Cobalt Flux Wii – Finalii! Step 1
Well, I failed at convincing Mrs. G to buy me Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party for The Wii, but I did the next best thing… I bought it myself for only 40 bones! (Special thanks to Stub for finding it at Outpost.com!)
Anyway, all I really needed was some information. Most importantly… what kind of connector does the bundled pad have?! In the pictures, it looks like it is wireless… If so, I would be screwed. I was very concerned about tearing apart a semi-technologically advanced piece of gear, especially since it is likely that I will screw it up.
Luckily, after receiving the box and opening it up, it was apparent that it was nearly identical to it’s cousin from the Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
So, I went out and found the cheapest, most versatile pad that could be bought at a brick and mortar store, the imaginatively named “Universal Dance Pad“, from Gamestop for $20.
It’s as ugly as you expect it to be, but who cares, we love it for its brains. It worked perfectly in-game.
The grooviest thing about it? I can ditch the crappy Cobalt Flux control box altogether, as well as the Xbox adapter I needed to make it work. Also, I never found anything that made Mario Mix work correctly with it. (I have never played Mario Mix for this reason.)
Opening it up is a snap. Just seven screws and no silliness.
There are no moving parts on the control box, so nothing will fall out or get lost.
Removal of the pad is also easy. It is very goo-free. It almost seems more technologically advanced than the Madcatz 360 pad. It definitely is a lot cleaner. However, there are no hints as to which switch is which.
Below the main board is a smaller one connected via a ribbon cable on the left, with a wire for all 11 outgoing pad connections, and a few on the right into the actual cable. I suspect that this is a board for one particular adapter, like maybe the Gamecube section, but that’s just a guess.
Unfortunately, I got a little hung up with my actual method. There are 11 wires that need to be connected, and the most convenient place is the ribbon connector on the right. unfortunately, there is very little clearance in the control box underneath the circuit, so I will have to make these good solder joints. I also have to keep each circuit from melting into each other.
I considered tapping in to the ribbon in the middle, but that seemed like a cop-out.
So, I am going to think about it for a bit before I proceed. (Mrs. G dragged me away for ‘Heroes’ anyway.)
Until then, here are my notes… I love having my whiteboards back!
See you tomorrow, for the conclusion (I hope!)
Would that universal dance mat work with the Wii since it’s got the ability to use game cube controllers?
I haven’t opened mine yet since I’m trying to hold out and make it a hannukah present for Mrs. Stub.
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:17Ummm… no… that wouldn’t be the entire point of this article.
That being, of course… how to make the Cobalt Flux connect to the Universal Dance Mat, so it could be used on the Wii.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:06That would be soo cool if you can get it to work that way..
October 23rd, 2007 at 23:38If so, i can finally use my colbalt flux on all the systems.. its a shame that the company just doesnt sell different control boxes. Id prob be first in line to buy them all!!!
Initially cobalt flux sold PS2 and XBOX control boxes, and now they only seem to come with PS2. I’ve never seen a reason anywhere for them doing that.
November 29th, 2007 at 09:41Hi Tyger!
I don’t think they ever sold an Xbox cbox. I am pretty sure about this because I waited for a long lomg time and it never appeared. I think the issue revolved around having to get Microsoft Hardware certified or something like that.
November 29th, 2007 at 19:37I talked to my friend who got his cobalt flux well before I did and he set me straight. Guess I was on something that influenced my memory 🙂
November 29th, 2007 at 20:49