Working with Saturn controllers...

[ManekiNeko]

All right, I've got a bit of a problem.  I want to modify a Saturn joypad for use with other game systems (particularly the Wii and Xbox 360), but the pads where the chip had rested on the joypad's PCB are so tiny!  How am I supposed to connect wires to them, anyway?  What gauge wire should I use?  Should I have a magnifying lens for this project?  What size soldering tip is best for this delicate operation?  Thanks in advance for all the help you can provide.

[NFG]

There's not really much to suggest...  Buy wire that's small enough to attach to tiny pads, buy a soldering iron with a small enough tip to do the job.  I usually examin the stuff in the shops, so I don't know what gauge it is, I just know it's the right size.  

[ulao]

ManekiNeko, I believe your talking about surface electronics and you really should have surface mounting tools for that. If you tried to use a normal soldering iron or even a very small one you would destroy components by the head alone.

[ManekiNeko]

Surface mounting tools, you say?  Tell me more...

[ManekiNeko]

Hee hee... I did it!  I can't believe I was able to make this work, but I did it!  Here's the fruit of my labor:







Right now, I've got this controller working with the GameCube.  I haven't tested it on the Wii yet, but I'm expecting similarly encouraging results.  I've got every button on the controller functioning except L, R, and C.  That last one's not my fault though, since the GameCube doesn't actually HAVE a C button.

I am rather worried about the wires getting pulled out of place.  I've used a glue gun to hold the wires down on the Saturn joypad PCB but I'm not sure this will be enough to do the job.  I saw a similar mod where they used a "zap strap" inside the controller to keep the wires from being pulled out... I might have to go that route to keep things stable.

[kendrick]

Very well done. Congratulations for having the drive to complete the work and the willingness to learn along the way.

I will warn you that once you've had a taste of success, you'll want to go back and improve projects that you've completed previously. Over the long run, you may find yourself adding a lengthier cable and a strain-relief attachment, or even moving the encoder chip from the other pad into the Saturn controller. Continue to be driven and fearless, please.

[ManekiNeko]

Oh yeah, I see much room for improvement here.  In addition to the longer cable, I'd like to put the guts of the GameCube controller into a plastic case, turning it into a makeshift adapter.  Putting the encoder chip directly inside the controller is a pretty good idea, but I wanted to make this design modular, so I can use the controller with a number of game systems... 3DO, Super NES, Xbox 360, and so forth.

At any rate, I'll keep you guys updated on the progress of this project.  Thanks for the encouragement!

[ManekiNeko]

All right, I just finished the 3DO module, and it works great.  Riddle me this, though... how would I add a switch that would allow me to swap the positions of the X and P buttons?  I need to do this to play Super Street Fighter II Turbo without pausing all the time.  I have no idea why Capcom decided to use the X button to pause and the P button for an attack...

[ken_cinder]

1: The 3DO pad was not designed with a game such as SSFII in mind. There are only 3 main face buttons on the original pad, so where else do you put that 4th button? The X button is beside the d-pad, and the P button beside the other 3 face buttons.
Makes sense to me. There are other pads out there, including 3rd party ones, so I'd assume you aren't using the original FZ-1 pad (Mine is, so the above mentioned is it's layout)

2: There IS a 6 button pad, that was designed just for this game, but it's fairly rare.

3: You should be able to change this in the games options from what I recall. Been a long time since I plugged my 3DO in and played this game though.

[ManekiNeko]

Hey, check this out!



This is the MadCatz Arcade Stick, adapted for use with my customized Sega Saturn controller.  The Arcade Stick is pretty terrible overall, but the PCB is excellent for hacking, with large copper pads and a common ground.  I'm happy to say that the newly modified Arcade Stick works beautifully as an adapter, and I would highly recommend it for other projects.  It's relatively cheap for an Xbox 360 controller, and even if you screw up the project you'll at least have a handful of Xbox Live Arcade games for your trouble, since they're included in the package.