Customer Reviews
Background:
Look, I'm not a speedrunner or an only-N64 enthusiast, but turns out I'm a little sweaty.
There's a couple reasons I bought both thumb caps. For one, more replacement parts to keep for the TaoStyx64 (minor O-ring and M2 screw), but the second reason is... yeah! My thumb slips a bit when I get to gaming on my N64! I bought both Bowser and Gravatos caps.
Review and Experience:
These definitely work. There's no doubt about that! It feels like sand paper and I don't really slip any more. Something to note about thumb-feel and how your skin will take to these caps' material. Similar to when working out with barbells where the knurled bar will be painful to untrained hands, at first my thumb was quite sensitive to the material. It hurts at first because of how well it grips and pulls on your skin. Still worth it. B)
I started with the Bowser cap because why not, but that seemed like a little too much so I installed the meaker Gravatos. Frankly, any untrained thumbs or keyboard warriors should expect their soft hands to complain a little bit. My thumb has mostly adapted after about a week. The increase in confidence is well worth it IMO. Coupled with the Steel Bowl, this entire combination feels so premium, so solid, so robust, it's an entirely different world from a stock N64 stick!
Story Time:
I had a contractor in my house and he noticed my N64 (didn't mention the PS1 or PS2 sitting there), so I knew he was fond of the console. I asked him to feel my N64 controller and wiggle the joystick and his eyes bugged out of his head! WHAT! That's insane!
Only Criticism:
The metal M2 screw cap sits too high, it is flush with the top of the nylon Stick Cap, but needs to be inset because the metal actually makes a slick surface that's counter to the non-slip design intention. A slight alteration can be done by making a cavity inset for the M2 screw about 1mm deeper so the screw is not felt by your thumb. I used a dremel with a sanding cone to slowly grind down the material and it's now about 1mm deeper and the thumb caps feel much better. Naturally this is a niche product for a niche product, but if there's ever a rev 2, this is what I'd change.
I had a grav cap variant on another steel stick and it already feels great but the bowser variant feels even better. I absolutely love the pikes around the cam and on the top feels, it's perfect