Might've Done Something Stupid....

[silvercroc]

So after the excitement of securing a pre-order, I was looking on ebay and saw a usb nes pad for the pc. Before I knew it i was paying for it! cost a fair bit to be honest, about £35 including shipping from the US!

Please tell me this is likely to work, I assume it would (along with the TV out cable it will be like old times) having seen and read of other pads working....?

Had a look but couldn't see a mention of this particular item....

 

[Kyo]

it should work. I actually considered building my own with an ATMega8, but my computer does not have a serial port and I'm too lazy to build a new one. I might still do this next month

 

[silvercroc]

it should work. I actually considered building my own with an ATMega8, but my computer does not have a serial port and I'm too lazy to build a new one. I might still do this next month

Phew! Cheers I did think it should work. I saw the instructions on how to build my own one but my lazy side got the better of me!

Hopefully a cool nes emu should be available (had one on the NDS that let you rewind the action if you got killed, was awesome) and this pad will add to the nostalgia!

 

[God Ginrai]

So after the excitement of securing a pre-order, I was looking on ebay and saw a usb nes pad for the pc. Before I knew it i was paying for it! cost a fair bit to be honest, about £35 including shipping from the US!

Please tell me this is likely to work, I assume it would (along with the TV out cable it will be like old times) having seen and read of other pads working....?

Had a look but couldn't see a mention of this particular item....

That should probably work, but it seems to me that you paid a lot more than you should have for a USB NES controller. o_ô

-God Ginrai

 

[nubie]

it should work. I actually considered building my own with an ATMega8, but my computer does not have a serial port and I'm too lazy to build a new one. I might still do this next month

You don't need a serial port (DB9?), I used 4 resistors and free PonyProg software to program the chip using my parallel port. With an Atmega8, parts cost about $10-$15 US.

It can support up to 4 controllers too. (build it into the first one and make the next three connect to the first).


DIY versions (soldering and programming):

http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/snes_n...sb/index_en.php

http://avrusb.wikidot.com/project:usbjoy


Commercial versions:
http://www.retrousb.com/index.php?categoryID=79


If it is a genuine original NES controller the price might be on the high side of accurate, NES is freaking expensive nowadays for some reason, and I think people are loathe to copy it because Nintendo is so bitchy with the lawsuits (If they aren't going to make retro controllers, why prevent others from doing it?)

If I convert that to USA dollars you spent $70 (OK, more like $62 according to the XE.com) for a damn NES controller. I just spent about $7 to put an NES clone entirely inside an NES controller, 76 games and a TV with just the controller in my hand. It feels kind of like you got ripped off to be honest.

 

[Kyo]

I don't have a parallel port either

 

[nubie]

I don't have a parallel port either

Programming is a one-shot deal, you only need to program it once, and you can use an old PC or borrow a PC to do it. I have an old laptop (k6-2 500mhz ) that I use when there aren't any Parallel PC's around.

It is pretty rare that a PC with a full-size ATX motherboard doesn't have an on-board 25-pin header that will accept a DB-25 adaptor: $2 US http://www.pcconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Produ...htm?sku=7962683

Even rarer that a mATX board is legacy-free, and the chances of you running a Shuttle XPC or a Mini-ITX are even rarer.

So I must assume you are running a newish laptop, or a super thin older laptop and don't have the port replicator.

At this point a USB programmer is called for, and I see your reticence to purchase one as you can be given free a PC that will program over Parallel (I have been given about 10 such PC's over the years, even an old original Pentium would probably do the trick.)

I am heavily into soldering and hardware hacking though , so I figure it is good to keep some stuff around to let me use parallel adaptors.

 

[Kyo]

I have the parts to make a PC, I'm just too lazy to put them together (as stated above) so I'll probably build one next month