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Anyone willing to give up worn out or broken controllers?

Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 12:59 pm
by Kyosho
I'd pay for them, of course. I'm not begging. I looked at the forum rules and they specifically say no to advertising ebay auctions. But couldn't find anything about "want to buy" type threads. If I am doing something wrong here, please by all means lock this thread. I don't want to cause any trouble.

So. I want a controller that I can hack to hell and back. I've become quite fond of the 3DO, and while I know I can get a used (or even brand new) controller on ebay for pretty cheap, I don't think I could bring myself to hack a fully-functional one. They feel like priceless artifacts to me now. Even crappy 3rd party ones. Perhaps I've lost my friggin' mind, but I guess I've drank the 3DO koolaid and I'm all in.

The types of broken controllers I'm looking for:

* Controllers with weak/ripped/damaged wiring.
* Controllers with worn out rubber bits (that go below the buttons).
* Controllers missing parts like the rubber bits or the plastic buttons.
* Controllers with physically broken outer shells, but intact PCBs.
* Controllers that are missing everything EXCEPT the inner PCB with all its chips intact.
* 3rd Party controllers broken in and of the manners listed above, just so long as they work(ed) on an FZ-1.

The types of broken controllers I'm NOT looking for:

* Controllers that have been shorted out or otherwise been electronically fried.
* Controllers with broken/cracked PCBs, unless the break is somewhere that is only a few traces that could be resoldered or jumped with wires (as in, near the outer edges, not directly on or beside major components/ICs).


Exceptions being the CH Flightstick Pro, Light Gun (Gamegun), or Mouse. I would take them no matter how terribly damaged they might be, just to get a good look at them inside. I'm interested in possibly reverse-engineering them. Imagine figuring out how the flight stick works, and modding in a controller with a precise, modern analog stick for games that support it. Or adapt other flight sticks to work on 3DO. Imagine an adapter to make, say, a Konami Justifier work on the 3DO in place of the Gamegun. Or a PS/2 to 3DO mouse converter. Etc. I'm not saying any of these things are necessarily going to happen, or are even possible. But I'm saying I want to give them a look-see, and experiment.

I realize some of you may be against that sort of thing, because it would lower the "value" of the original items (flightstick and mouse in particular), so I won't feel offended if no one is into it.

At the very least, with just a broken (but electronically sound) standard controller I can wire it up to my arcade stick and get my Street Fighter/Samurai Showdown/etc. on. And possibly in the future offer a modding service of the same (though that one is particularly easy if you've ever even held a soldering iron before).

I would also like to note that I don't have a ton of money right now. So if everyone comes out of the woodwork with broken controllers, I can't buy them all. I can probably buy ONE right now. And in the future, more. Consider this sort of a standing request. If you've got something, and I've got the money at that time, I might buy it.

Re: Anyone willing to give up worn out or broken controllers

Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 8:08 am
by a31chris
These controllers made by NAKI are still in production I do believe.

I don't know about this new price point one ($14) It's different than the $8 NAKI I bought a couple years ago so it might be a better build but don't feel bad about using these Dr. Frankenstein.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Controller- ... 589fc6be10

Re: Anyone willing to give up worn out or broken controllers

Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 11:06 am
by Kyosho
Yeah.. I've had that and this one on my ebay watch list for quite a while now. Had the $8 one on there too before it disappeared. I'll end up going with one of those eventually if no one bites. I'd rather not though. Even though it's a third party controller of dubious quality, it is still a brand new product for a system that has become pretty damned obscure. It just feels wrong to do it. Though if they're actually still in production, as you say, I suppose I'd feel less terrible about it. Still, I'd rather make use of a broken controller that would otherwise be heading for a landfill and give it a new life.

It kind of goes back to my modding history. I come from the communities of people who make handheld/portable versions of game consoles. For many years, the best quality, and cheapest LCD screen we could find to use was the PSOne LCD. You know, this one, from the re-released Playstation. And now, they've become scarce. Video game collectors really hate us for it. And I kind of feel ashamed myself. Heck, some newbie modders STILL use them, since there's a lot of documentation for them online after so many of us used them. Even though there are tons of nice cheap LCDs on ebay these days. :(

Re: Anyone willing to give up worn out or broken controllers

Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 10:06 pm
by a31chris
If you keep buying them that keeps the demand up and more get produced.... for whatever reason. Experimentation or whatnot.

Give them demand they will keep the supply up.

Re: Anyone willing to give up worn out or broken controllers

Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 10:20 pm
by Kyosho
I suppose you're right about that. Hrmm.

Re: Anyone willing to give up worn out or broken controllers

Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 4:28 pm
by CasetheCorvetteman
Id like to see a different gun made to work on the 3DO, the ALG gun is a bit ordinary compared to the Saturn gun, the Guncon would be nice too.

The Guncon works on my projector, where as the saturn one doesnt because of the white screen, and the 3DO gun wont work well away from the middle. They all work fine if you aim into the lenses.

Re: Anyone willing to give up worn out or broken controllers

Posted: Wed May 04, 2016 2:53 am
by Martin III
I like the ALG gun, but it would be nice to have an alternative light gun for the 3DO, if only because it feels a bit weird to be using an old west revolver with games like Demolition Man and Space Pirates!