Hi! Thanks for the FAQ, CitznFish. I return to it often and have a slight suggestion.
I'm not sure if this is asked frequently, but I'm under the impression that it's easy to do: Could you put an entry about interfacing arcade controls to console systems? Though, I can't seem to find a topic in the forums about it, so it's probably really easy. Well, it would make this poor, ignorant person's day if I could be told how to hack console controllers. So, could you perhaps create an entry on it?
Now, I will try and prove that I have a brain:
From what I can tell by opening up an SNES controller, each basic button has two conductor pads that are really close--not touching but close enough so that a signal can make the "jump". The purpose of the exterior button is to depress an insulating rubber pad, covering both of the conductor pads, thus terminating the circuit.
Now, I'm told that arcade controls from Happ's and other similar places do the opposite: They make a closed circuit when the button is pressed as opposed to an open one. So, I theorize that if one wanted to hack an SNES controller, one would solder a single wire onto both "conductor pads" which would run to a NOT switch, which would then run to a generic pin interface (I believe you guys call them Molex connectors).
Did I get everything right? Is that the way to do it? Undoubtedly, I screwed up with some of the terminology, as I have no background whatsoever in electronics. If you knew me personally, you might be impressed that I even made it this far! It's worth mentioning that my conception of a NOT switch is simply that: I have never actually seen one or know what one would look like. Is it a little box? Also, I have never soldered.
Oh, and I understand that my question basically amounts to "How do I hack controls?" because virtually all gamepads must work this way, but it seems that lately, everyone is using console emulators with a keyboard encoder... Which I think I could do.