I finally got a 360, now let's make a joystick!

[XYXZYZ]

Last week I finally got an Xbox 360, Jasper build from Target. (The lot# was 843X, team FDOU, and you could see "12.1A" on the label if you pry the cardboard up. Came with the new 150W power supply.) So hopefully it's got that RRoD BS taken care of. I started playing some stuff like Megaman 9, 1942 JS and SSF2THD, they were great but I was in a quandary on account of I still don't like gamepads. I didn't like my friend's Hori 360 arcade stick, so I immediately went to work on an old Tekken 5 PS2 arcade stick. Here's a brief build summary:

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa56/XYXZYZ/projects/Tekken5stick.jpg


http://www.pacificgeek.com/productimages/xl/MCB4758.jpg
I pulled the board from a Madcatz Gamestick, they're great to work with because it's got one ground, and not only are the pads free of that carbon crap but there's nice through holes for a stronger wire connection. This controller also has 3 settings of autofire, and I figure it'll come in handy so let's use it! We'll also want to add a home button, the player indicator LEDs, and the headset jack.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa56/XYXZYZ/projects/360StickModboard.jpg
First, we have to desolder the PS2 board from the buttons. I was running out of solder braid so I barely made it... (pic stolen from some other guy)


http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa56/XYXZYZ/projects/360SStickModDrillins.jpg
Now I have to drill holes for the extra stuff. The overlay will curl upwards into a volcano shape, so let's cut away at that with a hobby knife, then sand it all down.


http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa56/XYXZYZ/projects/360SStickModCP.jpg
I don't like that Tekken picture, so let's apply some of that regal black marble contact paper from Lowes!

For parts, I used a couple of monetary switches, one SPDT switch for autofire speeds, LEDs, and a 2.5mm audio jack. There's plenty of documentation on padhacking, so I won't get into it much. (check out Slagcoin's guide) (http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick.html) You basically wire each button to the switch contacts on the board. I also wanted to use the analog triggers as digital buttons, but I had to modify them a little- Remove the triggers, bridge the high and low signals with a 10Kohm resistor. Attach the wire to the low pad, and Bob's my uncle.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa56/XYXZYZ/projects/360SStickModWiring.jpg
Here we have another one of my professional, neat and tidy bird's nest. The wires are soldered directly to the buttons because I'm too lazy to mess with disconnects.


And here's the finished product-
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa56/XYXZYZ/projects/360StickMod1.jpg
It's got a 360 home button, player indicator LEDs, autofire programming button with three settings, and a jack for the XBL headset. I still don't know if the headset works, because I haven't used it yet. Between designing, drilling, wiring, debugging and getting that damn audio jack in there, the whole project took about 15 hours, it really was a lot harder than I thought it'd be. (So far I've spent more time making this joystick than playing my new 360!) But it was worth it, it plays great.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa56/XYXZYZ/projects/360StickMod2.jpg

What do you think, sirs?

[Nick]

Quality times... :)

You have to love a well built arcade stick.

[kedawa]

Nice work. The madcatz stick seems to be a good donor for the pcb, but I've never seen one for a reasonable price.

[TurboGenesis]

What kind of stick and buttons did you use? or did you just reuse the Hori stock that was with the original Tekken stick?

I would like to have myself a custom stick for my Xbox 360 as I find the Hori stick to be a bit too loose especially for playing shooting game. I would like a seimitsu stick as they are more tighter but I am not knowledgeable in stick modification and cannot afford to err…

Nice work though on the conversion process of transform the PS2 stick to Xbox 360 Stick :cheers:

[jcalder8]

Looks great, it really makes me wish I could do stuff like that.

[kedawa]

What kind of stick and buttons did you use? or did you just reuse the Hori stock that was with the original Tekken stick?

I would like to have myself a custom stick for my Xbox 360 as I find the Hori stick to be a bit too loose especially for playing shooting game. I would like a seimitsu stick as they are more tighter but I am not knowledgeable in stick modification and cannot afford to err…

Nice work though on the conversion process of transform the PS2 stick to Xbox 360 Stick :cheers:

For what it's worth, the Hori EX2 (assuming that's what you have) is not nearly as loose if it's modded with an octagonal sanwa gate. It's a very cheap mod (under $10) and very easy to do.

[XYXZYZ]

What kind of stick and buttons did you use? or did you just reuse the Hori stock that was with the original Tekken stick?

I would like to have myself a custom stick for my Xbox 360 as I find the Hori stick to be a bit too loose especially for playing shooting game. I would like a seimitsu stick as they are more tighter but I am not knowledgeable in stick modification and cannot afford to err…

Nice work though on the conversion process of transform the PS2 stick to Xbox 360 Stick :cheers:

Thanks. The parts are stock, I mainly plan on using it for general platform type games and whatever else I can get away with. For fighters, I like American hardware and I plan on making another joystick with Happ parts. So far I don't think the 360 has enough shooters to justify making a joystick just for them.

[TurboGenesis]

For what it's worth, the Hori EX2 (assuming that's what you have) is not nearly as loose if it's modded with an octagonal sanwa gate. It's a very cheap mod (under $10) and very easy to do.

I have the DOA4 Stick. I am not exactly sure what model that is base off of?



Thanks. The parts are stock, I mainly plan on using it for general platform type games and whatever else I can get away with. For fighters, I like American hardware and I plan on making another joystick with Happ parts. So far I don't think the 360 has enough shooters to justify making a joystick just for them.

Thats cool :) I wish I had skills for crafting custom peripherals… :embarrassed:

Believe it or not, the 360 is (or will be) the console of choice for shooting games. Already there are: Raiden Fighters Aces (all three Raiden Fighters games), Shikigami no Shiro III, Otomedius, and on XBLA, there are Ikaruga and Trigger Heart Exelica as well as R-Type Dimensions. For 2009 there will be DDPDOJBLX, Ketsui X, Shooting Love (Exzeal), and Death Smiles. An arcade stick is mandatory as the 360 d-pad is rubbish!

Again, I have to complement on the work you had done! If I could, I'd like to modify my VSHG to work on the Xbox 360 as that stick is far easier for modification.

[mailman187666]

if I was that crafty with this kind of thing. I would be making all sorts of stuff like this all the time...and I'd probably end up selling some of them to friends and/or giving them out as xmas and bday gifts. Its one thing to get games/systems/controllers for xmas...but to get something that you modified yourself is one of a kind. The thought and effort in the gift is all there and any gamer would appreciate it.

[Steve W]

I don't like that Tekken picture, so let's apply some of that regal black marble contact paper from Lowes!
Ah, the black marble contact paper. It tends to show up on badly built MAME cabinets made by yahoos who think a 14 inch monitor looks great inside a giant cabinet and that by covering the cab with that kind of contact paper people will think it's built entirely of black marble. Because, you know, there's so many arcade cabs from back in the day that were built with marble stonework. :)

You should have used white contact paper. It would have worked with the 360's color scheme. Either that, or replace the frontplate of your 360 with one covered in black marble contact paper! Then it'd really match! Especially if you have a black Elite model.

[kedawa]

I have the DOA4 Stick. I am not exactly sure what model that is base off of?
They're the same thing, apart from the artwork.

You just need a Sanwa GT-Y Octagonal Restrictor Plate, which will run you about $5, and a drill to make the four marked holes go all the way through. Then you just swap it for the stock square gate and you're done. The reduced diagonal throw and the smaller opening in the gate will make it feel tighter than it is now.
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2006&stc=1&d=1228862109