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A Joy-Con and console modding business that started in lockdown now has over 122.9K followers on TikTok thanks to one high-profile modification.
Anna and Luan aka ‘cirtuspair’, who went viral on TikTok for giving an Animal Crossing: New Horizons Joy-Con makeover, believe a combination of Nintendo’s 2020 release along with lockdown contributed to the success of their business.
Speaking to GamesRadar+, Anna stated that: “with the majority of us staying indoors, due to lockdowns, many have gone back into old hobbies or have started new ones. I think the success of ACNH has exemplified this with its explosive launch, and I believe we have benefited from its success directly.”
This couldn’t ring any more true when you look at Citruspair’s TikTok account, with the aforementioned Animal Crossing Joy-Con modification video now totaling up to eight million views.
According to Anna, a lot goes into modding a pair of Joy-Cons, as she explains: “Since a lot of the Joy-Con we receive tend to have a lot of issues, we initially spend most of our time actually repairing before we get to modification.” Once the actual modification process begins, the two start by rehousing the controllers with a new shell, as well as replacing elements such as the plastic slider rail, analog sticks, and swapping the original plastic locks for sturdier metal ones. All of which can be seen in their TikTok videos.
What differentiates Anna and Luan’s business from others who are doing similar things, is that Citruspair’s modded Joy-Cons come with an added bonus. As Anna explains: “We also solder new SMD LEDs on the SL/SR flex cable to complete the look of the Joy-Con and get the Joy-Con to display its physical colors in-game through ‘jc_toolkit’.” This has resulted in games like Ring Fit Adventure and Pokemon Sword and Shield recognizing the unique colored Joy-Cons in-game.
The whole process takes around 3-4 hours per pair of Joy-Cons which doesn’t leave Anna and Luan time for much else. That is apart from the odd console modification which also makes an appearance on their TikTok. When asked if they had plans to do this for any other consoles in the future, the pair replied: “We actually work mostly on sixth-generation game consoles like the Dreamcast [...] there is a lot of other stuff in the works for consoles including the GameBoy Advance which we are planning content around.”
Citruspair also has an Etsy shop for all your console modification needs including modded Joy-Cons, DIY modding kits, personalized thumb grips for not only the Nintendo Switch but also the PS4, PS5, and Xbox One controllers too.
