A great solution to a niche problem

In more ways than one, we are in the golden age of gaming controllers. Whether you want a controller for your PC, PS5/Xbox/Switch, emulation system, or need something specifically catered to your motor impairments, there is a controller out there for you. One thing that hasn’t been available, though, is an all-in-one solution to the fact that there are predominantly two types of face buttons: Western (A on the bottom, B on the right) and Japanese (B on the bottom, A on the right). Up until now, you would need to mentally “move” those buttons to use one controller for both situations, or go through the arduous process of swapping them around — though that’s not even an option on most gamepads.

However, thanks to the new GameSir Tarantula Pro, this is all now a thing of the past. The Tarantula Pro has an innovative system that physically moves the face buttons instantly.

I bought a Tarantula Pro the second it was available because solving this problem has been one of my white whales. I’m happy to report that the Tarantula Pro delivers as advertised. It’s not perfect, but I’m glad I bought it.

The GameSir Tarantula Pro is capable of many things, but I want to dive right in with the swappable face buttons. This is the obvious star feature of the product, but for some bonkers reason, GameSir doesn’t do a great job of explaining how it actually works in any of its advertising.

First, the face buttons on this controller are transparent. When the controller is powered down, you can only slightly see the button labels because they lack illumination (see image above). It’s only when you power on the controller that the buttons illuminate, allowing you to see the labels buried somewhere deep inside the controller’s body.

On the back of the controller is a multi-function button, signified with an “M.” When you hold down this button and then hold down the bottom-most face button, the underlying four face button labels mechanically move. This allows you to swap between the Western/Japanese control schemes instantly. The great thing about this system is that the buttons physically move, meaning your button presses are now natively swapped. The controller doesn’t need to spend precious milliseconds altering the signal with software — it’s all happening in real-time while you play.

GameSir even goes the extra mile by color-coordinating the face button labels to their respective popular controllers. When in Western mode, the buttons turn green, red, yellow, and blue, lining up with what you’d see on an Xbox controller. Meanwhile, in Japanese mode, the buttons adopt a simple black-and-white scheme, which is what you’d find on a Nintendo Switch Pro controller.

Unfortunately, these are the only two schemes you can choose from on the Tarantula Pro. I am not sure if space would limit GameSir adding more layouts on future models, but it seems it would be pretty easy to add a third or even fourth layout, allowing you to also have PlayStation-style face buttons and maybe even Genesis/Mega Drive buttons in addition to the two ABXY modes. For now, though, the Tarantula Pro only offers two ABXY layouts.

Additionally, because the labels are buried inside the controller’s body, you can’t see them from an off-angle when looking at it. Once again, this seems like something GameSir could easily improve with the next generation, simply by making the transparent buttons slightly less deep and bringing the labels higher up in the body.

Although the swappable face buttons really separate the Tarantula Pro from the competition, GameSir didn’t lean on that feature and phone in the rest. Thanks to its wide platform compatibility, customizability, and wealth of extra buttons, the Tarantula Pro can do pretty much anything you want it to.

Outside of the standard buttons you would find on an Xbox Series controller (D-pad, two sticks, four face buttons, Start, Select, Share, two bumpers, two triggers, and a Home button), you’ll also find four custom buttons on the front (C1, C2, C3, and C4), a clickable “GameSir” button that replicates a DualSense trackpad click (but without the actual trackpad functionality), two grip buttons on the back (R4/L4), and the aforementioned “M” button. That’s a total of eight additional buttons, all of which can be customized using GameSir’s Connect software on your PC. There’s also a ninth additional button on the bottom, which is only used for Bluetooth pairing.

GameSir also offers hardware toggles that change how some of its buttons work. For example, you can deactivate the two grip buttons by moving two hardware toggles on the back. This is great for me, as I have no use for R4/L4 buttons, and I would likely press them accidentally a lot while playing. There are also two hardware switches that allow you to swap the triggers from analog mode (i.e., like a DualSense or GameCube controller, for when you need flexibility in your presses) to digital mode (i.e., like a Nintendo Switch Pro controller, for when you need speed). These hardware toggles allow you to quickly and easily jump around from game to game with different customizations for each one, which is terrific.

As far as connectivity, the Tarantula Pro supports wired, Bluetooth, and receiver modes. For receiver mode, you can use the included USB-A dongle to connect it to a PC with ultra-low latency. For wired mode, you just need a USB-C cable, although the port on the top of the controller is deeply recessed, meaning you must use a cable without a big tip module, which is annoying.

The Tarantula Pro also supports four different channel modes, including Xinput, DS4, Switch, and HID channels. Xinput is used when you want to replicate an Xbox controller, while DS4 replicates a Sony DualShock 4 controller. Switch replicates a Switch Pro, obviously, and HID is a legacy mode that is best for Android devices (anything Android 8.0 Oreo or newer). You can hot-swap between any of these modes using button macros (holding down the Home button and the bottom face button, for example).

Not content to leave things there, GameSir also brought TMR (tunneling magnetoresistance) sticks to the Tarantula Pro. This is a newer technology that makes stick drift nigh impossible, giving buyers peace of mind that they won’t have drifting issues a year in. The controller also supports gyro.

Finally, you also get high-definition rumble effects, similar to what you’d find on a Switch Pro controller. This isn’t as precise as the rumble effects used in the Sony DualSense, but it is certainly a big step up from a binary “rumble on/rumble off” system.

With swappable face buttons, wide compatibility, multiple modes, and even toggles to alter button behavior natively, the GameSir Tarantula Pro more than earns its status as a “do it all” controller. However, when you try to be everything to everyone, you do end up creating some new problems.

First, the sheer number of buttons on this controller is simply overwhelming. I would have been much happier with maybe a handful of extra ones, but eight additional buttons? That’s a lot, and when you add in the four toggles on the back, they all make the controller feel cramped.

The overabundance of buttons, face button illumination, mechanical button movement, and RGB effects also mean battery life isn’t terrific. Even a Sony DualSense is going to give you better battery life than the GameSir Tarantula Pro, to say nothing about a Switch Pro or Xbox Series controller, both of which seem never to die.

The Tarantula Pro also lacks the overall polish of those gold-standard controllers. It’s not nearly as comfortable as an Xbox Series controller ($54 at Amazon) and lacks the premium feel of a DualSense ($69.99 at Amazon). Aesthetically, it also looks way too “gamer,” especially with its lame camouflage design on the front.

Really, though, these issues are easy to forgive once you get used to swapping the face buttons. I travel a lot, and my laptop acts as a gaming PC and an emulation machine. Only needing to bring one controller with me to play both PC and emulated Nintendo games is worth the price of admission alone, so I can easily look past the controller’s flaws.

Still, that doesn’t make up for the fact that only a small fraction of gamers will really care about the swappable face buttons. This makes the Tarantula Pro a niche product. If you’re in the niche of players who hate looking down at the face buttons and not seeing what will be accurate in-game, then this is a great buy. For everyone else, I would always recommend a DualSense or Xbox Series controller over this.

Myself, I’m very much looking forward to GameSir (or competitors) taking the swappable face button idea and running with it. If there were one controller that could work in literally every possible gaming scenario, I would happily pay a high premium for it. For me, the Tarantula Pro is a proof of concept more than anything else. I just hope lots of other people buy it, so GameSir keeps on innovating in this arena!