
PS1/PS2 to XBOX 360 – PS1/PS2/XBOX 360 to PS3 adapter
I have a few PS2 arcade sticks that I made. I used a PS2 circuit board for all of them. Reason being the fact that there are adapters for pretty much every system for the Sony PS2. My sticks work with PS1/PS2/PS3/Wii/Gamecube/XBOX1 using adapters. Now, with this adapter, the 360 can be added to the list. I was a bit hesitant about using this because you needed a wired controller to make it work. From what I gather, Microsoft didn’t want people to make 3rd party controllers without paying them a fee so they included some encryption circuitry. So that is why you need a wired controller when using this adapter. The adapter passes this information to the 360 console and fools it into working with a non-official Playstation controller. The Chinese are always coming up with cool and interesting gadgets…

The adapter is quite confusing when you first get it. It came in a bag with zero instructions. When you buy stuff from China, it’s usually the case so just test it out. That’s the fun part right? 😉 Even if it did come with instructions, it probably would be written in “Engrish” and it would confuse you even more.
It has a male USB end (plugs into 360 console); a PS2 connector; and a female USB port (wired 360 controller). The legit wired 360 controller has to be a wired one…. not a wireless one with the play and charge cable. There are other adapters that let you use PS1/PS2 on 360 without having a wired 360 controller. However, they’re quite costly probably due to a fee for the chip from Microsoft.

So what is this switch? This will let you choose which system you’re plugging this adapter to. When using this with the XBOX 360 put it on “360”. You can then plug up your PS1/PS2 controller. Remember you need a wired 360 controller plugged up to the female USB connector in order for it to work. One thing I noticed is that once your 360 boots up with the wired 360 controller, you can unplug it and it’ll continue to work. Looks like the 360 console only checks to see if you have a legit 360 controller once at boot up. After that, you can unplug it.
So to play Street Fighter 4 with a PS2 arcade stick and a XBOX 360 Mad Catz TE arcade stick, boot up with the TE stick connected to the adapter and when the game is launched, unplug it from the adapter and plug it into the 2nd USB port on your XBOX 360. Now you have 2-player SF4 action!
When the switch is on “P3”, it’s in Sony PS3 mode. In this mode, you can use your PS1/PS2 controllers with your PS3. As an added bonus, if you plug in a wired 360 controller, you can use it with your PS3 as well! Cool eh? So for people who love the bigger 360 controllers, this is awesome. Wanna play God of War 3 with the 360 controller? No problem!


Here’s my Mad Catz wired controller coupled with my homemade arcade stick. I love this stick. It has Seimitsu buttons/Sanwa stick and is made of wood handcrafted by yours truly. You can use any wired controller as the dummy, it doesn’t have to be a Microsoft one. I got the MC one because it was a lot cheaper. Just a reminder you can’t use wireless MS controllers with the play and charge cable… I tried.

Here’s the wiring mess in order to make it work. Ideally, I’d rebuild the arcade stick with a 360 pcb and PS2 pcb so it can work on all systems but that’s an added cost to all my sticks. This adapter is a nice compromise. $8 is not bad. I can deal with the mumbo-jumbo of wires. It’s not that bad.
Performance wise, I don’t notice any lag. It feels the same as any controller. I use the same arcade stick with a PS3 adapter when playing SF4 on the PS3 and I don’t notice a thing.
So there you have it. An adapter to let you use your PS1/PS2 controllers on your 360. As an added bonus it’ll also you let you use your PS1/PS2 and wired 360 controllers on your Sony Playstation 3. For less than $8, you can’t lose.

LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted, Killzone 2, God of War 3 can all be played with a 360 controller on your PS3! Blasphemy, I tell you! muhahaha
DealExtreme: PS2 to XBOX 360 adapter