Recommended Console to USB adapters

[patrickmaher]

I am looking to get Console to USB adapters for most of the consoles I am emulating.

So far the only console adapter I have is for the NES from RetroZone.
I am moving onto SNES and want to know what other people are using. The two options I know of are RetroZone Super RetroPort and the Super Smartjoy. Are there any other options for SNES?

Most sources for the Super Smartjoy are expensive now that lik sang is gone. I also read an owner say that there was a limit to how many buttons you could press at the same time, but I could not find much info on that.

For N64 I have found that the adaptoid seems to be the best. It supports memory paks and rumble paks, but is very expensive. Does Project64 support rumble?
The options other than the adaptoid all look pretty cheap and don't have great reviews.

I'd like to hear what everyone is using for each console and if they are satisfied with what they have.


I will update a list here of the adapters that have been recommended in this thread.
Updated 05/08/2007
Nintendo
NES RetroPort Recommended by: patrickmaher

Super Nintendo
Super RetroPort - Appears to use the same RetroKit as NES version so should work just as well.
Super Smartjoy Recommended by: thennomeking

Nintendo 64
Adaptoid - Now back in stock - 05/08/07

Playstation/Playstation 2
Super Joybox 5 Pro Recommended by: thennomeking
Trio Linker Plus Recommended by: HarumaN
Trio Linker Plus II

Dreamcast
Trio Linker Plus Recommended by: HarumaN
Trio Linker Plus II

Game Cube
Trio Linker Plus Recommended by: HarumaN
Trio Linker Plus II

Hacks / Mods
Console controllers wired to Xbox controller Recommended by: northerngames
Note: Requires modification of console controllers

[KenToad]

I'm not sure about SNES adapters, but I'd also like to hear about them.  I have an adaptoid and it is exactly like using a real N64 controller, since you don't even have to configure the controls in Project64.  You just plug in the controller and select the adaptoid plugin.  It rumbles perfectly, as far as I can tell.  I haven't used the memory card feature, but I've heard that it works and everything else does, so ... The only drawback I can see so far is that you can't select the adaptoid plugin for first player and then plug in a different usb controller and use that for the other players, as it actually grays out the configuration dialog boxes for all ports in that case (I should probably double-check that, but it is what I remember).  I guess you can use the adaptoid with other controllers, but you'll have to spend the time to configure it just like the other controllers.

That said, did you get the NES usb port from Retrozone or the actual pre-modded controller?  And how is it?  I'm seriously considering purchasing.

[patrickmaher]

Thanks for the info on the adaptoid. I set the Project64 Input Plugin to Adaptoid and it tells me no adaptoids found when I go to configure controllers. Of course this is because I don't have one. So it appears that you are correct, the adaptoid plugin doesn't work with non adaptoid gamepads.

I did some searching about the adaptoid plugin problem and found this thread which says that the newest N-Rage input plugin supports the adaptoid features. They mention that it is actually a better plugin to use for the adaptoid. It appears that the N-Rage plugin would also work with other gamepads for additional players.


About the Retrozone NES adapter, I got the NES Retrokit and then soldered a real NES port onto it. At the time the RetroPorts did not exist and I wanted a port, so I could use unmodified original controllers. If I were to buy them now I would have just bought the RetroPort version.
I haven't used it much yet but I did not have any problems with it the few times I did. I have 2 and I took them to a friends house to try out, I think we played 2 player Contra and I don't remember having any issues.

[HaRuMaN]

I use a Trio Linker Plus for PS2, Gamecube, and Dreamcast controls to USB.  I like it.

[thennomeking]

Super Smartjoys are awesome, Ive had mine since about a week after Lik-sang started to carry them.  Sure you have to configure them, and its not really hotswappable, but it works that is all that matters.

I also have a Super Joybox 5 - 4 psx/ps2 to usb.  And might be buying another one soon, atomic bomberman...

For NES/TG16 games Ive been using my Smartjoy, but now I use a wiimote.

The adaptoid is the best N64 adaptor, dont even look at the others.  While the Super  Joybox 3 is the best Saturn and Dreamcast adaptor, I also plan on buying one or two of these soon. 

For N64 games weve just been using PS2 controllers.  Everyone else loves them, I am indifferent.  Though they hated me when I played with a mouse/keyboard in Goldeneye.  Klobb headshot overkill.


Sorry for the scatterbrained post - work calls.

[KenToad]

Super Smartjoys are awesome, Ive had mine since about a week after Lik-sang started to carry them.  Sure you have to configure them, and its not really hotswappable, but it works that is all that matters.

I also have a Super Joybox 5 - 4 psx/ps2 to usb.  And might be buying another one soon, atomic bomberman...

For NES/TG16 games Ive been using my Smartjoy, but now I use a wiimote.

The adaptoid is the best N64 adaptor, dont even look at the others.  While the Super  Joybox 3 is the best Saturn and Dreamcast adaptor, I also plan on buying one or two of these soon. 

For N64 games weve just been using PS2 controllers.  Everyone else loves them, I am indifferent.  Though they hated me when I played with a mouse/keyboard in Goldeneye.  Klobb headshot overkill.


Sorry for the scatterbrained post - work calls.

Did you say keyboard and mouse for Goldeneye?  True, headshots are pretty much necessary if you play with a Klobb. 

I'm with you on the atomic bomberman thing.  I have the capability to get seven players going on that already with just four usb ports.   Thank you super joybox.    

I'm seriously looking into the retroport option for SNES pads.  But, thennomeking, what did you mean about the super smartjoy not being hotswappable?

Yeah, Patrick, pretty much the only question right now for me about the NES retroports is that I'm not sure that I would use them enough to justify the purchase.  Everyone likes to see and hold the old NES pads, but I'm not really sure I could convince all that many people to actually get the retrogame on.

[thennomeking]

Meaning that every once and awhile when you try to use it like a plug and play device in xp it will not detect it.  Having it plugged in while booting is the only sure fire way for it to be noticed by xp.  Ive used many of them and everyone has had this problem.  I mean it is no big deal most of the time.

I was going to buy the NES fourscore from retrozone but I think I am just going to stick with my wiimotes.

Right now I have some people working on making the opensource version of bomberman allow more than 10 players - I want atleast 20.  If they ever finish it Ill be sure to share it.

[northerngames]

could use a xbox controller with the usb dongle mod and XBCD drivers for the pc to run the controller then hook any classic controller to the xbox controller by the vga mod like in this link

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/lofiversion/index.php/t510168.html

for pc the xbox controller can be used as a all in one connector plus still use the xbox controller with full functions and same with the classic controllers you connect to I also believe the drivers support multiple controllers and setting now but not 100% but I think so.

[Howard_Casto]

That's not an adaptor man, he's removed the chip form each controller and has soldered directly to the xbox contacts.

[patrickmaher]

I use a Trio Linker Plus for PS2, Gamecube, and Dreamcast controls to USB.  I like it.

Thanks HarumaN, that one has some good reviews. I also found that there is a new version called Trio Linker Plus II that allows you to have all three types of controllers plugged in at the same time.

Only problem with the new version is that you need to have all the controllers you intend to use plugged in before you plug the adapter into the PC. I want a solution where I leave the adapter plugged into the PC always, then plug in the controllers when I use a specific console emulator.
Would have to test swapping different types of controllers to see if for example, it drops the Playstation controller once you unplug it and then is able to detect a dreamcast controller when you plug that in next. If not, it might be a pain of replugging the USB cable all the time. For my project the the Trio Linker Plus might be better for me over the Trio Linker Plus II. I would just have to remember not to plug in different types at the same time and hope that the adapter does not detect an extension cord plugged into it as if it was a controller, since my plan involves having extension cords permanently plugged in.

Super Smartjoys are awesome, Ive had mine since about a week after Lik-sang started to carry them.  Sure you have to configure them, and its not really hotswappable, but it works that is all that matters.

I tested my RetroZone NES adapters and did not have any trouble with them not being detected when plugging them in and out a few times. I know most if not all emulators expect the gamepad to be detected by windows before you start the emulator, not sure if that was your problem though.

I also have a Super Joybox 5 - 4 psx/ps2 to usb.  And might be buying another one soon, atomic bomberman...

I remember reading that there may be either a limitation on the number of button presses or lag when 4 players play from 1 adapter. Not sure which product I read that about, have you had these problems when playing 4 player games?


Thanks all for the great info.

[thennomeking]

The claim is that there is a 2ms delay when you play four player, Ive yet to have it matter in any game: Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Atomic Bomberman, MAME (I dont have the room to carry all my stuff and sticks to most lanparties anymore).  Even when we had two of them going in tandem, we had no problem.

Just remember if you get a joybox 5, to play with all the options.  You can set it to run most anything, some people have even ran the original Guncons off of it, but I am on the ends with that one. 

[northerngames]

That's not an adaptor man, he's removed the chip form each controller and has soldered directly to the xbox contacts.

what is the vga connector for then?

[Howard_Casto]

Well the connector is wired straight into the switches on the xbox controller.... basically you ruin your old pads, removing everying by the pcb (which has the button contacts on it) and wire them to the xbox contacts.  Not a viable option unless you don't mind ruining your priceless classic controllers.

[patrickmaher]

The claim is that there is a 2ms delay when you play four player, Ive yet to have it matter in any game: Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Atomic Bomberman, MAME (I dont have the room to carry all my stuff and sticks to most lanparties anymore).  Even when we had two of them going in tandem, we had no problem.

Thanks for that info. I guess most times when I would be using it to play a game where quick response time matters most, it would probably be a 1 or 2 player games. Most of the 4 player games that I can think of are competing against each other. All 4 player would have the same 2ms delay so it shouldn't be to much of an issue.

That's not an adaptor man, he's removed the chip form each controller and has soldered directly to the xbox contacts.

what is the vga connector for then?

Edit: Might be confusing because Howard's next post came in before I finished mine.
I would consider that to be sort of between a hack and an adapter. As Howard_Casto said, they remove the chip from each controller and solder the points on them to a vga cable. You plug that vga cable into the one on the xbox controller which is soldered to the points corresponding to the buttons you want to hook up to on the xbox controller. So you are not really adapting the way your controller communicates with it's own console into what your PC expects.

It really comes to the same thing in the end, I will add it to the list since some people may want to go this route.
For someone that does not do this type of work much, it will take a lot of time and tools that some people don't have. It also requires modifying the original controller which I personally don't want to do. In addition to that it would make the project I am planning alot more difficult. Unless I bought an xbox controller for each console port I want to have available.

[thennomeking]

We played through D&D Shadows of Mystria with four people on the hardest difficulty and had no problems with it.  But we did have some in FzeroX.  But that is probably because we were playing it upscaled to 1024x768 with 8x AA and 4x AF - the pc only had an fx 5700 in it...

[Howard_Casto]

i don't know about those particular adaptors, but i can tell you that in terms of ms, gamepads have really slow poll speeds anyway.  2ms isn't enough to worry about.  Remember it takes 1000 to equal one second.

[northerngames]

i don't know about those particular adaptors, but i can tell you that in terms of ms, gamepads have really slow poll speeds anyway.  2ms isn't enough to worry about.  Remember it takes 1000 to equal one second.

if your meaning the xbox controllers they respond great on a xbox and just as good on the pc with the XBCD drivers and they have a faster signal response then any older classic controller from the classic models.

[Tahnok]

I can't recommend either of these really since I've not built them. However, they seem pretty solid (the first one especially):

http://www.zero-soft.com/HW/USB_NES/

http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/snes_nes_usb/index_en.php

[thennomeking]

northerngames, I think his statement should be read as this:

"...in terms of milliseconds, gamepads have..."

But I will agree with both you and him in that the response is nigh negligible - people have to have something to complain about.  And that the xbox controllers do work quite well with the pc, even though I abhor the design of them...I am a 2d fan at heart and a diehard retrogamer.  Which doesnt explain the three saturns, but it helps.

[cowguy]

For your n64 and psx, its only 11 dollars and works for both!
http://www.jandaman.com/games.mvc?p=n64psxusb&Category_code=N64

[hypernova]

Due to the Nintendo 64 controller's complexity, not all Nintendo 64 controllers will work. Try the N64 Adaptoid instead.

Those $12 things have "reputations."  I wouldn't touch one of those.  Even that site suggests using an Adaptoid.

An adaptoid for around $40 is a solid investment.  Ztnetstore is going to be producing more (as their site says.)  I got two on their first run a few months ago.  VERY nice.

I built my own SNES parallel pad interface years ago.   I can STILL use my ascii controller (superior turbo/auto functions to ANY pad!)  The only fruity button is Select after all these years, and that's rarely used anyway!

[cowguy]

adaptoid is back at ztnet http://www.ztnetstore.com/product_info.php/products_id/38

[patrickmaher]

I can't recommend either of these really since I've not built them. However, they seem pretty solid (the first one especially):

http://www.zero-soft.com/HW/USB_NES/

http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/snes_nes_usb/index_en.php

Has anyone done either of these, if so would you recommend them?

I have seen the zero-soft site before and I remember coming to the conclusion that it really wasn't worth it. It does look interesting and if you have the skills it probably would be an ok solution. From what I see though, it looks like the price of the components would be almost as much or maybe even exceed the cost of the RetroZone products. In the end the few dollars saved wouldn't really be worth the time, unless the project is fun for you.

For your n64 and psx, its only 11 dollars and works for both!
http://www.jandaman.com/games.mvc?p=n64psxusb&Category_code=N64

Have you actually used this product, would you recommend it?
As hypernova said, there are a lot of bad reviews of the N64 part of the adapter. The Adaptoid is a bit more than I would like to spend, but if it works as well as everyone says it will be worth it in the long run. If the N64/PSX one causes as much headache and works as bad as the reviews state, it's really not worth the savings over the Adaptoid.

adaptoid is back at ztnet http://www.ztnetstore.com/product_info.php/products_id/38

Thanks for the heads up. Was waiting for them to come back.

[patrickmaher]

Are the emulators for some of the newer consoles such as Game Cube or XBOX far enough along to warrant purchasing adapters and original controllers. Are there a decent number of games that run at playable speeds?

I've never played Sega Saturn or Dreamcast, so I don't think I will bother getting adapters for those systems. For emulation of these systems, what controllers do you all use other than the original?

The pictures of Saturn controllers I have seen look like it has a similar layout to the 6 button Genesis controller. Would using the Genesis 6 button work well for Saturn?


There are a few systems that have not had an adapter mentioned for them.

For Genesis all I found was the Genesis RetroKit, are there any others?

For Atari I found the Atari RetroKit and the Stelladaptor.

It looks like the Stelladaptor is no longer being made since I can't find them in stock anywhere.
The Stelladaptor supports analog controllers and the Atari RetroKit does not.
The other reason I got interested in the Stelladaptor is in a review they show it hooked up to 2 Atari paddles that share 1 connector. I have 2 Texas Instruments joysticks that share one connector (which looks like the same as the Atari connector) and it would be cool if those worked with the Stelladaptor.

[Howard_Casto]

Well atari controllers basically use the same interface as the pc gameport, which is why the adaptors aren't so popular.  No circuity is involved, you just need to get a seral connector and a gameport connector and wire them up apropriately.  I'm sorry but i don't have a link on me.  I was thinking that someone even made drivers to run the atari controllers through the serial port, so no adaptor would be needed for that. 

Gamecube and xbox emulation are virtually non-existant.  Don't bother. 

The difference between the saturn and genesis controllers is like the difference between the ps1 and ps2 controllers, virtually none.  With that beign said, I think the saturn controllers have a select button, while the genesis doesn't.  You lmay want to get a saturn controller and use it for both instead.  Personally I wouldn't bother as the saturn never really had any good games save maybe two.

[thennomeking]

Ill disagree on the Saturn comments, I think I have to based on the fact I have three and about 150 games.  Off the top of my head:
Radiant Silvergun
Dynamite Deka
Astal
Clockwork Knight 1&2
D&D Collection
Magic Knight Rayearth
Donpachi and Do Donpachi
Gunbird
Panzer Dragoon, Zewi, Saga
Baku Baku
NiGHTS & Christmas NiGHTS
Discworld I & II
Assault Suit Leynos 2
Burning Rangers
And thats barely touching the shumps, and not mentioning a single fighting game.

The controllers are similar yes, but the Saturn controller has two shoulder buttons adn the 2nd gen Genesis 6 button layout.  However the way the plug works is different, if I remember correctly.  Though the Genesis and Atari controllers operate the same way, so much so that you can use Genesis controllers on your 7800 if you so choose - it makes Joust a helluva lot easier to control.

And to get back on topic:
SNES to Parallel port - I plan on doing this once I find a SNES multitap or two - this is for a single port, I will have to find the multi port one later:
http://www.instructables.com/id/EBEFIIN9GCEP286TW2/

[Howard_Casto]

You might want to try this:

http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/snes_nes_usb/index_en.php

Currently you can buy the fully programmed pcbs from the author for around 20 bucks.  Although you'll have to scrounge your own controller ports these are a bit more cost effective as one adaptor can control a nes, snes, and atari (which includes sms commadore and virtually anything that pre-dates the 2600) controllers.  Alternatively it can support any combination of 4 snes or nes controllers with different programming.  A crafty person might be able to modify the source for 4 controllers AND atari support, making this single chip work with every single controller save genesis and n64.

[thennomeking]

I may just do both, I am part of a group that is taking the open source bomberman clone and making it 15+ player.  I am hoping to be able to have 30,  but I know that is stretching it.

And nice dodge of the other topic though.

[cowguy]

If you've got a parallel port on your computer I would highly recommend getting this seeing how you can use 2 snes controllers with one adapter and their only 20 bucks. http://shop.raphnet.net/products/snes_parport_cable/index.php?category=

[Howard_Casto]

If you've got a paralle port on your computer I hightly suggest you make one yoru frikkin self!  No circuitry is involved, you just crimp wires to a parallel port connector. 

20 bucks is a little steep for something that can be done virtually for free. 


With that being said, the parallel port is generally a bad idea because it's slowly being phased out.  You don't want to have to play the "let me find a converter" game again a few years down the road.

[cowguy]

With that being said, the parallel port is generally a bad idea because it's slowly being phased out.  You don't want to have to play the "let me find a converter" game again a few years down the road.

Who says that this won't happen to usb?  Could be outdated just as fast technology is advancing extremely fast nowadays

[Howard_Casto]

The usb port isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The parallel port was used for printers, scanners, and that's about it. The overly large connector, combined with it's limited use cause it's downfall.  The usb port is used for everything.  My scanner is usb, my printer is usb, all three cameras are usb, my printer is usb, all of my mp3 players are usb.. it's just the standard for accessories at this pont.  They don't call it the universal serial bus for nothing.  In the foreseable future the bandwidth allocated to a usb connection will increase, like the difference between usb and usb 2.0.. we'll get 3.0, 4.0 ect, but they'll all be backwards compatable.  So yeah, it might get phased out eventually, but the fact of the matter is parallel ports are being phased out NOW, so it makes little sense to use it as a connection if you want to keep things somewhat "future proofed".

[thennomeking]

I have most of the parts just lying around, and for some reason most SSF, or shuttle styled, pcs have parallel ports, or atleast the ones I have built.  I am trying to hang onto the parallel port for atleast another four years, I still have a new toner cartridge for my Laserjet 6MP and my Laserjet 6L stil has some life.