HOWTO: Modding a Genesis/Mega Drive 6 button pad for use with an X68000

Ok everyone, I thought I would do everyone a service here. Finding the X68000-to-SNES/MD controller adapter for playing games that require more then 2 buttons on the X68000 is next to impossible, and so is playing SF2/Fatal Fury with a regular 2 button pad. So, brought to you for the very first time ever (at least to my knowledge, it's probably been done in the Japanese community many times before, but not that I've seen) a simple, 5 minute mod to allow the ubiquitous Genesis/MD pad to function as a 6 button X68k pad. Pass it around, spread it around the web all you want. This mod can be attempted by anyone with even the most minimal of soldering skills. It requires 3 wires to be cut, crossed, and re-soldered. That's it, that's all.

Step 1: Open up your 6 button Genesis/MD controller and expose the printed circuit board

Step 2: Locate the small white molex connector that connects the controller cable to the board
NOTE: In every 6 button controller I have ever opened, the wire colors have always been the same. In case yours are different however, the wire number takes precedent over the color. For example, if I asked you to cut the orange wire (#5 in the photo,) yet your #5 wire was green and your #7 was orange, you should cut the #5 wire anyway.



Step 3: Cut the black (#1), grey (#7), and white (#9) wires directly in the middle, so an equal length remains on both sides. I will now refer to the half of the wire connected to the white connector as the "controller side" and the half of the wire connected to the cable as the "cable side".

Step 4: Re-connect the wires in the following way:
NOTE: The copper wire inside the genesis controllers is of very poor quality and breaks easily, so I recommend wrapping each solder joint liberally with electrical tape immediately after making the join or the wire is apt to snap.

Cable side - Controller side
Black (#1) - Gray (#7)
Gray (#7) - White (#9)
White (#9) - Black (#1)

Step 5: Make sure that all your solder joints are insulated, then close the controller up. You're done! You have a pad that works with the Fatal Fury games as well as the Street Fighter games. A lot easier then looking for one of those pesky adapters, isn't it? Good luck and good gaming!