controller

268 Articles

Button Mapping For All

May 15, 2010 by 36 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G–u63Gka_0]

[Tim] came across a Kotaku story about a handicapped gamer who’s starting an Internet petition for button mapping features in all games. First of all, watch this guy play Modern Warfare 2 with a stock control, he’s got some mad skills. We’d normally be looking for a hardware solution like this PS3 Frankenstein controller or a controller emulator to do the job. There’s also the mix-and-match controller that Ben Heck sells. But we’re inclined to agree that button mapping is a useful feature for everyone, especially if you’re in [Chuck Bittner’s] shoes. We still miss the console and macro capabilities of the original Quake… oh why didn’t that functionality make it into console gaming?

Custom Controllers For PlayStation 3

April 25, 2010 by 22 Comments

[Matlo] worked out a way to use a PS/2 Keyboard and USB mouse with a PlayStation3. The hard work is handled by a Teensy board, which is becoming a popular choice with controller hacks. It interfaces with the keyboard and mouse, translates their input, and sends joystick button commands to the PS3. He is limited to mapping the inputs from a PS3 controller but that is still enough options to work beautifully with first person shooters, especially if you’re used to gaming on a PC instead of a console. If you want to give this one a try, head over to the google code page to download the source code.

Driving The Car Without Going Anywhere

April 23, 2010 by 34 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psAZSPK4pWc]

This video game controller is a factory fresh VW. Much like the racing simulator from earlier in the week, the video game data is being displayed on the instrument panel. This takes us to a much higher level now because control for the game is taken from the car’s CANbus using and ODB-II connector. If you don’t speak in automotive jargon, that means that the sensor readings from the steering wheel, shifter, and pedals are being picked up and exported as joystick commands to the PC running the driving game. The only place the experience uses a substitute for the real thing is the sound, which is being played through speakers instead of emanating from under the hood. Looks like you just need to add a projector and screen to your garage in order to turn it into the hottest new gaming device.

Playstation 2 Controller To PSP Adapter

April 23, 2010 by 17 Comments

[TokyoDrift] built an adapter that allows you to connect a PlayStation 2 controller to a PlayStation Portable. It’s a bit different from similar hacks as this adapter doesn’t require any hardware alteration to the PSP or the controller. To do so, a plug-in is used on the PSP firmware side of things. The adapter then makes use of video out and PS2 controller extension cables, along with an ATmega8 microcontroller to handle the signals between the two devices. We posted a picture of the guts because we like that king of thing but the finished project is nicely housed inside of a project box. See for yourself in the video after the break.

If you liked this hack, check out [TokyoDrift’s] method of using a mouse with a PSP. Continue reading “Playstation 2 Controller To PSP Adapter” →

Just The Right Controller For Any Game

April 20, 2010 by 22 Comments

[Patrice] hacked all of his classic controllers for use when playing games on an emulator. He made the base station starting with a USB gaming controller. From there he soldered wires connecting the PCB pads for all of the buttons to the pins of a d-sub connector. The same is done on the classic controller, allowing him to switch them out at will. If you do the wiring correctly you only need to configure your emulator buttons once. This is a lot easier than trying to find and use classic controller connectors but you do have to alter that vintage hardware.

XBMC Hiding In An SNES Controller

March 23, 2010 by 20 Comments

Here’s another SNES controller converted to house a USB system. The one we saw last time used a kit as an adapter for the controller but this version uses a home-built PCB and an ATmega8 microcontroller with the latest revision of an open source adapter for NES and SNES controllers. As you can see after the break, [Atarity] built the adapter, then added it along with a USB hub and thumb drive so that he could run a copy of XBMC from the controller. Now he’s got XBMC as a way to launch emulators for those classic games, as well as play traditional media.

You will be seeing more of this type of mod soon. We were tipped off that an in-depth tutorial for SNES controller hacking is on its way, although that is unrelated to [Atarity’s] work.

Continue reading “XBMC Hiding In An SNES Controller” →

Guitar Hero As An Instrument Or Midi Controller

February 4, 2010 by 19 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azfgasnWtW0]

[Robert] wrote a program using Max/MSP that lets him make music with his guitar hero controller. There’s another video after the break where he walks through the various features but here’s the gist of it. This works on Mac and Windows and allows a sort of ‘live play’ or midi mapping mode. In the midi mode each key can be configured to do your bidding. His example uses the pick bar to scroll through different samples and the green button the play them or the red button to stop.

The live mode us much more involved. In the software you choose the type of scale and the key you’d like to play in. This makes up for the controller’s lack of enough frets to make it a chromatic instrument and these settings can be adjust from the controller. There is an up-pick offset that makes the upward movement of the pick bar a different note than the downward movement. The motion control can also be used as an input. He demonstrates pitch bending and cutoff using that method.

This looks like a lot of fun. He needs to team up with [Joran] to add drums to the mix, forming a much more creative rock band than you can buy in the store.

Continue reading “Guitar Hero As An Instrument Or Midi Controller” →