A revival of the revered WaveBird controller, dubbed the WaveDash has dropped onto Kickstarter recently, likely on the coattails of the recent Gamecube controller adapter for the Wii U, which was geared directly to the new Super Smash Bros.

The WaveBird, along with the original Gamecube controller is a constant fan favorite, which even led to Nintendo continuing to manufacture it long after the launch of the Nintendo Wii and the purple lunchbox’s demise. The WaveBird in particular received praise for its quick response times and hassle free design. Instead of relying on infrared sensors to maintain a connection which was slow and ultimately unreliable, the WaveBird used a seperate radio band in order to maintain a consistent signal with its base connected to the console. The RF based design aided the industry in moving past the inefficient infrared dependency for wireless controllers and helped move companies towards ditching the corded joypads.

Though the WaveBird was created newrly 10 years ago, and times have changed in the game industry. Nintendo themselves went through a phase that consisted of gimmicks and hidden “classic” dubbed controllers that was not only more functional than Nintendo’s touted Wii Remotes and Wii U Tablets, but trumped both with better designs. The Wii U Pro replacing the Wii Classic this generation, Nintendo’s revealing of the Gamecube adapter alone conceded that many still preferred the well-over-decade old design, which must be a humbling experience. Though the intentions of the WaveDash team may be to bring back the Gamecube design to a newer generation, Nintendo may not take too kindly to another studio closely following their example. The designers at WaveDash’s biggest enemy may not be the Kickstarter goal, but the platform they wish to bring their product to. Nintendo is the one entity that may throw a fit at this proposal. However slim it may be, it’s still a possibility.