Yes, I know.
I don’t think you understand how joystick wires are set up, though.
For many years, controllers would send signals through upwards of at least 8 different wires (embedded within the controller cords) to consoles!
USB is a different interface. It signals all that information through four wires. USB is standardized across PS3, XBox, and Mac/PC. The 360 is different with its USB connectors because that console is set up to recognize only USB controllers with ID chips or other DRM embedded in them.
HOW do you split up the signals in a USB controller (PS3 generation) so that a “legacy console” (PS2 and older game systems that don’t use USB joysticks) recognizes how that USB joystick is transmitting controller movements and button pushing???
IF the reverse were possible with a USB joystick WITHOUT having to scrap the existing PCB AND install an MC Cthulu PCB with an RJ-45 jack, don’t you think someone would made that adaptor already?
The RJ-45 jack with the MC Cthulu works so well because it covers most combinations of wiring for major consoles. Still, it’s gone through several firmware revisions because the companies that made those legacy consoles aren’t necessarily divulging their secrets. There was a lot of guesswork and trial-by-error with that PCB.
I think the USB controller issue is a logic control board (PCB) problem and for various reasons it’s not feasible to do retrograde adaptors for USB controllers…
Mojochan, Toodles, and Bencao have accomplished some nice things with their replacement PCBs and adaptors but that USB-to-legacy console trick is one thing those electrical engineering wizzes haven’t conquered. And I bet it has to do with the signal split-up problem I theorized about.
I’m with you GeorgeC.
Indeed, I don’t… But I know, for example, (certain?) USB gaming controllers are recognized as Human Interface Devices; I imagine they follow a standard. A solution I can imagine would be to have a firmware/embedded real-time OS with USB and HID support handle the conversion. It’s in the realm of electronic, right? This sounds like overkill to me, though, but it might be what it takes - I don’t know.
I’m a computer science graduate and I have a little notion about these things, but I’m most definitely not a “hardware guy”.