8Bitdo M30 2.4G Wireless Gamepad for the Original Sega Genesis and Sega Mega Drive - Sega Genesis,Black

If you're a retro gaming enthusiast like me, you'll appreciate the 8Bitdo M30 Wireless Gamepad. It's the perfect accessory for anyone who wants to relive the glory days of gaming on the original Sega Genesis and Sega Mega Drive consoles. First of all, let's talk about the design. The 8Bitdo M30 has a sleek and ergonomic design that feels great in your hands. The button layout is similar to the original Sega controller, which makes it easy to pick up and start playing right away. The build quality is also top-notch, with a solid and durable feel that will stand up to hours of gameplay. But what really sets this gamepad apart is the wireless functionality. The 2.4G wireless connection is incredibly reliable, with virtually no lag or interference. This means you can sit back and enjoy your favorite retro games from the comfort of your couch without having to worry about pesky cords getting in the way. The 8Bitdo M30 is also incredibly versatile. It's compatible with a wide range of devices, including PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, and even Raspberry Pi. This means you can use it to play all of your favorite retro games on a variety of platforms. Overall, I'm incredibly impressed with the 8Bitdo M30 Wireless Gamepad. It's the perfect accessory for anyone who loves retro gaming, and it brings the classic gaming experience to life in a way that's both functional and fun. So if you're looking for a high-quality wireless gamepad for your original Sega Genesis or Sega Mega Drive console, look no further than the 8Bitdo M30.

I am going to write my review at the top, but if you are looking for information about the disconnection glitch and the firmware update supplied by the manufacturer than skip down, or search for <firmware update> With that out of the way, I want to highlight how awesome the controller really is. It has a very solid design, an amazing D-Pad similar to the classic 6 button Sega controllers, and great feeling buttons. The shoulder buttons function as extra "C" and "Z" buttons, meaning your thumb never has to move across more than one button at any time. This is great for games where reaction time is important. The 2.4GHz model feels as responsive and lag free as a wired controller. Testing has shown that this model is actually more responsive than its Bluetooth counterpart. The receiver supplied with the 2.4GHz model has a smaller form factor than the Bluetooth model. This is actually very important on the Genesis which uses an array of pins for the controller connectors. Too much wiggling or force applied from the sides can cause those pins to bend and break and the likelihood and potential for damage is significantly less with the smaller and lighter receiver. I also think it looks a lot nicer. Even though it uses 2.4GHz RF, you can connect this controller to a PC via USB, and it makes an excellent controller for playing older games, or newer games like Sonic Mania, Cuphead, etc. It uses standard X-Input controls which works out great because A, B and X, Y are in the same positions on this controller as an X-Box controller. My one current complaint is that there is no "home button"; similar to the "home keys" on a computer keyboard, on the original Sega 6 button controllers there are small bumps on the B and Y buttons, so you know without looking where your thumb is. These are missing from this controller. However, I do not deduct this from the review because the shoulder buttons actually solve this issue by allowing you to keep your thumb over the four left buttons and use your index fingers for C and Z. But it would still be nice to have. The battery life is fantastic, 35 hours off of a single 1-2 hour charge. Overall, this is the best Genesis controller on the market and a crazy deal at $25. The only downside is that if yours has the original firmware you will need to update it. Below I have documented my experience as well as the fix supplied by 8Bitdo. - - - <firmware update> - - - After reaching out to 8Bitdo support (they were very fast and very helpful), I was sent an email containing Beta firmware drivers to try out. The ones that I was sent were labeled as version 2.00, along with a README that was a DOC formatted file with embedded pictures (so open this with Word or similar). I have uploaded an image of the files. IMPORTANT! The only firmware updates currently listed on their support website are for the Bluetooth version of the M30! You cannot use these for the 2.4GHz model, and you cannot use the auto-updater from their site for it either (i will talk about this more soon). You will need to get the new firmware files either from 8Bitdo support, or wait for them to be made available. So, if you are having similar issues - please email their support team! There are separate drivers for both the controller and the receiver. This is VERY important because the receiver has a Micro USB port that can only be accessed by unscrewing the shell. I have attached pictures of this to make it as clear as possible. YOU WILL NEED A SMALL STAR SCREWDRIVER TO OPEN IT! Another VERY IMPORTANT piece of info, you do not update the firmware for the 2.4GHz controllers the same way as you do with other 8Bitdo controllers and receivers. As of this review - you have to put the controller into "update mode" by holding the shoulder buttons and then start. Once in this mode you connect it to your computer with the included USB cables. The controller will show up as a very small drive, complete with a drive label (on a Windows machine). This is where you copy the controller's firmware files, "V2.00_GamePad". Make sure to securely disconnect it, and then remove the USB cable. You then can connect the receiver (a blue light indicates a connection) and copy the retro receiver firmware files to it the same way as you did the controller. Be careful, as the instructions I was sent had a typo and asked for me to copy the controller firmware over twice, first to the controllers and then again to the receivers - however for the receivers you will copy the receiver specific file, in my case the file named "V2.00_RR". After that you are all set! My controllers were dropping connections regularly after around ~1 hour of playing on the original firmware. Now I have tested them both well past that limit with 0 dropping and 0 lag. I really hope the controllers will begin shipping with an updated firmware already installed, but if you need to make the update I hope that this has been helpful.

UPDATE: So after updating the firmware to 2.0 I can honestly say everything I wrote down below about having issues is gone. Absolutely love this controller and I purchased a second one. Definitely worth getting! I'm leaving the old review for posterity sake, to show I had an issue and it was resolved quickly by the dev. I really want to sit here and write to you and tell you that I love this controller. However with good conscience I cannot. The feel of the controller is great, as someone that wasn't much of a fan of the original Genesis rounded controller as it just didn't feel right in my hands. I can say that this controller feels great in my hands. However the plastic does feel a little on the cheap side, but its sturdy enough. The buttons feel great, they've got a really good press to them, and the D-pad is responsive and accurate. Never have I felt that when I was pressing left or right would I accidentally get an up or down like has plagued the SN30. The D-pad just feels good to use. Price, well what's really to say about price. $25 for a wireless Genesis controller is absolutely killer. Simply the best and most reasonable price you'll find for a wireless genesis controller. However, the big issue I have with this controller right now is the wireless connection. When the controller works it works great, no noticeable lag that I can discern and the battery lasts a long time. However every so often the controller will de-sync from the console. Either allowing no button presses at all, or only relaying the last button press before the de-sync for a few seconds then it'll reconnect to the console. This is highly annoying when it happens. I don't think it has anything to do with the charge of the controller because my controller is fully charged, I'm guessing it might have to do with interference, but without the proper equipment to test that it's hard to be sure. There's only one other thing that I noticed, but I only noticed this once, and I'm not entirely sure it's accurate, but when I received a cell call and I was talking on the phone while playing the controls seem to have a tiny delay to them. This requires more testing, however I feel that the cell call was delaying my inputs to the console ever so slightly as button presses felt more mushy than responsive as they usually did. For these reasons I have to say I'm not in love with this controller. I wish I could give it 5 stars and a recommendation, however until these issues get fixed with either a firmware patch or a hardware replacement by 8bitdo I simply can't recommend this controller at this time. I'll be in contact with 8bitdo and we'll see how well their support is.

This product is solid as heck. I've finally gotten a chance to play through a few games and spent some hours with this and I seriously don't think I can find one single thing to complain about. I'll skip all the small talk and just get into whats important. It feels solid and not cheap. That's huge- anyone who has ever bought a 3rd party controller before knows that almost all of them suck compared to the 1st party controllers. That is absolutely not the case here. The buttons and the d-pad feel great- again there is no "cheap" feeling here at all. I have an original Saturn six button controller which if I'm not mistaken is the exact same controller as the Genesis 6 button. This controller feels exactly like that except the shoulder buttons here are actually superior to the Sega ones and the other buttons feel higher quality. It's not replicating the exact feeling of using the Sega controller but in this case the improvements are totally appreciated and doesn't diminish the authentic feeling of playing with the original Sega one. I know that might sound stupid to some people, but for those out there like me... owning these retro consoles and playing them a lot of us want the original experience as much as possible and this fits the bill. Another bonus is it's compatible with a real Sega Genesis (at least a model 1 which is what I have) right out of the box without having to do anything special. The console powers the receiver and the controller just works instantly. Again... I seriously don't think there's one single thing I can complain about with this controller. Overall I'm extremely happy with it and am now considering buying controllers from 8bitdo for all of my other consoles. I thought I wanted to be a purist and use all first party wired controllers with extension cables, but if all of 8bitdos controllers are this good there is no reason to even bother with any of that anymore. And besides, it's a hazard having two dogs around regularly going crazy, eventually one of my consoles is going to get sent flying across the room by a cable. I highly recommend this.

Update: The controller is now working perfectly. I contacted 8bitdo and they sent me a beta firmware for the controller and dongle that fixed my issues. I just spent two hours playing 10 or so games without a single drop. You will need a special bit to open the dongle since the usb plug is hidden inside the case but it took less than 8 minutes to do the updates. Still marking down one star since 8bitdo should have tested this product more before they released it and they should have made the dongle’s usb port accessible without opening it. Some buys will need to buy the star shaped bit to open the receiver up but luckily I have a ifixit tool kit. So glad I checked amazon reviews this week and someone posted 8bitdo finally released a fix with this beta firmware. Heads up for those who have updated 8bitdo’s controllers in the past, the steps are slightly different but it is actually easier since you don’t need that 8bitdo utility to install the firmware now. It is now drag and drop. I want to like this product since I have two 8bitdo nes, 2 snes 8bitdo controllers, and a n64 controller. I love them all and they are my go to controllers. The controller doesn’t match the sega ones exactly but this is very comfortable, buttons are great, and d-pad amazing. This controller has very low lag and it is precise. I have no issues doing 10/10 ryu fireballs or going without damage on my favorite sonic 2 levels. Sounds great right? The rub is this controller randomly disconnects and you don’t instantly realize it till you look at the top of the controller and see the blue led light flickering/going dark for a few seconds at a time. I’ve been keeping my controller charged, tried disconnecting and reconnecting the transmitter, relinked the controller, turned the controller off and on, and checked for new firmware (still no updates) but no luck. My controller is literally less than 3.5 feet from my genesis 2, no iphone or tablet near me, and nothing blocking the line of sight. If this was an infared controller I would have no problem at all. I’m just playing this on my pvm (crt tv), soundbar, genesis 2, everdrive, and 8bitdo controller. On top of that I am in a basement so nowhere near a computer, microwave, or strong wifi reception. It varies but I can usually play 2 out of 3 15 minutes game sessions with no issues and then boom I can’t play hardly at all with 4-8 disconnects a minute. This could always be caused by wifi channels but I can’t believe they didn’t do any serious testing on these controllers. I’m hopeful a firmware will fix this but as it stands now it is junk and would only hand to a player 2 I don’t like. I will be replacing with the Bluetooth model since the reviews are much better. I was looking foward to the 2.4 model since you don’t have to jack with pairing controllers anymore when turning on systems, should be lower lag (in theory), and it was nice being cheaper since I never use bluetooth controllers on anything besides the og consoles. I’m glad my second 2.4 m30 was delayed. I cancelled that order after a day of using this controller. The hard part now is do I return it or take my chances on a firmware update? I’m not optimistic since the transmitter can’t be updated like past dongles.

This is my 2nd time buying a 8 bit do controller the first being the SN30 Pro Bluetooth controller which I still use almost every day. But I recently bought a Model 1 Genesis and have decided to start collecting for it but the controller that cam with it was a cheap little nothing 6 button controller that sucks. I wanted something that was more meaty and durable. This controller is all that and then some. The Packaging is top notch as tends to be the case with 8 Bit Do looks clean and well presented. The controller itself is a nice size and definately has some weight to it it does not feel cheap at all. the Buttons are nice and clicky and the D-Pad feels just as great IMO. Some people might not like how far out the dongle sticks from the console but I just think those people are not all there to begin with lol. Syncing is a snap as well it should give you no trouble at all really. I put the controller through some NBA Jam,Sonic 2,and WWF Royal Rumble and very satisfied with the results. This controller is a great value for the price. You can't go wrong with this controller for your Sega Genesis.

This is the first 8bitdo controller I've purchased, and so far it's been a treat. In about 15 hours of cumulative play (two long late-night sessions) I have not experienced a single connectivity problem, I've played a variety of games including a few that use all six buttons with no latency issues that I can detect, and I'm still going strong on the original battery charge. I haven't tried all of its functionality yet, save for changing between 3 and 6 button modes, but that works just fine. At the outset I was afraid that it wasn't syncing, but I'm guessing that this was only because my Mega Everdrive bios doesn't recognize the 'mode' button (if I use an OEM controller to flash a game and then switch to wireless, at that point it syncs right up by pressing mode). However, pushing 'start' in the Everdrive menu, oddly enough, does sync it up (instructions only mention the mode button--but it would make sense to have an alternate way for special solutions like Everdrives and all that whatnot). Of course, this also boots into whatever game is flashed into memory, so it would be cool if there were a slightly more elegant way to sync when using Everdrives. The feel of the controller shell is very pleasing. Plastic seems nice quality and it has just that right amount of heft to it while still being light enough. The buttons and D-pad are really great, being slightly better than my OEM 6-button controllers, which, admittedly, could probably benefit from a fresh set of button pads at this point. I really hope this thing holds up, because so far I'm really impressed. I'll update if anything changes and/or as I try it out on other Genesis models/configs (tower of power, model 2 and 3) and, soon enough, the Mega SG. So far I've only used it on a Model 1 connected to a CRT. Fingers crossed--and I hope the people having problems get working replacements or figure out the cause if something is interfering.

Like many retro hobbyists I've become accustomed to seeing high, high prices for modern upgrades on retro consoles. So when I saw this controller for under 30 bucks I wasn't expecting much. I was very surprised when the package came and I took this controller out. The controller itself looks much nicer in person than in the picture. It feels very premium in the hand. It's roughly the same size as the original Sega 6 button, but it has a more modern, curvy shape which makes it feel very comfortable to hold. The plastic texture has a very nice feeling, and the molding of the controller shell has nothing "off" about it. The two halves line up perfectly, and there are no sharp edges to annoy you or your hands. Side by side against my Sega 6 button, the d-pad feels nearly identical. The d-pad itself has the same non-glossy finish, and direction presses are responsive without unintentional inputs. The A-B-C / X-Y-Z button layout is also nearly identical in layout, button size, and feeling. Honestly the 8BitDo's buttons feel slightly better, but that's probably because the rubber membrane is brand new and the Sega controller is well over 20 years old. The Start button feels just slightly odd, like it doesn't spring back up as quickly as I expect. I plan on using this controller a lot so I'll update if it starts getting stuck or something. Connectivity is flawless. I didn't have to mess around with pairing this thing with the receiver. Just plug in and play. I have it connected to my MiSTer via SNAC adapter, but I would imagine that it would work just fine with a real Genesis, Mega Drive, or Mega Sg. I played half way through Sonic 1 and 2 and experienced zero issues. No input lag that I could detect, and I'm pretty sensitive to that. Inputs feel as instantaneous as my wired Sega controller. I just looked up what retrorgb posted and they found 3.4 milliseconds of input lag, which is less than 1/4th of a single frame. You can't get any better than that. I didn't plan on writing this much of a glowing review but I'm pretty impressed. BUT, again, this is only after playing half way through two different Sonic games. If the plastic starts degrading or if I start getting connectivity issues myself, I'll update my review. But at this moment in time, I am very pleased with this controller.