Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

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ubersaurus
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Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by ubersaurus »

Brook's been making super converters for using modern controllers on all sorts of old consoles, as I assume most of us are aware, from the Neo Geo and Dreamcast to the Megadrive and PC Engine, and soon Saturn. One glaring omission has been the Super NES, though, and Brook staff suggest it's because they haven't a good idea of if there's a market for them or not. This is of particular importance to the fighting game community that runs SNES games, but also I suspect it would be helpful to folks that like to play shooters and other arcade style games but don't have the skills or interest in PCB mods. This was brought up to Brook, which posted on Twitter that they do have a design already in place for an adapter that would work on Super NES, NES and AV Famicom, and that if a petition could get 500 signatures supporting them putting it into production, they'd do a run of them. So far it's gotten about 350 names signed onto it - since there are folks on here who could certainly make use of such a thing, I thought I'd link it here. Any support would be incredibly welcome! Link:

https://www.change.org/p/brook-design-l ... 6136bcc18b
Early video game historian - check out my book, Atari Archive Vol. 1, now on sale, and my Youtube channel Atari Archive for more!
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opt2not
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Re: Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by opt2not »

No modern controller's d-pad can compare to using a real SNES d-pad. I don't see why you would want to use anything else on an SNES than the original controller.
But YMMV.
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ubersaurus
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Re: Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by ubersaurus »

opt2not wrote:No modern controller's d-pad can compare to using a real SNES d-pad. I don't see why you would want to use anything else on an SNES than the original controller.
But YMMV.
Arcade sticks are the primary use case here (and for Brook adapters more broadly within the fighting game community). Since I know a lot of folks here have their own Sanwa or Seimitsu setups, being able to use those for those two platforms would be really nice.
Early video game historian - check out my book, Atari Archive Vol. 1, now on sale, and my Youtube channel Atari Archive for more!
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Larrs888
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Re: Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by Larrs888 »

I own a few of the Retro Brook converters and they are solid, well supported with lots of updates and are feature rich. I have the Neo Geo, PS2/1, Dreamcast and more recently picked up the Megadrive/PC engine one. I really enjoy using modern arcade sticks on these systems, especially the Neo and Dreamcast but its also novel playing Streets of Rage 2 and Final Fight CD on the Megadrive with one as well. I guess the SNES just doesn't really excel at arcade style games for the most part. Don't get me wrong I love my SNES and Super Nt and enjoy lots of the SNES library but I don't really feel the need to use an arcade stick say for Street Fighter 2 Turbo or the brawlers. I think the slower pace and smaller screen size due to the slow CPU takes away from that 'arcade' feel but Turtles in Time and Sunset Riders could be the exception and draw for me to be fair.
Taiyaki
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Re: Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by Taiyaki »

I love the brook converters. I use it to connect my PS3/PS4/USB arcade stick to the Dreamcast, and PS1/PS2, and they work like a charm.
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Guspaz
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Re: Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by Guspaz »

I don't know anything about the Brook converters, but 8bitdo's Retro Receiver for the SNES supports nearly all modern controllers, including the later XB1 controllers, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, and Switch.
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Sumez
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Re: Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by Sumez »

The NES/Famicom and SNES are using the exact same standard, so it should be a really simple deal.

It's literally just a 4021 parallel-to-serial shift register, a $2 component, that the console is interfacing with directly. So if you don't have the patience to wait for Brook, it should be easy to whip up one manually. :)
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ubersaurus
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Re: Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by ubersaurus »

Sumez wrote:The NES/Famicom and SNES are using the exact same standard, so it should be a really simple deal.

It's literally just a 4021 parallel-to-serial shift register, a $2 component, that the console is interfacing with directly. So if you don't have the patience to wait for Brook, it should be easy to whip up one manually. :)
The petition pages goes into that. At present the best solution is to use an undamned converter to make your own custom adapters so you can use PS3 and PS4 controllers on the SNES. But it's expensive, time consuming, and prone to issues if someone's stick requires more power than the setup can muster. Being able to just buy a pair of adapters for 40 bucks is much better than spending more than that on the undamned and then having to do a bunch of soldering and construction work on top of that.
Early video game historian - check out my book, Atari Archive Vol. 1, now on sale, and my Youtube channel Atari Archive for more!
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opt2not
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Re: Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by opt2not »

ubersaurus wrote:
opt2not wrote:No modern controller's d-pad can compare to using a real SNES d-pad. I don't see why you would want to use anything else on an SNES than the original controller.
But YMMV.
Arcade sticks are the primary use case here (and for Brook adapters more broadly within the fighting game community). Since I know a lot of folks here have their own Sanwa or Seimitsu setups, being able to use those for those two platforms would be really nice.
Ah i getcha, for arcade stick owners who don't want to have a Universal Fighting Board or Brook Retro Board installed into their sticks.

(personally I have a UFB and MC Cthulhu in most of my sticks, and I haven't needed to use any adapters. My sticks support most new and old consoles at once!)
Lord of Pirates
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Re: Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by Lord of Pirates »

Edit: Never mind.
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Austin
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Re: Petition for a Brook converter for NES/SNES

Post by Austin »

Signed. I have one of these for PCE/MD and it's great. I would love to have one that works on the SNES and NES. SNES has a bunch of arcade style games that would make the adapter worth it. A few CPS-1 conversions, all the various fighting games, many beat 'em ups, quite a few shmups between Japan and the USA. If it's a two-in-one adapter that does both SNES and NES, then even better. I'd much rather use a modern stick than a NES or SNES Advantage. :D
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