# Awesome Neo Geo X Controller MOD - Use it with a consolized MVS or AES System! **Source:** RetroRalph **Type:** video **Published:** 2020-09-24 **Duration:** 9m 56s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3fFI64FSu4 --- ## Analysis Retro Ralph modifies a Neo Geo X controller to work with a consolized Neo Geo MVS system by replacing its circuit board with a specialized adapter board (discovered via Mad Little Pixel). The video documents his first desoldering experience, includes remote troubleshooting help from a soldering expert named Justin, and culminates in successful testing on actual hardware. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] The Neo Geo X controller required a circuit board replacement to work with consolized Neo Geo systems that use 15-pin connectors — _Opening explanation of project goal and technical constraint_ - [HIGH] Mad Little Pixel's channel introduced Retro Ralph to this modification circuit board solution — _Direct attribution: 'I found out about it from Mad Little Pixel watching his channel'_ - [HIGH] The solder sucker requires close proximity to the solder joint (nearly touching) to be effective — _Justin's remote soldering advice about proximity requirement_ - [HIGH] The modified controller tested successfully on Sengoku 3 and other games — _Final testing segment showed responsive buttons and joystick_ ### Notable Quotes > "I'm taking something that's been sitting in my closet forever and I'll finally get some use out of it" > — **Retro Ralph**, end of video > _Explains the practical value of the modification for repurposing unused hardware_ > "you just like you know just kind of heat it up and then go and then go I think that's the theory what could go wrong" > — **Retro Ralph**, early desoldering attempt > _Shows beginner overconfidence before discovering actual technique requirements_ > "If you take the suction cup and you suck your finger, right? Yeah. How close does it have to be to lift the skin? Papa Duke close, like almost on it" > — **Justin (via phone/recording)**, remote soldering advice segment > _Key technical guidance that unlocked successful desoldering_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Retro Ralph | person | YouTube content creator performing the Neo Geo X controller modification; previously known for pinball content but working on retro gaming electronics in this video | | Justin | person | Soldering expert who provided remote technical guidance on desoldering technique via phone/recording during the modification | | Mad Little Pixel | person | YouTube content creator whose channel introduced Retro Ralph to the Neo Geo X controller circuit board modification solution | | Neo Geo X | product | Handheld/portable game system controller being modified to work with consolized MVS arcade systems | | Neo Geo MVS | product | Multi-cartridge arcade board system with 15-pin controller connector that the modified Neo Geo X controller was designed to work with | | MVSX | product | Modern Neo Geo arcade cabinet/system mentioned as recent release that prompted Retro Ralph's interest in Neo Geo hardware | | Sengoku 3 | game | Neo Geo game used to test the modified controller functionality | ### Topics - **Primary:** Hardware modification and modding, Soldering and desoldering techniques, Neo Geo arcade systems and controllers, Retro gaming hardware, DIY electronics and circuit board work ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Enthusiastic and encouraging throughout; celebrates successful completion; expresses gratitude to helpers; satisfied with functional outcome despite learning curve on desoldering technique --- ## Transcript All right guys, welcome back. So what we're going to do today is we're going to take this Neo Geo X controller and we're going to modify it so that we can use it on our consolized Neo Geo because the Neo Geo has this 15 pin connector. So this cool circuit board here, which I figured out, I didn't know anything about this. I found out about it from Mad Little Pixel watching his channel and I'm like, man, that would be really cool because I've been doing a lot of Neo Geo stuff lately because of the MVSX coming out, and I have a consolized Neo Geo, but the consolized Neo Geo I have does not work with USB connections. I would need to have a traditional 15-pin Neo Geo connector. So that's what we're going to do. We're going to modify that. We're going to do some light soldering, but we have to desolder some stuff. I've never desoldered anything before, so we get to use a solder sucker. Yeah, solder sucker. Suck that solder. Okay, but before we do that, we got to take this thing apart so let's do that and then we'll see can ralph desolder something i don't know can i do it without justin the soldering master let's see all right so let's take this thing apart so we're going to flip it over first and then we're going to have to remove these pads always be a pain in the butt to remove these things but all right we're gonna remove these pads all four of them and then we should get access to the screws underneath and and that it should be pretty simple to unscrew. So we're going to get those out of the way, done and done, and then we're going to unscrew these suckers. All right, now that we got it unscrewed, we should be able to lift off the back cover. Okay, cool. We got that off. Now, the thing is with this, so keep in mind, we got to replace this circuit board. So this circuit board is being replaced with this circuit board. Now, the thing is, we got to desolder it. So you'll see there's what they did is this is the back side of the button so a b c and d so if i flip it over you'll see that's what they actually did they soldered oh i don't want to lose that screw they actually soldered the back sides of these directly to that board so kind of interesting i hate when they do that kind of stuff because it makes it a lot harder if you ever want to replace the buttons or anything like that but what we got to do is i'm going to get the circuit board out of the way we're going to heat up these points and use that solder sucker like i said i haven't done this before I don't know crap about sucking solder but I'm thinking you just like you know just kind of heat it up and then go and then go I think in theory what could go wrong so before I do that we just have to remove this guy right here All right let get him out of the way Remove this guy Then everything else, I think, everything else is just connected, and we don't need to worry about it so much. This is this guy. Oh, whoops. Yep, that guy. All right, that guy's out of the way. The guy, guy, guy, guy. All right, so we're going to desolder, desolder, desolder, desolder. We can do this. We got this. So I'm going to zoom in and we're going to see if we can make this happen. Okay, here goes nothing. So I got my soldering iron. We're going to heat this up. And guys, I think you just give it a little suck and it should just suck right up, you know? And what could, I don't know what could go wrong with this. So I'm going to try heating this puppy up. That didn't do anything. All right, all right. We'll give it another shot here. Get that solder all good. I don't think anything got in here. I knew I wasn't going to have problems with this Damn it You know what, I gotta call Justin I gotta call him Dude, you're live right now Well, you're not live, but you're recorded on the show Dude, how hot do I have to have this soldering iron To suck up this solder Because I heat it up, and then I do the little sucky thing And nothing happens Alright, so What's your temperature, what does it say 387 That's okay We're talking Celsius, right Heck yeah, man. Ain't no Fahrenheit going on over here. It is a little hot, but it's okay. All right, so how close do I have to get this little plastic tip to this little thing when I suck it up? Like on it? All right. Think about it like this. If you take the suction cup and you suck your finger, right? Yeah. How close does it have to be to lift the skin? Pretty close, like almost on it. yeah that's how close it's got to be to get the solder the solder when it's molten it's somewhat of a liquid but you got to be close to grab it all right all right you heard it here guys justin says i got to get closer that was a problem i wasn't getting intimate enough with my circuit board all right i'm gonna try it all right see you bud okay we're gonna try this again oh i think i got it guys i think i got it all right i think that was good let's do the next one okay i think we good uh i don know no we try it one more time i don know but i thought i thought i saw something come out so i think we good I don know We try it one more time I don know I thought I saw something come out so I think that good Try it one more time. Yeah, I think we got it. We don't want to kill the thing. Okay, I think we've sucked those two up. I think those two are good. Yeah, look at that. Guys, we did it. Look. Yes. Okay, so we just got to do this six more times. We got this. All right, we'll speed it up. We'll speed it up. We don't want to torture you with this, but I think we got it. All right, let's go through the rest of them. If I did this okay, we should be able to rock this circuit board right off. It's not perfect. It's loose on... There we go. Okay. ah there we go that was you know it wasn't perfect it definitely wasn't perfect it wasn't just in material but we did it we did it good job guys here now that we got him off we got to replace it with this one so we should be able to do that no problem we're going to need some flux and some solder i'm going to put the circuit board in place first that should just go right in place it shouldn't give us a hard time let's just see i think uh wait a minute oh crap wait d d can't be on that side is it oh it is on that side okay so that is d so it so it goes like this so we got let's get these lined up okay lined up there lined up there all right that wasn't so bad so that's that's that's kind of how you do that now i won't put these guys back on until we get the solder on so we're gonna do we're gonna flux our tip a tiny bit always flux the tip guys always. Justin taught me that. Now, he didn't flux my tip, but he taught me how to flux. So, all right, we're going to flux it up. You guys can't see off camera, but I just fluxed it up a little bit. And I think we're going to be able to do this no problem. Okay, so we're going to start over here with D. So, let's see. I want to do a little bit of heat here, a tiny bit of heat. that sucker on and I think yeah there we go okay that's good that one's on to the same thing here a little bit of heat let it go and that good too all right for time sake we going to speed things up up so I gonna solder all six of the rest of these connections right here and then after we connect the last two connectors so I actually pretty proud of this I don't do the best solder jobs usually but this came out pretty good and this is all Justin he's uh he's kind of made a decent solder out of me or solder as as you would properly say it all right we're gonna take these two last connections and then we'll put it all back together okay so we're gonna put this thing back together real quick. We just need to put all the screws on and then put the rubber feet back in. Then after that, we'll test it on the Neo Geo MVS and make sure it works. I think I feel pretty confident about it, so let's try it out and see if we were successful. All right, the moment of truth. Here it is. Let's plug in the DB15 connector and hopefully we are good to go. So I'm going to try out a couple games and just see how the thing works and we'll start with Sengoku 3. Alright, so far so good. The buttons seem to be working great and the joystick is responsive so that's all we could ask for, right? I love this mod because it was honestly really easy to do. So if this is something you're interested in, I'll definitely have a link in the description below. But what I like the most about this is I'm taking something that's been sitting in my closet forever and I'll finally get some use out of it, right? It's been in there for a really long time just sitting there collecting dust and now I'll actually use it. So you know if you happen to own a Neo Geo MVS or a Consolize MVS and you have the Neo Geo X this is a really cool option to mod it and use it. So anyways if you enjoyed this video you know please give us a thumbs up, consider subscribing to the channel if you enjoy content like this. I will have links in the description to the board that I used in this and I want to send a special thanks to Mad Little Pixel for you know making a video in the first place because I wouldn't even even have known that this thing existed so that's it for now guys we will see you on the next one take care everybody you _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: b62f6ebb-a7e5-4f39-8d02-9d8cf4e6709b*