Paddle/Driving Controllers on a Sega Genesis?

[p1FqO3]

I know Sega Genesis controllers can be used with a 2600. But, could the Atari Paddle and/or Driving controllers be safely connected to a Genesis? Could a game be programmed to utilize them? Has it been done? I love spinner controlled games, but there's only so much that could be done on a 2600, I wonder what could be done with next gen hardware.

[Video]

Well the driving controller is just a variant of joystick, turning the wheel just plays a pattern of two joystick directions, so no reason a game couldn't be programmed to read it.

 

Paddles on the other hand basically have a volume. One direction is louder, the other is softer. If the genesis can read analog, there's no reason a game couldn't read it, but I don't know if the genesis reads analog.

[Supergun]

Yes, the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive can read analog controls. One example is the famous XE-1AP analog controller by Dempa for use with & compatible with After Burner, Galaxy Force, and a few other games.

[Swami]

The driving controller puts out binary quadrature, so it would have to be able to read that on pins 1 and 2, unless you re-wired them to other pins - with the same story. I'm not really sure what the B and W stand for in this schematic:

 

http://www.atariage.com/2600/archives/schematics/Schematic_2600_Accessories_Low.html

 

The paddles are on pins 5 and 9, but 5 is the +5V VCC on a Genesis, so you would need to rewire the paddle ouput to another genesis pin, and 9 is a Fire button, so same thing. Although, you could program any fire button or joystick direction to do anything in a new game. I'm not sure if you would have to switch the paddle contacts around, like you do for the 2600, or not.

[TheHoboInYourRoom]

I'm not really sure what the B and W stand for in this schematic:

 

http://www.atariage.com/2600/archives/schematics/Schematic_2600_Accessories_Low.html

Blue and White, referring to wire colors.

Pins 1 and 2 on the driving controller correspond to up and down on both the Atari joystick and the Sega d-pad, so there's absolutely no reason the Genesis couldn't read the Gray code. Since the two consoles have the power supply on different pins, though, it would be safest to have a little plug adapter that swaps pins 7 and 9 plugged into the console, with the foreign controller plugged into the adapter.

[zylon]

The SMS or MKIII had a paddle control. http://www.smspower.org/Development/Paddle

[Torr]

The SMS or MKIII had a paddle control. http://www.smspower.org/Development/Paddle

 

Now the question is:

 

Can an Atari Paddle Controller be used in place of the SMS/Mark III Paddle Controller?

 

Probably not easily I'm guessing.

[TheHoboInYourRoom]

Blue and White, referring to wire colors.

Pins 1 and 2 on the driving controller correspond to up and down on both the Atari joystick and the Sega d-pad, so there's absolutely no reason the Genesis couldn't read the Gray code. Since the two consoles have the power supply on different pins, though, it would be safest to have a little plug adapter that swaps pins 7 and 9 plugged into the console, with the foreign controller plugged into the adapter.

"...plug adapter that swaps pins 7 and 5..."

What was I thinking, the post I quoted even said the Genesis uses pin 5 for power.

[Jess Ragan]

The Genesis has a "mega mouse" too, but I'm not sure how it works. It probably isn't anything terribly complicated, though. It seems reasonable to assume that a driving controller could be used in place of one axis on the mouse.