SNES to 360 Controller Mod

twist · Post by **twist** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:57 am

I have this old third party SNES controller that is one of the best controllers I have ever used that I would love to get working with my Xbox 360. One nice thing about the controller I want to use is the fact that it has two extra face buttons (replicating the L and R buttons) which makes it really nice for fighting games and means it might be possible to rig the face L and R buttons and the shoulder L and R buttons to different functions so that the only missing buttons are the clicks on the analog sticks and the guide button.

In addition to the controller I also have a Super Smartjoy SNES USB adapter which allows you to plug an SNES controller up to a USB port that I think could be modded to provide SNES controller support with no need to modify to the controllers at all.

Only problem is that I have no idea how to do either or even how to begin the projects. Anyone out there interested in collaborating on either of these projects or know where I can find any info on doing this?

Post by **bicostp** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:57 am

In order to do what you want, you have to mod the controller.

The face L and R buttons are most likely connected to the same encoder pins as the shoulder buttons, so if you want them to perform different functions, you'll need to separate their traces somehow. (We can't tell exactly how without seeing the board inside the controller.)

What do you intend on doing about the analog joysticks and triggers?

twist · Post by **twist** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:12 pm

I was actually planning on just leaving them off. This mod would be just for use with the classic games on XBLA and perhaps a few newer games like Street Fighter 4 and Tekken 6 which will probably support digital controls.

I will open it up and try getting some shots of the board. If I remember right the shoulder buttons had their own smaller boards that connected to the main board with wires. I actually have two of these controllers but they are made by different manufactures so while they are nearly identical on the outside I am not sure if the insides match up and I have only had the older of the two open (I have had it since the SNES was a current system). I decided to look into this now because I found a seller on ebay who had a number of these controllers still sealed in their packaging.

twist · Post by **twist** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:59 pm

Okay here are some pics. The quality isn't super wonderful but it should be passable.

Here is the controller:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/twist/2967684624/" title="controller by The_Twist, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/296 ... 26dcc5.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="controller"></a>

Here is the board:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/twist/2967684754/" title="board by The_Twist, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3009/296 ... ec295a.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="board"></a>

Here is the board again with helpful labels added:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/twist/2966839519/" title="labels by The_Twist, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/296 ... fc7c2e.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="labels"></a>

Here is a close up of the board for the shoulder buttons:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/twist/2966839429/" title="shoulder-board by The_Twist, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3281/296 ... b4798c.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="shoulder-board"></a>

And lastly here is a look at the inside of the controller:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/twist/2966839393/" title="inside by The_Twist, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3214/296 ... 1b29d8.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="inside"></a>

themadhacker · Post by **themadhacker** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:47 pm

looks like a genesis controller.

collinE · Post by **collinE** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:34 pm

Except with shoulder buttons. Now to hack up a 360 controller. You have to use it for compatibility with the 360 itself.

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 2:48 am

There are a few ways to go about this, but which way is best depends on your skill and your determination... A few questions...

1. How good are you with electronics?

2. Are you willing to hack up the controller to where it will no longer work as an SNES controller?

3. Are you willing to hack up a 360 controller as well?

4. Are you willing to build a slightly "involved" circuit to accomplish your goal?

5. How much money can you afford to spend on this?

6. How much TIME are you willing to dedicate to it? Is it really that important, or would it just be "cool to have?"

Answer these questions, and I may be able to help you.

twist · Post by **twist** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:03 pm

1: I have never done anything like this before.

2: Yes. I know where to get other ones for like $7 each including shipping.

3: Yes if I can use a cheaper third party one.

4: Yes if I can.

5: Probably no more than $100 over what I have spent so far.

6: Time isn't such an issue. I do work full time but other than that I have no other time consuming commitments.

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:10 pm

Thanks.

Number 1 does present a small problem.

That pretty much leaves you with one option. Normally, this is a two-part circuit. Decoding the SNES controller, and encoding for a 360 controller...

If you were good with digital electronics, you could build a modified version of this that would work with an SNES controller (add another shift register). This would take care of decoding the SNES controller, and then you could just wire the outputs to a hacked-up 360 controller. This way, you wouldn't have to destroy your SNES controller.

If you were also able to program microcontrollers, you could build a modified version of this that could decode an SNES controller rather than a Saturn controller. This circuit also encodes for the 360, so you wouldn't have to hack up a 360 controller OR your SNES controller. This is the cleanest, but most difficult solution.

Since you can't do either (

), you're left with the solution of hacking up both a 360 controller and an SNES controller. This will be very messy, but it seems to be the only thing you can do. You can use any 360 controller you like. This is also the only method that will allow you to use the face L and R buttons independently of the shoulder buttons. All you have to do is wire each SNES controller button to the 360 controller buttons. Do you know how to begin with this, or will you need help? If you need help, we'll need a relatively high-resolution image of the circuit board for the SNES controller you plan to use, as well as of the 360 controller circuit board you will hack up.

twist · Post by **twist** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 7:38 pm

I am thinking #1 may just be a huge problem here. Gonna have to think about this a little more.

Is there anyone on these board who does this kind of thing on commission?

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 7:47 pm

twist wrote:Is there anyone on these board who does this kind of thing on commission?

Yeah, I'm sure just about every single one of us is up to the task. We do that sort of thing a lot... prepare yourself for a flood of PMs.

Really though, it's quite easy... You can do it yourself as long as you have some wire and a soldering iron.

Just get us some pictures and we'll go from there...

extremesonic · Post by **extremesonic** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 11:16 am

collinE wrote:Except with shoulder buttons. Now to hack up a 360 controller. You have to use it for compatibility with the 360 itself.

I had 2 genesis controllers with shoulder buttons. Never did anything, but they were there.

twist · Post by **twist** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:16 pm

Looks like I don't need to hack up a controller anymore: Street Fighter IV FightPad.

Available in four different designs for Xbox 360 and PS3. Hopefully the D-Pad is the same as the one on the SNES controller since they are both made by MadCatz.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 4:07 am

extremesonic wrote:
collinE wrote:Except with shoulder buttons. Now to hack up a 360 controller. You have to use it for compatibility with the 360 itself.
I had 2 genesis controllers with shoulder buttons. Never did anything, but they were there.

lol, that's great. You would think that somewhere in the design or even fabricating stage somebody would notice and point out that they just put two entirely pointless buttons in that controller

17daysolderthannes · Post by **17daysolderthannes** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 3:00 pm

Kyo wrote:
extremesonic wrote:
collinE wrote:Except with shoulder buttons. Now to hack up a 360 controller. You have to use it for compatibility with the 360 itself.
I had 2 genesis controllers with shoulder buttons. Never did anything, but they were there.
lol, that's great. You would think that somewhere in the design or even fabricating stage somebody would notice and point out that they just put two entirely pointless buttons in that controller

that's actually pretty common, especially with 3rd party stuff back in the day. My friend had a non-dualshock PSX controller and it just had 2 little rubber nubs where the joysticks would've gone. It's cheaper just to mass produce a single design and alter it slightly than to make 2 separate designs.