How to make a proper Neo Geo Mini

The Neo Geo is one of my favourite consoles, stocked with games which pushed the limits of pixel art so far that they’ve stood the test of time. In their prime they were basically the Disney of pixels, and that expensive workflow is reflected in how far beyond the reach of the most modern indie studios their games still are in terms of animation.

The Neo Geo Mini however, is not the console to relieve those glory days. Shoddy emulation aside, the form factor i was after was not some chintzy tiny arcade cabinet, i just wanted a little black box and two replicas of the famous AES sticks. Being limited to using a gamepad was never going to cut it!

So with some ROMs loaded and running flawlessly on the SNES mini i already own and love (ROMs i had previously purchased several times over on PC, Wii, Switch...), it was time to get to work on the controllers.

A quick perusal of Aliexpress revealed a huge supply of brand new Neo Geo branded sticks left over from SNK’s ill-fated, half-baked Neo Geo X console. Though the layout is absolutely identical to the classic original, the components are significantly cheaper feeling... but the price is very compelling! A few dollars and many weeks later i had two brand new examples in my hot little hands.

The brains of these sticks would be sourced from the Wii Classic Controller Pro, as it’s basically what’s at the heart of the standard SNES mini controllers. The cheap knockoff CCP’s which plague the online markets are a perfect fit as we won’t be needing to touch the awful feeling sticks or buttons, and the solder points on these cheaper models are actually easier to work with than the official Nintendo stock! Wiimote extension cables (buy these over the identical “SNES mini” branded cables and save a bundle!) gives us several feet of room to play with.

The AES stick contains so much free space inside that the extra controller PCB has plenty of space for installation alongside the existing wiring.  Double-sided foam tape will prevent it from rattling around. It might also be advisable to add a bit of weight (lead/rolls of quarters/etc.) if you want to give the stick some more heft. I’ve left mine light because we’re just playing casually on the mini, but i do tend to like my sticks heavy, and these cheapies are not.

Both devices are common-earth which makes things quicker, with the most difficult part of the wiring process being a game of tracing positive pins to their respective counterpart on the other board.

And there we go, a full complement of joystick directions, the four face buttons, and start/select. Pass the new cable out of the existing exit, with the old cable bundled up to add weight to the stick, and screw the bottom panel back on, and the stick is now complete and ready to murder mummies in Metal Slug X, playing it the way god intended.

Shopping on Aliexpress, the stick currently goes for about $45AUD, the CCP $5, and the extension cable $2, all with free shipping. If you can handle the generally longer delivery times it’s a very cheap way to get a decent at-home Neo Geo experience, and handily better than anything SNK can manage!

Now for a CPS/CPS2 controller...