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!

In my opinion, this is actually a great move on Nintendo’s part.

Afterall, it seems only fair that they compensate us “early-adopters” for the $90 price cut taking place just less than 5 months after launch; they certainly didn’t HAVE to do this, but that’s not to say they wouldn’t lose some fans if they hadn’t.

What this does for me is help to maintain the feeling of pride instilled when purchasing at launch, rather than overriding that with an overwhelming sense of betrayal. I find it especially nice of them that the GBA games in particular are going to be EXCLUSIVELY available to “3DS Ambassadors” (as they are currently claiming, at least), meaning you’ll have bragging rights that in my mind supersede those of someone who “paid $100 less than you”.

Lester Knight wrote:
I would need this circuit, a usb wire, and a VB controller? Solder the VB controller to the board and the usb wire to the board?

Yep, it’s that simple! You could actually follow DogP’s guide for everything but the actual soldering part.

If I understand the color-coding of the VB wires correctly, looking at this picture of the circuit, you would solder the orange wire to the point PC5 (top-right), brown to PC4, yellow to PC3, and then black to (-) and blue to (+). The USB cable is soldered to the left side, with white going to W, green to G, and then black to (-) and red to (+).

In total I reckon that would be about 9 points that you have to solder 🙂

DogP wrote:
Really??? That’s very odd… the VB uses the exact same protocol as the NES/SNES, and both the SNES and VB transmit 16 bits (the VB has more buttons, but the SNES just transmits those extra “buttons” as not pressed). I’ve even hooked up NES and SNES controllers to work on the VB. Did it not do anything when you hooked it up, or were buttons missing, or something else?

I found this odd as well, since I was sure the VB controller used the same protocol. When I plugged the controller into the PC it didn’t do anything; it was never even detected. Maybe I just ended up with a faulty circuit, but Retro USB’s email response stated that they had performed tests revealing incompatibility.

Fwirt wrote:
Huh, I emailed him my updated source archive back when I posted that, but he never emailed me back about it or updated the firmware version on the DIY page, so I assumed he never received it or didn’t care. It’s funny to see that product in the store now, I wonder if he merged my code or wrote a version himself… Either way, that’s pretty cool. It’s a whole different experience playing with a real VB pad, so hopefully that option will be accessible to more people now.

When first contacting him I referred to your modified version of the SNES/NES adapter firmware, but he was quick to respond that he had preconfigured/unreleased versions of the circuit available, so who knows. If I had known a bit more about building circuits I would have certainly attempted to follow your lead, so thanks for that!

DogP wrote:
I’m not familiar with that one, but I did build one from RetroUSB: http://www.retrousb.com/index.php?cPath=25 . They used to sell one labeled as a VB kit, which I don’t see on their site anymore… but it should be the same as the NES/SNES one (should email to verify). Here’s my writeup on building it: http://www.projectvb.com/mods/controllers/usb.html .

DogP

I hadn’t realized you were the one that wrote that tutorial! That’s too cool. I actually originally purchased one of the NES/SNES kits from Retro USB to attempt the conversion with the help of your handy guide, but unfortunately the thing never worked when I plugged it into the computer. Emailing them afterwards revealed that the NES/SNES kit is, in fact, incompatible with the Virtual Boy controller.

Unfortunate, but I can still thank you for the inspiration to pursue this endeavor in the first place!

I know I pretty much missed the boat on this one but I really enjoyed this video. Keith at his finest. What’s funny is the FantomenK song you used was already my favorite, and I can honestly say this video further serves to enhance that opinion. Keep up the great work!

Nice job! Looks to make the whole VB experience MUCH more enjoyable than with the standard setup. Sucks that it went glitchy on your afterwards :/

I just wanted to say I really enjoyed these shots and thought they turned out perfectly. I especially liked the depth of the “fight” screen.

Makes me hopeful that Nintendo will make the right choice and bring at least a few titles out of the VB’s library (like VB Wario Land) to the 3DS in some form or fashion.

Thanks for uploading these!