Capcom Power Fighter Stick

[Greatsaintlouis]

I found one of these things over the past weekend when I was traveling and for the nice price of $12 I picked it up. :-D I remember seeing a topic talking about it a while back on the board, as well as the following site that detailed a ton of different systems that the guy adapted the controller for: http://www.pipitan.com/cpsf.html

Anyways, I took mine apart for the cleaning that every hardware device to come into my home receives, and found some rather odd and interesting things. This page details the addon of a wireless unit for what I'm assuming is the CPS Changer edition of the CPFS. While my unit has the battery door on the bottom and a cover over the second port in the back where the wireless adaptor attaches, the PCB inside the unit has neither the wireless port (although there is an outline on the board where it would be soldered) nor any hardware running to the battery compartment. So does this mean that possibly only the CPS Changer edition had the wireless ability, but Capcom decided to save some cash by using the same mold for the shells and the same plans for the boards?

Also, while I'm on the topic of this neato stick, upon taking it apart, I've found that the joystick uses standard leaf-style arcade microswitches, wired up with nothing more complex than quick disconnect cables. I'm thinking about ordering a set of Cherry microswitches from Happ Controls and throwing those in. Also, the LEDs that come on near each of the buttons are the large standard ones (3.3v, perhaps?) found easily at any electronics store, and there is plenty of room on the PCB to attempt to switch LED colors - I'm almost tempted to try it myself, it looks that simple.

On to the annoying question side of things, on the site I linked to above, I noticed that a lot of the different system mods for the CPFS were made possible with this cable, something that looks to end in some sort of PS/2 connector. Are these very common to find, and what would the price run? Also, what's the rarity and price on the neato white Genesis version of the stick?
And finally, not quite related, but what the hell is this X HE-3 adaptor thingie about halfway down the original page, and where could I get one? Playing Street Fighter 2 CE on the PC Engine would really rock with the CPFS.

[Johnny]

That's a cool arcade stick! :smt023

[sayin999]

Actually i read at another page that the japanese capcom fighting stick had the battery compartment and wireless adapter (which was sold seprately) avaliable for it. However for some odd reason(probably due to market and money since this stick costed i blieve somewhere between $40-60 back in the day) they removed it from the U.S version of the stick. Hope this clears things up.

[madhatter256]

You lucky SOB. Nice find.

[NFG]

As mentioned, the Japanese stick had a wireless addon, the US version did not. The wireless adaptor is not specific to the CPS Changer, it'd work on any Super Famicom. Since the CPS Changer has SNES ports, it'll probably work there too - though I can't confirm that.

The cable adaptor you linked doesn't end in a PS/2 connector, it ends in a DB9. It's a 6-button adaptor for FMTowns + X68000 versions of Street Fighter. In fact, you can see it used on these systems (and an MSX) on the page you linked to. The box on the cable has a 9pin port in it for use with a MegaDrive six-button pad.

[Greatsaintlouis]

Ah, thanks for the help, it was kindof small, so I wasn't sure what exactly it was. Were these cables sold on their own, or were they bundled in with the Japanese version of the controller? How hard are they to come across? And excuse my obtuseness, but the box on the cable with the MegaDrive ports - am I correct in assuming that this is to allow them to work on the X68000/FM Towns/MSX/whatever?

Also, since you seem to have an uncanny knack for getting information on the obscure, do you know anything about that adaptor for the PC Engine or the "SS Promoter" shown on that page? Possibly a link to some website that sells them? Thanks in advance. :prayer:

[AntiPasta]

I could've bought it with SNES and 2 games for 3000 yen in Japan... but I didn't bother at the time.
And the guy is indeed hardcore connecting the stick to every possible piece of hardware :-D And he even has a link to Assembler!

[NFG]

The X68/FMT adaptor cable was sold seperately and it was included with the X68k version of Street Fighter Dash. Or Super, whatever. It's in the box. =)

Both the adaptors you ask about are just your standard 3rd party unofficial adaptors. The PCE one is made by Micomsoft, they cranked out all sorts of crap (including a stellare range of X68000 games) before settling down with the XRGB and other video devices. I've not seen the other one around but I'd bet money it's just like any other adaptor: made in small numbers for a short time, available through mail order out of China for a while, and off the market for years.

[SuperFunkNinjaYoshiiKun]

That white one is damn sexy. A couple of those with a nice new SuperFami Jr. and a copy of SuperSF2 would be a wonderous thing to behold....

[ASSEMbler]

3.3v leds wouldn't seem too efficient a use of power...

[Calpis]

The white ones are for MD. Fugly imo.

[madhatter256]

Guess what GSL. I bought TWO of these just now for $2 each!!! BEAT THAT LOL :smt043 . No hard feelings so anyway I'm about to open mine up. I have the white one, so its for the Genesis, so I assume you have the SNES one. It actually does not have the battery compartment and the PCB doesn't have any diagrams for it to solder that wireless thing you talked about. Mine is basically just the arcarde with all the LEDs. I also ran it thru a multimeter and the LEDs are the standard cheapo LEDs you find in any electrical hardware store. Using it to play Raiden Trad on my Genny brings back memories when I played the arcade Raiden. Those were good times.

[Greatsaintlouis]

I guess if getting you need an ego boost that bad, you can gloat about it, but.... yeah, I'm not really that torn up about the price I got mine for - I thought it was a good deal. Sorry to spoil the fun.

[madhatter256]

Well you kinda got the better deal because yours has the battery compartment and the PCB has the thing for a wireless unit as well as the port for it but it just doesn't have it. I bought the cheaper kind without really knowing it. And I was merely playing around with the first part of my post, you didn't have to say that.

[Nintendomad]

I guess if getting you need an ego boost that bad, you can gloat about it, but.... yeah, I'm not really that torn up about the price I got mine for - I thought it was a good deal. Sorry to spoil the fun.

It was a good deal...no need to be so aggressive , we actually like having a laugh here mate.

[Greatsaintlouis]

I didn't find my reply aggressive, just wasn't really into comparing dicks as to who got the better deal... I'm sure my reply was unnessicary, but are you saying "Guess what GSL. I bought TWO of these just now for $2 each!!! BEAT THAT LOL" was? Believe me when I say I'm not at all bothered by it, as I stated in my original post, I've just never appreciated that sort of thing, that's all.

Madhatter: You say your controllers had absolutely no battery compartment on the bottom of the unit at all? Are they both Genesis controllers, or was one a SNES? Because while my SNES unit had no wires, etc. going to the battery compartment, there was one definately on the molding of the case. And is there even a port on the back where the wireless connector would have plugged in? It may be that only the SNES editions had that, as that controller type was also used with the CPS Changer, and Capcom opted to just leave out the battery and wireless hardware but save money on retaining the same case.