Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum

Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Pixelhugger on April 02, 2003, 07:41:33 pm

Title: Arcade controls to XBOX?
Post by: Pixelhugger on April 02, 2003, 07:41:33 pm
Anybody have any ideas on using arcade controls on an XBOX? Specifically how might one hack an Xbox controller to use a Happs analog joystick? Could the pots be swapped? Or would the mechanics be incompatible? The rest (except for the analog triggers) seems easy. I'm dying to incorporate my XBOX into my MAME cabinet, but I REALLY want a dedicated control panel to play it. Somehow plugging XBOX controllers into my cabinet just defeats the purpose. Am I hoping for the impossible? I know nothing about potentiometers :(
Title: Re:Arcade controls to XBOX?
Post by: zmo on April 02, 2003, 08:05:51 pm
Have you seen some of the projects where people would hack a computer control.
Well open up an xbox controller and solder the buttons to the controller.
Ex:Wire a push button to the contacts where the a button is.
If someone could post a link that would help.
Here it is.Not an xbox hack but you could figure out how to hack one from this.
http://wrongcrowd.com/arcade/sony.shtml (http://wrongcrowd.com/arcade/sony.shtml)
Why don't you guys ever edit yor posts?
In most places it is againdt the rules to double post.
Oh well.
Title: Re:Arcade controls to XBOX?
Post by: NY_in_TX on April 02, 2003, 10:57:32 pm
Not exactly what you are wanting, but it is another option that shows it can at least be done.  

http://www.xgaming.com/xbox.shtml

Maybe you can just buy the Xbox adapter for the Xarcade(I've seen it at Fry's) and hack that into something you can use.

zmo's method may be the best.  Crack a game pad open and start hackin...man I've lost a bunch of stuff to that method.  

ny
Title: Re:Arcade controls to XBOX?
Post by: Dave_K. on April 02, 2003, 11:07:00 pm
Anybody have any ideas on using arcade controls on an XBOX? Specifically how might one hack an Xbox controller to use a Happs analog joystick? Could the pots be swapped? Or would the mechanics be incompatible? The rest (except for the analog triggers) seems easy. I'm dying to incorporate my XBOX into my MAME cabinet, but I REALLY want a dedicated control panel to play it. Somehow plugging XBOX controllers into my cabinet just defeats the purpose. Am I hoping for the impossible? I know nothing about potentiometers :(
Hey guess what? There is this great site called BYOAC which answers all your questions.  Go here, and then click on the "Game Consoles" section.

http://www.arcadecontrols.com (http://www.arcadecontrols.com)


In short, if you want to pay over $100 for a single happs analog controller, sure, you can hack it to the xbox potentiometers.  Otherwise there are instuctions for hacking a digital 8 way.
Title: Re:Arcade controls to XBOX?
Post by: Hellfromabove on April 03, 2003, 11:45:06 am
I have asked this question twice in the past and got an answer the second time around. Go buy a Madcatz X-Box controller and hack that. They are real easy to hack, it shouldn't take you that long. I just finished hacking one for myself last Friday and I am going to put it to use once I make another arcade panel. Thanx.

-See Ya!!!
Title: Re:Arcade controls to XBOX?
Post by: AX on April 03, 2003, 12:22:33 pm
This is what I have been trying to get out of people.  I dont understand why with that xarcade adapter we can't hack an ipac into a console.  this adapter aparently does some sort of conversion from a keyboard into a controller.  the problem is I am almost positive that teh xarcade adapter is nto using a standard serial pinout.
Title: Re:Arcade controls to XBOX?
Post by: Distortion on April 03, 2003, 01:03:47 pm
With the madcatz controller, can you use an 8-way joystick to control the analog controls of the controller, or is it just for the d-pad?
Title: Re:Arcade controls to XBOX?
Post by: anthony691 on April 03, 2003, 10:49:00 pm
With the madcatz controller, can you use an 8-way joystick to control the analog controls of the controller, or is it just for the d-pad?

In thoery you could hack an analog joystick to the controllers analog stick. Pot hacking gets pretty nasty though. Sometimes you need to ask yourself "Is it really worth it?"
Title: Re:Arcade controls to XBOX?
Post by: Dak-ak on April 05, 2003, 05:12:36 am
i hacked a mat catz pretty successfully... the buttons i have operating the trigger... uhm... "work" but im not really sure why, and i think it creates some weird effects.. as in, i can play the game perfectly, but im pretty sure its not doing the same thing as a real controller does (same way is probably a better way of saying that)

i just hooked up this old misc. arcade stick to the dpad... no analog control... but the little stock sticks are still there so games don't realize its not, and doa3 and thps work fine along with some other games... i don't like using analog in a lot of games where you can choose, so im happy with just dpad control (ie, i don't miss the analog control)

~Dak~
Title: Re:Arcade controls to XBOX?
Post by: Howard_Casto on April 05, 2003, 06:03:05 pm
This is what I have been trying to get out of people.  I dont understand why with that xarcade adapter we can't hack an ipac into a console.  this adapter aparently does some sort of conversion from a keyboard into a controller.  the problem is I am almost positive that teh xarcade adapter is nto using a standard serial pinout.

No this is not true at all the xarcade has several circuit board  that you can plug in and swap out.  They call them "adaptors" for marketing reasons.  

And to answer your question in the nicest way possible.  A ipac is a keyboard.  A joystick on a modern console is more or less a usb compliant gaming device (read: with proper drivers you can see it in the windows joystick control panel)  They operate differently at different rates.  So a better question would be why would you want to do this?