nintendo’s old school consoles so uncontrollable that you can’t help but always want one in your hand? Well, now you can with the NES Mouse by 8BitDo, a nostalgic nod to the Nintendo Entertainment System from the 80’s.
Why does this exist, we’re not too sure, but the clean minimalist look makes it fit in well with most desk setups, they’ve turned something which is honestly quite ugly in this modern day into something sleek, useful and screams “subtle nerd”.
It was originally design by Daniel Jansson, a product designer who released designs and images of this exact mouse over 10 years ago, it picked up so much hype that 8BitDo wanted to work with him to make it a reality that people can actually buy. You can grab yours here for $25.
The NES Mouse has the typical curvature required on a mouse for decent comfortability, and the single curve gives it a sleek modern look that will fit in well with most new laptops.
On the top of the NES Mouse you are greeted with the popular NES buttons that act as a left and right click.
I haven’t got my hands on one, but I can imagine the response from the buttons is just like that of the retro controllers, just as you remember from playing the best NES or best SNES games.
And that’s not it; on the top of the mouse between both the “A & B” buttons, there’s a 3D touch panel that responds to touch, so there is in fact a scroll wheel in this thing, it’s just built into the design.
I would’ve preferred a normal scroll wheel because I like the feedback, but they needed to remove that feature in order to keep the minimalist appearance.
The third and final button on the mouse is the D-Pad which is situated on the side of the mouse, this again, looks identical to the consoles D-Pad, and feels just like it too I hope!
Due to having technically 4 buttons on the side you can use this feature to move through files, change pages or even set it to Spotify commands in order to change your music while you work.
The NES mouse can work with both Windows and MacOS, it has 1,000DPI (not fit for gamers) and a 10 meter distance should you work that far away from your screen… 8BitDo claims it can last up to 120 hours on 1 AA battery, this sounds a bit excessive, but if it does that’s some serious long haul power.
If that isn’t enough nerd for you, 8BitDo are also selling a NES-themed Mouse Mat alongside their Mouse, which look absolutely great together.
Overall, this mouse is a great affordable gift for those that want to add a bit of nostalgia to their work place.
It’s not the most high tech mouse on the market, it has low DPI meaning it won’t work for gamers, and no static scroll wheel which may put off creatives, but it’s small $25 price tag makes it an easy pick up for anyone that likes the look of it, and I respect 8BitDo for that.
They could have easily priced it higher, but they didn’t and that goes to show 8BitDo’s professionalism and love to Daniel’s work. I love it.
The main thing that you need to worry about is your friends or colleagues trying to nab off with your new mouse and having a go with it themselves. Being a nerd has never been as popular as it is right now, and adding a little nostalgic retro goodness to your gaming set up is bound to bring a smile to your face when you’re having a terrible day.
Just don’t blame us if the IT guys shake their heads as they walk past, I guess you can’t please everyone!
