Comments on: SNES gamepad extension working http://www.retrode.org/2009/09/snes-gamepads-working/ home of the world's first USB reader for classic console games Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:19:39 +0200 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Matthias_H http://www.retrode.org/2009/09/snes-gamepads-working/comment-page-1/#comment-275 Matthias_H Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:49:30 +0000 http://www.retrode.org/wordpress/?p=479#comment-275 "Proper" or not, the document where I found this information must be at least partially trustworthy, since the description of the file format itself seems okay :-) “Proper” or not, the document where I found this information must be at least partially trustworthy, since the description of the file format itself seems okay :-)

]]> By: Jesse V http://www.retrode.org/2009/09/snes-gamepads-working/comment-page-1/#comment-274 Jesse V Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:21:20 +0000 http://www.retrode.org/wordpress/?p=479#comment-274 Nah, you see .bin is the standard it identifies them as binary roms or proper dumps the other name for them would be .gen which are non-proper dumps. I don't know where you got sgd but that's probably some dumper making up his own extensions Nah, you see .bin is the standard it identifies them as binary roms or proper dumps the other name for them would be .gen which are non-proper dumps. I don’t know where you got sgd but that’s probably some dumper making up his own extensions

]]> By: Matthias_H http://www.retrode.org/2009/09/snes-gamepads-working/comment-page-1/#comment-273 Matthias_H Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:06:25 +0000 http://www.retrode.org/wordpress/?p=479#comment-273 Thank you also for your comment on the file extensions. There exist indeed various suffixes but they also correspond to different file formats. However, there is only one that doesn't involve weird interlacing business, and that is .BIN. Thank you also for your comment on the file extensions. There exist indeed various suffixes but they also correspond to different file formats. However, there is only one that doesn’t involve weird interlacing business, and that is .BIN.

]]> By: Matthias_H http://www.retrode.org/2009/09/snes-gamepads-working/comment-page-1/#comment-261 Matthias_H Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:55:42 +0000 http://www.retrode.org/wordpress/?p=479#comment-261 Ah yes, found his comment on some forum. He writes that he uses "a moulding kit [he] found", and from what I see in the photos, the quality is in accord with that. Casting resin is brittle and not a material I would pick for a gamepad connector. If it is a composite material, there will probably be residual gunk which I would have to to account for (mind the RoHS directive). And if the actual fabrication process only takes a few minutes, we would already be way above budget -- unless we are talking prison/child/slave labour. Ah yes, found his comment on some forum. He writes that he uses “a moulding kit [he] found”, and from what I see in the photos, the quality is in accord with that. Casting resin is brittle and not a material I would pick for a gamepad connector. If it is a composite material, there will probably be residual gunk which I would have to to account for (mind the RoHS directive). And if the actual fabrication process only takes a few minutes, we would already be way above budget — unless we are talking prison/child/slave labour.

]]> By: Matthias_H http://www.retrode.org/2009/09/snes-gamepads-working/comment-page-1/#comment-260 Matthias_H Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:25:24 +0000 http://www.retrode.org/wordpress/?p=479#comment-260 I just updated the FAQ to cover the <a href="/wordpress/faq/#otherConsoles" rel="nofollow">"other game consoles" part of your question</a>. By the way, you would be surprised how little of the total cost comes from the material itself (connectors, electronic parts, etc). The support for gamepads causes no (zero) extra cost at all, it's just a bunch of wires on the PCB. On the other hand, there are immense one-off costs, such as for tooling and setup, CE/FCC compliance testing, etc. If there were different models, say, a <em>sega2usb</em> and a <em>snes2usb</em>, these costs would accrue several times. Ah yes, and don't forget the taxes, but these are per unit of course. Update (Oct 10): There is now a <a href="/wordpress/2009/10/faq-special-edition/" rel="nofollow">FAQ Special Edition</a> with more information about cost factors. I just updated the FAQ to cover the “other game consoles” part of your question.
By the way, you would be surprised how little of the total cost comes from the material itself (connectors, electronic parts, etc). The support for gamepads causes no (zero) extra cost at all, it’s just a bunch of wires on the PCB. On the other hand, there are immense one-off costs, such as for tooling and setup, CE/FCC compliance testing, etc. If there were different models, say, a sega2usb and a snes2usb, these costs would accrue several times.
Ah yes, and don’t forget the taxes, but these are per unit of course.

Update (Oct 10): There is now a FAQ Special Edition with more information about cost factors.

]]> By: ICEknigh7 http://www.retrode.org/2009/09/snes-gamepads-working/comment-page-1/#comment-257 ICEknigh7 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:49:54 +0000 http://www.retrode.org/wordpress/?p=479#comment-257 Also... I was wondering if there's there any plans for the following (or similar) adaptors: GameBoy(original)-GameGear NES-Master System N64-Jaguar Virtual Boy-Game Boy Advance SG1000-Colecovision And how about single-system adaptors without the controller features? Wouldn't those be cheaper to manufacture? Also… I was wondering if there’s there any plans for the following (or similar) adaptors:

GameBoy(original)-GameGear
NES-Master System
N64-Jaguar
Virtual Boy-Game Boy Advance
SG1000-Colecovision

And how about single-system adaptors without the controller features? Wouldn’t those be cheaper to manufacture?

]]> By: ICEknigh7 http://www.retrode.org/2009/09/snes-gamepads-working/comment-page-1/#comment-256 ICEknigh7 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:46:28 +0000 http://www.retrode.org/wordpress/?p=479#comment-256 I normally use the following keyboard layout: PC: A S D Z X C SNES: L X R Y B A SNES (fighting games): Y X L B A R (With Enter as Start and Space as Select) That allows for a quick access to all 6 buttons in two lines, with every button retaining their original positions (in the first case). For player 2, I use the number pad's for directional control, the small Enter as Start and 0/Insert as Select, and Ins, Del, etc for the buttons using the same layouts as above. By the way, a bit off-topic but, rather than .BIN, the official file extension for MegaDrive/Genesis ROMs seems to be .SGD, according to some ROMs that were obtained from SEGA vaults, as well as the contents of the Virtual Console releases for the Wii. I normally use the following keyboard layout:

PC:
A S D
Z X C

SNES:
L X R
Y B A

SNES (fighting games):
Y X L
B A R

(With Enter as Start and Space as Select)

That allows for a quick access to all 6 buttons in two lines, with every button retaining their original positions (in the first case). For player 2, I use the number pad’s for directional control, the small Enter as Start and 0/Insert as Select, and Ins, Del, etc for the buttons using the same layouts as above.

By the way, a bit off-topic but, rather than .BIN, the official file extension for MegaDrive/Genesis ROMs seems to be .SGD, according to some ROMs that were obtained from SEGA vaults, as well as the contents of the Virtual Console releases for the Wii.

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