HSS-0136 VirtuaStick X360 Mod (Many Pics)

For my first thread in the mods and hacks forum, I'm going to be modding one of my HSS-0136 Sega Saturn Virtua Stick to use on my Xbox 360. I'm fed up with the 360 controller and need some real sticks. This is a work in progress. I've got parts on order, so this won't be complete for a week or two.

The first steps are taking everything apart. Sorry for the blurry pictures.

Here's the wired 360 controller pcb that's going to be going into the stick. Very easy to take apart. I'm still trying to figure how to take off the triggers without completely snapping the thing. It looks like a little desoldering needs to be done.



Taking apart the Virtua Stick has been somewhat of a bummer so far. Unfortunately I was unable to maintain the original artwork, which I would have preferred.



The artwork was glued onto the main panel. Sadly it had to be removed in order to remove the joy stick. RIP sexy Sega art.

The biggest surprise when I opened up the Virtua Stick was that all the buttons inside were not actually micro switches. There was just one big pcb with large contacts. Now what you are about to see next might shock some of you. Don't be alarmed I have a second Virtua Stick that I still use for my Saturn gaming. You have been warned.



The buttons were soldered to the board. And they couldn't be pulled apart to fit through the holes. So instead of taking the time to desolder 8 buttons. I simply used a flathead screw driver to snap the pcb, thus removing the buttons. I figured since I'm only going to be using these sticks for 360 gaming, there wasn't any real need for me to preserve the original hardware.

So now everything is taken apart.





The main panel still has a lot sticky residue from the glue. It was a pain cleaning. And it's still not all the way clean, if that's even possible.

My next steps are to fill the 'L' and 'R' button holes so I'm only left with 6. I'm not going to put in a '3P' or '3K' buttons for SFIV. Also, the 'Start' button as well as all the little turbo buttons also need to be filled in since I'm not going to be using any of them.

The parts on order are:
* SANWA Joystick JLF-TP-8YT (Pink)
* SANWA OBSF-30 Buttons (Pink)

***The thing about the Sanwa buttons is that they're 30mm in diameter. The original holes on the VS are 29mm. So they do need to be widened a bit.***


I also need to pick up some wiring from RadioShack. As well as some sort of acrylic cover to protect the artwork overlay. I'm thinking about painting the outside plastic piece a nice black. For the artwork, nothing too fancy. I was able to find a nice VS template off of Shoryuken.



There's the template. And the artwork/pattern I'm thinking about using.



Here's what it looks like with the template.



That's about as far as I've gotten. I'll be showing the various steps toward completion: filling holes, artwork, wiring, etc. Just waiting on the rest of the parts. :nod:

 

So since these aren't microswitched are people just full of shit when they say there kickass? Because seriously, they can be pricey compared to other Saturn sticks. Doesn't seem arcade quality to me!

Looks cool, I wish I could of built my own shit but I just bought the DOA4 stick.

I wonder how tough it would be to stick decent buttons and a stick in that though? The buttons are mashy and the stick pisses the fuck out of me because the ball top spins and totally throws me off!

 

A little solder wick or solder sucker tool would have saved that poor pcb. I hate to see a saturn stick get modded for something as barbaric as an XBOX, but I suppose it's not my place to say

I believe those notches on the button holes will go, right? Also be sure to let us know how the stick fits, I've been curious myself about doing a (in my case, non-destructive) stick swap and perhaps button/pcb swap to jazz mine up.

 

360, not the fatty, just in case you thought it was fatty, lol.

 

They're good. But they're not great. They work just fine. And I'm pretty sure they're a lot better than that Hori stick. Basically I'm just gutting the whole stick and using the case for a 360 stick.

not an Xbox. and Xbox 360. :110: definitely worth modding one of my sticks since i have another HSS-0136 for my Saturn.

the notches on the button holes will need to disappear. the sanwa buttons are 30mm and the holes are 29mm. the stick should fit with a mounting plate.

remember if you're thinking about doing a stick swap, the original artwork is going to be destroyed. i've looked at a lot of VirtuaStick mods and i haven't seen any with the original artwork intact. i don't think it's possible... :shrug:

 

I used to have one of these when I had a Saturn. Not too bad for a stock retail stick, but I always found the actual stick too low in relation to the buttons.

 

Dude, you dead serious are gutting an arcade stick and turning it into an arcade stick. rofl.

 

Sweet!

Hope it turns out well, but it definitely looks like you know what you're doing :thumbsup:

 

Shame you had to do that to a Saturn stick. You should have just bought a broken Xarcade. Those have microswitches so it would have been much easier to mod.

 

I like the pattern youre putting on it, cant wait to see it when its done.

 

Whats the difference?

I kind of like the bat tops vs balls but that's what I'm used to. There fun for pacman and stuff.

 

As far as I know the only difference is that microswitches have a distinctive click.

 

ugh, the X-Arcade is so ugly though. like i said before i've got spare sticks. i'm just really excited to get the parts.

i got some good advice from a member of another forum. apparently RadioShack, wiring is horrible. and is somewhat difficult to solder. he recommended Jameco Electronics. so that's where i'm going to be ordering the wiring from. as well as quick releases.

 

I can't wait to see your progress on this.

You might want to dremel away the small tabs in the button holes, but not enlarge them at all for now. The Sanwa buttons might fit in the 29mm holes.

 

How much is it for the parts?

 

roooh, resize yours pistures, please...

 

i like big pictures.

the stick was about $25. and the buttons were about $3 each. i ordered just six.

 

is the Saturn stick better than the DC stick? (both official SEGA sticks mind you)

 

i haven't used the DC stick so i couldn't tell you. they probably really similar.