NES Controller replacement

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antibyte
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Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:36 pm

NES Controller replacement

Post by antibyte »

As the NES Joypads and associated connectors are hard to get this days,
why not add 2 4021 shift registers to the circuit and 2 d-sub 9 connectors to use
normal amiga/c64 style joysticks ? Those ICs cost only a few cent ...

good dokumentation on the NES Joypads :

http://www.parallax.com/dl/docs/prod/pr ... l-v1.0.pdf

greetz
antibyte
CompMan
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Re: NES Controller replacement

Post by CompMan »

This is a very good point. Like you said, putting the two 4021 shift registers on the main circuit would simplify the creation of new controllers. If your planning on building your own Uzebox you should defiantly implement this control.

Great Idea,
compman
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uze6666
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Re: NES Controller replacement

Post by uze6666 »

Well, I considered a few options for the inputs but, quite frankly, Nintendo sold literally hundreds of millions of NES/Famicom. They are immediately recognizable and gives, IMHO, a nice retro look to the console. Also, the prime design goal was to keep the parts count as low as possible. Nevertheless, thats a very good idea for people who want to use other joysticks. Feel free to implement this for your own console. I can always add it as an option to the schematic. And thanks for the link, very good documentation, I'll add it to the site.

As a side note:
On Ebay, theres a flood of listing about NES/SNES controllers and you can usually get away with it for 5-6$. I decided to use sockets from an old NES for the "cool factor", but you can just get 2 controllers, cut the wires and solder them directly on the board. There a web store who sells there socket for about 8$, so its not too bad.

http://www.nesrepairshop.com/online_sho ... ductID=129


Cheers
CompMan
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Re: NES Controller replacement

Post by CompMan »

I found a schematic of the NES controller here http://seb.riot.org/nescontr/. This shows the connection to the 4021 IC. Using this schematic I found a part that seems very similar Digi-Key part CD4021BCN-ND. Using this part I think we could make a exact duplicate of the NES controller. This would allow that open controller interface we wanted. For the connector you could use a 9 pin D-sub connector or find something else that is 9 pins. This would save a lot of money.

Compman
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uze6666
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Re: NES Controller replacement

Post by uze6666 »

I was not sure if this part was made anymore. So let's do it this way then. If wired correctly, it will support both NES and digital joysticks with no change at all to the software! I'll order parts to test this let you know how it goes. Then I'll add it to the schematic.

Cheers,

Uze
CompMan
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Re: NES Controller replacement

Post by CompMan »

uze6666 wrote:If wired correctly, it will support both NES and digital joysticks with no change at all to the software!
How would it support both?

Thanks,
Compman
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uze6666
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Re: NES Controller replacement

Post by uze6666 »

From the point of view of the ATmega input pins, its the same thing to have the 4021s on the board or in the NES gamepads. Same latch, clock and data pins. Naturally you can not have both at the same time. I assume that someone will wire its board for only one type of controller. A PCB should account for both though.
CompMan
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Re: NES Controller replacement

Post by CompMan »

Oh, I get what your saying.

Thanks,
Compman
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