Welcome to the simplest controller hack ever.
Did you know that an X-Box controller is simply a USB controller? I didn't know either.
Thanks to the crew at the Retrogames message boards for mentioning this. I bought a two-pack of Pelican Wireless controllers recently, so I figured I'd try it with one of them, hopefully ending up with a cheap yet well-built wireless controller for my PC.
All you need is any X-Box controller, a USB cable, and the XBox Controller Driver.
Strip off one end of a USB cable (PLEASE make sure you leave the right end to plug into the computer). You should have four wires: green, red, black, and white.
Next, strip off the end of an X-Box controller. The cool thing with an X-Box controller is it has that breakaway connection at the end, so you can just buy an extra connector at your local game store for a few bucks for this project, and still use it on your X-Box. On any Microsoft brand controller and most other third-party controllers, the wires are the same color as the USB cable, along with an extra yellow wire, which won't be used.
Match color to color, and you're done wiring.
Installing the driver is also painless. The only fluke I had was that I had to install it twice. From the Game Controllers section in Windows Control Panel, you will see this screen. You can test each button and axis, and tell windows that the controller is a gamepad or joystick (though I don't know what the difference is). Notice on the top right where it says Profile. You can assign and save up to eight different profiles.
When you click a button or axis assignment, you can assign any XBox button or axis to any Windows button, axis, or POV hat. It's completely customizable. The first thing I did was assign the two analog triggers to the Z and RZ axis, as they are assigned to buttons by default.
Click on the Windows tab, and you'll see this screen. From here, you can test where each button is assigned. You can also turn off any of the last five axis (possibly necessary for certain PC games).
Click on the Rumble tab, and you can test the rumble settings for the controller.
In the end, after about 15-20 minutes work, I had a nice new wireless controller for my PC. I fired up MAME and loaded up Outrunners, set the controls up, and it was a dream playing a driving game with full analog controls. Highly recommended, especially if you already have an XBox controller lying around.
Serving emulation needs since January 30, 2002
