New NES Game Controller Coupler (Smash TV / Spookatron) available

[8bitwidgets.com]

6 hours ago, Austin said:

A little uncomfortable on my left fingers

How so?  I try to iterate and improve on my items.  User feedback is important.  

 

6 hours ago, Austin said:

Star Voyager or Infiltrator do not

How so?  Did they use both controllers?  Is it that the configuration is not ideal?   For the 2600 I made a "robotron" style coupler and I made a "spy hunter" configuration that was specifically for that game.  I could create two versions of the NES to compliment other games.  

 

6 hours ago, Austin said:

Rollerball lets you play the game with either controller. So, you could use the d-pad on the upper controller, and the buttons on the lower, or vice-versa,

Ah very interesting.  Is the coupler comfortable like that for you?  

 

6 hours ago, Austin said:

- Guardian Legend (move and shoot)

Wait i'm about to freak out.  This is one of my all time favorite NES games..  Are you saying using the fire buttons of P2 allow the player to move and shoot in human form?  This is actually why made my first coupler for the Intellivision.. Games like AD&D, Tron Deadly Discs and Night Stalker wouldn't allow you to move / shoot using the number pad because it interrupted the dpad input.. but using the number keys of the P2 controller wouldn't conflict allowing Run n' Gun to be possible.

 

5 hours ago, Austin said:

Life Force is another that mirrors controls to P2.

Yea i'd never really thought of the coupler like that allowing a person to simply be able to adjust how the d-pad and buttons are to them..  very cool!   

[Austin]

  

On 3/19/2023 at 8:19 AM, Caleb Garner said:

How so?  I try to iterate and improve on my items.  User feedback is important.  

I felt like it was eating into my left middle finger and so it was pretty sore when I was done (I did go through the entirety of Smash TV, which takes about an hour). I'm not certain if there's much that can be done about it--maybe a thicker, more rounded shape on the backside of the adapter akin to a modern gamepad would be helpful (where your fingers wrap around more naturally), but I'm not sure what's possible with a 3D printer. I guess it's like when some use a NES controller for the first time, not being used to its hard edges/sharp corners.

 

On 3/19/2023 at 8:19 AM, Caleb Garner said:

How so?  Did they use both controllers?  Is it that the configuration is not ideal?   For the 2600 I made a "robotron" style coupler and I made a "spy hunter" configuration that was specifically for that game.  I could create two versions of the NES to compliment other games.  

Oh no, they simply don't use a second controller, that's what I meant (and thus the adapter won't do any good for them). After learning Silent Service does use two controllers together, when I started poking through the library the first thing I did was go to the simulation style games akin to it, thinking they might do the same, but I was not able to find any that use a second controller.

 

On 3/19/2023 at 8:19 AM, Caleb Garner said:

Ah very interesting.  Is the coupler comfortable like that for you?  

I actually didn't have any comfort issues when the coupler was flipped and used in a horizontal manner, like with Silent Service or Gyromite.

 

On 3/19/2023 at 8:19 AM, Caleb Garner said:

Wait i'm about to freak out.  This is one of my all time favorite NES games..  Are you saying using the fire buttons of P2 allow the player to move and shoot in human form?  This is actually why made my first coupler for the Intellivision.. Games like AD&D, Tron Deadly Discs and Night Stalker wouldn't allow you to move / shoot using the number pad because it interrupted the dpad input.. but using the number keys of the P2 controller wouldn't conflict allowing Run n' Gun to be possible.

I didn't get to the walking section, but I would assume it's basically the same. In the shmup portion in the beginning, both controllers mostly do the same thing, so you can play with one hand on the upper d-pad, with the other hand on the lower buttons, or vice-versa.

 

On 3/19/2023 at 8:19 AM, Caleb Garner said:

Yea i'd never really thought of the coupler like that allowing a person to simply be able to adjust how the d-pad and buttons are to them..  very cool!   

Yep! That's what's really cool about it. It has more use-case scenarios than just the two twin-stick shooters it was made for.

 

I'd like to find more NES games that utilize two gamepads at once, whether it's for unique controllers on the P2 side, or even if it just mirrors them, it would be nice to keep a definitive list.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Austin

[8bitwidgets.com]

1 hour ago, Austin said:

I'd like to find more NES games that utilize two gamepads at once

Yea I'm hoping NES home brew folks might find this item useful and accessible enough that they could write games to leverage it.  

 

2 hours ago, Austin said:

I felt like it was eating into my left middle finger and so it was pretty sore when I was done

I'll look into it and see what could be done.  I'll play smash tv this weekend and see how it feels for me as well..  I just got an SD multicart for the NES so I can load Smash TV now.  my existing multicart didn't have that title baked into it.  

 

2 hours ago, Austin said:

Oh no, they simply don't use a second controller

Ah ok thanks for clarifying  

 

2 hours ago, Austin said:

I didn't get to the walking section

yea i'm pretty sure it will all play the same..  holding the fire button down making the character stop in place always seemed like that was the intended design.. not like the intellivision where it did this due to hardware limitations.  

[8bitwidgets.com]

So I went ahead and made a quick video demoing smash tv with the coupler..  also have some in white and black..  

 

[Austin]

I’ve gotten pretty good at NES Smash’s standard control setup, so the dual d-pad option made it a total breeze. It was fun! 😀

[Austin]

I think I stumbled upon another fun use for the coupler last night: Games that need the second controller to access hidden menus and activate cheat codes!

 

I was dabbling with Shadow of the Ninja and decided to look up codes for it. In order to do certain level select cheats, you have to use the second controller. Likewise if you want to access the sound test menu. Silver Surfer is another that needs the second controller in order to access its password screen (this is to skip to the second and third loops/harder difficulties). It's much easier working with this kind of functionality when the controllers are in the coupler.

 

Now I need to know what NES games use the second controller for cheats/hidden menus/etc. 

Edited April 18, 2023 by Austin

[8bitwidgets.com]

43 minutes ago, Austin said:

In order to do certain level select cheats, you have to use the second controller.

Man that is brilliant!    I had no idea about those particular games.  Too cool! 

[8bitwidgets.com]

44 minutes ago, Austin said:

Now I need to know what NES games use the second controller for cheats/hidden menus/etc. 

 

44 minutes ago, Austin said:

Now I need to know what NES games use the second controller for cheats/hidden menus/etc. 

Someone in here in this forum knows I bet!  lol