It’s been over thirty years since Nintendo released its Power Glove, but the infamous controller hasn’t quite faded into oblivion yet. A YouTuber recently crafted a nifty new use for the glove: compatibility with the Switch.
In a new video, tech YouTuber Will It Work? shows off his newly modded Power Glove, which has been revived and now works with the Nintendo Switch (save for a bit of latency and a few remapping issues).
As explained in the video, two essential pieces of hardware made this impressive mod possible: the USB NES RetroPort, which turns devices like the Power Glove into USB game controllers; and the ConsoleTuner Titan One, which allows the Switch to recognize external devices like the Power Glove as controllers.
Thanks to these two pieces of hardware and a bit of tinkering, Will It Work was able to configure the Power Glove as a simplified Switch controller — hand movements correspond to joystick motions, thumb movements correspond to the A button, and index finger movements correspond to the B button.
He briefly dives into Pokemon Legends: Arceus to demonstrate the controller’s movement capabilities. Of course, the highlight is his brief foray into Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, though to get this game to work properly, he had to write a script to get the A button to hold to allow auto-acceleration as well.
“I love the Power Glove,” he states. “It’s so bad.”
Will It Work’s inventive Power Glove mod isn’t the only time someone has reworked a controller. Recently, someone crafted a one-handed adapter for DualSense controllers to tackle the issue of inaccessibility in gaming. And earlier this year, someone modded a Fisher-Price controller to play Elden Ring.
Amelia Zollner is a Freelance Writer for IGN.
