Remember when technology came in flavors instead of just space gray and black? 8BitDo certainly does, and the company is channeling serious late-90s energy with its newly announced Funtastic Limited Editions. These eight new colors for the 64 Bluetooth Controller embrace the translucent design language that once made the iMac G3 a cultural phenomenon and the N64 Funtastic series highly collectible. Now that aesthetic is back, adapted for modern gaming needs.
The lineup includes seven see-through variants alongside a solid Gold option, bringing the total 64 Controller color count to eleven. Each model maintains full compatibility with the Analogue 3D, Nintendo Switch family, Android devices, and Windows PCs through Bluetooth or USB connectivity. At $44.99, they command a small premium over standard colors, but that hasn’t stopped 8BitDo from warning potential buyers about extremely limited quantities. Pre-orders begin December 10 at 8 AM PST, with units shipping in February 2026.
Designer: 8bitdo
Look, I get why 8BitDo went this route. The Analogue 3D crowd skews heavily nostalgic, and these controllers speak directly to people who spent their formative years with an atomic purple N64 controller in hand. Clear, Jungle Green, Watermelon Red, Smoke Black, Ice Cyan, Fire Orange, Gold, and Grape Purple. These aren’t subtle nods to the past. They’re full-throated love letters to an era when product designers believed technology should spark joy rather than disappear into minimalist oblivion. The translucent shells let you peek at the circuit boards inside, which feels refreshingly honest in an age where everything’s sealed up tighter than Fort Knox. There’s something genuinely appealing about seeing the guts of your gear, even if modern miniaturization means there’s less to actually see than there was in 1998.
What strikes me is how this design language has aged. When Jonathan Ive and his team at Apple dropped the iMac G3 in Bondi Blue, it felt revolutionary because computing had spent decades looking like beige office equipment. Nintendo followed suit with their Funtastic series, and suddenly every product category had a translucent variant. Then it all died out around 2002, victim of its own ubiquity and the rising tide of aluminum unibody minimalism. But here we are in 2025, and these candy-colored shells feel fresh again. Maybe enough time has passed, or maybe we’re all just exhausted by the relentless sameness of contemporary industrial design.
The $44.99 price point sits five bucks above the standard black and white models, which retail for $39.99. That’s a reasonable premium for limited edition colorways, especially given that 8BitDo isn’t skimping on features. Full Bluetooth connectivity, wired USB support, compatibility across multiple platforms. The February 2026 ship date feels distant, but that’s standard for limited runs where manufacturing slots are precious. What concerns me more is 8BitDo’s emphasis on “highly limited quantities.” That phrasing usually means either genuine scarcity or artificial hype-building, and with gaming peripherals, it’s often hard to tell which until pre-orders go live. Either way, if you want one of these translucent beauties sitting next to your Analogue 3D, setting a December 10 alarm is probably wise.
