If you’ve got a discrete swappable PCB joystick system, like I’m curently funding for myself, then the 2hardest systems to work, which have no general purpose souliton (at least as far a SRK website is concerned, where there’s 3 brands of retro NES-PS2 rj-45 adapters, so this must be really niche if an rj-45 is considered mainstream within SRK yet niche outside SRK) is the Atari 5200 and Intellivision.
I need help with the intellivision, skip to the dashes to read what I know and can maybe use some help with with the INTV, based on my limited understanding of controllers, and my lack of electronic soldering skills. Atari 5200 help starting next paragraph:
Here’s what I can offer on 5200: AtariAge User Bohoki makes Bohoki adapters which Y in a real PC 15-pin controller, and a real 5200 joystick for Start, Reset, Pause and the 12 button keypad. If you need an analog controller that self-centers, then plug in a 15-pin PC controller.
Personally I think most of the 5200 analog games work better with a non-centering controller, but it’s nice to have options.
However all but 5 games use the analog stick in a digital way, which is awful if you use a default 5200 controller, but would work great if you had a digital fight stick. On abou 4 of those games, diagonals cause runtime errors because an analaog stick can make an effective 4-way stick. Just make the actuation threshold 75% or higher. There’s no way X And Y can both by over 75% if the restrictor is circular. (and that’s not always assumed, because the Apple IIe uses a square resrirctor analog stick.)
An existing 5200 fight stick:
There is a Coin Controls Compettion Pro 5200 Stick. That has a digital stick, and 2 fire buttons,a nd has a pin for an extra 5200 joystick. That is perfect except the left button is the main button and the right button is the auxiliary. If you got one of those and are use to the strret fighter standard, then maybe you should look into making a pin swap adapter for the main button to be on the right.
What if thee’s a way you can use your own discrete fight stick for the Brook Universal USB or Retro RJ-45 adapter, assuming it’s removable, on a 5200. I’m theorizing that certain “NES -style D-pads” for 15-pin IBM compatibles are electronically analog sticks just like an original stick for 15 pin. I assume there is circuity/other electrical components which take digital d-pad presses and convert it into an analog signal. There are 2 things you can do. I’m hiring my guy to hack it and making it work with my discrete fight stick system.
Those who want to build one might want to operate on it an analyze it. Maybe they’ll work on a way to replicate the @gummowned mod for getting digital stick to work with analog controls. By the way, I’ve found so far only ONE game on a modern system where that comes in handy, Metal Slug Anthology for Wii using the GameCube controller on an original Wii. But since it uses the Game Cube cntrol, just set the Cthulhu in GameCube + LS mode and work from there. So no real need. Except someone should update the Dreamcast on Cthulhu, Brook Retro, and PS360+ to be actuated by left stick. So unless someone can think of a Dreamcast game that works well with a fight stick, but only maps moves on the analog stick, there’s probably no market (even within the limited SRK market) for it, especially considering the 3 RJ-45 stick PCBs and Brook Universal already got PS1, PS2 and beyond covered. wait there are Wii U and Switch games that might qualify. But an update can fix that too.)
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Now the biggest problem. Intellivision. It’s something you can’t simply disassemble and hack. The main reason is the disc has 16 different individual buttons for 16 different directions. ( I don’t knwo how one bilds a 16 So you’re going to need some sort of intelligent circuit to have N actuate one thing, E another, and N+E as yet a third value. Once I can get 8 signals out of 4 directions and their combinations, then the rest of the hack should be easy. The buttons are simple, and the keypad can be Y-attached in there.
There are a couple device on AtariAge which have either Atari 2600 or Sega Master System to INTV, or either Genesis or Jaguar to INTV. I woud have picked up the SMS->INTV converter except it didn’t have 3 independent buttons It has Top plus Bottom left = Bottom Right. The 2 problems is the cosequences of accidentally actuating the wrong button when going for the combo, , and what if a game needs a simultaneous pressing of any 2 or all 3 buttons?
The SMS might have worked right for the joystick portion, because the SMS uses 4 discrete directional pins, If I can have that re-created, and then have 3 simultaneous buttons wired into an intelligent circuit board, which needs USB power. I didn’t know it was limited time.
I hope the secret isn’t a secret and is willing to share is secret. Then @edladdin could make an INTV Fight Board. Maybe someone will pay him $5 a unit to license it to another hobbyist.
Maybe someone knows the secret where they can build something where 4 cardinals can send 8 separate signals. 4 Cardinals and 4 totally different, non-combined diagonals.
I understand this does 8 ways, (or 4 ways if physically locked). Vectron is out. I think there are only a couple games which take advantage of 16 ways, and most of them use it analogly, like Turbo, where you roll your thumb around to steer, or don’t need quick directional changes that aren’t rolls. Burgertime wouold probably be the most improved game with a fight stick.
FInally, how would one build a 16-way, 1-intensity-plus-neutral fight stick, esepcially considering the acritecture of the Intellivison. Would you have 16 separae actuators that can’t be “in-between” activated? Would you build an 8-actuator joystick, and use the circuty mentioned above to deal with tertiary directions when 2 neighbors are pressed? Would you get (Gulp 
) an Analog stick and use a chip to divide it into 16 angular regions? Are there really any games that would benefit getting a separate 16-way or analog controller just for INTV and 5200? Can they be carried over into an N64, PS1 and higher analog controllers?
I guess Super Smash Brothers would benefit from such a controller.