Frozener
Member
After researching portables for a long time now, I've become really interested in learning the limiting factors and difficulties of making a small N64p. Clearly, after RCP wiring or board trimming the length and width are two dimensions that cannot be easily altered. And after expansion pack relocation, the depth of the portable is only really limited by the size of the joystick. Now the Gamecube joystick is fairly large and the N64 ones are even bigger, so I began to wonder how a smaller joystick could be incorporated. I read about a few cases where a PSP joystick was tested, but ultimately these attempts were abandoned because of pot resistance issues. So I began searching around for an alternative, and what I found was this:
The Genius Maxfire Pandora Pro USB gamepad (Review). I noticed that it had a very small profile and a PSP-style joystick, so I took a chance and bought it. It was very easy to open, just inserted a flat-head screwdriver in the hole on either side and popped the case apart. Then I desoldered the joystick from the board and determined that this was most likely the pinout:
The 3rd-party controller I used to test this mod was the Boomerang 64 by Nuby. This controller is very rare, but valuable for portablizing because it has 3 separate board (one for the D-pad, Mainboard, and other buttons). In any case, it had 4 input wires for its joystick. So I wired up the joystick like so:
And it works!!! It actually works quite well. The joystick quality is much better than that of the PSP, and it is slightly more sensitive than the original N64 sticks (which is a good thing IMO). I haven't been able to test with another controller, but I would suspect that it would with a controller like the one used in this guide.
Obviously this is a great space-saving mod for experienced portablizers who wish to slim down their designs. Look at the size comparison!!!
Sorry for the blurry pic.
It's literally 1/3 the size of a Gamecube joystick or smaller! I think that, with an expansion pack relocation, you could make an extremely thin portable using this baby. Since my skills have not quite reached that level, I'd be interested to see someone incorporate this in their design in the future. Anyways, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed this mod.
The Genius Maxfire Pandora Pro USB gamepad (Review). I noticed that it had a very small profile and a PSP-style joystick, so I took a chance and bought it. It was very easy to open, just inserted a flat-head screwdriver in the hole on either side and popped the case apart. Then I desoldered the joystick from the board and determined that this was most likely the pinout:
The 3rd-party controller I used to test this mod was the Boomerang 64 by Nuby. This controller is very rare, but valuable for portablizing because it has 3 separate board (one for the D-pad, Mainboard, and other buttons). In any case, it had 4 input wires for its joystick. So I wired up the joystick like so:
And it works!!! It actually works quite well. The joystick quality is much better than that of the PSP, and it is slightly more sensitive than the original N64 sticks (which is a good thing IMO). I haven't been able to test with another controller, but I would suspect that it would with a controller like the one used in this guide.
Obviously this is a great space-saving mod for experienced portablizers who wish to slim down their designs. Look at the size comparison!!!
Sorry for the blurry pic.
It's literally 1/3 the size of a Gamecube joystick or smaller! I think that, with an expansion pack relocation, you could make an extremely thin portable using this baby. Since my skills have not quite reached that level, I'd be interested to see someone incorporate this in their design in the future. Anyways, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed this mod.
