Buffalo Classic USB Gamepad for PC

Product Information

For the most part, these tips should do the job. However, should they fail to work, then the best means of moving forward may very well be to get a new gamepad. Ditto on finding a smaller one. It would also be possible to cut off a strip from the bottom of the connectors to shrink it, and depending on how brave one is with the soldering iron it could be cut all the way down to the white line leaving only the thin traces to connect to. There might be a danger of connections snapping off from tension when putting the controller together if you went to the extreme with that, however.

While making connections I stopped at several points (after connecting pairs of wires) to test the buttons that should be enabled. This will prevent you from getting everything connected up before realizing there is a problem. One of the rubber button pieces from the shoulder buttons worked to complete the button connections for testing. Suily made a few minor controller modifications, specifically by adding etching to the red "B" and "A" buttons. Of course, the biggest change is the somewhat short 5.6-foot cord, which ends in a standard USB-A plug for compatibility with Raspberry Pi, Windows, Mac, and Linux. You'll have no issue diving into your classic NES library, and enjoying favorites like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Ninja Gaiden, and so many more. Also, a good emulator controller can often be used for general[purpose gaming on the PC. Steam, Origins, Epic, and GOG.com all have generic joypad support so you can use an emulator controller to play regular games on the PC. This dual functionality is a great feature, especially in a gaming age when developers often intentionally try to mimic the look and feel of retro video games.The case of the hub I used was held together with a single screw, the case lifted apart to reveal a single board. There's only one way to truly experience retro gaming, and that's with a controller fashioned after the iconic design. For NES titles, you'll want to go with Suily's NES USB Controller, a near 1:1 recreation of the accessory that once shipped with Nintendo's first console. The iBuffalo Classic is basically a SNES controller that connects with USB and features turbo functionality. The difference between this product and the millions of other SNES USB clones is the iBuffalo’s build quality. This controller actually feels pretty close to an actual SNES controller. Plus, at such a low price, most people can swing grabbing two for multiplayer action.

Full credit for the general idea goes to this howto for a similar project with an NES controller. My brother inherited my NES from me, so all I had to work with was an SNES controller... and since it lets me play a wider variety of games it seemed like a perfect thing to do. The project ended up being a bit more difficult than I expected, and I tried to document as much of the process as I could. Having a wireless controller is a nice modern convenience, but the best latency and responsiveness are still to be found with wired controllers. Many of the wireless controllers you can buy also let you use a wired connection, but if you're only going to use it in wired mode, why pay for a battery and Bluetooth radio you'll never use? Starting with the AGPTEK Wireless Classic Controller, these controllers are an excellent choice if you want wireless retro gaming. The wireless signal is strong and the battery lasts for a very long time. You can charge them while you play so you never really have to worry about running out of batteries. These controllers can also be used as a generic gamepad for playing PC games on a client like Steam.

Recommendations

For the retro purist, the ideal way to play via an emulator is with a system’s original controller. Fortunately, there are some low-cost adapters available that can make that possible. Mayflash offers adapters that allow you to connect your SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii, PS2, and Saturn controllers to your PC via USB. For the most part, these work just like using an Xbox One controller and can be easily configured across emulators. The Retro-Bit Official Sega Saturn USB controller is a reproduction of one of the most respected controller designs in history. The original Genesis six-button controller was already well-loved, but the Sega Saturn version refines it into something even more comfortable. So whether you want to play Genesis or Saturn games, the Saturn controller is the best choice overall. If you’re a 90’s kid then you probably remember growing up with a Nintendo or Super Nintendo in your home. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent as a kid playing Zelda and Super Mario World. What if I told you that you could experience all those games again, right now with just your computer or smartphone? Going a little more extreme, it's easy to imagine cutting an entire rectangle out of the top of the board, removing the chip area completely and giving a lot more vertical breathing room for parts to fit in. This would make for a lot more smaller traces to solder, however, and you would need to be careful how much of the board was removed above the select and start buttons.

I've also seen mention of being able to wire two usb devices together as a "passive hub", but haven't found any information on doing it. If it's possible, it would allow the hub to be left out altogether and a lot of space would be saved. The drive I used was a simple plastic casing with a row of tabs along the sides on one half of the case, and a long segmented slot for the tabs on the other half. I got a small screwdriver between the halves and carefully levered them open. Since I wasn't going to do anything with the case afterwards I wasn't concerned when I broke a bit of the slot while opening it. Emulator controllers plug directly into your computer and let you play for favorite games like they were meant to. Players who favor the traditional 2 or 4 button layout and d-pad on the left will probably feel a lot more comfortable playing with an emulator controller. The best emulator controllers have a similar layout to the original controller and mimic the feel of playing with a classic joypad.Some of the best retro game controllers can be Nintendo Switch retro controllers that offer replicas of gamepads for the NES, N64 and GameCube; these are perfect for playing retro games on Switch. Some of the best upcoming Switch games include retro remakes, and some of the best Nintendo Switch games include games that make use of retro controllers, such as Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Let’s face it, if a computer has enough ports, we’ll plug a host of things into the computer and never remove them even when they’re not in use. There’s a chance the number of devices plugged into your computer is causing the problem, so what you need to do, then, is to remove them or just the ones you’re not using.

I tried to keep the controller board as unmodified as possible, so this is just a matter of cleaning off traces that you want to solder to and cutting traces that you do not want connected together. Make a map of the traces, and try to find points close to the outside edges that can be used to connect the buttons to the correct keyboard connectors. Make sure you have everything laid out before you cut any traces, once you cut these it's possible to repair but not easy.dremel - I did need to modify some of the circuit boards. There's a lot of possible substitutes for this, but you'll need something you can make precise cuts with. Starting with the NES generation of consoles, the controller became relatively standardized. If your general interest in retro gaming is from this era onward, buying a single gamepad that adequately covers multiple systems is possible. Since I already had the hub's LED fed to a long piece of wire, I decided to put it on the front of the controller. I don't have a drill press or anything similar I could use as a replacement, so I ended up very carefully using the dremel to drill out progressively larger holes until the LED fit. I ended up stopping at a size smaller than the LED and carefully pulling the bit around in a circle to widen the hole, so I wouldn't be left trying to prevent a larger bit from making an even larger and misshapen hole. There are so many video game systems to choose from that the "perfect" controller doesn't exist. If you want an authentic retro gaming experience, you'll generally want a controller replicating the feel of playing retro games on the older system. The real benefit is that they can be used for more games. You can play both NES and SNES games with the more complex button layout. The manufacturers also offer a generous 6-month replacement warranty so you can get a full replacement if there are any manufacturer errors. Final Verdict