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Gamecube Controller Splitters and Modernizing Melee

ASmokingBun

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
1
Location
Washington
After recently messing around with the 20XX replay system and Dolphin to get 4K footage for a Melee hype reel, it occurred to me that while after-the-fact recording of replays is a good step towards modernizing Melee and bringing in new players with cool, shiny graphics, it would be even better if it could be done live.

While a prettied up Melee stream is already possible by playing on Dolphin, the fact remains that Melee players are (understandably) hesitant to play on random PC hardware. Not to mention that most TO's won't have access to multiple big-budget rigs.

Enter the concept of a Gamecube Controller Splitter.

Designed to plug directly into the controller, such a device would allow players to play on the Console itself--with a CRT, no input lag--while also playing on an instance of Dolphin. That means the stream could be running Smash upscaled in 4K w/HD texture packs while maintaining the competitive integrity players have grown accustomed to.

The creation of a splitter could breathe new life into Melee events, upping their production value for a marginal increase in cost and TO effort. Capture cards would become obsolete, with all footage being produced + captured on the streaming PC.

DIAGRAM:

Controller ------ Splitter ------ Console ------- CRT
......................... \
...........................\------ GC Adapter ------ Dolphin -------- Stream

After scouring Smash Boards, YouTube, and the greater internet itself, the only documentation I could find were the following videos:

A Splitter Test from 2013
Displaying, but not Inputting, Gamecube Controller Inputs
SmashBoards Thread from 2015

The biggest problems I've seen have been:
A) Potential De-sync between the Dolphin instance and the Console instance.
B) Apparent signal interference when splitting the signal.
C) Lack of documentation
D) The idea hasn't occurred to many people.

Hopefully, with this thread, I can solve Problem D.

So what do you guys think? Is such a project possible?
 
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