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Jan 03, 2014 • 02:56 Profile Photo HP Lovethrash

I’ll spare you my trademark long-winded explanation of the project ;). Basically I used a donor NES game cart to make a housing that holds the Game Genie PCB, which was soldered wire-by-wire to the NES PCB. This adapter helps circumvent the problem of the Genie’s thicker 72-pin piece not fitting into the NES-101.

My goal is to try again soon, cut WAY down on the time (I don’t have a proper wire stripper right now…yeah…), and make it cleaner overall. Certain traces still need to be cut, but I think removing two of the larger chips from the game PCB may have been unnecessary.

It works great! I just need to put screws in those holes on the front, to help anchor the Genie better. Also, I’m going to attach a piece of the Game Genie label to cover that jagged hole I had to make on the back of the game cart.

You can sacrifice any useless donor cart; I chose Xenophobe because it was the worst game ever, but with badass artwork. Also, ‘xenophobia’ sort of describes the Nintendo attitude towards certain 3rd-party peripherals, like the Game Genie 😉

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11 Replies
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Jan 03, 2014 • 21:15 Profile Photo RunnerPack

Interesting project. If the goal is just to move the 72-pin slot up a bit, couldn’t you extend it off the back of the Genie with, e.g. ribbon cable (since all the pins and pads are in a nice straight line) and mount the Genie PCB in the Xenophobe case in place of it’s PCB? You wouldn’t even need the whole case, so you could cut it down and eliminate the jagged hole, altogether. Or am I not understanding the problem?

Of course, now that there’s solder on the Genie’s edge connector, it’ll probably make less reliable contact in a slot. I wonder if it could be chemically removed without harming the copper underneath… (I doubt the gold would cover the copper completely enough to protect it).

I guess you could still cut down the Xenophobe PCB to just the edge fingers and use the ribbon cable idea. Make sure to leave enough on the sides for mechanical retention, though (or just use a ton of hot glue ;-))

That’s my take on it, anyway…

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Jan 03, 2014 • 22:19 Profile Photo HP Lovethrash

Hmm, interesting ideas :). I hadn’t thought of using a ribbon cable, though your idea may work as well. Especially the part about removing most of the game PCB and leaving enough to make the connection to the console, but still have those “teeth” that grip the inner cartridge.

The Genie DOES fit into a top loader, but the “height” of the 72-pin thing on the Genie is too thick. So, the distance between the top row of 36 pins and the bottom row (basically the actual thickness of the PCB) makes for a very snug fit. If the top loader was cheaper, I’d just cram the Genie into the slot and permanently leave it there- but as that is not the case, I’m afraid that the console’s 72 pin connector will be damaged or spaced out long-term.

Maybe if I didn’t suck at most NES games, I wouldn’t have to cheat or worry about this 🙂

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Aug 07, 2014 • 19:59 Profile Photo Virtual_Link

There does exist an official (well unofficial really) Game Genie for top loading NES’s. They’re pretty rare and cost over 100 US dollars.

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Aug 08, 2014 • 05:16 Profile Photo RunnerPack

It’s actually just an adapter they (Galoob) made, but your point is valid. I like the “DIY” solution better, though 😉

BTW, there’s one in this (super-expensive!) NES-101 bundle: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nes-Top-Loader-Bundle-With-Game-Genie-nes-101-Game-Genie-adapter-/251610637248?pt=Video_Games&hash=item3a9529a3c0

I’m not a big enough NES fanboy to want the console itself, but those NES-039 “dog-bone” pads (not included in the above auction, BTW) are sweet… Somebody send one to Hedgetrimmer so he can make a printable 3D model out of it! 🙂

Okay, that’s enough thread derailment out of me 😛

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Aug 08, 2014 • 06:09 Profile Photo HP Lovethrash

Sadly the expensive Galoob adapter is what prompted me to make this…I figured there was no advanced circuitry, just a downsizing adapter so it fits. I refuse to pay $100+ for such a thing.

About those dogbone controllers, they are nice! Better than the horrible original ones, but not as nice as my VB NES controller :-). Tomee makes a replacement one that I hear is fine, it just lacks the Nintendo logo of course.

RunnerPack wrote:
It’s actually just an adapter they (Galoob) made, but your point is valid. I like the “DIY” solution better, though 😉

BTW, there’s one in this (super-expensive!) NES-101 bundle: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nes-Top-Loader-Bundle-With-Game-Genie-nes-101-Game-Genie-adapter-/251610637248?pt=Video_Games&hash=item3a9529a3c0

I’m not a big enough NES fanboy to want the console itself, but those NES-039 “dog-bone” pads (not included in the above auction, BTW) are sweet… Somebody send one to Hedgetrimmer so he can make a printable 3D model out of it! 🙂

Okay, that’s enough thread derailment out of me 😛

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Aug 08, 2014 • 09:39 Profile Photo Hedgetrimmer

RunnerPack wrote:
Somebody send one to Hedgetrimmer so he can make a printable 3D model out of it! 🙂

Okay, that’s enough thread derailment out of me 😛

Do it, I’ll give it a go if anyone up for it 🙂

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Aug 08, 2014 • 20:56 Profile Photo RunnerPack

(Okay, just a leeetle bit more thread derailment ;-))

Well, if the Tomee ones are actually usable, I’ll probably just buy one of these, but if nobody steps up with a real one to model, I might get an extra and have it sent to you. I’d still like a model, so I can make a version with the A/B buttons rotated 90 deg. clockwise.

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Sep 01, 2014 • 16:04 Profile Photo Super Bros.

Buy a non functional gamegenie, desolder the top adapter piece, take a NES donee and chop it off at the top (all except a little bit above where the pins are) where it could have the adapter top soldered on. It would be amazing!

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Sep 03, 2014 • 04:47 Profile Photo HP Lovethrash

Do you mean do essentially what I did but make it smaller and more mangeable by removing most of the game’s circuitry and casing? Definitely a good idea for my second draft- at first I did it my way because I thought it was nice to have the original game’s label still. But it doesn’t matter I guess, it probably IS better to have a smaller adapter that isn’t so top heavy 0:-)

Dreammary wrote:
Buy a non functional gamegenie, desolder the top adapter piece, take a NES donee and chop it off at the top (all except a little bit above where the pins are) where it could have the adapter top soldered on. It would be amazing!

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Sep 03, 2014 • 23:23 Profile Photo Virtual_Link

HP Lovethrash wrote:
About those dogbone controllers, they are nice! Better than the horrible original ones, but not as nice as my VB NES controller :-). Tomee makes a replacement one that I hear is fine, it just lacks the Nintendo logo of course.

I actually prefer the original NES controllers, but those NES Max controllers [Shakes fist in anger].

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Sep 04, 2014 • 07:58 Profile Photo HP Lovethrash

You no likey the NES Max?? In theory I think they’re amazing but honestly that little red sliding piece for the D-pad doesn’t work that well. I was better off just pushing on the black ring around the edge and not even using it O_o

Virtual_Link wrote:

HP Lovethrash wrote:
About those dogbone controllers, they are nice! Better than the horrible original ones, but not as nice as my VB NES controller :-). Tomee makes a replacement one that I hear is fine, it just lacks the Nintendo logo of course.

I actually prefer the original NES controllers, but those NES Max controllers [Shakes fist in anger].

 

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