Making A Left-Handed NES Controller

August 10, 2021 by Lewin Day 19 Comments

The controller for the original Nintendo Entertainment System is a classic, but perhaps not best known for its adherence to good ergonomic principles. Regardless, it can grow awkward to use for long stretches of time. To help alleviate this, [Taylor] whipped up an easy way to convert a NES controller to left-handed operation.

The mod board in question, installed on a NES controller PCB.

The crux of the hack is simple, with the controller’s buttons swapped left-to-right to enable the controller to be flipped upside down. In this orientation, the D-pad is used by the right hand and the action buttons by the left–the opposite of the usual way. Thus, left and right on the D-pad must be switched, as well as A and B, so all the controls are otherwise in a logical layout.

This is achieved through the use of a little mod board of [Taylor]’s own design. The original HD14021BP chip is desoldered from the controller’s PCB, and installed in the mod board instead. The modboard can then be soldered back into the controller, rerouting the traces to swap the buttons. There’s also a version that [Taylor] designed that can flip between right-handed and left-handed operation thanks to some onboard DIP switches.

It’s a tidy hack that could save the thumbs of some dedicated Tetris players. Alternatively, you can always make your own NES controller from scratch. Video after the break.

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A SNES Music Player You Can Control With A Browser

August 8, 2021 by Lewin Day 3 Comments

Listening to chiptunes on an emulator or software-based player is fine, but sometimes you just gotta have that real hardware charm. [Kazhuu] is one such enthusiast who feels this way, and set about building a hardware player for SNES chiptunes that can be controlled from a browser.

The build relies on an Arduino Micro to control the SNES Audio Processing Unit (APU), featuring the Nintendo S-SMP as produced by Sony and designed by Ken Kutaragi. Yes, the father of the PlayStation designed the capable wavetable synthesis chip in the Super Nintendo, and it’s that same hardware that [Kazhuu]’s project interfaces with modern hardware.

With the Arduino’s IO lines hooked up to the APU, song data can be piped out to the Arduino over a serial connection to a PC. This can be handled by a Python script, or more intuitively via a browser-based front-end. This uses WebUSB in order to take input from the browser and then send data out over the USB-serial connection to the Arduino.

It’s a neat demonstration of both working with vintage Nintendo sound hardware and how to code modern browser applications to work with embedded systems. If you’re a SEGA kid, though, you might prefer this build instead. Video after the break.

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Nintendo Zapper Reborn As Home Automation Remote

August 7, 2021 by Brian McEvoy 3 Comments

Generally, using a gun to turn your lights off is dangerous and expensive, but for the [DuctTape Mechanic], it’s just how he does things. Video also after the break. To be fair, he uses a salvaged Nintendo Zapper, not a firearm, and replaces the guts with an RF transmitter. We are shocked that he chose a radio model instead of infrared seeing as how he is repurposing a light gun, but our scores in Duck Hunt suggest he made the right choice.

The transmitter comes from a keychain remote, so it all fits neatly inside the Zapper chassis. A couple of wires hijack the stock button and run to the stock trigger, so you keep that authentic feel. The receiver side is a bit trickier. When it senses a button press, it sends a pulse, as you would find in a garage door opener, but to keep a lamp on, there needs to be some latching and so there is an Arduino. The microcontroller keeps a tally and operates a 10 amp relay module, so it is mostly acting as the glue between hardware. All of the mains electrical components sit in a blue plastic box with a receptacle on the front.

We don’t see the Zappers used for their intended purposes much anymore because they rely on old technology, but that doesn’t keep people from repurposing the iconic peripheral.

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Mega Man 4 Free of Charge ROM Hack Pexels Anete Lusina

Mega Man Hack Drops Charge Shot, Adds Classic Style

August 4, 2021 by Drew Littrell 3 Comments

When it comes to the six original Mega Man games there is a clear dividing line between the first three and the last. Mega Man 4 introduced the charging shot mechanic that allowed players to hold down the fire button in order to power-up a single blast from Mega Man’s arm cannon. The aptly named, “Mega Man 4: Free of Charge” ROM hack by [Peter] seeks to bring cohesion with the first trilogy of Mega Man games by removing the charge shot mechanic completely. To compensate for the change, enemy health bars were also adjusted so that enemies aren’t as bullet-spongy.

The Mega Man 4: Free of Charge download comes as an IPS patch file. There are free utilities out there like Floating IPS that can apply the patch file to a clean dump of a NES cartridge. This ROM hack is playable on original Nintendo Entertainment System hardware via a flashcart device, or it can be played by any common NES emulator like FCEUX or Nestopia.

One of the most annoying parts of Mega Man 4 (minus the difficulty) was the constant whir of the charge shot drowning out the brilliant soundtrack. With a patch like [Peter]’s this is no longer a going concern, and players are able to give their thumbs a bit of a break by not needing to continually hold down fire throughout a run. All welcomed changes aside, it still won’t change the fact that the Japanese TV commercial for the game is cooler than the print ads in the US.

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Rocket League Inspired Homebrew Reverses Onto Nintendo GameCube

August 3, 2021 by Drew Littrell 5 Comments

Would it have been too obvious to call a game about soccer playing RC cars, Soc-Car? Well [Martin] thought so and opted to call his Nintendo GameCube homebrew game, Retro League GX. The game clearly takes inspiration from Rocket League developed by Psyonix, as it pits teams of cars on a pitch plus comes complete with boosts to boot. There are some impressive physics on display here, and according to Krista over at GBATemp everything is playable on original hardware. Though those without a GameCube can certainly get a match in via the Dolphin emulator.

There are a number of ways to boot homebrew on a Nintendo GameCube, however, the most essential piece of software would be Swiss. Swiss is a homebrew utility that interfaces with all the myriad of ways to load code onto a GameCube these days. Common ways loading homebrew include saving files onto an SD card then using a SDGecko device that plugs into the memory card ports, or a SD2SP2 device that plugs into one of the GameCube’s expansion ports located on the bottom of the console. Those who prefer ditching the disc drive entirely can load homebrew via a optical disc emulator device like the GC Loader.

Still on the roadmap Retro League GX are ports for 3DS, PSP, Wii, and Linux. LAN and Online multiplayer are in the works as well. So at least that way GameCube broadband adapter owners may get to branch out beyond Phantasy Star Online for once. Best of all, [Martin] stated that the code for Retro League GX will be open sourced sometime next year.

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Fixing Joy-Con Drift With Recycle Bin Parts

July 16, 2021 by Kristina Panos 16 Comments

Have you seen this yet? YouTuber [VK’s Channel] claims to have a permanent fix for Joy-Con drift — the tendency for Nintendo Switch controllers to behave as though they’re being moved around when they’re not even being touched. Like everyone else, [VK’s Channel] tried all the usual suspects: compressed air, isopropyl alcohol, contact cleaner, and even WD-40. But these are only temporary fixes, and the drift always comes back. None of the other fixes so far are permanent, either, like shimming the flat cable that connects the stick to the mobo, adding graphite to the worn pads inside, or trying to fix a possible bad antenna connection.

While calibrating a drifting Joy-Con, [VK’s Channel] noticed that applying pressure near the Y and B buttons corrected the issue immediately, so they got the idea to add a 1mm thick piece of card stock inside. [VK’s Channel] believes the issue is that there is no fastener connecting the plastic part of the joystick to the metal part on the bottom. Over time, using the joystick causes the bottom to sag, which makes the metal contacts inside lose their grip on the graphite pads. It’s been two months now and there is absolutely no drift in either of the Joy-Cons that [VK’s Channel] has shored up this way.

Nintendo is now fixing Joy-Cons for free. The problem is that they are replacing irreparable ones outright, so you have to agree that you will settle for a plain old gray, red, or blue instead of your special edition Zelda controllers or whatever you send them. Hopefully, this really is a permanent fix, and that Nintendo gives [VK’s Channel] a job.

You could forego the joysticks altogether and swap them out for touchpads. Suffering from XBOX drift instead? We have just the thing.

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Leggo My Nintoaster!

July 7, 2021 by Kristina Panos 9 Comments

If you’re one of today’s lucky 10,000* who have never seen a Nintoaster case mod before, boy are we glad you get to see this one first. [Dizzle813] found a shiny old Sunbeam toaster that looks just like the one we grew up with. Although the original creator made a build video, there is room for improvement in the explanation, and some people prefer reading, anyway. This handy guide references and builds upon [VomitSaw]’s original Nintoaster video.

[Dizzle813] really makes the hard parts look easy, and a build like this seems to be mostly hard parts. Unless you find this exact vintage of Sunbeam, you would have to orchestrate the innards as needed to fit your toaster. The hardest part of all is probably wiring up the 72-pin connector to the NES motherboard, but [Dizzle813] managed to pull it off using 22 AWG solid-core wire and still get everything to flex and fit together. Even still, they broke off a pin trying to ease it into the perfboard, but cutting a hole in the connector and inserting a bodge wire replacement worked just fine.

We absolutely love the way this looks and operates, especially with the lever-activated power button and the six orange LEDs inside that are brightness-controlled through the toastiness knob. Be sure to check out the demo after the break.