If I wanted to use real arcade controls on a Dreamcast...

[skorch]

...would a ps/2 to Dreamcast adapter and an IPAC be the answer?

I'd like to run emulators with real Arcade controls on a Dreamcast, has it been done like this before?

Thanks in advance.

[walls83]

i think everybody that does that runs it through Ipac.  almost positive.  Give an update if you do it, Id like to due it myself. I love the DC

[Lilwolf]

Not an ipac.  That converts the arcade controls to a pc keyboard.

Dreamcast you hack a real controller.  You take it apart and solder wires to it... and hook those wires up to a real joystick / buttons.

The only IPac reference you will get is people who have BOTH an dreamcast AND a PC in the same box without changing any cables around.  You can do this with diode (diodes only allow electricity to go throught a circuite one way).  There are a few threads about it... so if your interested in this, search for dreamcast and diodes and you should find them

[CthulhuLuke]

Btw, emulators on a dreamcast means the only things your gonna get are a good VirtuaNES emulator, and I hear a decent gameboy emulator, all of the other emulators are outdated and very very very slow.  DreamSNES still runs at around 70% last time I checked.  If you really need the mame experience without the big cost, just get a crappy computer on ebay, take out the motherboard and the hard drive and mount it on a piece of wood,  It's somewhat small and will have a lot more power than a dreamcast.
  Btw, the reason why you put a diode on the dreamcast ground is because the dreamcast ground will literally suck away 12V from any other source that is connected to the ground, Why??  I don't know!  but I do know that if you have an Ipac and a Dreamcast connected, the DC will be happy, the Ipac will not be, so the diode prevents this sucking of power, and both will work happily, although don't run em together, one of them might send some kind of power to the other, and zap, there goes both your interfaces.
  Also, emulators on the Dreamcast use the joystick, the only things that are keyboard only are the old verisons of Quake, and a few converted things like that.
     -Chu

[skorch]

Well I was wondering about the PS/2 to DC adapter because it allows a keyboard connection to the DC, and since the IPAC uses USB or PS/2 I thought it might be possible?
How about hacking the DC keyboard? I would think that would give you more inputs than a gamepad right?

I'm willing to hack my DC MadCatz pad if anyone would be kind enough to point out a tutorial?

About the emulators, it's too bad the Mame and SNES ones I tried were sluggish, the NES is awesome though.

[jakejake28]

I'm willing to hack my DC MadCatz pad if anyone would be kind enough to point out a tutorial?

http://members.cox.net/joysticks/

guide to hacking pads, has 2 dc pads that migth be similiar to yours

[Howard_Casto]

Right now the xbox is the king of console emulation platforms.  You might want to look into that if you are doing this hack for emulation specifically.