individual controllers vs universal for multi-EMU

[thaddeussmith]

I'm building a little couch and TV multi-console emulator rig and am torn between getting dedicated NES/SNES/SEGA/Atari usb controllers or a couple of Xbox 360 controllers. Anybody else work through this decision?

[pyract]

I went the exact same route about 5 years ago, I think I had a total of 10 controllers hooked up simultaneously. I ended up having issues where Windows wouldn't let me re-order any of the controllers, so for instance the SNES controllers would always be the last ones in the list. I was using Zsnes at the time, which doesn't recognize any controllers past "joystick 4". I also had power problems, so occasionally controllers would disconnect and reconnect randomly, but I suppose a stronger power supply would've alleviated that. Your setup sounds simpler so you might have fewer problems though.

[kuchta]

I would definitely go with dedicated original controllers. A few years ago I setup NES and SNES controllers through a parallel port and it was very cumbersome. A project I would like to do in the future utilizes the Cthulhu PCB which makes it easy to connect all types of controllers using RJ45 connections and only requires 1 PCB per player (not per controller). They're available through http://godlikecontrols.com/ . I don't have a lot of knowledge about it, so definitely read up before buying. The forum thread below on Shoryuken has a ton of information.

http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?threads/rj-45-multi-console-cthulhu-arcade-stick-tutorial-ver-2.100475/

P.S. - This would be a great feature for the KADE encoder being developed by some forum members here, but that currently only supports arcade controls. Hopefully, it's something they are looking into.

[thaddeussmith]

well the choice has sort of been made. i forgot i had a Wii sitting unused in a box for the last year or so. I powered it up, hacked it for homebrew, and have it loaded up with emulators/roms. So I'll be using whatever controllers i can connect to the Wii.

[thaddeussmith]

I would definitely go with dedicated original controllers. A few years ago I setup NES and SNES controllers through a parallel port and it was very cumbersome. A project I would like to do in the future utilizes the Cthulhu PCB which makes it easy to connect all types of controllers using RJ45 connections and only requires 1 PCB per player (not per controller). They're available through http://godlikecontrols.com/ . I don't have a lot of knowledge about it, so definitely read up before buying. The forum thread below on Shoryuken has a ton of information.

http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?threads/rj-45-multi-console-cthulhu-arcade-stick-tutorial-ver-2.100475/

P.S. - This would be a great feature for the KADE encoder being developed by some forum members here, but that currently only supports arcade controls. Hopefully, it's something they are looking into.

fyi, this appears to be a system for using a single arcade stick with multiple consoles, recognized as a native controller on all of them. I was looking for having original controllers usable on a single PC.

[kuchta]

Cthulhu

fyi, this appears to be a system for using a single arcade stick with multiple consoles, recognized as a native controller on all of them. I was looking for having original controllers usable on a single PC.

I think it does both.

[Howard_Casto]

No it doesn't.  The Cthulhu is specifically designed to put inside a xbox 360 fight stick and make it compatable with the ps3 as well.  It requires you to physically hook up each individual switch to the board, so it wouldn't be helpful for this purpose. 

In regards to the original question, The idea of having multiple gamepads hooked up is nice, but it's complicated to get working properly.  My suggestion:

Start with a third party xbox 360 gamepad that has a good dpad.  That'll handle things 90% of the time.  If you insist on a controller without analog sticks add a snes pad to the list.  It'll have the same layout as the 360 pad, but I can understand the need to use it for the older consoles.  If you enjoy the n64 you are going to need an adaptor, those games just don't feel right on anything other than a n64 pad.  If you are a Sega nut, you might want to add a 6-button genesis pad.  The playstation games really need Sony's terrible, terrible controller.

So to summarize:

360pad - Required
N64pad -Required for N64 games
Snes - Optional but reccomended
Genesis - Optional but reccomended if you really like Sega games
Dual Shock - Reccomened for Psx games.

Unless we want to go into the annuls of video game pre-history, the controllers listed above cover all major gamepad layouts.  There are multiple controllers per generation, but they usually copy a lot from each other.  I'm skipping the 8-bit era because all of those consoles used what was essentially the NES gamepad, and the SNES/360 layout will handle those games fine.  I know this is sacrilage, but I wouldn't bother with atari controllers as they were terrible.  Maybe the racing/tennis controllers if I were really into the handful of titles that supported them.

[kuchta]

No it doesn't.  The Cthulhu is specifically designed to put inside a xbox 360 fight stick and make it compatable with the ps3 as well.  It requires you to physically hook up each individual switch to the board, so it wouldn't be helpful for this purpose. 

Thanks for clarifying. Thinking about it last night, I realized I was wrong. I hope I didn't cause too much confusion! I'm pretty disappointed about this. Hopefully, someone invents something similar to what I thought the Cthulhu did.

[thaddeussmith]

No it doesn't.  The Cthulhu is specifically designed to put inside a xbox 360 fight stick and make it compatable with the ps3 as well.  It requires you to physically hook up each individual switch to the board, so it wouldn't be helpful for this purpose. 

Thanks for clarifying. Thinking about it last night, I realized I was wrong. I hope I didn't cause too much confusion! I'm pretty disappointed about this. Hopefully, someone invents something similar to what I thought the Cthulhu did.

no worries! it's a beautiful device allowing you to dump some serious cash into creating a nice console stick with the flexibility of connecting it to any console.

[DillonFoulds]

I'm using bluetooth'ed PS3 controllers for mine (plug for motioninjoy), and it's been great so far, for myself. For guests it's another story. It seems like 75% of them can't wrap their minds around playing games on a controller not intended for the original systems, and these are all gamer-type people. I'm destroying them in anything N64 (mario kart, goldeneye, smash bros), and they're all busy complaining about the triggers or joysticks being "crooked", since on a ps3 the left joystick is towards the center vs n64's joystick being the primary control.

My next project is to set up a DB15 monitor plug on each controller, wiring pins directly to buttons and then put back together. Then run a cable back to a central box with a GPWiz49 to convert all the controllers to USB. This will get around controller IDs conflicting. For N64 and up, I'll have to work out adaptoids or something similar, though.

[Howard_Casto]

Well to be fair, you picked playstation controllers... they are just horrible.  Bad ergonimics, bad d-pad, ect.  I agree with them as well.  The analog sticks on a playstation controller are akwardly below the start buttons.  It's the worst possible place to put an analog stick. 

Third party 360 controllers is the way to go.  Not the official one, because it has a bad dpad as well, but MadCatz makes some good ones. 

Also please don't hack up a bunch of vintage controllers, some of them are getting scarce.  There are usb adaptors available for nearly every controller these days and for the earlier ones they are pretty cheap. 

[DillonFoulds]

The controllers are being sourced from an electronics recycling facility. My friend is the supervisor, and he can slip the controllers out of the scrap heap. So yeah, they're either getting destroyed, or a new life by being gutted. I'm only gutting controllers that I have multiples of already. It's not like I'm ripping apart every controller I find.

[johnm]

Bootsector/Bruno before he became part of the Kade team built and released the USB retropad.
You can make up your own adapters by chopping up controller extensions.
http://www.brunofreitas.com/node/41

PS Bruno is also a big fan of open software/hardware, if you have the experience the scematics to build one are at the bottom of the link.

There was also a UK based guy on the shoryuken forums who did something similar a couple of years ago, he also featured on a BBC program showing of his hacks. I'm not sure what happened to him as from what i remember he was ill and his website has shown out of stock for a good while..
Again he posts his schematics if you feel like building 1.

http://keio.dk/retroadapter.html

[sharpfork]

Bootsector/Bruno before he became part of the Kade team built and released the USB retropad.
You can make up your own adapters by chopping up controller extensions.
http://www.brunofreitas.com/node/41

I have one of Bruno's USB retropad adapters a think it is a great solution.  Playing emulated games with the original gamepad hardware is awesome.

[DillonFoulds]

Looks like Bruno's affiliated shop doesn't stock his retropad lites

Anyone have any other suppliers?

[johnm]

Try emailing contato@faiscaefumaca.com.br or PM'ing Bootsector here, it could just be the site isn't updated.