Sega Saturn controller hacked to work with Xbox 360

If you've got a flair for retro gaming, or you just hate the design of the Xbox 360 controller, you'll be interested in this clever adapter project that give your old Sega Saturn pad, which is revered by fans of 2D fighters, the ability to control your brand new 360 games. The job required a gutted wireless 360 controller – that's right, it's wireless – a few common electronic components and about 2.5 months of work. From the video provided in the thread, it looks to function solidly, avoiding expected problems like the nightmarish button lag that could've rendered the whole thing completely useless. We know not many of you are going to be rushing to your workshops to try this, but every 360 mod we see gives us a little more hope that the hack (and accompanying tutorial) we've all been waiting for is coming sooner than later. But, until then, you'll have to watch out for this guy and his new rig on Xbox Live Arcade -- unless you have one of these on your coffee table.

[OnA Pest @ Jul 20th 2006 10:49AM]

dunno about the saturn, but i still think the dreamcast controller is the best ever.. and xbox was a direct knock off of it

[Joel @ Jul 20th 2006 10:58AM]

Nah, I loved my Dreamcast.. but the controller was horrible for an 'all purpose' controller. It worked great for games like Shenmue or maybe even Code Veronica, but the d-pad was raised too high up which made quick directions a chore. It only had one analog stick which hurt the interface for some of the games as well. The shoulder buttons were OK for driving and some shooting games, but for any game that required fast button presses from them- forget it. I'm no Sony fanboy, but I think the PS2 controller is possibly the best all-purpose controller. Saturn pad is good too, as is the 360 controller, IMO.. although I haven't been able to try any 2D fighters with it yet.

[Wii-Emulators @ Jul 20th 2006 11:10AM]

Doesn't look too pretty now, but when they put this into commercial production and downsize it ten times it will be cool.

[Big Sam @ Jul 20th 2006 11:44AM]

Its good for 2D fighting games? Street Fighter 2 on Live Arcade is coming next month....

[Spesholized @ Jul 20th 2006 12:04PM]

The saturn pad was great for 2D fighting games cuz you get 6 buttons on the front of the pad. Great for the street fighter series.

[Nate @ Jul 20th 2006 12:40PM]

My first post seems to have not...well...posted. Anyway, I'll ask again b/c it's sorta on the topic of odd d-pads.
Why do the old Atari joysticks work perfectly in the Sega Genesis? I had an old atari, and a Sega Genesis and realized one day that the joystick fits perfectly in the Genesis port.
While the joystick only had one button, it was perfect for Sonic (only need one, to jump), and was much for fun to use than a d-pad.
I'm sure there's a simple reason for this interoperability, but I've never figured it out. Anyone know why?

[asurroca @ Jul 20th 2006 12:56PM]

Well, it was only a matter of time! I think the Saturn controller would definitely make a nice controller XLA games... but I've got to say, I'm still extremely pleased with the X360 controller ;)

[daniel422 @ Jul 20th 2006 2:33PM]

Aw, c'mon, Nate -- the old Atari joysticks get my vote for worst joystick EVER. I get carpal tunnel just thinking about that left handed-thumb button and brutally rigid joystick feel. Arrrrrrr!
The dreamcast 'stick was nice, but I'm pretty sold on the new 360 units -- they've got good size for my hands, and frankly the wireless feature (and control of power off/on on the xbox) works better than ANY other -- even the wavebird. I've walked farther than I can usefully see my display with full functionality. I've always loved the PS (and PS2) controller style, but it feels a bit small when used for long periods.

[Nate @ Jul 20th 2006 2:43PM]

Yeah, the original Atari stick sucked...but I had an after-market one that was bigger, more fluid in movement and had the trigger on the top, not the side.
It was great for Sonic and a few other simple games on Genesis, but I still don't understand why one worked on the other console?

[moofree @ Jul 20th 2006 3:24PM]

Nate, Genesis controllers worked well on one of my friends' old ataris. We switched to those after the original joysticks stopped working.
From a quick google, it looks like they have very similar pinouts, the only difference being +5V on the genesis' port 5 that enables B C and Start with some electrical engineering magic that i don't understand. :P

[moofree @ Jul 20th 2006 3:30PM]

*Controller port pin 5* above.
Here

http://pinouts.ru/Game/genesiscontroller_pinout.shtml

http://pinouts.ru/Inputs/AtariMouseJoy_pinout.shtml

[mastershake916 @ Jul 20th 2006 6:03PM]

COME ON LEAVE ATLEAST SOME OF THE STUFF ON HACK A DAY.

[nonstatic @ Jul 21st 2006 11:14PM]

what i really want to know is...will anyone come out with a way to make the xbox360 wireless controllers compatible with the original xbox???

i have tried every wireless controller for xbox and they are all terrible.