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Using game controllers and keyboards for custom shortcuts

by Matt Sephton — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 23:06:00 +0000

Recently I’ve been following a trend in macro-pads, specialised/bespoke keyboards that provide an easy way to trigger keyboard shortcuts. A host of small companies have flooded the market with modified Bluetooth numeric pads that target Procreate, and Figma have teamed up with Work Louder to create a branded keypad with additional jog and rotary dials.

But none of these seem quite right for me. I have so many controllers and devices already it felt better to make use of what I have to hand.

I’m encouraged to find that there are lots of options! I’m a macOS user and I also dabble with Windows on occasion, but I have no idea how this can be done well on Linux.

Controllers

An obvious choice for a device with multiple buttons is a game controller. In modern macOS it’s easy to pair Nintendo Switch controllers, and the JoyCon (left or right) is an ideal candidate for a hand-held shortcut device. Xbox and PlayStation controllers can also be paired but they are much larger. Wired or wireless controllers will work.

You can even use a Wii remote using an adapter like the Mayflash MAGIC-NS Lite. Or you might use more esoteric controllers with an adapter from Robert Dale Smith’s Controller Adapter store. In fact, I use one of his adapters to get an old Sony Jog Controller to act like a GameCube controller, which I then map to keyboard shortcuts using the methods below. The sky’s the limit!

8Bitdo also have their Micro controller which offers more buttons and slightly better one-handed ergonomics than a Switch JoyCon. This controller is really interesting as it can pose as a Switch Pro Controller, generic controller, or keyboard. This gives us even more options. 8Bitdo are aware of this market and have created this device to fit, including a bespoke mobile app, and they even go so far as to call out this use case in their marketing material.

Keyboards

These could be cheap bluetooth numeric pads or other small keyboards. I’ve personally tried a Nintendo Wireless Keyboard that came with Nintendo DS game Pokémon Typing Adventure. And of course the 8Bitdo controller mentioned above has a keyboard mode. There are many macro-pads listed for sale online, with various numbers of keys and rotary dials. Wired or wireless keyboards will work, so get creative!

Remapping

The 8Bitdo controller has a specific app for iOS/Android that can change its keyboard mappings. That’s cool for those mobile devices, and the iOS version will even run on an M1 Mac. But we can achieve a more versatile solution by doing the remapping in software on the computer.

The general concept is to use an app that will take an input from your device of choice and map it to a keyboard shortcut or some other action that you specify. There are many apps that do this, so I’ve limited my list below to those that offer one important feature: per-app mapping.

This means you can set different shortcuts for each app you use, and they will change as you move between apps. Of course, it is best if this happens automatically to prevent any friction in the process.

I might have a button set to “zoom in” or “zoom out” that will trigger slightly different shortcuts in my text editor than in my image editor, or I might have a button set to “primary tool” and it will trigger a tool in a different way depending on the design app I am currently using.

My personal favourite app is JoyMapperSilicon, but we really are spoiled for choice.

Mouse

It’s also possible to use the analog sticks and gyro of a Switch JoyCon as a mouse using QJoyControl. Analog is straightforward and as you’d expect. But using gyro basically gives you an Air Mouse which is pretty amazing.

Apps

You can sort the table by headings: name, cost, platform, how the per-app function works, relative ease-of-use, and whether it works with devices keyboard (key) or controller (joy) or both.

Name	Cost	Platform	Per‑app?	Easy?	Type
8BitDo Ultimate Software	Free	iOS/Android	Manual	Yes	Key
AutoHotKey	Free	Windows	Auto	No	Joy
BetterTouchTool	$10	macOS	Auto	Yes	Both
GamePad Companion	$10	macOS	Manual	No	Joy
JoyKeyMapper	Free	macOS	Auto	Yes	Joy
JoyMapperSilicon	Free	macOS	Auto	Yes	Joy
JoyToKey	$7	Windows	Auto	No	Joy
Keyboard Cowboy	Free	macOS	Auto	No	Key
Keyboard Maestro	$36	macOS	Auto	No	Both
QJoyControl	Free	macOS	No	Yes	Joy
USB Overdrive	$20	macOS	Auto	Yes	Both

BOSS controller shell for Nintendo Wii

by Matt Sephton — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

If you don’t know already, I am of the opinion that the Nintendo Wii is the greatest console of all time and host to the greatest collection of games of all time. My Wii was a gift for my 30th Birthday, and still play games on it regularly to this day.

I also have a love for odd controllers. On one of my searches for alternative classic controllers I found this beauty: the BOSS (Big Oversized Super Shell) by PDP. I love everything about it, from the forced acronym of its name to the colour schemes echoing famous Nintendo character colours.

Ace Mega Blaster controller for Sega Mega Drive

by Matt Sephton — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I recently did a teardown and clean of one of my Japanese Mega Drive controllers. When I received it I notices that it had some sticky residue in the inside of the the d-pad causing up and right to feel a bit sticky.

The controller is called the BLASTER, sometimes MEGA BLASTER, and was released by ACE which was a sort of hardware sub-brand of the game developer Sur Dé Wave.

This particular controller is one of two colours that were available for the Sega Mega Drive, though you could buy an equivalent for PC-Engine and maybe some other platforms.

Rapid fire for all three buttons (off/fast/faster)
Slow does the usual rapid pressing of the start button (off/on)

The bottom half of the shell is held together with three small Philips screws, all visible, and three clips on the bottom and sides that need to be carefully pressed to release the shell.

Famicom Mahjong/Hanafuda controller USB keyboard mod

by Matt Sephton — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Difficulty: 7/10
Cost: < £20

I play a lot of Hanafuda games. In the arcade these games share a control panel with Mahjong. It’s basically a keyboard featuring the first half of the alphabet, presented as a long row of keys in alphabetical order. This makes playing Arcade Hanafuda games a bit of a chore without a bunch of keyboard remapping and emulator faff.

Some people were using arcade control panels connected to their PC. In Japan you can buy a custom electronics kit to make a USB Mahjong/Hanafuda controller, but it’s expensive at about €85 plus shipping and import duty. There had to be a better way!

I saw that a couple of old Famicom Mahjong games by Capcom were bundled with a custom controller. It was essentially two controllers in one, so won’t work with my controller adapter cables. So I wondered how easy it would be to convert one to USB? Posting on a NES developer forum helped me verify that it should be possible.

Christmas 2019 I bought a bunch of games from Japan and added a Famicom Mahjong controller to my order. It arrived, I put it on my to-do list, then a global pandemic happened.

Almost a year later I picked it up and decided to figure it out. I would need a little Arduino, a usb cable with data and power, and I’d have to write some Arduino code to poll the buttons a couple of times every update. Back in 2019 nobody had done this mod so I was in my own.

Just before I started to write code, I figured I’d do a quick Google search to see if anything had changed. And, unbelievably, somebody else had done this exact mod in February 2020 and open sourced their code. I thanked them and that meant the project was instantly half done.

I bought an additional Pro Micro (Arduino compatible) and set it up on a breadboard that made it easier for me to wire up a prototype and check everything was working.

Finally I cut the old controller cord and wired my new setup into the controller. It worked perfectly. I went back in to trim some supports and add some alternative reinforcements to prevent the controller bending and creaking.

Using this controller makes playing these games so much easier, and I’ve discovered a couple of games that have made this well worth the time and investment.