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When Emulation Isn't Enough
oldskoolar writes "For those of you who find emulation of your favorite Nintendo games disconcerting with a keyboard interface, Joystiq may have just the project you've been looking for. For those of you with more time than most people have ambition; why not couple this hack with an older mod."
I've always liked using PlayStation Controllers for my emulators. Radioshack has a really cheap (sub $15) converter that goes from PlayStation > USB
You're all bastards!
The layout is just like a supernintendo controller, and only cost me 10$ That adapter change over looks like work to me. www.geocities.com/James_Sager_PA
God spoke to me.
Someone posted this in another story a while back. It's a guide to convert a SNES controller to work on a PC. Although it'd be easier to just buy a converter for it (although not near as geeky). Is there a company that sells a converter for it?
I'd really like a Gamecube -> USB converter myself (or Dreamcast). Both of those controllers are the most comfortable I've ever held!
Stand clear of the doors. The doors are now closing.
Yah, you just need to know how to fix them. The problem is caused by the contacts corroding on the connector, coupled with the fact that there's nothing that "fixes" the insertion to a specific point, and the fact that the contacts themselves (being contact springs) wear over time and become less "springy" as they permanently deform.
:)
Just take the thing apart, use a lot of rubbing alcohol with a q-tip, and if you can, pry up the contacts to restore their original shape. Then it'll work just as good as new. If you can't fix the connector, you can also put alcohol on the cartridge connector, insert it, remove it, lather, rinse, repeat about 10 times or so. Then try to find an orientation that makes it work, and mark that orientation with a Sharpie on the inside of the NES. Takes five seconds. But fixing the original connector is best.
NES's are much more likely to survive long-term than the newer disc-based systems - no moving parts. I'd like to see emulation focus on Saturns, PlayStations, etc. rather than the NES. Those systems will die much faster.
(I'd also like to see someone take apart one of the battery-backed cartridges and write up instructions on how to replace the battery. Those'll die eventually too...)
Heh. The thread aimed squarely at me :)
:) But over half the Playstations I come across are already toast. Give it another 10 years and very few will even work, yet the 2600s/NESs/Genesii will keep chugging away.
Console/games - surprisingly, the console itself is rarely the problem, and there's not a lot you can do to fix it if it is. Usually, it's the cartridges themselves. A LOT of corrosion can build up on these things in 15-20 years. Easy fix: soak a Q-tip in isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, and scrub the hell out of the cartridge contacts. Do it on BOTH sides of the cart, of course. There's just enough room in an NES cart to be able to do this without opening it. Opening the console and trying to fix the cart connector on the mainboard is not only tricky, but usually pointless. I've salvaged over 100 NES consoles in the past 5 years, and not one has had a single problem there. There is still someone out there who sells replacement cartridge connectors, but I can't say as that's a soldering job I'd want to volunteer for. Anyway, follow the steps above, repeat as necessary (some carts are VERY dirty - it's common to make the Q-tip black). I've managed to get pretty much every cart I have (1000+) work on every console I've ever tried using this method. Blowing, shaking, moving side-to-side, putting weight on it - all of these only temporarily help the cartridges make contact. Clean 'em up good, and you'll never have to play these games again!
Batteries - every NES cart that I've seen uses a CR2032 cell battery. These things can be found for free everywhere, most notably on modern PC motherboards (BIOS settings backup). Find a dead motherboard that's not too old and its battery will have years of life left. In an NES game, they lasted anywhere from 5-20 years, depending on use and storage. I still have a Zelda cart with save games on it from at least 10 years ago, whereas some carts died within a few years of purchase. At this point, nearly all of the battery-backed games are dead. Now, replacing these things is a real bitch. Nintendo (mostly) used these idiotic security screws on their cartridges, which means most people can't open them easily. If you're lucky (some Zeldas were made this way) it's just a Phillips (star) head. Otherwise, you'll need a special bit to open them (or an awful lot of persistence). Once open of course, you can replace with whatever easy to use screw you like.
The batteries themselves were set into a socket on the game PCB, and a metal clip folded over top. The problem is, this clip was spot-welded (or something similar) to the battery, making it very tricky to remove without damaging the clip. With patience however, and some gentle hands, you can. A replacement battery just slips in. Here comes the tricky part - that metal clip doesn't hold too tightly to the battery now. Soldering the clip to the battery is a very dangerous operation - the heat from your iron can kill the battery. I've seen replacement battery harnesses for sale in the past, you'd just have to solder these into the PCB of the game and your battery clips in nicely.
And yeah, I'd have to agree 110% with your comment about CD-based systems. I have pretty much every pre-CD system still in perfect working condition here. It takes a LOT to kill a cartridge-based machine, usually fire or water or both
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
Nintendo got a patent on their D-pad design. It has a nice balance of being able to hit "pure" directions (left, right, up, down) and diagonal directions ( down-left, up-left, down-right, up-right ). Most other D-pads make it too difficult to hit the diagonals, such as the Playstation family, and others make it far too easy to accidentally hit the diagonals, such as the XBOX.
Don't get me wrong, I am not a Nintendo fanboy... I don't own a Gamecube. In fact, I don't like the idea that Nintendo got a patent on a D-pad design. However, I calls it likes I sees it: Nintendo's directional-pad is and always has been the best.