Arcadization Project - Virtual Boy!

[Tighe]

I'm sure we would have seen at least one of those if the VB had been a success.
I really wish this came out too...
Super Mario Land VB. A demo was shown at E3 '95

That demo is obviously what ended up being Wario! The sound effects are the same and so it the speed and mechanics. By the looks Wario is much better.

 

[spoonmanx]

That demo is obviously what ended up being Wario! The sound effects are the same and so it the speed and mechanics. By the looks Wario is much better.

You think so?

Aside from the jumping in and out of the foreground I don't see much of a resemblance. The style looks like the difference from Super Mario Land 1 to Super Mario Land 3 (w/Wario).

Wario is fine, but there is something a bit more special about controlling Mario on a Nintendo consoles that I like. Maybe the demo will surface someday and we can check it out.

 

[DogP]

In regards to the pinout for hooking up a SNES controller to the VB:

SNES  VB
1 <-> 2
2 <-> 4
3 <-> 3
4 <-> 1
5
6
7 <-> 5

This will map as follows:
B to RD
Y to RL
SEL to SEL
STA to STA
UP to LU
DOWN to LD
LEFT to LL
RIGHT to LR
A to RR
X to RU
LT to LT
RT to RT

The VB has more buttons than an SNES controller, so not all buttons are mapped. A SNES controller may have these pulled out to a pin on it's encoder, but I don't know for sure (the SNES controller transmits these bits as all "unpressed"):
B
A
SGN=1 (signature bit, normal controllers have this not "pressed")
PWR=0 ("pressed", otherwise it'll think the battery is low)

The diagrams I used are http://pinouts.ru/Game/snescontroller_pinout.shtml and http://www.goliathindustries.com/vb/img/Misc.gif , so you should reference them if you have any question on pin numbering used.

Good luck.

DogP

 

[Gary Vincent]

Keith Apicary loves the Virtual Boy
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/virtual-boy-talking-classics/712093

 

[Tighe]

In regards to the pinout for hooking up a SNES controller to the VB:

SNES  VB
1 <-> 2
2 <-> 4
3 <-> 3
4 <-> 1
5
6
7 <-> 5

This will map as follows:
B to RD
Y to RL
SEL to SEL
STA to STA
UP to LU
DOWN to LD
LEFT to LL
RIGHT to LR
A to RR
X to RU
LT to LT
RT to RT

The VB has more buttons than an SNES controller, so not all buttons are mapped. A SNES controller may have these pulled out to a pin on it's encoder, but I don't know for sure (the SNES controller transmits these bits as all "unpressed"):
B
A
SGN=1 (signature bit, normal controllers have this not "pressed")
PWR=0 ("pressed", otherwise it'll think the battery is low)

The diagrams I used are http://pinouts.ru/Game/snescontroller_pinout.shtml and http://www.goliathindustries.com/vb/img/Misc.gif , so you should reference them if you have any question on pin numbering used.

Good luck.

DogP

I was looking on the Ben Heck forums yesterday and found this schematic to make a SNES controller from 2 4021 shift registers from NES controllers:



RetroHacker and I believe that the 4 pins on the lower 4021 that are left high would be the extra buttons on the VB. Of course the only way to know is to try. If I get the time this weekend I will steal 2 4021s out of some old NES controllers and try it out.

 

[advans13]

I'm sure we would have seen at least one of those if the VB had been a success.
I really wish this came out too...
Super Mario Land VB. A demo was shown at E3 '95

even watching that makes my eyes hurt......*barf VB

 

[DogP]

Yes, if you were to use that circuit, pins:
4=B
5=A
6=SGN
7=PWR

It's probably easier to hack a single SNES controller though... it's very possible those unused inputs are still available on the ICs in SNES controllers.

DogP

 

[Tighe]

Yes, if you were to use that circuit, pins:
4=B
5=A
6=SGN
7=PWR

It's probably easier to hack a single SNES controller though... it's very possible those unused inputs are still available on the ICs in SNES controllers.

DogP

Ahh, but I have a bin of busted up NES controllers, and working SNES controllers are hard to come by these days. Also what is SGN? PWR? Power is on pin 16 of the shit registers. I am just a little confused.

 

[Tighe]

Joystick

The part about this project that sucks is spending $50+ for joysticks. I was looking here

http://www.arcadeparadise.org/arcade/ap3/cpbuilding.html

Trigger 8-way Joystick

I knew that I wanted to have a trigger joystick, but they are waaaaay too expensive for my tastes. At the time of this writing, a new Ultimate Joystick from Happ Controls costs $13.35...and a new Heavy Duty 8-Way Trigger Joystick with fire button costs $114.05. $114.05!?! Holy frijoles!

So what I did to save myself from having to take out a bank loan in order to have a trigger joystick was the old "trigger stick hack". Basically, I took the handle from a translucent blue Interact Raider Pro PC joystick, connected it to a piece of brass tubing as the handle shaft, and then grafted that onto a Happ Ultimate joystick. I'd go into more detail, but I basically just built on the detailed information supplied by OSCAR Controls' Do-It-Yourself Trigger Joystick page. To keep the handle from rotating around, I used the Trigger Stick rotation-restrictor mod from 1uparcade.com

I really need to figure out what joysticks I am going to use. Really for the most part a standard 8-way joy would work fine, but a few games you would want a top fire. I may try and have my dad make a hollow shaft for a HAPP comp and install a button on a ball top or bat top.

 

[spoonmanx]

The part about this project that sucks is spending $50+ for joysticks. I was looking here

http://www.arcadeparadise.org/arcade/ap3/cpbuilding.html


I really need to figure out what joysticks I am going to use. Really for the most part a standard 8-way joy would work fine, but a few games you would want a top fire. I may try and have my dad make a hollow shaft for a HAPP comp and install a button on a ball top or bat top.

Tighe, have you considered keeping the original VB controller as part of your project?
The controller was one of the best for it's time and seemed to be a perfect fit for the system.
It would look more like the Kiosk, but that's pretty cool looking too.

 

[Tighe]

Tighe, have you considered keeping the original VB controller as part of your project?
The controller was one of the best for it's time and seemed to be a perfect fit for the system.
It would look more like the Kiosk, but that's pretty cool looking too.

I am familiar with the Koisk, but I really want something different with joysticks. I do love the infinity mirror in the kisok's marquee though.

 

[Tighe]

I am thinking I might try an infinity mirror for the marquee of mine too:

http://www.infinitymirror.net/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-An-Infinity-Mirror/
http://www.virtual-boy.org/3dlight.htm

 

[DogP]

Ahh, but I have a bin of busted up NES controllers, and working SNES controllers are hard to come by these days. Also what is SGN? PWR? Power is on pin 16 of the shit registers. I am just a little confused.

SGN is the signature bit, normal controllers have this not "pressed"
PWR is battery status bit, should be "pressed", otherwise it'll think the battery is low

And yeah, I was gonna suggest the infinity mirror as well... it really just looks awesome.

DogP

 

[Tighe]

So I ended up picking up two compact top-fires off of welove80s for a great price!

 

[Tighe]

Painting this Weekend

So I am painting it this weekend if all goes well. I need to finalize on a color scheme.

Here are the options I am considering. These images are very rough, I threw them together very quickly. I will be doing a Nintendo logo and Virtual Boy Logo on the cabinet, I haven't decided on a layout yet. There are just there to shoe the proposed color schemes. Also there will be a marquee, and the bottom box will be solid black even though in these photos it is colored.

All Black Cabinet with Red T-molding and Red Graphics:

Black Center with Red outsides and Red T-Molding:

Red outsides with black t-molding:

I was considering red outside with black center and gray t-molding, but I haven't seen gray yet. I also suppose I could do a gray cabinet, but it seems SO dull.

 

[yellowstitch]

gooda say I love it! Cant with to see the finished cab, I love creative things like this

 

[Area69]

Dude! I love this project. My VB sits in it's box in the closet and comes out maybe twice a year, pretty lame of me. The last photo would be my choice of color scheme. I may have to totally copy this.

 

[Cpen5311]

yeah, im gonna go with the last photo as well. It looks sharp.

 

[Hyde]

This is such a cool project! As far as color scheme, I'd definitely go with #3 (Red on outside, black on inside).

 

[DogP]

I personally like #2 best, then #3.

DogP