Affiliate links: I may earn a small commission if you purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you.
Description #
Unlock Wireless Gaming on PS1 & PS2 with the RetroScaler BlueRetro Adapter! Want to use your Xbox, PS4, PS5, or Switch controller on a classic PlayStation 1 or PlayStation 2? In this video, I review the RetroScaler Mini BlueRetro Adapter, an open-source Bluetooth dongle powered by BlueRetro firmware. I walk through unboxing, setup, controller pairing, multitap support for PS1, and how to update the firmware using the BlueRetro web interface.
✅ Supports wireless controllers: Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Switch, 8BitDo ✅ Works with PlayStation 1 & 2 consoles ✅ Includes multitap support for PS1 multiplayer games ✅ Rumble and analog support tested ✅ Easy firmware updates via OTA (no PC needed!) ✅ Perfect alternative to the 8BitDo USB adapter
🎮 Buy the adapter (affiliate link): https://s.click.AliExpress.com/e/_oD15CCe 🌐 BlueRetro Config Tool: https://blueretro.io 🔧 Compatible with: PSX, PS1, PS2 – original hardware only
Timestamps: 00:00 – Unboxing BlueRetro Adapter 01:00 – Setup & Controller Pairing 01:37 – Web UI Features & Custom Mapping 02:50 – Firmware Update Walkthrough 04:38 – Multitap Testing (PS1 only) 06:13 – PS2 Game Demo & Final Thoughts
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#BlueRetro #RetroScaler #PS2Adapter #PS1Adapter #PlayStationController #WirelessController #RetroGaming #8BitDoAlternative #PS1Multiplayer #OpenSourceGaming
Original Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYSBnTP2r_0
Transcript #
Hey all, today we’re looking at the BlueRetro dongle from RetroScaler. This lets you use modern controllers on a PlayStation 1 or PlayStation 2. It runs the open-source BlueRetro firmware, which we’ll take a look at in a bit, but first, let’s unbox it. Inside the box we get the manual and an invitation card to their Discord, plus the dongle itself. I got the black version — it comes in a variety of colours including blue, gray and red. It also comes with a nice long USB-C to USB-A cable, which I assume is for firmware upgrades.
Before we begin, I thought we’d take a look at the 8BitDo dongle. I’ve been using this for quite some time and I’m quite happy with it, but I believe the BlueRetro has some features the 8BitDo adapter doesn’t, thanks to the open-source firmware. Without further ado, let’s plug it in. I’ve plugged the adapter into slot one of my PlayStation 2 and it’s blinking, which means it’s in pairing mode. I’ve got an Xbox One controller, so I’ll hold down its pairing button — and that’s it, paired. Our Xbox One controller is now connected to the PlayStation 2, including rumble and analog support.
Let’s take a look at some of the more advanced features via the web UI. Welcome to the BlueRetro web config at blueretro.io — link in the description. Navigate to advanced config, connect BlueRetro, and you should see your BlueRetro device. If it’s not showing up, make sure all controllers are disconnected and the device is in pairing mode (it’ll be flashing). Click BlueRetro and hit pair. From here we can change advanced settings, like changing the slot to slot one for multitap — we’ll revisit that later. We can edit the Xbox One controller with destination PSX/PS2 and see the button mappings. I’m leaving them at defaults.
If you want to update the firmware, navigate over to OTA firmware update. The manual recommends some other software, but I personally think the web option is better. Click OTA firmware update, connect the BlueRetro, pair (same process — needs to be in pairing mode), and it’ll tell us we can download the latest firmware. We’re currently on version 24.10-dirty. Head over to their itch.io page — this is an open-source project and I highly encourage you throw them a few bucks for their hard work. For now we’ll click no thanks and take me to the downloads. We want hardware 1, so we’ll download 25.04 hardware1.zip.
To double-check, appver shows hardware 2 is false, meaning we need hardware 1. I’ve extracted the file, choose firmware hardware1.zip, select the device, and we want hardware1_playstation.bin. Press open and click update firmware. Don’t turn off your PlayStation or unplug the device while it’s updating. It’ll take a few minutes, so go make a cup of tea. Once it’s done, it’ll say the Bluetooth device disconnected and the BlueRetro device will restart. Reconnect and we can see we’re now on version 25.
Now for fun, let’s try the multitap feature. According to BlueRetro, this is PlayStation 1 only. Click advanced config, connect, pair, enable multitap for slot one and hit save. It says we need to power cycle the adapter for it to take effect, so I’ll restart it. Back at the adapter, I’ll hold the button for three seconds to put it into pairing mode. Between clips I managed to pair this Super Nintendo controller for the Nintendo Switch — I just pushed the button and it connected quickly. One thing to note: the Xbox One controller disconnected after that, but all you need to do is push a button to wake it up and it automatically reconnects.
So now we have two controllers connected, with multitap enabled. That means on PlayStation 1 games that support multitap, we can use two controllers with one adapter — pretty cool. Controller one controls player one, controller two controls player two. Again, PlayStation 1 only, and only games that support multitap. If it’s a two-player game that doesn’t support multitap, you’ll need two adapters. Finally, let’s look at a PlayStation 2 game just to show it works fine. Here we are in Midnight Club Street Racing, and everything works exactly as you’d expect, including rumble support when I crash into things. It turns any controller, like an Xbox One S, into a perfect PlayStation 2 controller.
That brings us to the end of the review. This is the BlueRetro dongle for the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 from RetroScaler. Compared to the 8BitDo dongle, the BlueRetro is far more advanced thanks to the open-source firmware — you can do some pretty cool things with it. That said, the 8BitDo is still a perfectly fine dongle, and I did a review on that one too. I’m very happy with this and I might consider getting a second one. It does multitap on PlayStation 1, rumble, and supports a wide variety of controllers — from PlayStation 3 to Wii to Switch to PlayStation 5, it does everything. If you’re interested, there’s an affiliate link in the description. Thanks for watching, don’t forget to like and subscribe, and I’ll see you next time. Bye.