How to connect the "Dandy" joystick to the computer?

With the prefix "Dandy" are familiar to all the children of the 90's. Breaking into the domestic markets, the console quickly gained popularity, and now in every home children of all ages gathered for an exciting game. Then, when computers became so accessible that it could be bought by everyone, the "Dandy" age was gradually completed. In addition, among the consoles began to appear and more advanced analogs, like Sega, Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64.

However, the craving to play in the toys of the 90s does not cease until now. Now you do not need to chase the cartridges for all your friends and acquaintances. It is enough to conduct some simple manipulations, and the opportunity to play in "Dandy" will appear on a personal computer.

What is "Dandy"

"Dandy" is a prefix with one or two joysticks. The carriers of the games were special cartridges. This is a chip, wrapped in a plastic case that carried a recorded game. In an era of insufficient Internet in order to play something new, the exchange of cartridges with neighbors or friends was topical.

The console was attached via cables directly to the TV. And the game itself was conducted with the help of one or two joysticks, equipped with buttons.

A bit of history

The very first to transfer the game from the vending machines to the home TV screens was realized by the Japanese company Nintendo in 1984. The prefix blew up the world of video games and became a real sensation. Now everyone could, in a comfortable environment for him, play any games available on the "Dandy". Interestingly, the name of the console in Japan was Family Computer or Famicom. And she came to Europe and the USA a bit later under the name of NES.

In Russia, the console came in 1992 and was called "Dandy". It was copied and reproduced in different formats. True, in the early stages of competition with her existing "Atari" and the like. But the "Dandy" quickly bypassed all the known formats and won the hearts of fans of the games of that time. However, with the advent of the new Genesis or Sega Mega Drive 2, and then the Sony PlayStation, it had to make room in this market.

In today's world, you can also find versions of the original Dandy console in specialized stores and play for the so-called "fan".

"Dandy": the modern era

Plunge into the magical world of games on "Dandy" is possible in the modern world. There are many opportunities for this. One of the easiest and most affordable is to connect the joystick from the "Dandy" to the computer. Thanks to the electronics market, you can purchase different versions of the device on the Internet or on the radio market. Modern joystick for "Dandy", as a rule, has a USB port, through which you can connect it to your PC. This approach contains a minimum of manipulation. If there is a desire to tinker with a soldering iron and the original joystick was accidentally found, then you can connect it by creating a special adapter yourself.

Connect the joystick from the "Dandy" to the computer via USB

The first thing to do for this connection is to purchase a joystick for the Dandy. It can be found both on specialized electronics sites and in various markets. A joystick does not have to be like its original representative. Outwardly it can look like any other console.

After the joystick is found for "Dandy", you need to take care of the software. To do this, you need to download a special application - the console emulator. Since officially "Dandy" has the abbreviation NES, then it is necessary to search for the corresponding program for this request. There are a lot of emulators in the network. But the principle of this application is one - running games on the "Dandy" in the program window.

Emulator

After the emulator is found and downloaded, you need to find the game directly. This can also be done by searching on profile sites.

Demonstrate how to connect the joystick from the "Dandy" to the computer, you can on one of the popular emulators - FCEUX. Its window looks like the photo below.

Downloading and installing will not take much time, since the program weighs no more than 2 megabytes and is easy to learn.

Now it's time to connect and configure the "Dandy" joystick. To do this, you need to insert it into the USB port of your computer. Then, in the emulator menu, select Config and go to the Input section.

In the configuration window that opens, press Configure to configure the joystick. A new interface opens, which visually resembles the location of the buttons on the joystick. Thus, by clicking on its defined button and setting the appropriate key on the PC keyboard, the behavior in the emulator is configured. After installing all the buttons of the joystick, you need to save everything and exit to the main application window.

Next you need to find the necessary game. They also have a lot of freely available on the Internet. Run the games through the File menu of the emulator, in which you select the item Open ROM. ROM - an image of the game, packed in a format that the emulator understands. In addition to the main features, the program allows you to save the state of the game at any time and also start it from the same place. This was not enough for many children in the era of complex games.

How to connect the joystick from the "Dandy" to the computer via the LPT port

Varieties and clones of the prefix "Dandy" was released quite a lot. Accordingly, the joysticks could have different shapes and number of contacts. In most cases, 9 or 15 were used. The 9-pin connector is very similar to the computer COM port . This is the factor and can be used to create an adapter from the "Dandy" to the PC.

First you need two connectors - LPT and COM. They will have to be dismantled, so that it is possible to properly solder the wires. Soldering is performed according to the simple scheme shown in the picture below.

As you can see, connector 1 on the joystick is connected to the connectors 5-9 through a row of diodes. The rest are soldered directly. Connecting the wires and soldering them in the right sequence, you can collect everything back. The adapter is ready for the first test.

Drivers for the joystick

But before that you need to take care of the software component of the equipment. Since the operating system does not know how to operate this type of joystick, you need to install in it a driver with the necessary information. Naturally, no one specially designed it for the PC. Therefore, we will have to use universal means to implement the connection of such devices with a computer.

There are a lot of such software products on the open spaces of the network, but it's better to use the PPJoy application. It is optimized for connecting unknown devices like joysticks to a computer, by selecting the appropriate driver.

The process of downloading and installing is simple. After the successful installation, the icon for this program appears on the desktop. Run it, you can see a window that suggests adding a new device to the configuration. You need to click the Add button. Next, the program displays a window in which you want to specify how the connection will take place. In the settings you need to specify the following:

• The parallel port is LPT1, respectively, if it is one;

• Type of controller - SNES or NES;

• Type of interface - Linux;

• Controller number - Controler 1;

• The controller subtype is NES.

Now left click on the Add button. This program will add the device to the system. In the next window, click Done.

After setting all the settings of the joystick, you need to check it and calibrate it. For this, in Windows operating systems there is an item in the Control Panel called "Game devices". In it, in the "Properties" tab, it is possible to check how the joystick reacts to the pressing of certain keys. If there is any activity, then the joystick is working, and you can open the emulator. If not, then you need to re-digest everything, because something went wrong.

Overview of popular emulators

A small list of the most popular and convenient working emulators:

• FCEUX. This emulator was mentioned in the article. It has open source code and can be run on a wide variety of systems. Has a wide range of settings and functions.

• INES. A simple and easy emulator for the Windows operating system. Has a minimum package of settings and configurations.

• Nestopia. Also has open source code. Can work under the operating systems Windows, Linux, Mac OS. A lot of settings and chips.

• VirtuaNes. This emulator is capable of supporting a light gun, slowing down and speeding up the game, as well as many settings related to video processing.

• RetroCopy. This is one of the multidimensional emulators that can play back images of games not only "Dandy", but also Sega, Nintendo and many other automata and consoles.

conclusions

Of course, for radio fans will be more interesting second version of the joystick "Dandy" for PC. For ordinary gamers who decided to plunge into the nostalgia of old games, the method number 1 is perfect. First, the cost of joysticks from USB is not so great. In addition, now you can buy them almost at any angle. Secondly, this is a significant time saving when connecting and calibrating a new device.

In the network in large numbers there are games "Dandy". Playing with a joystick or on the keyboard is a personal choice for everyone. But it is the complete immersion in the atmosphere of that era will still give only a comprehensive restoration of the game process.

Enthusiasts "Dandy" games with a joystick are ported in such a way that you can use them on a large number of different emulators. Another significant advantage is the fact that the simplest joystick can be used when emulating other consoles, for example Sony PlayStation or Sega. It's enough just to install the appropriate program and find the image of the desired game.