In Hardware

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a controller, specifically with a good 4-way d-pad. I have a Gravis GamePad Pro (looks almost exactly like a Sony Playstation controller) which I bought for about $10 because it had a d-pad which looked like it would be the best for playing NES Games with only four directions. It still gives me problems sometimes because the d-pad allows for 8-way movement. It makes it a pain in the ass to get it right sometimes.

I think this: seems to be the ultimate PC controller for NES emulation. I haven't used it myself, but I don't think it's going to get any closer than that.

Thanks for that link. That controller is about as good as it gets aside from the price.

I have been using an NES retropad on my PC for a few months now. My only complaint on it is the D-pad. It seems a little more stiff than I would like, and the when I press down it doesn't have the same kind of 'spring' or reaction that the other directions have. This sometimes causes me to miss a diagonal.
However, I completely understand that these are old parts and used parts for the controllers. It's not that big of a deal even, and you eventually get the feel for it.
BUT I have the NES pad and it is great.
I would consider the SNES or if you have extra money the fourscore. I have never used either of those deVices, but I think I would go with the SNES version because of the added functionality and the nice shape. The SNES one would work fine with NES, and you could probably program the other buttons for added functionality when playing NES.
The four score would be rad to be able to use advantage, dogbone, rect, maxx, or whatever on your PC. Not to mention multiplayer...
That's just my two cents.

I'm particularly liking the four score because you can use your own controllers that you know work well. $55 (or coins ) does seem a bit steep though. I use a cheap playstation type pad that works great.

Oh, and I forgot to mention.
The D-pad registers as four seperate buttons, not like some sort of joystick. I don't know if all dpads are like that though..

I have a little joypad from a German distributor (hama). It serves it's purposes.

Convert a standard NES pad to be used through the LPT port. It only takes about ten minutes and its a well easy operation.

There is no substitute for the real thing

Convert a standard NES pad to be used through the LPT port. It only takes about ten minutes and its a well easy operation.


Let's dig this back up.

Would anyone care to provide instructions on how to do this mod? I plan to build a single controller adapter.

I posted some instructions in this thread...



They arent the best instructions but should be easy enough to follow