SNES & NES Controllers

[shawnp0wers]

I haven't received my ControlBlock yet, so I can't experiment, but hopefully this is a simple question. I'm sure most folks emulate NES and SNES with RetroPie, but what I can't seem to narrow down is how controller swapping works.

The pinouts are similar for the two controllers, but the ControlBlock config requires one or the other to be specified (unless I misunderstand how the config will work once I get the ControlBlock). My thought was to use my SNES extension cables to create "jacks" that will allow my SNES controllers to plug directly in. Then I want to use the other half of the extension cables to convert my NES controllers into SNES-style connectors. That way I can plug my original SNES and my modified NES controllers into the same 2 ports on the front of my cigar box (the case I'm using) depending on which system I want to emulate.

Will I run into problems going back and forth between NES and SNES? I'm not clear yet on how the controllers are configured for Emulation Station versus the emulators themselves. I know they are wired into the ControlBlock identically.

It's also possible this is a dumb question altogether, and once my ControlBlock arrives I'll feel silly for asking. :)

Thanks for any insight,
-Shawn Powers, from Linux Journal

[shawnp0wers]

I just received the ControlBlock in the mail, so I'll start playing after work today. If no one knows the answer, I'll be sure to follow up with the results of my experimentation.

::does that mad scientist rubbing hands together thing::

-Shawn

[petrockblog]

Hello Shawn, sorry for this late reply - I had some family duties in the recent weeks, but things are becoming more relaxed ever day now.

If you configure the ControlBlock for SNES controllers. You should be able to going back and forth between SNES and NES controllers on the same connector. Actually, I built a NES-SNES-Adapter myself some time ago in the same way as you described above.