It's off to a nice start. I've never done any soldering - I've seen things that needed something fixed using solder, but it's always seemed intimidating to me.

Soldering is actually pretty simple when you get the hang of it.

I've found that using a solder with a low melting point, and liquid flux proves to be the easiest to manage.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151429063456?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
This is the solder I used, it melts at a very low temperature, so any old cheap soldering iron should work.
Be careful with it though, as it contains lead.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KESTER-186-ROSIN-NO-CLEAN-FLUX-FOR-XBOX-360-REFLOW-/131124985951?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e87a8805f
This is the flux that I used.
it only took a single drop on the spot that I was soldering.
It is very thin, and will run all over the place if you aren't careful.
I initially got this for game console repair, Xbox360 and PS3 specifically, because it is water thin, and can easily run underneath the BGA chips before reflowing in a toaster oven.

If you need help with whatever you need soldered though, I'm sure I could work a deal with you.

The inside of this thing.

The ground line is actually just jumped off of one part of the circuit board, and looped through all the other controls, those are the blue connectors, the red ones relate to the actual data being triggered.


The actual controls.

I know that I am slightly off center with the joystick, but everything functions perfectly.

Final verdict:
I should say that I am happy with how this came out.
However, if anything: it seems to make the games harder.

i should say that this looks b****in now that i see it in its final form. it could probably use a decal or some paint to make it look less woodsy, but on the other hand, that does give it a nice 70s decor look. regardless, this is cool fgdfgdh

you know that if street fighter II had got a NES port, this would be the best controller to play it on.

I decided to test it with Kart Fighter when I saw that last piece.
It actually works surprisingly well.

Also not bad for Caveman Games, especially in the Mate Toss event.

.....Still can't beat level 3 in Battle Toads.

Awesome work, man! Is that just a prototype design until you make an Advantage version, or is that pretty much it for now?

It does kind of make sense to me that some games would be harder with this method of control. With a controller button reaching is probably a bit quicker. Have you tried Ghosts and Goblins?

I actually do plan to do another using the advantage for the control board and functionality, I also hope to eventually do this with other systems, such as the SNES, Sega Genesis, and Xbox.
Also, I'm still hoping I can eventually get a functioning coin acceptor to work.

Ghosts and Goblins.
How did I forget that game exists? As I recall it was quite fun.

Imma try it.

Good call trying that one Miles!
I don't know why, but that game in particular, the arcade controls just feel like they belong with it.