I made a pair of arcade-quality Twin Sticks that are compatible with the Sega Dreamcast version of Virual-On: Oratorio Tangram.
This is information that I originally posted on the message board at Virtual-On.net.
The big controller thing that I put the arcade Twin Sticks in is the Sega Saturn Versus City Stick Pro, model HSS-0130. I bought that on Yahoo! Japan Auctions. Shipping to the US for that controller is about 8000 yen, and the controller will cost at least 9000 yen (depends on condition... I got a good condition one for 7500 yen and a new one for about 12000 yen). To search for the controller directly, click on this link:
This is what it looks like before you modify it:
The arcade Twin Sticks panel that fits into the HSS-0130 is from the Versus City version of VOOT Ver.5.2. It is extremely hard to find from my experience. I bought one on Yahoo! Japan Auctions almost two years ago, and another one about 9 months ago from a local arcade distributor (Arcade Infinity) who just happened to have ONE. Besides the two that I own, I've seen two sell on eBay (purchased by Scott Robinson of AVC), and a couple others on Yahoo! Japan Auctions that I either missed or passed on because of price. By the way, I originally got the idea for making this thing from an auction I saw about two years ago (basically it was the same thing that I've made, but he was selling it for 50000 yen).
I've also seen full-on Ver.5.66 arcade panels (complete with Dreamcast-compatible VMU slot) on Yahoo! Japan Auctions, and I actually purchased two (shipping was 9500 yen, I think I paid around 10000 yen for each panel). If you want to do a general search for Virtual-On items on Yahoo! Japan Auctions, click this link:
Unfortunately, it is difficult for foreigners to purchase items on Yahoo! Japan Auctions because of their rules. Back in the day, you could just post a message to sellers begging them to ship to the USA. Nowadays (I mean, last I checked), to bid or to even contact sellers, you have to pay a monthly fee and register a valid, Japanese address. So you pretty much have to know someone in Japan to act as an intermediary for you. Maybe this has changed, however, because I really haven't looked into it lately.
Anyway, after getting all the parts, building it is simple. You have to cut away some plastic inside the HSS-0130 to give clearance for the base of the Twin Sticks, but other than that, the Ver.5.2 Versus City control panel fits right in. The soldering needed is quite simple. Here are some diagrams I just made (click image for a better quality version):
Twin Stick PCB in standard DC Twin Sticks
Modified Twin Stick PCB for use in Arcade Twin Sticks
Close-up Shot 1
Close-up Shot 2
Note that if you buy a VOOT arcade control panel, you might have extra wires. For example, some of the arcade control panels have a START button that lights up, so that would be two extras wires.
Turbo Button and Weapon Trigger PCB
If you look at your Twin Sticks, you'll notice three wires (red, brown, and black) that come out of the bottom of each stick, that end in a connector. Keep this in mind:
RED = TURBO BUTTON
BROWN = WEAPON BUTTON
BLACK = GROUND
Now, the connectors those attach to will use different colored wire.
Here's a picture to explain this (click on it for high-quality version):
Looking at that picture, you will notice the following:
1) The BLACK wire (GROUND) turns into a white wire.
2) The RED wire (TURBO) turns into a gray wire with a blue stripe.
3) The BROWN wire (WEAPON) turns into a gray wire with a red stripe.
On your twin sticks, the black/red/brown wires likely will not turn into the same color wires as in the picture.
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