Using a Raspberry Pi for a controller interface

coleco1981 · November 19, 2015

I make a post on the raspberry pi forum but I thought I would post here as well - since its relevant to this community as well:

I had an interesting thought for a pi project that I'm hoping others can help me through.

I understand there have been various projects that relate to using original controllers on the pi especially with the popularity of game emulators. People have been able to develop the ability to use original atari 2600 (and similar) with the GPIO pins on a Pi.

What I have not seen yet is a project that enables you to use GPIOs hooked directly to an atari 2600 console (and perhaps other retro consoles) through its controller port.

Why would you do this?

Well for one - I'm not a huge fan of emulation and like to use original consoles but depending on the console - the original controller may not be the most desirable option - they are corded and could be considered clunky in comparison to modern controllers.

I understand that people have been able to get Xbox 360 wireless controllers to work on Pi units. What if the Pi could be used as a controller interface that will enable you to use a modern xbox 360 controller to play a real atari 2600, sega, nes, etc?

Thinking if that is possible I would have interest in expanding that capability to do analog controls for consoles like the vectrex and atari 5200.

The atari controller pin outs are fairly straight forward and to make a PI essentially a controller I suspect I would need to have a series of NPN transistors in place to replicate switches that essentially bridge certain pins to ground. Would that be the right way of going about it? Is this possible or am I crazy?

I should note that I'm not an electronics engineer here - so providing some direction on wiring something up like this would be a great help!