Introduction: Exergaming Emulation III: Amiga Joyboard and Maniac Mogul (Atari 2600)

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This is the third in a series of posts on pre-Wii retro exergaming under emulation, using newer (and easier to obtain) peripherals, while trying to preserve as much of the intended challenge. My previous posts are here.

The Amiga Joyboard was a balance board for the Atari 2600. Basically, you stood on it, and it had switches that made it function like the four directional switches of the Atari 2600. One game was released specifically for the Joyboard: Mogul Maniac, a skiing game. Additionally, Off Your Rocker could be played with the Joyboard if one wanted to (but one really shouldn't want to--it's a pretty bad game).

You can play Mogul Maniac in browser on archive.org (assuming your country's copyright laws allow) and my instructable is geared to that.

I found two ways of emulating the Joyboard. One was to use a wooden wobble board together with an Android app that detects tilt on a phone placed on the board and sends it via BLE to a python script running on a PC that converts the tilt data to arrow keystrokes that control the game. My ten-year-old liked that way of playing, but I found it terribly awkward, so I won't document that (but you can follow my links and try it).

The better way, I feel, is to use a Wii Balance Board, which is basically a wireless analog version of the Joyboard. My instructions will be geared to Windows 10.

Supplies

  • Wii Balance Board
  • Windows PC

Step 1: Connect Balance Board to PC

  1. Download and install the latest version of WiiBalanceWalker on your PC.
  2. Download and install the latest version of the Dolphin Wii emulator on your PC. (This makes connecting much less of a headache than using standard Windows tools.)
  3. Go to your Control Panel.
  4. Choose Devices and Printers.
  5. Start Dolphin, but make sure you can see the Devices and Printers window, too.
  6. Click on "Controllers".
  7. Make sure that both "Connect Wii Remotes for Emulated Controllers" and "Continuous Scanning" are checked, and return to the main Dolphin screen.
  8. Open the battery compartment of the Wii Balance Board.
  9. Press the red sync button to make the blue LED on the Balance Board button blink.
  10. You should see a "Nintendo RVL-WBC-01" device show up in your Devices and Printers window and the light on the Balance Board should go solid.
  11. Exit Dolphin.
  12. Start WiiBalanceWalker and click on "Connect to Wii Balance Board".
  13. Under "Actions" set Left, Right, Forward and Back to Key Left, Key Right, Key Up, Key Down.
  14. Set all the other actions to "Do Nothing".
  15. Uncheck "Disable All Actions".

To disconnect the balance board, pull a battery out and put it back in.

Next time to reconnect do steps 5, 8, 9, 11 and 12.

Step 2: Play!

  1. Go to the Maniac Mogul for Atari 2600 page on archive.org.
  2. Press the big power button.
  3. The default control scheme for the game makes tilting left go right and vice versa. This might make some sense when skiing downhill (I am not a downhill skier), but I recommend you switch to the more intuitive scheme by flipping the virtual 2600's color/b&w switch. Press TAB, choose "Dip Switches" (use arrow keys and enter), and press the right arrow to select "B&W" under "TV Type". Then press ESC several times to get back to the game.
  4. Press the 1 key to choose between different games and 2 to start playing.
  5. Tilt forward to start.
  6. Tilt left, right, forward and back to play.
  7. Press 2 to reset.