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N64 bluetooth gamepad

Turn your N64 controller into a bluetooth gamepad

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I wanted to play N64 emulator with a wireless N64 controller. I bought 8bitdo's N64 bluetooth replica and although it is quite good, having spent my childhood playing N64 I can tell it doesn't feel the same. I learned you can fit 8bitdo's controller pcb board into an original N64 controller's case, and use original buttons. That was an improvement but I really wanted to have 100% original N64 experience. So I built this in order to replace 8bitdo's joystick based on two 10k potentiometers by the original N64 joystick. The result is really satisfying, real N64 feeling but wireless.

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Seth Brady wrote 06/25/2021 at 01:27 point

I'm working on a similar project but using a PS4 controller and an intecgaming N64 Bluetooth adapter. Much easier than trying to find an 8Bitdo N64 controller. Very cool though and glad to see I'm not the only one that wants a classic style N64 BT controller.

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Colton wrote 05/04/2021 at 20:43 point

@Shyri Villar I'm very interested in performing a similar project, but designing my own PCB instead of trying to find an 8bitdo 64 controller. Any tips you can give me about how you gotthe original joystick to work would be great!

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Shyri Villar wrote 04/17/2020 at 20:01 point

@hayes2044 Haha lucky you! I only bought one. I usually play on a NVidia Shield TV and it is just perfect to play from the couch without wires. The best part is I took the case and buttons of the controller I used as a kid (I had to buy another one in very good condition to get the joystick since mine was almost destroyed xD) and it really brings me back to my childhood. Although soldering those tiny smd chip could be tricky it shouldn't be too hard. I recommend to watch one of those youtube tutorials on how to solder properly. practice a few times somewhere and go for it. Just be very careful with the 8bitdo board pad, those come off very easily from the PCB... I destroy one pad and had to scrap the pcb a bit to remove the green layer on the trace and solder the wire directly to the trace. So don't lay the soldering iron for too long on those. Let me know whenever you make it I'd like to see it :)

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hayes2044 wrote 04/11/2020 at 16:31 point

@Shyri Villar Thanks for the response. That's awesome. I'm at 66 stars on Mario 64 currently myself. Loving it. Luckily i bought 3 of the 8bitdo RB8 when they came out. (I'm very proud of my foresight but why wouldn't i just buy 4?? Still checking ebay regularly) I'm on a NVIDIA shield and its pretty great. Unfortunately I snapped one of the joysticks during an intense Mario Kart race haha. This seems like the perfect opportunity to try your awesome project. I've never soldered in my life but but in this case i think its worth the effort to learn. Wish me luck!

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Shyri Villar wrote 04/05/2020 at 13:49 point

@hayes2044 Sorry for the late answer, I just saw your message. It is holding up great. I completed Majora's Mask 100% all heart pieces. Currently I'm playing Donkey Kong, 191 golden bananas very close to finish the game 100% too... and it works just like the very first day. The only problem is it is very difficult to find an 8bitdo 64 controller out there since they discontinued it. I might dig into turning an original controller into a bluetooth controller in some other way. Let me know if you try to build it!

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hayes2044 wrote 01/09/2020 at 19:43 point

how is the controller holding up? i'd love to try this

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