N64 1rst party controller joystick MOD help

[lwcook]

I was thinking about getting one of these knock-offs...

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-white-Game-Cont ... 518bdb5802

...and try making a "test" controller on that. If it turns out good, than I'll do it to a real Nintendo controller or two.

Yeah, I was wondering about the internals on those. They might be a very good shortcut...all you would have to do is switch out the stick and, depending how cheap the plastic feels, putting it all in an official shell with buttons and all.

[Ziggy]

Right, I was thinking the same. The only thing is the quality of it. I bought one of the China SNES pads once and it sucked. It was brand new, in the box, and it didn't work at all. But yeah, that would be a great shortcut... as long as it works.

[Anapan]

This won't help much for this project, but for general information on joystick mods, this site is the best I've found.
http://slagcoin.com/joystick.html
There's pinouts for a N64 joystick PCB in the PCBs section.

Some other stuff I found that may or may not be useful:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/80
http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/x2wii/index_en.php
http://denki.world3.net/n64togc.html

[bacteria]

The joystick in the official N64 controllers break easily and only use those types of joysticks too. Mirage WildThings N64 controllers also use the game joysticks, again, not good. They aren't the only N64 controllers to use the same crappy stick. Any 3rd party N64 controller not using that stick can use joysticks from pretty much any other controller (GameCube, Xbox, PSone, etc). You get 6 contact points normally, of which two grounds and two VCC contacts share the same contacts, some joysticks just have 4 wires (same thing) - VCC, X, Y and Ground.

In my view the best joystick (and best N64 controller) to use is the one off the Superpad N64 Plus / Makopad (same thing), however they are large joysticks and will not fit into your original N64 controller.

Personally I find the "tri" official joystick not easy to hold, but hey!

Here are some typical N64 3rd party controllers:



Here is a PDF document, taken from my Wordpress site, with pics and pinouts, you might find useful:

http://moddedbybacteria.files.wordpress ... ticks1.pdf

One issue you will have: the joystick area on the official N64 controller is sloped not straight, so harder to replace with an alternative.

You can always use the original N64 buttons, connect to rubber backed tact switches, make a button pad holder; wire them to an unofficial N64 controller board, and thereby use a 3rd party joystick; and use the same original N64 controller shell. Just a bit of modding work and wiring, not too complex a job.

You might also find the other two articles on my site's same page useful too:

http://moddedbybacteria.wordpress.com/m ... and-d-pad/

[Anapan]

I knew you'd jump in. The rest of the useful info I found was on Benheck and provided by you blaze3927 and jleemero.

[Incognito D]

Nostalgia Overload!

Although I remember now - I always found it stupid how they would say "this one's best for racing games" or "this one's best for shooters". It was like they expected you to have an absolute stash of all the different controllers, and like a true conneauseur, pull out the right control for whatever game you were playing.
Like, "I'm playing F1 World Grand Prix - I think I'll select my Joytech Controller Plus 64..."

The best control was the official one. No matter what game you were playing.

Also, my friend had the MakoPad - just had to throw that out there...

[bacteria]

Actually, Nintendo made the layout for the official controller specifically designed for Super Mario 64. Sure, some layouts will fit certain games better than others.

For me the Makopad / Superpad 64 Plus (same thing, only non clear casing) are the best to use, nice in you hand and the joystick is excellent.

[Incognito D]

you may well be right, but in this case I get suspicious that the magazine was just making it up as they went along. Most of those controllers are just bad versions of the official controller with the prongs removed.
I do remember the Mako Pad stick feeling sturdy though so I'm with you there. I just get suspicious with comments like "great for shooters!", because when you think about it... the N64 wasn't exactly reknowned for shooters (assuming it means shmups)

[bacteria]

Some people like the official one, some don't. Personally, I found it awkward to hold, however I recently played for many hours on the Makopad on Donkey Kong, and Super Mario, and found it excellent, its wierd shape holds nicely in the hands and works well. The magazine scan was from official Nintendo magazines, in other words, extremely biast towards their own branded products.

In fact, when I make my controller for my multi system (next project, going to be a biggie!), I may well modify one of these controllers to work on my system.

[fastbilly1]

bacteria I just have to say that your site is amazing. I was looking for something for an article here and your site kept showing up as the first hit, and almost every time I wasted an hour or so browsing through it.