Topic: Who's up for some hardware hacking?

[UncleBob]

My Wal*Mart (check yours!) has these for $2.50:
http://www.toysrus.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&catalogId=10054&langId=-1&productId=66773

The ones that my Wal*Mart has are in a different package, but it's the same product.

But here's the interesting thing (and why it's posted on this particular forum!)...


The plug that you use to connect the second controller into the main unit is a frickin' GameCube Controller plug/port.

Now, aside from wandering how legal this is (Seriously, I'd like to know!), I couldn't wait to get this setup home and see if it did anything.
Well, the plug fits perfectly into the GameCube Controller port (which I figured it would).  Sadly, I cannot get any response from any of the buttons on the controller.  Plugging a GCN Controller into the main Coleco Controller also has no response.  HOWEVER, what makes this interesting is that the generic GCN Controller extension cable that I've got will work as an extension cable for the Coleco system...  Weird, eh?

Anywhoo, it seems to me that there has to be some kind of useful hack for something like this...

[KDR_11k]

HOWEVER, what makes this interesting is that the generic GCN Controller extension cable that I've got will work as an extension cable for the Coleco system... Weird, eh?

Why shouldn't it? Extension cables only connect the pins from one plug to another, they don't change the arrangement in any way and don't care about the data sent.

The communication protocol is probably completely different, Nintendo never used ports that were just wires to the microswitches in the controller, they always had communication protocols. Of course it doesn't work, the data sent from one device is complete garbage to the other. Careful, you could even damage your hardware with that (e.g. different voltages on different pins).

[ruby_onix]

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
Why shouldn't it? Extension cables only connect the pins from one plug to another, they don't change the arrangement in any way and don't care about the data sent.

Tell that to Sony.

[vudu]

This is why you have no money for Odama.  Stop buying stuff like this.

[UncleBob]

Heartless, but true.

Don't worry though, I'm clocking in the overtime this pay check - 54 hours last week and 52 hours this week.  I'll have the money.

[capamerica]

I'm not sure how you would hack it to work.

[UncleBob]

I dunno... That's why I threw the suggestion out to y'all.

[animecyberrat]

well thers a couple ways yo could do it but they are too tchnical for discusion here so maybe you should post yor Q over in Technical discusion. I Noticed a similar thing witht he Plug N play tv game thing that looks liek an N64 controller but has NES games onit, it uses the same connector thet Atari, Genesis and 3Do used,

I never could get Any controllers for Genesis or Atari to work ont hem but the 3dO pad I have worked a little but not very well. I noticed that Atari and Genesis controlers are 100% compatible with each other, except if your using an atari stick youc an only play Sonic as it is the only game that uses 1 button. I ws able to near sucessfuly get a GC controller to work on my DC but it took some serious tweeking and ended up ruining the GC controller.

[PaLaDiN]

I guess you could plug the GC controller into a board and program that to interface with the other controller. Don't see what the point would be though.

[UncleBob]

I was thinking it could be a make-shift GameBoy Player Controller.

A and B would be, well, A and B.
X and Y would be Select and Start.

The Directional Pad would either be mapped to the D pad or the Control Stick (if that would even be possible).

Perhaps it could even be used as a DDR-type pad?

[ruby_onix]

Quote
Originally posted by: animecyberrat
I Noticed a similar thing witht he Plug N play tv game thing that looks liek an N64 controller but has NES games onit, it uses the same connector thet Atari, Genesis and 3Do used,

I never could get Any controllers for Genesis or Atari to work ont hem but the 3dO pad I have worked a little but not very well. I noticed that Atari and Genesis controlers are 100% compatible with each other, except if your using an atari stick youc an only play Sonic as it is the only game that uses 1 button.

That used to be a common port used on PC's and other computer equipment back in the late-70's early-80's. After Sega used it in the Genesis, Atari sued them over it, probably because Atari was the first "console" to use that kind of port (and Atari was dead and wanted money). Atari won and got a couple billion Sega dollars, so everyone stopped using it. Nintendo LOLed because the Famicom's controllers in Japan were hardwired, and the NES's ones happened to be customized (the Famicom's expansion port for things like the Zapper used the Atari style port, but Atari didn't notice, and Nintendo got away with it).  

[jasonditz]

The 2600 is nearly three decades old now... the patent for that controller port has long since expired.

And even if it hadn't, there'd be some serious questions as to whether anyone still owned that patent or not. When Hasbro bought out the original Atari (and before they sold off the name to Infogrames) they put all the legacy hardware into the public domain, because there were a few people who wanted to make some new Jaguar games and they had no intention of setting up any sort of 3rd party licensing agreement. So, even assuming the patent was still valid up to that point, it's gone now.

Oh, and Nintendo was originally discussing the possibility of Atari bringing the Famicom to the US market, so it's possible that Atari actually granted them the rights to that port. Or that Atari never got a Japanese patent for it during the window after its invention. After all, who back then figured the Japanese would want to play video games?

[animecyberrat]

That makes sense, so how did 3D0 get away with using it?  Now that yo mention it I do remeber my Atari Computer and other old pcs using that same port.