Bliss Box Universal Controller Adapter to PC/MAC/Android

Caveat: Make sure you can get the right adapter cables for your classic controllers before buying this product. Though the marketing materials tout support almost universal support for vintage console controllers, the fine print details reveal that the manufacturer (4-Play) only includes a subset of the entire range of adapter cables for the most popular (best selling) and more recent console system controllers. This cost-reducing measure seemed reasonably acceptable at first, until I found that the non-included adapter cables (e.g., Atari 5200) are nearly impossible to find and acquire separately. Sure, one could reasonably argue that for many games, Atari 5200 game play improves under another controller option because the original controllers were a bit problematic. However, it detracts from the authenticity of the emulation experience for people who have used this classic console, and getting an authentic experience is the sole reason I purchased a Bliss-Box. I give it 3 stars out of 5, because I feel I’ve only been able to get about 60 percent of the way to where I hoped to be with this product, but I may revise if I can ever acquire the Atari 5200 (DB-15) cable adapters. I have tested the product with Atari 2600 joysticks and had good results, but the 5200 was the real target for me, as that was the system I had played most back in the day.

I've only used it for 4-player N64.At first, it seemed a bit buggy. I was not getting any inputs at all. Then when I went to flash it, the flash utility kept not finding the devices (when pushing the buttons in), but I kept at it and eventually flashed all 4 ports to 1.56.1 (I'm unsure if it's a good idea or not to flash to 2.0 since I'm going to primarily be using this for an android box). One of the ports completely crashed (in windows and wouldn't come up, but after a restart and a USB disconnect/reconnect of the hub, everything is working now. After some initial concerns, everything seems to be working fine. Most (but not all) Android N64 emulators work great.

Once you get up and running the blissbox is a dream for classic gaming enthusiasts. I love playing games with the original controller and the ability to swap with a single button press works really well. Say I'm playing SNES games, but want to switch to gamecube emulator. Just swap the controller, press a button on the box and you are all set. I'm not able to detect any latency and I spent much of my youth configuring rhythm games within intervals of 10ms. Fighting game freaks will be more attuned than I but I'm decent at picking up on it. I've long held that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 just didn't feel great unless I was playing on original hardware. I grew up with the original version and I feel like the Wii VC version that I played in my adolescent years was held back by bluetooth controller and LCD TV lag. With blissbox and my monitor it feels close enough to genuine that any difference I think may well be placebo effect. Compatibility with Retroarch is nearly seamless, So far the only issue I had so far was needing a configuration file for the Mupen 64 Core which I found on the Blissbox forums.That leads me to the cons: 1. Feature creep and 2. Be ready for some tinkering. The owner of this company seems to be some kind of wizard genius and he seems dedicated to this passion project. He responded very quickly to an inquiry I had and is working on a solution for the controller that I found to be incompatible last night as of this morning. However it seems like he runs the show mostly on his own, and the amount of projects he is working on is significant for one person. That said, he has exciting projects in the works and I can't wait to see them I sincerely hope the product and company continues to grow because I think it deserves better documentation and more organized communication. If you play with emulators you are not allergic to tinkering, but that makes it hard to recommend this to the layperson. As it stands this product is for nerds but you already know that if you are here. Don't want to tinker? Go buy an xbox one. Tinkering is half the fun and if you built a gaming PC and play classic games on emulators, I think you know that already.I bought mine direct from the company website because I wanted the standard cable pack with two more N64 adapters. I would have liked if they included 4 of them but aside from that the default cable set is perfect for me. The ability to buy cheap adapters for virtually any controller makes this box special and makes for a great collecting experience.I can look over a few flaws with this product in its current form because the big picture is so incredible. It's amazing what this little box can do and the features keep growing with time. There's alternatives but nothing comes close to supporting this many controllers.

What can I say..... it's simply the best adapter out there and supports more controllers than anything.The firmware does everything and outputs to standard USB HID game device so no drivers needed.It works with all the common stuff and TONS of very uncommon stuff....Works with: 3do, intellivision, coleco, Jaguar, atari 5200, and tons more all of which are almost impossible to get adapters for and the full number pad on those controllers work too.ever wanted to use the nes Power Pad on your pc, it works with that to....but wait theres more....ever wanted to use the dreamcast controller AND the vmu, the lcd screen displays the Bliss-Box logo for now and the api is there for emu devs to hook in to...for using controllers that needs a cable it dose not come with, the wiring is openly available so you can make your own till the other cable types get mass produced.reviewed by: atarigalore

I love this device...I have the single player version. I can play super mario maker 2 with my snes classic controller. I don't need any inferior 3rd party garbage. Only small downside is that you need to upgrade to the switch firmware but that only takes 5 seconds.

Bought this jewel when it was on kickstarter. This is GREAT. I can play all my retro game with the original controllers. Easy to configure, no driver required, work on PC, Linux and even Raspberry Pi! The support is awesome if you ever get a problem with it.

Amazing device! I love playing my older games, but hate that I either had to hook up ancient hardware or use the wrong controllers (the cheap USB version are junk, IMO). This device is perfect for emulators! All my games available whenever I want, with the real controller!

It was one of the best ideas and products published for gamers that will like to replicate the "console experience" on their PCs.