I’ve downloaded Virtual Boy emulators, and ROMS, but I’m struggling with the controls. I haven’t been able to find any usb controllers, just kits, but I’m not really technically inclined. Furthermore; with the dual d-pads, the Virtual Boy has a kind of unusual control scheme. Does anybody have any recommendations? Would a generic gamepad suffice?

ps1-ps3 controller. ps1 and ps2 can be connected to usb using a cheap $3-5 adapter. ps3 can be connected via bluetooth or usb using some software.

d-pad = left dpad
buttons = right dpad
select and start = b an a
L1 and R1 = the trigger buttons
L2 and R2 = select and start

it would be nice if someone built up a bunch of vb controller to usb adapters and sold them here. =)

It looks like DogP built one some time ago: link

I think he used this kit.

I should try making one. I wouldn’t mind making them for people if I could get it right…

Edit:// Okay, I’ve ordered two USB kits to play with. If I’m going to make some, I’m going to do it in a way that doesn’t destroy the original cable so that it could be replaced if someone so chose, nor do I want to harm the original controller if I can help it. I’ll have to source the blue plastic internal connector, but those are common — we’ve got them here at work, for instance. 🙂

This should be a fun project…

Lester Knight wrote:
ps1-ps3 controller. ps1 and ps2 can be connected to usb using a cheap $3-5 adapter. ps3 can be connected via bluetooth or usb using some software.

d-pad = left dpad
buttons = right dpad
select and start = b an a
L1 and R1 = the trigger buttons
L2 and R2 = select and start

it would be nice if someone built up a bunch of vb controller to usb adapters and sold them here. =)

This post basically sums it up nicely. There is a plethora of PlayStation-inspired USB controllers out there and they’d do pretty nicely.

You could even use the two analog sticks on more upscale generic USB controllers for the D-Pads and use the buttons for B and A and the trigger buttons for trigger buttons and start and select as start and select.

You can get one from these guys also. I bought one, but haven’t put it together yet.

http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/virtualboy2usb/index.php?category=Kits

The only emulation that I do is the Virtual Boy emulator for Wii; the Classic Controller works amazingly well.

Randy wrote:
You can get one from these guys also. I bought one, but haven’t put it together yet.

http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/virtualboy2usb/index.php?category=Kits

Neat to see someone else doing those circuits aside from retrousb. How big is the board? Can it fit in the controller okay?

jrronimo wrote:

Randy wrote:
You can get one from these guys also. I bought one, but haven’t put it together yet.

http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/virtualboy2usb/index.php?category=Kits

Neat to see someone else doing those circuits aside from retrousb. How big is the board? Can it fit in the controller okay?

It’s not very big, just over 1″ long by .75″ wide. I’d never considered putting it in the controller, but I do think it would fit.

Randy wrote:

It’s not very big, just over 1″ long by .75″ wide. I’d never considered putting it in the controller, but I do think it would fit.

I’ve already ordered a couple boards from retrousb and I’m planning to make brand-new cables that could be swapped in by the end-user, ideally such that the board can fit inside the controller. If the retrousb ones don’t work, I’ll check those out!

At least, if anyone’s interested. :p

jrronimo wrote:

I’ve already ordered a couple boards from retrousb and I’m planning to make brand-new cables that could be swapped in by the end-user, ideally such that the board can fit inside the controller. If the retrousb ones don’t work, I’ll check those out!

At least, if anyone’s interested. :p

I’m interested to see how it turns out. I remember retrousb used to have a different product listing specifically for the Virtual Boy but that has long since disappeared, so I wasn’t sure the NES / SNES one was the same.

Randy wrote:

jrronimo wrote:

I’ve already ordered a couple boards from retrousb and I’m planning to make brand-new cables that could be swapped in by the end-user, ideally such that the board can fit inside the controller. If the retrousb ones don’t work, I’ll check those out!

At least, if anyone’s interested. :p

I’m interested to see how it turns out. I remember retrousb used to have a different product listing specifically for the Virtual Boy but that has long since disappeared, so I wasn’t sure the NES / SNES one was the same.

Ah fudge, I might’ve misread the whole thing… in which case you’re absolutely right. I thought that DogP had used the NES/SNES ones for a VB, but I just read on his site:

I also picked up a USB Virtual Boy controller kit from http://www.retrousb.com and it works great, so I put a page on that up in the controller section.

which is in line with what you said — a Virtual Boy specific kit.

So, I’ll try to hook one up anyway. *shrug* Maybe it’ll do something, haha. If not I’ll convert one of my NES and SNES controllers and pick up a couple of those kits you mentioned.

That’ll teach me not to RTFM. 😛

Either way, I think I can make something that is a cable that the end-user could swap out of their VB, no cable-cutting required, and I think that’d be neat. 🙂

jrronimo wrote:
Neat to see someone else doing those circuits aside from retrousb. How big is the board? Can it fit in the controller okay?

I’m a bit late to the party, but wanted to confirm that the Raphnet circuit does indeed fit quite nicely inside the VB controller.

With limited soldering experience I undertook this project sometime last year and must say that having a VB USB controller makes a world of difference in playing the games on an emulator 🙂

Just in case you need a couple pointers, here’s one of my original posts on the subject: http://www.planetvb.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=14886#forumpost14886

Enjoy!

Awesome, thanks! I got my RetroUSB kits but then didn’t ever make time to try installing them. It’s still on the docket, though; maybe in a week or two. I’d love to as much confirm that it works as anything.