Every Amiibo In Your Hand – the AmiiJoy/AmiiPad Controller Review

by Doc – Owner, Founder, Has More Amiibo Tech Than He Should

Where to Buy the AmiiJoy Controller

What is the AmiiJoy Controller?

The AmiiJoy controller, found at www.amiijoy.com, is a pretty straightforward modification of a typical third-party Nintendo Switch controller. In addition to being a controller, it has special modifications that enable it to tell a Nintendo Switch that an amiibo has been scanned in, and it can do this for any amiibo.

This is accomplished by button inputs – pressing the unique T button while holding the button combination of your chosen amiibo causes the controller to scan in that amiibo (provided you’ve set up the LED color and number as well.)

So suppose that you’re intending to train a Zelda amiibo in Smash Ultimate. You’d check the Smash Ultimate PDF at amiijoy.com, and adjust the LED light to be yellow by pressing T and the – minus button. Then you’d find Zelda, see that Zelda requires the leftmost LED light to be on. You’d adjust the LEDs at the bottom of the controller by pressing T and the + button. Then all it takes is to press T and hold the left stick up, and it scans in Zelda! And when it comes time to save back to the figure (which is saved on the controller for later use) you just do the same inputs again. It’s very straightforward once you’ve done it a few times.

Gameplay Use Review

As far as controllers go, the AmiiJoy is a good one. It feels exactly like the PowerA Pro under the hood, and I would go so far as to say the base controller was probably purchased from the same company. For any game besides Smash, it’s basically better than using a typical Pro Controller.

Let’s break it down:

• Grip: 10/10. I can use this controller for hours without having a problem. The only controller I’ve ever had that with was the Gamecube controller, which I hold up as the best controller of all time. Even when my hands get sweaty, it holds up like a champ.
• Buttons: 9.5/10. Perfectly responsive. In my demonstration video I compared it to the Xbox 360 controller. The triggers sit at a slightly unusual angle, but otheriwse
• Joysticks: 7/10. The biggest flaw of this controller is that the deadzones on the sticks are, just like the PowerA Pro controller, kinda unintuitive. It doesn’t hold back the gameplay in games besides Smash though, so you should be fine. The joysticks themselves are high-quality.
• Amiibo functionality: 11/10. This is a brilliant adaptation of amiibo. I’d label it a 12/10 but you can’t export the amiibo bin files off of your controller (yet).
• Build quality overall: 9.5/10. Aside from the joystick deadzones, this thing is awesome.

Amiibo Review

For somebody who doesn’t want the hassle of having to dig through hundreds of Animal Crossing files so they can scan it into a Powertag they’ll probably lose, this is the perfect controller. It’s easy to use once you’ve got it down and there’s really no issues with it at all. It’s a slam dunk for basically everyone.

The single issue that I have with this controller is from the perspective of an amiibo trainer in Smash Ultimate. If you’re not planning on entering competitive amiibo tournaments, this won’t be an issue at all.

However, I do train in Smash Ultimate. The one thing that prevents me from recommending this controller over the Powersaves for amiibo in every circumstance is the fact that I can’t export the bin files onto a computer for use. If I train an amiibo in Smash and want to send it to a tournament, I can’t – I have to restrict my tournament entrants to arena tournaments, the only type of tournament that doesn’t use bin files.

Addressing the Price

I’m not gonna lie to you – this controller typically runs you about $50. That’s better than the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller’s $70, but it’s still a bit much. However, this is the last controller you’ll ever buy. You’ll save massive amounts of money on amiibo tech and amiibo purchases. It’s really an investment, not just a controller. I know it’s a bit, but it’s worth it.