Well, about two months ago, I decided that I wanted to build a Multimedia PC for my livingroom. Something I could play emulated games on, record TV, and watch DIVX, MPEG, AVI, etc with on my TV.

Then I decided, it would be even cooler to model it after a old game system, because that was going to be its primary purpose. So, after doing some digging online I decided to try my own hand at a NES PC.

The NES makes a great canidate for such a project because, you can do the alterations, without changing the appearance of the NES shell. The CD/DVD drive can be hidden under the flip lid, and the NES case is big enought to hold a Micro ITX MOBO, the PSU, a Hard drive, and a laptop CD/DVD rom.

So, the first thing I did was find a suitable NES for the project. I didn't want to kill a working one, so I found a non-working "AS IS" one on E-Bay. $12.00 (Shipping included) and a week later the NES arrived at my door.



So, I gutted it like a fish, and then started looking at the buttons on the front and thinking how easy it would be to rewire them to work for the PC. After killing the traces on the buttons' PCB with a dremel, I took the wires out of an old PC case, snipped the buttons/LCDs off and soldered them onto the buttons on the NES. I also had to remove a small metal bracket off the POWER button so it would act as a momentary toggle switch, instead of a locking switch, so it would be ATX compliant.



Then, I decided I wanted a HDD light, as well, so I took one out of the same old PC case, and drilled a small hole next to the RESET button, and slid the LED through. I locked it in place with a low temp glue gun. (Which you can see in the above picture. It's the orange and white wires coming from the right side.)

Here's a view from the front of the NES:



Next, I have to wait until I have an extra $150 or so, so I can order the ITX board and PSU. Here's the one I have in mind:



It's a all in one MOBO, with a 1.5GHz CPU, 64MB Onboard Video, 5.1 Sound, and has a TV out on the back, as well as SATA connectors, which will work with a 40GB SATA 150 2.5" Hard Drive I have lying around.

So, until I can get the MOBO, that is all there is too it.

STAY TUNED!

I don't know. At this point I am debating on either usb gamepads, or xbox controllers. (I have a 2 X-Box ports to USB adapter.)

Given the graphics chip, I don't think this will play anything 3D. (No PSX, N64, Saturn, or better.) Neo Geo, SNES, NES, and Genesis will be the main systems. So at most I need 8 buttons and a joypad.

Maybe I should just buy SNES 2 USB adapters.... Hmmmm....

Anybody got any good ideas?

The best controller I have found for MAME and console emulators, is the Wired Xbox 360 controller. I don't even have a 360, but I read that the controllers work great for PC, and they do. But then again, I guess it is a Microsoft controller running in Windows... so bread and butter.

It even works great for PSX and N64 games. I just beat Castlevania:SOTN with it.

JEW wrote:

to be honest the 360 controller is perfect.

I second that.

Also, if you want to play arcade games correctly and not spend $100 on a X-Arcade controller, see if you can hunt one of these down:



It's called the "Real Arcade" and is made by Pelican. They made ones for PSX/PS2, Game Cube, and X-Box. Also there is a Universal one that has plugs for all three. So, if you already have a PC converter for any of those systems, then hunt one down. They are solidly built (That solid wood, baby!), and as far as I can tell, they seem to use Happ sticks and buttons.

I picked one up about a year ago from Gamestop for $40, and couldn't be happier. Well, I could, if I could hunt down a second one, for some 2 player action. For some reason they are next to impossible to find anymore.