The special Nintendo 64 controller for the Nintendo Switch briefly went on sale again on Tuesday, but if you missed buying one before they sold out, you won’t get a chance to pick one up until 2022, according to the controller’s listing on Nintendo’s website. We don’t know exactly when it will be back in stock, as all Nintendo says is that “more controllers will be available in 2022.”
The Nintendo 64 controller was released in October ahead of the availability of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, a premium Nintendo Switch Online tier that gives you access to Nintendo 64 games and Sega Genesis games. You don’t need the controller to play Nintendo 64 titles on your Switch, but players have found that the button layouts for some games don’t translate well to Joy-Con or the Switch Pro Controller.
If you want to pick up a Nintendo 64 controller when they’re back in stock next year, make sure you’re a member of Nintendo Switch Online, as the controllers are only available to subscribers of the service. The Nintendo Switch Sega Genesis controllers are currently in stock as of this writing, however, so you might want to pick one up so you can take a nostalgia trip while playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or Gunstar Heroes.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/2/22760049/nintendo-switch-64-n64-controller-in-stock-2022-next-year