Nintendo wii hack arcade

[m1cky69]

Not so much a new project but I've only just come across this forum so thought I'd add my project

I wanted an arcade for my kids but had a few problems..... A. they are bloody expensive and B. Cabs are very large so kids would find it hard to reach.

So i decided to research into how to build one but found that that too was also fairly expensive and realised that i had a spare 24" hd monitor and wii kicking around so that got me thinking....can a wii be hacked to be used as an arcade base.....answer was YES!!!!

I installed homebrew on my wii and installed various emulators with thousands of roms. Then set about building a child friendly height cabinet. I then ran into my first problem. CONTROLS. How could i use arcade buttons etc on the wii. Answer was to use a gamecube controller and wire buttons to the PCB.....a big learning curve for me since ive never soldered before.

Anyway here are a few pics of the project in progress and finished article









please excuse the terrible wiring.....im a newbie!!!






the great thing bout using a wii was you can still use the wiimotes as i mounted the sensor bar also. So you can still play wii games and light gun games emulated

If you like this i entered it in a competition so please vote too if you like it   http://bit.ly/PQjGFb

[Gatsu]

That's pretty cool! What all kinda emulated stuff are you running on the Wii? Just curious.

[m1cky69]

I'm emulating, nes, snes, n64, game gear, master system, genesis, Atari 5200. I'm into my second build now though with a better budget. Making a coffee table arcade machine but with a lift out monitor as i noticed that most ppl complain about viewing angles for long stints of gaming.

[talkgeek]

Nice build, the Nintendo Marque pops 

I'm keen to see the coffee table build, do you plan to share? (we like seeing the process here, so you don't need to complete before starting to share 

[m1cky69]

Nice build, the Nintendo Marque pops 

I'm keen to see the coffee table build, do you plan to share? (we like seeing the process here, so you don't need to complete before starting to share 

Yes i will do, im currently still waiting on a lot of items to be delivered so all i have got done it the monitor hinging casing at the moment but i shall create a new post and add it in a bit

[m1cky69]

Nice build, the Nintendo Marque pops 

I'm keen to see the coffee table build, do you plan to share? (we like seeing the process here, so you don't need to complete before starting to share 

Added the new build so far

[DarakuTenshi]

It's cute, I like it.

[EMDB]

Nice build but the artwork of the CP sucks. The faces are covered with buttons and look very odd. It's better to have smaller characters placed around buttons / sticks instead of below.

[ChanceKJ]

Nice build but the artwork of the CP sucks. The faces are covered with buttons and look very odd. It's better to have smaller characters placed around buttons / sticks instead of below.

Completely disagree!  I think it looks bad ass.

Love the cab, it's a great idea. Maybe this is something I should do with the old Wii laying around now that I have a Wii U. You almost lost me with the messy wire job under the CP tho. 

[GIZMOGAMES]

lovethis build so simple

[pbj]

Can you navigate the home screen without a wiimote...?

[m1cky69]

Completely disagree!  I think it looks bad ass.

Love the cab, it's a great idea. Maybe this is something I should do with the old Wii laying around now that I have a Wii U. You almost lost me with the messy wire job under the CP tho. 

Wiring was shocking i know but my first time and having to solder to the pcb of gamecube controllers etc...... not the best but its functional. My build im making now will be using the ipac 2.....should be much neater wiring yay.

[m1cky69]

Can you navigate the home screen without a wiimote...?

Nahhh thats the only real problem and why i sold it to make way for my new project. Its great for kids but my new one i want for the kids AND me haha

[Generic Eric]

Ultimarc has wii interface for sale in the console section.

[jaharr01]

Did you paint it or is laminated under the decals? If you painted it it is a slick looking paint job. BTW I was thinking about doing one of these for my little girl and I wondered how well the Wii adapters work from ultimarc that Generic Eric was talking about? Can you eliminate the wii mote for the most part?

[Generic Eric]

Did you paint it or is laminated under the decals? If you painted it it is a slick looking paint job. BTW I was thinking about doing one of these for my little girl and I wondered how well the Wii adapters work from ultimarc that Generic Eric was talking about? Can you eliminate the wii mote for the most part?

can't say. You might email ultimarc or say Andy Warne x3. Hehe.

I thought I linked the page, but didn't.
Here

http://www.ultimarc.com/wii.html

[m1cky69]

Painted it with a roller, paint, sand, paint, sand......eventually you get a smooth finish. I can't say how well the adapters work but i'm guessing they will up to the job as they are specifically desiged for the job in hand.

[PattonFiend]

Could you post exactly how your wired the GC controller to the buttons?

This is the only thing that I cannot figure out. I would really appreciate your help! This project is for a good buddy of mine and I would like to get this finished. Thanks!

Also, where did you get that awesome marquee? I cannot find one anywhere.

[nickels]

This should help with the wiring:


The grounds from the buttons chain together, and the NO pin on the button connects to the controller as seen above. The only thing I am not sure about is where the ground is on the controller, it looks to be between the A and Y buttons.

[Brian74]

Nice build but the artwork of the CP sucks. The faces are covered with buttons and look very odd. It's better to have smaller characters placed around buttons / sticks instead of below.

Completely disagree!  I think it looks bad ass.

Love the cab, it's a great idea. Maybe this is something I should do with the old Wii laying around now that I have a Wii U. You almost lost me with the messy wire job under the CP tho. 

+1

[PattonFiend]

This should help with the wiring:


The grounds from the buttons chain together, and the NO pin on the button connects to the controller as seen above. The only thing I am not sure about is where the ground is on the controller, it looks to be between the A and Y buttons.

I'll give it a go this afternoon, nickels. Thanks so much for your guidance! I will let you all know how things go! You guys are awesome!

Also, do I have to scrape that black stuff off before I solder? In the pictures above at the beginning of the thread, the guys are gold color yet in the diagram and on my GC controller, there is a black substance on top of the solder points. What should I do?

Any idea where that Nintendo Marquee came from? I cannot find one online; ANYWHERE.

[m1cky69]

Hi sorry I been mega busy. I shall sort a pix of the wiring a bit later when I'm at home. I got the marquee from eBay believe it or not. Just ordered the largest I could find n stuck it on. Search Nintendo logo decal n  will find it mate

[PattonFiend]

Hi sorry I been mega busy. I shall sort a pix of the wiring a bit later when I'm at home. I got the marquee from eBay believe it or not. Just ordered the largest I could find n stuck it on. Search Nintendo logo decal n  will find it mate

Thanks for your help! eBay was the first place I checked. They had nothing even close to what you had, lol. Only marquee they had worth anything was a Super Nintendo one. It is cool though. I have 4 marquees (just like yours in the picture) being made right now locally at a sign shop for about $25 a piece right onto plexiglass. Same with that side art. Did you paint that all by hand or is it a decal?

EDIT: I see now, it wasn't a real marquee, no wonder I couldn't find it. You used an actual huge sticker/decal instead.

I just need to know if that black stuff needs to be scraped off of the controller before I solder is all. That is really the only thing preventing me from finishing these cabinets; the joystick controls. Also, how would I go about connecting the 1 and 2 player buttons? To the start button on the GC controller? I also took off the rumble motors. This shouldn't effect anything, correct?

[nickels]

I am not sure about the black stuff but it is an easy test. Connect the controller to your PC, start up whatever you are using to monitor when the controller buttons are being pressed, take a piece of wire and manually connect (hold it in place) one end of the wire to the "common" (or is it the ground?) on the controller and the other end of the wire to any button spot on the controller. That should bridge the connection acting as if the button was pushed. If it is registered by the PC then you are fine, if not the black stuff needs to come off. I doubt that it needs to be removed.

[PattonFiend]

I am not sure about the black stuff but it is an easy test. Connect the controller to your PC, start up whatever you are using to monitor when the controller buttons are being pressed, take a piece of wire and manually connect (hold it in place) one end of the wire to the "common" (or is it the ground?) on the controller and the other end of the wire to any button spot on the controller. That should bridge the connection acting as if the button was pushed. If it is registered by the PC then you are fine, if not the black stuff needs to come off. I doubt that it needs to be removed.

It is a Nintendo GameCube controller, not a USB controller. Sorry I did not specify. I would be hard-pressed to find a GameCube port on my laptop or PC

[nickels]

It is a Nintendo GameCube controller, not a USB controller. Sorry I did not specify. I would be hard-pressed to find a GameCube port on my laptop or PC

Doesn't matter. My bad for being a dummy. Connect the controller to the wii and do the same trick with touching the ends of a wire to the ground and button connection. The wii should register the button pushes when you touch the wire to the correct spots on the controller as mentioned in my last post.

[PattonFiend]

It is a Nintendo GameCube controller, not a USB controller. Sorry I did not specify. I would be hard-pressed to find a GameCube port on my laptop or PC

Doesn't matter. My bad for being a dummy. Connect the controller to the wii and do the same trick with touching the ends of a wire to the ground and button connection. The wii should register the button pushes when you touch the wire to the correct spots on the controller as mentioned in my last post.

D'oh!

Hehe

[PattonFiend]

So, this isn't really working out. Anyone have a tutorial or a guide on EXACTLY how to wire the gamecube controllers to the microswitches?

[PattonFiend]

You can't solder anything to that black stuff. Anyone? This is going on 2.5-3 months now. I would just like these finished. Any help would be greatly appreciated. What am I doing wrong? I am soldering to those points and I get nothing?

Not seeing any videos is making me think that this is not even possible...

[Yvan256]

You can't solder anything to that black stuff. Anyone? This is going on 2.5-3 months now. I would just like these finished. Any help would be greatly appreciated. What am I doing wrong? I am soldering to those points and I get nothing?

Not seeing any videos is making me think that this is not even possible...

I think you need to scrape the black material until you reach the copper. My suggestion would be to practice on broken controllers first, practically all controllers from the NES and up should have it.

[PattonFiend]

This should help with the wiring:


The grounds from the buttons chain together, and the NO pin on the button connects to the controller as seen above. The only thing I am not sure about is where the ground is on the controller, it looks to be between the A and Y buttons.

Do I solder both microswitch wires to each  blue circle? What are the red circles for? What is the pink circle for?