/vr/ - Retro Games

What I was working on today:

The Atari 7800 ProSystem has the worst controllers ever devised by a man. They just SUCK. The original Atari 2600 controllers are worlds better. But what's best? Sega Genesis controllers.

A few people may not know this, but Sega Genesis controllers work perfectly with an Atari 2600 and an Atari 7800. Use the B button as your fire button. Those are *so* much better.

The only problem with this method on a 7800 is, the 7800 controllers had two buttons and about half of the games for that system require the use of button 2. Obviously the Sega Genesis controller has 3 buttons, so this should be no problem, right? On the two button games, yes, there is a problem. There are some differences between the way the Sega and 7800 treat that second button, so you have to build a circuit for it to work correctly. Well, here is the solution I made this plug this wire into the 7800, then the Genesis controller into the other side of the wire. The 7404 inverter chip takes care of all of the rest for you, I got the plans online.

Now when playing a 7800 game, Buttons B and C on the controller are working. I can now play Choplifter, Pole Position II, and Commando the way they're supposed to be played. (Choplifter is nearly impossible without button 2).