Famicom accessory to NES controller mod?

[tz101]

Anyone know if it is possible to wire a Famicom accessory plug to work on a NES controller port? I am looking for possibility of using a Japanese Arkanoid Vaus controller on my US NES console. Any advice would be helpful.

[NFG]

I'm not sure if the Famicom port uses additional data lines, or if it piggybacks on the normal line...  It's probably likely that you can do what you want.

It'd help to have a pinout of the Famicom's DB15 port, but I don't have one handy...

[kyuusaku]

The FC expansion port does have more signals than the NES' 2P port but I'm not sure if the Arkanoid controller uses them. You could however make a NES expansion connector/FC expansion adapter or hack a FC expansion port into the NES itself.

[ulao]

If the accessory you want to use is a standard neogeo style device ( one button per line) , you can use this.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-console-cable-for-the-Universal-PCB/

He can do a cable for the nes.

[tz101]

Lawrence, I have the DB15 pinout from another site.

Ulao, the link is great. I believe I will try the cable first. Thanks so much!

[NFG]

Isn't that cable for using his universal pinout and converting it to SNES?  How would that be relevent for the Famicom controller in question?

[ulao]

WEll see that just it I dont know what a "Famicom accessory plug" is? But like I said if it is a simple pull up device then this cable would work. You would still need to make the Universal PCB of course.

Famicom accessory plug-> cabled to 15 pin -> UPCB -> cabled to nes.

[kyuusaku]

I looked into it and you can just wire the FC pad to the NES pad (assuming they are the same controller)

Use these links for reference:

http://nesdev.parodius.com/ffpa.txt
http://nesdev.parodius.com/zapper_to_famicom.txt
http://es.geocities.com/gamemasterquilpue/NES_ARKANOID_CONTROLLER.htm
http://nesdev.parodius.com/Ntd_8bit.jpg

[NFG]

The Famicom accessory connector is a single DB-15 connector that allows use of additional controllers (remember the Famicom's pads were not removable) like the gun, arkanoid paddles like the original poster asked about, joysticks and replacement/third-party pads.

It's got a lot more pins than the standard port and allows P1 and P2 controllers, so...  it's not the same as a controller port (which the Famicom lacks).

Unfortunately kyuusaku's link includes a gutted or customized controller with all the ADC + encoders required for NES use, rather than a conversion from Famicom -> NES...

According to the last image kyuusaku linked to:

http://nesdev.parodius.com/Ntd_8bit.jpg

you can easily see what pins are available on the 15-pin connector AND the P1/P2, and luckily it's everything you need. 

I guess the next step is to open the arkanoid pad and see what's in it.  You should be able to easily figure out which pin is clock/data/power/ground, and that should be all you need.

[phreak97]

yep, you just need to get a pinout of the famicom 15 pin connector (as een in the schematic above) and compare it to that of the nes controller ports. i'm pretty confident that even if it uses extra pins theyll be present in the nes.. whether documented or not is another thing.. i've seen alot of pinouts that just say the extra pins arent connected, which is a lie.