Is it possible to couple two controllers to work as a single player such that if I press B on either controller it sends B to player 1? I've tried splicing extension cables to make a Y cable, but this doesn't work as the controllers use an IC to create a datastream.
I was thinking maybe the 8BitDo N30 could sync both controllers to one receiver, but it uses bluetooth so that probably wouldn't work.
There was that NES addon that allowed you to use four players for games like Gauntlet. I assume it's sending two different datastreams per plug so I guess that wouldn't work either.
Any ideas or products you can think of would be appreciated, thanks!
@rob78 The closet thing to what you are talking about that comes to mind was Smash TV on the NES. There was an option where one player could use two controllers to play. You were able to use one Dpad to move and the other to shoot.
RetiredPush Square Moderator and all around retro gamer.
If by chance Tasuki is on the right track (although your post doesn't read like this is what you're talking about), someone at AtariAge is selling 3D printed controller couplers for NES Smash TV and any other NES game that might benefit.
A buddy of mine bought one and had a good time playing through Smash TV on his NES with it (for those unfamiliar with NES Smash TV's dual controller support, the left d-pad is for movement and the right is for aiming/firing). And if the controller cord sticking out is off-putting for the controller on the right side, 8BitDo's N30 wireless controller matches the dimensions of an original NES controller and would fit just fine I'm sure. And if you happen to own two N30's, even better since you can go fully wireless.
Another good case use for this coupler is Silent Service on the NES. Controls are spread across both controllers. So by rotating this coupler 90 degrees to the horizontal position with one controller stacked above the other, everything will be in easy reach without the need to swap between two controllers.
@rob78 Sounds similar to the 'Co-Pilot' feature on Xbox where both controllers can control the same player, but no similar setting on Switch as far as I'm aware.
There are various Switch controller emulators for the likes of Arduino etc. kicking around online so it might be possible going down that route, but not something I've ever tried.
Thanks for the replies. I did look into using a Raspberry pi to take inputs from two controllers and send it to the NES as a single player. It's super complicated and would require me to code a bunch of stuff. I was hoping that something already existed but it doesn't look like it does. I'll keep looking and if anyone comes across anything, please let me know, thanks!
Such a device would need to send input to the same pin on the same controller port to do that.
It would probably be possible on the Famicom (since that was designed to allow players to use the internal controllers, or an external controller attached to the expansion port), but that wouldn't work on the NES (since the NES used different controller ports, and the specific pin that (almost every licensed Japanese-developed) games look for to support the external controller, isn't present on the NES).
As in, the Famicom was designed with five input pins on each controller, and when Nintendo developed the NES, they connected just the combined three pins used by standard controllers and the Zapper, and that extra pin was one of the two removed.
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Topic: NES: Couple two controllers to one player.
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