Hey,

As you know, we don’t have a link cable, or a suitable connector available for the VB. There’s several ways to make a cable that works, but in the end, it’s mostly ugly hacks for development/prototyping. I’ve been trying to come up with a way to make a quality cable that would just plug in… but so far have been unsuccessful.

So… it got me thinking… how about just making a proper cable? I contacted a custom part manufacturer (who I’ve used parts from in the past), and they said they could do it, but of course wouldn’t be “cheap”. I sort of based my design thoughts on the SNES A/V connector, which includes a plastic shell with crimp pins. So, I found some crimp pins which should work, but I didn’t have any way to make a 3D model of the plastic shell.

Well, of course I asked Hedgetrimmer (our resident 3D modeling expert), and he created a GREAT model of a plastic shell to house the pins. With that, I was able to verify with the MFG that it could be made, as well as get an estimate for price.

So, now here’s the question. They were right… it’s not cheap. A complete link cable would cost about $40, since the quantity would be so low. At this price, how many would be interested (and how many)? Would anyone want just the connector/pins?

There’d probably only be about 50 cables made, and this would probably be the only run, since I’m assuming the demand would be low. I don’t mind investing the money (and probably losing quite a bit on this project), since I think it’s a very worthwhile project… but, if I’m the only one that has any interest in it, there’s no point in even considering it further.

But, IMO this seems like a good time to pursue this, since homebrew is continually advancing, and I think linked homebrew has been held down by lack of link cable. Also, I assume some will be buying the new Flashboy, even though they already have an old Flashboy… so with two flash carts, why not have a cable to link the systems?

Of course, if there’s an unanticipated large interest in this, the price would come down… but we’re a pretty small community, and the homebrew crowd is really the only market for this.

Thanks,
DogP

Design updated and new parts on order.

I’ll have the first 5 to 6 cables ready next week.

I’ll put down for this one. So this link cable will connect two VBs, right? I wonder what Nintendo had in mind for games with more than four players (like Bomberman or a Tetris with a versus mode).

New parts on the way with improved surface finish.

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Nice, did they print at better quality or did they polish it?

e5frog wrote:
Nice, did they print at better quality or did they polish it?

Same print settings. Different orientation. No polishing.

Is there open slots for the cable? I guess I missed this and im interested.

Wyndcrosser wrote:
Is there open slots for the cable? I guess I missed this and im interested.

The first batch is about 10 or 12 cables. Those are all gone but there will be more once those ship. All the parts are on their way and should be here probably this weekend.

I’m planning on making 25 cables at the moment. All parts except the actual connector have been ordered for the 25 (meaning cabling and pins). I have connector parts currently coming for 12 complete cables. I’ve had some printed FDM using Onyx and some printed SLS using a PA12 material. I’m testing different print methods and materials and so don’t want to order too many to begin with. Additional ones are coming in ABS but I’m guessing the quality will be too low. If the ABS versions are acceptable then I may have more initially.

mellott124 wrote:

The first batch is about 10 or 12 cables. Those are all gone but there will be more once those ship. All the parts are on their way and should be here probably this weekend.

I’m planning on making 25 cables at the moment. All parts except the actual connector have been ordered for the 25 (meaning cabling and pins). I have connector parts currently coming for 12 complete cables. I’ve had some printed FDM using Onyx and some printed SLS using a PA12 material. I’m testing different print methods and materials and so don’t want to order too many to begin with. Additional ones are coming in ABS but I’m guessing the quality will be too low. If the ABS versions are acceptable then I may have more initially.

Have you decided how much you’re gonna be selling these for?

retronintendonerd wrote:

mellott124 wrote:

The first batch is about 10 or 12 cables. Those are all gone but there will be more once those ship. All the parts are on their way and should be here probably this weekend.

I’m planning on making 25 cables at the moment. All parts except the actual connector have been ordered for the 25 (meaning cabling and pins). I have connector parts currently coming for 12 complete cables. I’ve had some printed FDM using Onyx and some printed SLS using a PA12 material. I’m testing different print methods and materials and so don’t want to order too many to begin with. Additional ones are coming in ABS but I’m guessing the quality will be too low. If the ABS versions are acceptable then I may have more initially.

Have you decided how much you’re gonna be selling these for?

Yes. I’m going to do a bit of an experiment with this first batch. I’ll let everyone know what the build cost is and then they can offer their own price through PM. It obviously has to be above what it costs to make. People will need to cover their own shipping as well.

That sounds fair enough 🙂

Nice, that looks really good!

Got the new parts and they look really good. The orientation change really made the print nice. I’ll be building with these parts.

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Looks great!

Nice, that looks way better

So i would love to purchase one of these eventually, but is this going to be like hyper fighting? where only like 50 are going to be made and if you dont get them immediately you will have to pay 1500 dollars for it afterwards? or do you plan on making them in batches every once in a while? not trying to sound whiny, im just kinda broke atm but would love to get one of these in the near future.

It’s going to be small batches while there is interest. I’m guessing no more than 50 or 100 will ever be made. That’s my guess at the moment. Remember these are hand made.

For pricing, material is about $25 per cable and about 30 min to build a single cable. So, like I said previously, I’ll let people offer their own price. It needs to be above $25 and I reserve the right to not sell you one if the price is too low. Really the idea is to get these to people who have always needed or wanted one. Any extra monies usually go back into other projects I have going.

I’ll be contacting the first few developers and buyers on the list this weekend.

Instead of this guessing competition for monetary impaired people, wouldn’t it be better to say something like “$35 and tip is allowed”.

I see this pattern emerging:

$25.10 – nope
$25.20 – nope
$25.30 …
…

etc

😉

e5frog wrote:
Instead of this guessing competition for monetary impaired people, wouldn’t it be better to say something like “$35 and tip is allowed”.

I see this pattern emerging:

$25.10 – nope
$25.20 – nope
$25.30 …
…

etc

😉

I’m experimenting. I’ll see how it goes and if it becomes a pain, I’ll just set a price.

[mellott124]

It’s official now. First link cable being shipped out. The black heat shrink on one end marks Player 1 as defined by Hyper Fighting. Took longer than I expected but hopefully I get faster at building them.

Hyper Fighting just starts working after you select VERSUS on both Virtual Boys, as I mentioned. TicTacToe and 3D BattleSnake seem to want player 2 to start things off. When I try to use Player 1 to initiate, things lock up. I could be wrong on the boot up assumption but letting Player 2 kick it off always works.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by mellott124.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by mellott124.

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Good to see this happening, I’ll be interested in picking one up from the next batch 🙂