USB Arcade Joystick Adapter and USB Retro Adapter

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:16 pm

I just wanted to mention a project I have been working on recently. I made a USB joystick controller that supports up to 13 buttons and can be easily made on stripboard for under £5 (~$2.50). Much cheaper than commercial controllers and there is no input lag at all.

http://joystick.world3.net

I also made a "Retro Adapter" version, which can accept Atari/Commodore joysticks (up to three buttons), Sega Saturn, Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Nintendo Famicom (NES) and Super Famicom (SNES) controllers. Again, easy to make and under £5.

The only issue for anyone wanting to make one is programming the ATmega8 chip. Just drop me a PM or email and I can program one for you. The chips cost about 85p each.

If there is enough interest I could do kits containing all the required parts, proper PCBs or even fully assembled and tested units. It's just a hobby project for me so I'm not looking to get rich.

RGB · Post by **RGB** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:48 pm

Thanks. I've grown tired of ripping tawdry pc controllers that stop working properly after a couple of weeks... I'll give your adapter a try when I get time for soldering. Fortunately enough I've got all the required components.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:50 pm

I tried the controller modding trick a few times, with varying success. Like you, I found it to be somewhat unreliable... That's why I started this project

DarkMoon · Post by **DarkMoon** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:59 am

I have a GC/DC/PS2 to USB converter. So I always use my Dreamcast Agetec stick for my shmuping

indstr · Post by **indstr** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:32 pm

maaan, that's a lot of soldering compared the 12 or so wires i had to do for my snes --> parallel adapter. maybe when i no longer have a comp with a parallel port, i will try to do this

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:52 pm

Really, it seems like a lot of work? I thought it was actually very compact and low component count

Maybe my diagrams are not very clear. If you ignore the ISP part you can get it down to one crystal, six resistors, two capacitors, one wire and the AVR chip. I should really do an alternative stripboard layout to illustrate that.

My primary motivation in making the Retro Adapter is the fact that Sega Saturn USB pads are no longer available

My PC doesn't have a parallel port either, which actually kinda sucks but did at least push me towards USB for everything.

I'll add an ISP-less stripboard layout now.

Michaelm · Post by **Michaelm** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 6:21 pm

I might be interested in a fully assembled retro adapter depending on the price and connectors for the joysticks.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 6:39 pm

Well, I have looked at doing PCBs. Prices range from $10 each plus shipping to $2 each plus shipping in batches of 50. Alternatively, I could just make them on stripboard.

Since it's only a hobby project and I'm not looking to get rich, if a few people want them I can make them for about £5/$10 each on stripboard.

For the Arcade Joystick controller, I'd just fit pins that can be easily soldered on to or accept a ribbon cable.

Getting connectors for the Retro Adapter is the tricky part. Atari/Sega joysticks use a standard 9 pin D socket, about 50p each. For Sega Saturn, NES and SNES I harvested parts from multitaps and dead consoles. I have four Saturn connectors and a couple of NES and SNES connectors spare which I'd be happy to part with. SNES connectors can be bought from Rob Webb (http://home.clara.net/robwebb/shop/snes/snes_hard.htm) for £2 a pair.

By far the easiest and cheapest way for people in the US would probably be to buy controller extension leads and cut them up. There are loads for sale on eBay for a few dollars. I nearly ordered some myself but the multitaps turned out to be cheaper due to trans-atlantic shipping costs.

indstr · Post by **indstr** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:45 pm

mojo wrote:Really, it seems like a lot of work? I thought it was actually very compact and low component count

i guess the main obstacle would be the fact that i suck at soldering and i always try to do it on the floor in low light, can't get the shit to stick, and end up burning myself

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:59 pm

indstr wrote:i guess the main obstacle would be the fact that i suck at soldering and i always try to do it on the floor in low light, can't get the shit to stick, and end up burning myself

To be fair since ROHS came in it has got harder to solder. Unleaded solder needs much higher temperatures to melt

rolins · Post by **rolins** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 4:58 am

It does look kinda big when compared to the retrokits being sold at RetroZone.

But I'd be interested if you can work out a FM-Towns adapter.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:49 pm

FM-Towns compatibility looks easy. Possible to auto-detect as well. Unfortunately I don't have an FM-Towns controller, and can't see any on eBay. Any idea where I can get one cheaply?

I should add that Neo Geo, X68000 and MSX controllers are already supported, you just need to wire the d-sub connector slightly differently. I will update the site.

I'm interesting in adding support for as many controllers as possible. I would like to do Commodore CD32 pads if I can get one. I already have working code for Megadrive six button pads, but there is no way to auto-detect them. Might have to add a jumper or something, or maybe detect if the pad is connected with start held down.

PS. It could be a lot smaller if I used a smaller version of the ATmega8 chip, but I decided to use the larger DIP version because it can be constructed cheaply on stripboard. The smaller version is surface mount. I could make it as small as the RetroZone kits but there seems little reason to.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:53 pm

Part II

I need help making an enclosure. Anyone got any ideas? The only thing I have come up with so far is to just have a box with controller extension leads trailing out. Because the connectors are not panel mount, it's hard to do anything else cheaply

Michaelm · Post by **Michaelm** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:40 pm

I think the enclosure's main job is to just protect the electronics.
Shouldn't be really fancy or anything. But not too ugly either.
Maybe glueing the connectors would be good enough ?

I wouldn't even mind if it was all taped together as long as it does protect the electronics from an easy shortcut when you don't pay attention too much.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 5:38 pm

Michaelm wrote:I wouldn't even mind if it was all taped together as long as it does protect the electronics from an easy shortcut when you don't pay attention too much.

In that case just use a plastic box, some hot melt glue and extension cables. Use cable ties around the cables on the inside of the box to provide strain relief

Square King · Post by **Square King** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:07 am

mojo wrote:I just wanted to mention a project I have been working on recently. I made a USB joystick controller that supports up to 13 buttons and can be easily made on stripboard for under £5 (~$2.50). Much cheaper than commercial controllers and there is no input lag at all.

If there is enough interest I could do kits containing all the required parts, proper PCBs or even fully assembled and tested units. It's just a hobby project for me so I'm not looking to get rich.

This would make me really, really, really happy -- a prebuilt stick or a kit would be great.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:59 pm

I'm happy to do a few pre-made or kit form units for people. Mail me privately mojo (at) world3 (dot) net or send me a PM.

I have finished work on the Playstation interface too, so now I have a dual USB and PSX interface with support for one stick and 20 buttons. Doing retro console adapters is easy enough too - I am planning on doing a Saturn to PSX.

XBOX compatibility should be fairly easy too, since it's just USB with a broken HID descriptor. There are a lot of good emulators for the XBOX.

I want to make a custom arcade stick myself, but have never really done much woodworking. If someone who knows about that wants to do an exchange...

Square King · Post by **Square King** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:03 pm

mojo wrote:I'm happy to do a few pre-made or kit form units for people. Mail me privately mojo (at) world3 (dot) net or send me a PM.

I have finished work on the Playstation interface too, so now I have a dual USB and PSX interface with support for one stick and 20 buttons. Doing retro console adapters is easy enough too - I am planning on doing a Saturn to PSX.

XBOX compatibility should be fairly easy too, since it's just USB with a broken HID descriptor. There are a lot of good emulators for the XBOX.

I want to make a custom arcade stick myself, but have never really done much woodworking. If someone who knows about that wants to do an exchange...

You have a PM.

As for woodworking and etc., here are a few ideas:

Building materials
http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=144513

Building a custom stick
http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=111273

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:40 pm

Thanks for the links. I have never really done any woodworking but I'm tempted to try. Then again I kind of like having ten fingers 'cos I can type faster

Square King · Post by **Square King** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:05 am

mojo wrote:Thanks for the links. I have never really done any woodworking but I'm tempted to try. Then again I kind of like having ten fingers 'cos I can type faster

If you've got the tools and the patience, woodworking is pretty fun. I haven't done a whole lot, but it feels good to make something. Stick enclosures should be pretty quick to put together once you have a plan.

Also, you have another PM waiting for you.

shmups.system11.org

USB Arcade Joystick Adapter and USB Retro Adapter

USB Arcade Joystick Adapter and USB Retro Adapter

Re: USB Arcade Joystick Adapter and USB Retro Adapter