Giant SNES table: Video and final touches

I'll keep adding any changes that I make to the project to this post. I'll also try and answer any questions that I see from other blogs/ sites. Heres 2 videos of the controller in action.

Me


Me and my roomate


Judging from some reactions, I think alot of people missed the point of this entirely. I love woodworking, and saw this as a big challenge for my craftsmanship. I also love video games, though I'm usually too busy to play them much. I also thought this would be a cool novelty/ conversation piece. I might eventually make it into a table w/ legs, but for now I like it as a stand alone controller. Its not 4 feet wide, its 40 inches. I did this so it would be more ergonomic to play with one person. The D pad and buttons are a comfortable arms length.

So heres a few responses to comments from some of the other blogs that posted an article about the controller.

1. "Props for the man's craftmanship, but I think he needs a job. Possibly, a wife too."
   -I have a sweet job as an intern as well as being a Senior at UCF for Engineering, and I'm 21, not lookin for a wife.
2. "So is this that guy's bid at becoming King of the Dorks?"
   -I don't think I'm 1st in line, but "the dorks" welcome me with open arms.
3. "He should have just spent the time building a life sized girlfriend."
   -I might be wrong, but wouldn't that be more pathetic?
4. "Surprised no one has said "OMG THE BUTTONS ARE THE WRONG COLOUR!!" I was expecting someone who grew up playing the PAL or Japanese SNES to at least come in with that comment."
   -I've said this a few times now, but I grew up with the purple toned SNES. I like the 4 color PAL/JAP colors better, but its not near as nostalgic for me. I've lived in FL all my life, not too many people around here would recognize the other color set.
5. "the best controller just got bigger :P"
   -I totally agree, my favorite controller as well.
6. "SCAD Inc., which I will charitably call a garage-based novelty enlargement collective"
   - Wow, pretentious much? First off, I live in an apartment without a garage, so I work on my front porch and store the tools in my room. Also, we don't claim to be anything but a couple guys that like to build things. We thought it'd be fun to give our not-so-company a name and logo. This was a project I took on myself, but many of the other projects on here were done by all 3 of us (surf fins, sub box... which I'll put up at some point... etc). We just build the things we want that can't be found anywhere else... not "novelty enlargement". But thanks for the post and link to my blog, I appreciate the hype.
7. "How is this the least bit pratical? How do you use a 4 foot wide controller?"
   - Its not practical... its fun. I use it just fine, watch the video.
8. "Yeah, thats a gag for my console but it really works. But mainly I play DAoC on the big machine. " He remarked. " DAoC ? What is DAoC ? " She asked. "Ahhh, you have to see this, it is the best RvR MMORPG on the net!" He answered. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "Nevermind, I play WoW, I think the little cartoon people are sooo cute!">>> BASH <<<>>> Thud <<<<(or date killer if you are a single guy)I like dual purpose hardware."
   - What?
9. "didnt they do a working nes controller?now this will be even harder for just 2 people to usewhos going to be hitting the l1/l2 and r1/r2 buttons"
   - Yes the NES was done, thats why I did the SNES, and again, watch the videos for playability. Oh, and there are no L2 or R2...
10. "not when you are over compensating and have to produce something like a 4 foot snes controller to make yourself sleep better at night."
    - I sleep fine, but thanks for the concern.
11. "someone needs to work on their jig saw skills..."
    -really? Didn't realize Bob Vila over here was judging me.
12. "all i can say is "why?"
    - A bad question deserves a bad response. Why not.
13. "So this is only the.. what… 1000000th giant game controller?"
    - Third to my knowledge, though theres also an atari stick, not sure if it worked.
14. "Those springs look too weak to support enough push for the buttons.I would like to see him fabricate a giant silicone membrane :P"
    - (this was a comment on a pictureonly showing the button mount, no buttons) The springs your referring to don't support the buttons, they are the grounding side of the contact for the button. Each of the ABXY buttons are supported by 3 springs wrapped around bolts cut off and nailed into the buttons. The other buttons are different. If you're interested read the older posts.
15. "this creation is only 15 years overdue. Do you realize snes hasnt been around since 1993!?"
    - Old systems don't disintegrate when a newer one comes out, though clearly some people don't appreciate that.

Heres just a few links, there are so many more. If you know of anymore definately post them for me!: http://www.ripten.com/2008/08/29/geeked-out-giant-working-snes-controller/

http://www.examiner.com/r-1875102~Four_Foot_SNES_Controller_Actually_Works__For_Shaquille_O_Neal___Modding_.html

http://gonintendo.com/?p=54269

MAKE!!! My favorite so far.
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/08/worlds_largest_snes_contr.html

http://gizmodo.com/5043619/four+foot-snes-controller-actually-works-for-shaquille-oneal

http://kotaku.com/5043796/at-last--a-4+foot-snes-controller-that-works

http://www.rssmeme.com/tag/giant-snes-controller/

http://digg.com/nintendo/Four_Foot_SNES_Controller_Actually_Works_PICS

http://digg.com/nintendo/Giant_SNES_Controller_Brings_a_New_Meaning_to_Tabletop_Games

there are so many more, google around if you're curious. Also, theres a "links to this post" section that you can see a few more.

Giant SNES table Phase IV: Wiring, Button Adjusting, Detail Painting... etc

The Controller is finally finished! It has taken me all summer to do it, mainly because of classes and the new job... which by the way also helped me build the controller.

Button Mounting and wiring. The mounting was a bit tricky getting all these clamps in while it dried... but I somehow made it work.
This one shows the clamping of one of the bumper mounts. Its hinged with a single spring/ bolt at the other end.

Soldering for the SNES controller card, actually quite easy.

I used these screw plates to connect each button so I could disconnect each seperately for potential repair/ maintanence.

I used stencils made on the computer and cut on a machine to get the lettering just right. Turns out that the SNES font is almost identical to Hattenschweller, I think thats how its spelled. Its a standard font italicized. I also made a few stencils for the skateboards I'm making (the ones that say "meret"), and the Lost logo for some potential surfboard airbrushing.


I also stenciled out the circle for the A B X Y buttons, came out pretty clean. I had originally tried a rubbery brush-on material for the start select, but it stuck too much on the sides when pressed.
You can see the contacts are just springs, and the other side of the contact are metal plates.

You can see my sharpied arm chair here.

TADA!!!




It looks a little off here, but it actually sits straight, but it looks weird because it has to rock about the center.

Like the definition around the D-pad? I do.
The plug is normal sized, and fits in a normal size SNES.

Giant SNES table Phase III: Button Construction and painting

Its a long one guys... I'll add comments later. I still have a little ways to go, though its all wired up as well. I'll post pictures of the wiring next.