Snakebyte Multi: Playcon: Cheap is not always cheap

With the Multi: Playcon, Snakebyte offers a controller double pack for the switch. The killer argument: the price. Apart from that, the controllers know little about themselves. But it's all a question of age and usage.

The Switch is the ultimate multiplayer console. But especially when more than two players want to gamble together or the infamous Joy-Con drift strikes, the purchase of new controllers or replacements can be quite expensive. Snakebyte is not the last and not the first manufacturer to offer its own mini controller for the switch.

The Multi: Playcon set attracts with a price of 39.99 euros. For this you get two controllers, optionally in blue and orange or two shades of gray. This is how much a single original Joy-Con alone costs, but also offers more sophisticated features such as HD rumble, motion sensors or the IR camera. If you hold the Multi: Playcon in your hands, you will notice that the small gamepad is more ergonomically shaped, but it looks less valuable when it comes to material selection. The Snakebyte controllers can be expected to survive a fall unscathed.

The stability is unfortunately at the expense of performance, because the analog stick sits so bombproof that noticeably more force has to be used to move it. Very nuanced directions are a little difficult, but you get used to the higher resistance. The small gamepads offer crisp pressure points on all buttons.

Depending on the game unusable

Some of the features such as the IR camera or motion control are of course not necessary for every game, but some titles cannot be played at all with the Snakebyte Multi: Playcon. Popular examples are Super Mario Party or 1-2-Switch. But even these special areas of application are left out, depending on the game, it is difficult to make a recommendation to the Multi: Playcon. Of all the titles proposed on the packaging, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, after all the most popular multiplayer games of the Switch, are almost unplayable with the Snakebyte gamepads.

The reason for this is the enormous input delays of just over a second. Together with the resistance of the analog stick, the fun racer maneuvers quickly become a challenge, even in simpler curves. It is clear that the chances of winning in Super Smash Bros. or in general in games in which responsiveness and precise input are important are rather small – if only because of their size.