VB Controller USB Adapter

Originally Nov. 23rd 2017
Updated 09/29/2018

Just updated to support the new VirtualBoyGo emulator!!

I decided to develop a Virtual Boy controller USB adapter so that the controller could be used with emulators on a computer. Turns out with the help of Arduino that this is fairly simple to do. I also took the route of using a small commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) microcontroller board to do it. Within a day I had the controller connected to my computer playing Hyper Fighting in Mednafen. The last step now is to design a case.

The adapter shows up as a gamepad within Windows. There are 3 different mappings. By default all VB controller buttons get mapped to buttons as the VB controller is 14 buttons. I added two other mappings which can be selected by holding the A or B button when the adapter is powered up. Holding the A button down during power up maps the left d-pad to analog X,Y and everything else digital. Holding the B button down during power up maps the left d-pad to analog X,Y and the right d-pad to analog rotation with everything else to buttons.

I also added a new mode specifically for the VirtualBoyGo emulator. This is a VB emulator on the Oculus Go. You need to use a USB OTG adapter as well but holding down the A and B buttons on the VB controller maps it to the native VirtualBoyGo controls. I also needed an extra ‘X’ button to pull up the VirtualBoyGo system menu and that is triggered on the controller by holding down both select and start buttons. This allows a really nice setup on Oculus Go for playing VB games with a real VB controller!

I’ve designed a housing as well. It was designed to look somewhat like the Nintendo cover on the controller connector. I had an initial prototype run of 5 units built out of Carbon Fiber Onyx just like the link cables. Came out really nice!

Here’s the finished product. Looks really nice and very clean with a red and black USB cable.

Another view of just the housed adapter and cable.

A picture of the first batch sent out to PlanetVB members! Awesome people in that community.

Here’s a few from the second batch.

If you’re so inclined you can 3D print the parts yourself. These were tweaked to print best in Onyx on a Markforged printer. Top and bottom. I’ve also just finished a center connector design that you can populate with male d-sub pins. Picture of the model below and then a final fully 3D printed assembled adapter. 3D printing the center allows the overall cost to drop $10 and removes any reliance on donor parts.

And here’s the latest hex file to program the DFRobot Beetle board for the VB controller USB adapter.

That’s about it. I believe this is the first VB controller USB adapter that’s made completely from new parts without requiring a controller modification. If you have any questions, contact me via my contact page.

About Me

Hi, my name is Kevin Mellott. Virtual Reality is one of my major passions. My original Mellott’s VR Page was started on Geocities in 1998 as part of a class project. Much of the original content is still maintained on this site for reference. This new website is intended to give the older site a new look and allow me to expand with new projects in the future.