How to make the Neo Geo Mini suck less - a mod

awbacon

Kyokughen Trainee
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Posts
4,220

Even at $30, the controls...oh man they suck. I’d seen some people build sticks using the CD pad pcb over usb, but I wasn’t going to spend any more than the $30 I paid for the thing.

After some probing around and testing, I was able to get a Sanwa stick controlling the unit via the potentiometers. I thought I may have to alter the signal with some resistors but leads were enough.

Proof of concept. My og plan was to pull the guts, mount them in an enclosure with full arcade controls, and go from there. The HDMI quality was bad enough I changed my kind. But as a proof of concept mod it was fun
 

ggallegos1

Cholecystectomy Required.,
10 Year Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2013
Posts
5,153

Even at $30, the controls...oh man they suck. I’d seen some people build sticks using the CD pad pcb over usb, but I wasn’t going to spend any more than the $30 I paid for the thing.

After some probing around and testing, I was able to get a Sanwa stick controlling the unit via the potentiometers. I thought I may have to alter the signal with some resistors but leads were enough.

Proof of concept. My og plan was to pull the guts, mount them in an enclosure with full arcade controls, and go from there. The HDMI quality was bad enough I changed my kind. But as a proof of concept mod it was fun
That's awesome. I just realized there was a thread up saying it was $30 and, at that price it would be a good desk decoration.
 

Neo Alec

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2000
Posts
11,927
How do I add more Neo Geo games to the UI?
 

awbacon

Kyokughen Trainee
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Posts
4,220
How do I add more Neo Geo games to the UI?

No clue. I haven’t played around with the software flashing yet. Honestly I hate software modding vs hardware. Never as satisfying. But I’ll do it eventually
 

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
I am still surprised that people were thinking that the built-in controls were going to be useful. We all knew what it was made for... To be a desk toy for burning a few minutes.
 

awbacon

Kyokughen Trainee
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Posts
4,220
I am still surprised that people were thinking that the built-in controls were going to be useful. We all knew what it was made for... To be a desk toy for burning a few minutes.

It looks great just sitting there as a prop lol
 

Neo Alec

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2000
Posts
11,927
Everyone says it looks nice, but I'd rather look at an AES any day of the week.
 

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
Everyone says it looks nice, but I'd rather look at an AES any day of the week.

You know.... That makes me think .. I have an extra Neo Geo X dock just laying around. I wonder if I could cram the guts of the mini into the dock and then have it work out of that?
 

Superdanx

Goal! Goal! Goal!
10 Year Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2009
Posts
110
You know.... That makes me think .. I have an extra Neo Geo X dock just laying around. I wonder if I could cram the guts of the mini into the dock and then have it work out of that?

Or perhaps use the pcb in the neo geo x stick as a self contained unit.
 

RAZO

Mayor of Southtown
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Posts
8,788
Just got mine in the mail yesterday. It feels so cheap and I'm glad I didn't buy one of these when it came out. Even at $30 I don't know. Would have definitely returned it if I paid full price.

I wanted to use it as a desk ornament anyways so not that upset about it since I'm probably not going to be playing on that horrible joystick. Don't know why so many people gave this thing positive reviews.

Are they really setting the bar that low?


Now that I actually have this thing sitting on my desk I'm contemplating removing it since it looks so damn ugly. The Japanese version looks nicer with that color scheme.

Was it worth $30? I don't know. It feels like something you would find in the toy aisle at K-Mart for $8.99 .
 

Heinz

Parteizeit
15 Year Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Posts
22,335
I am so damn glad I am immune to these blatant cash grab bullshit releases. Wake up! SNK is dead!
 

ndiddy

n00b
Joined
Dec 9, 2017
Posts
20
I know there's a ton of room in the case behind the screen, so I bet you could fit a 15 pin connector in to make it nice.
 

awbacon

Kyokughen Trainee
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Posts
4,220
I know there's a ton of room in the case behind the screen, so I bet you could fit a 15 pin connector in to make it nice.

If you found a low profile 15 pin solder cup port yeah you probably could fit one in actually. I didn’t disassemble the screen area since nothing up there was of interest to me at that point in time
 

cr8zykuban0

Igniz's Servent
Joined
Feb 1, 2013
Posts
1,072
I think its worth the 30 bucks and it looks really good on the little screen. too bad tv output looks rough
 
Top