ESS Adapter

Originally, all info about this adapter could be found on the Zeldaspeedruns forum. Unfortunately, the forum seems rather broken these days. Therefore, I have created this page, so all info is in a central place.

Why this adapter?

Virtual Console titles, such as Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Super Mario 64 suffer from very high deadzones on the control stick. On the original Nintendo 64 versions this is not the case. Because of this added deadzone, things like aiming become a lot harder. This adapter undoes the conversion that Virtual Console performs on the control stick and makes it feel like it would on Nintendo 64 again.

In Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask there is a trick called Extended SuperSlide (ESS). In order to perform this trick one, needs to put a very slight pressure on the control stick. Due to the high deadzone and sensitivity on Virtual Console, this trick is fairly difficult. Using this adapter this trick becomes easy again. Therefore, people started calling this adapter and "ESS Adapter" (I did not choose the name).

Which controllers can I use?

The adapter plugs into the GameCube controller port. Therefore, you need a Wii with GameCube ports. I might look into making an adapter that can be plugged into the Wii Mote, so it can be used on Wii U Virtual Console. There are adapters for the following controllers:

How do I select mappings?

Most Virtual Console games have slightly different analog stick conversions. Therefore, the correct analog stick mapping needs to be selected for the adapter. This can be done by holding the appropiate button while plugging in the adapter (Wii needs to be turned on). The adapter will remember the last setting. Below you can find the buttons that need to be pushed for the Nintendo 64 and GameCube controller version.

Nintendo 64 to GameCube adapter

Game Button
Ocarina of Time (Virtual Console)) D-UP
Majora's Mask (Virtual Console) D-DOWN
Super Mario 64 (Virtual Console) D-LEFT
Master Quest (GameCube)* D-RIGHT
General purpose mapping** L
More sensitive general purpose mapping** R
*Also works for GameCube versions of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask (Collector's Edition disc).
**The general puprpose mappings can be used for any game. In this case, the deadzone remains. It is advised to only use these mappings for games that are not in the table (some games may have the same mapping as the ones in the table, but I have not investigated this).

GameCube to GameCube adapter

Game Button
Ocarina of Time (Virtual Console)) D-UP
Majora's Mask (Virtual Console) D-DOWN
Super Mario 64 (Virtual Console) D-LEFT
Master Quest (GameCube)* D-RIGHT
*Also works for GameCube versions of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask (Collector's Edition disc).

For the GameCube controller version there are also settings for the L and R trigger. The GameCube version of Ocarina of Time (also Master Quest) and Majora's Mask both have more sensitive L and R triggers. Using the settings it is possible to make them feel like on Virtual Console again. It is also possible to make the triggers on Virtual Console feel like on the GameCube versions.

Setting Button
No modification, one on one conversion L+D-UP
Make triggers feel like Virtual Console L+D-RIGHT
Make triggers feel like on GameCube versions L+D-DOWN