NES Controller Shuffle (Nintendo Controller MP3, v3.0)

I completely ripped off ryan97128 on his design for Nintendo Controller MP3, Version 2.0 and I hear that he got the idea from the all wise Morte_Moya, so I can't take credit for all of their genius. I just wanted to add the convenience and recharge-ability of an Ipod Shuffle (2nd Gen).

I copied ryan97128 exactly on his set up except there was no need for the battery and I am not experienced enough to put in extra LEDs, so no cool blue hue. For how to break into an Ipod Shuffle, there was this instructable from technochicken which was most helpful.

To avoid redundance, I will assume that you will be able to follow ryan97128 on how to set up the circuit board from the controller and have the Ipod taken apart and ready to go.

Total cost for this project was about $40 for me, the only things I needed to buy were a used Ipod shuffle off eBay and a connector cable for it (you won't be able to use the included stand in my design).

Step 1: Materials

A general list of my materials:

Original NES controller
used Ipod Shuffle, must be 2nd or 3rd gen (the more used the cheaper)
Ipod shuffle connector cable, not a stand (see picture)
Dremel tool
hot glue gun
20W soldering iron and solder
solder wick
swiss army knife (any multi-tool will do)
needle nose pliers

Comments

[The Sauce boss]

awsome work!

[Exodiac47]

you probaly could but you would sill need to know where the wires go

[Enzomatico]

As of right now it's cheaper to buy a 4th gen ipod shuffle 2gb than a 2nd gen 2gb on amazon. Would I be able to use a 4th gen?

[Exodiac47]

I need a pic of the finished nes board soldered to the ipod i dunno which cord goes to which!!!

[Enzomatico]

me too

[pcprod23]

would a hot glue gun work?????

[Mr. Squishy]

 How do you wire up the on/off switch.

[CestrianCollective]

I don't think it's going to happen... Just leave the switch on and the iPod will automatically go to sleep when it's not being used! I was wondering the same thing...

[Mr. Squishy]

I dont think the shuffle has an automatic sleep mode like the other iPods. I had a shuffle that was left on and its battery drained

[CestrianCollective]

Nice nostalgic touch! I tore apart the dock hoping to find something useful... NOTHING useful in there! =-P

[CestrianCollective]

So I'm very new to soldering and anything pertaining to deconstructing or understanding electronics... What exactly do I solder to what here? I'm assuming that there's NO common ground here, right? (My first inclination was to solder from common ground on the NES Controller straight to the iPod Shuffle metal case around the buttons...) But it seems I need to remove the buttons and solder straight to the circuit board?

[jahrastapunk]

how would you wanna charge the nes player..

[wout smeets]

stick it into usb

[Snowtrooper514]

this seems like you could do it with the 4th gen as well.

[pduves]

How much would you guys pay for one of these with 2 GB? $50-60?

[heroicraptor]

Could you post an up close picture of the iPod after soldering?

[Mr. Squishy]

 You would need an inline remote if you have a 3rd gen, right?

[wdmangiamele]

thts soooooooooo sick!!!! im going to try it with a 1st gen ipod shuffle because thats all i have....
:P

[ahlexys]

would there be a way to incorperate the start/select buttons as on/off? cuz i got a shuffle (3rd gen) and a couple nes controllers just laying around and i absolutly hate the battery dying on me in the middle of a long bus ride.

[zitz]

could you just strip the wires coming from the circuit board rather than soldering new wires?

[-Onji-]

how did you include the on and off eh?

[ihrtglfx10]

For this you have to leave it "on" all the time. It will turn itself off after a minute or so, I haven't noticed a reduction in battery life or playing time.

[ryan97128]

You beat me to this one!! Nice job. I like that it has the rechargeable battery and no need for a USB hole. That looks like it would save about 2 hours of labor. I gotta build one of these for myself now! AWESOME.

[ihrtglfx10]

Thanks man! But you already did the hard thinking for me!

[dimarel]

very nice (5/5) ! I want to do it now ! can you explain me witch circuit of nes controller go to ipod please... or do you have more one better photo ? thx !

[ihrtglfx10]

Glad you liked it! I will try to explain it, but ryan97128 has some great pictures on his project that I linked if you need a photo of what to do. I already had to glue some edges down and don't want to go through the hassle of taking mine apart. Each button is basically a circuit break, so by pressing the button you are completing a circuit to achieve a desired action. You can extend that break away from the Ipod and onto the NES circuit to use its buttons to do the same thing as the normal Ipod buttons. So you are just making the circuit longer. Normally the signal travels from one side of the button to the other but now the signal will travel from the R side of the Ipod button, up the wire to the R side of the NES button, across the NES button (when pressed down) to the L side, down the wire to the L side of the Ipod button. (See Step 4) So by pressing down the NES button we are completing the circuit for the Ipod. I corresponded the Up button to Vol. Up, Down to Vol. Down, Left to Back, Right to Forward, and A to Play/Pause. Does that answer your question, or am I way off?

[brendan945]

Nice Job. I have really been wanting to do this since I saw the other two. Glad to see it all comes together pretty nicely.

[fwjs28]

very cool...

[fishandchips]

Nice project! By far the simplest Shuffle NES hack I've seen.