Xbox Retro controller hacking

[Jayson]

I use the 1st big ass emulator disc and it works great! I just need to find some retro controllers to use with it. I wish my Saturn USB pads would work with an adapter or something. Anybody have any recommendations?

[Ziggy]

I'm in the same boat as you. I was planning on picking up one or two of these...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Computer-PC-USB-XBO ... 414ed1cc8d

...and hoping USB adapters would work with them, such as the Smart Joy SNES USB adapter I have.

[Jayson]

...and hoping USB adapters would work with them, such as the Smart Joy SNES USB adapter I have.

I'm not sure they would. From what I have read so far, they would only really be good for keyboards. Without a OS that would run a program like joy2key, I don't think it would be possible to get the inputs mapped correctly, if at all...

Somebody please correct me if I am wrong here. I have spare XBOX extension cords and USB extension cords so making adapters would be trivial.

[Ziggy]

Well it wouldn't matter if they're mapped correctly, just matters if the Xbox will communicate with the USB adapter. All the emulators I've used so far will allow you to remap a controller, so as long as the USB adapter works on the Xbox you could map the buttons to whatever you like in the emulator.

[Ziggy]

I wasn't able to find much, but this looked interested...

http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?p=241613

Of course, his link is dead so I have no idea how he did that.

[Niode]

I wasn't able to find much, but this looked interested...

http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?p=241613

Of course, his link is dead so I have no idea how he did that.

Behold! The magic of the wayback machine!
http://web.archive.org/web/200702082053 ... od-part-i/

[Lord_Santa]

I've got 2 USB sockets in my Xbox1, but am not able to make any of my USB gamepads/joysticks work on it

I *can* however with no problem at all use my Keyboard/Mouse, both for emulating Amiga/DOS, etc. and for XBMC (both mouse and keyboard)

there are heaps of ways to make NES/etc. controllers to work on the Xbox1 (as the link provided shows)

it's just a matter of using a 9-pin VGA cable and connecting it directly to the buttons of the controller (Xbox1, that is)

here's a couple of links for you:


Genesis Controller for Xbox1:
http://www.xerxes3rd.net/staticpages/in ... lleronxbox

making a USB cable for Xbox1:
http://xbox-scene.com/articles/usb-cable.php

Amiga/Atari/C64 adapter for Xbox1:
http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/amiga-connector.php

Super Nintendo/NES:
http://beachy.freeshell.org/games/xboxctrl/

xbox-scene.com is a good place to start though
and I think that with a little skill, just about "anyone" can make these work

:edit
and for those hoping (like me?)
no.
Xbox360 controller will *not* work on Xbox1

[Ziggy]

Thanks for the info, I'm very interested in doing this.

So basically, you're just jumping the triggers on the Xbox controller to the triggers on a different controller? Seems simple enough.

Note to a mod: I think it would be a good idea if all the posts pertaining to Xbox retro controller hacking (the last 5 or so posts) were split out into a dedicated thread. They're totally not on topic in this thread anyway, and I think a dedicated thread to the idea would breed more ideas, links, etc.

[samsonlonghair]

I think the smartjoy box Ziggy mentioned might be the way to go. Just plug your SNES gamepad into the smartjoy. Then plug the smartjoy into the USB adapter. Then plug the USB adapter into your XBOX. Open SNES9X X or ZsnesxBox, and map the keys.

[Ziggy]

^ Yes, but apparently that doesn't work because the Xbox doesn't have the drivers for it.

I do plan to hack some retro controllers for the Xbox, but I don't have the time for that project right now, so I've come up with a temporary solution in the mean time.

I picked up one of these on the cheap...



It's a PS2 controller. So hopefully those PS2-Xbox controller adapters from China on eBay work alright. But even with out this "RetroCon" controller, I think the Playstation controller is a LOT better for emulation of older consoles than the Xbox controller.