Saturday, March 10, 2018

Playstation BUZZ usb controllers on PC

This is how I got the BUZZ USB controllers to work on a PC.  Tested on Windows 10


Essentially I am using a USB to keyboard program to translate the buttons being pressed on the individual controllers to simulate pressing keys on the computer keyboard.

I use them for the "You Don't Know Jack" game, but, for example, you could plug in a Rockband or Guitar Hero drum set into your computer, and using a key-to-drum program simulate the drums being played.

What I did:

The program I'm using to do the translation is called
"JoyToKey"
https://joytokey.net/en/download

I've used several different ones, so there are a few to pick from.  This one worked pretty good first try so I stuck with it.

This program will scan the USB port of your controller, and then allow you to individually assign the buttons to key inputs.

Then I plugged in my controllers.  Windows 10 recognized them right away as BUZZ controllers.

I ran the program, and by pressing each button on the controllers, the corresponding button would show up in the JoyToKey program

I mapped 3 of the 4 controllers (max 3 supported in Jack Box game), each of the "buzz in buttons" to their corresponding buzz in key (Q, B and P) and then each of the color buttons 1-4 in descending.


I launched JackBox games and worked perfectly.



I output the computer HDMI signal to my TV and everyone can play from comfortable chairs without having to huddle around the computer.

9 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. You are welcome! We use this all the time for a games night.

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  2. Hey there,
    I just found your solution.

    I also got the wired Buzz Controllers. Do you know how to use them on Windows 10?
    If I plug them in, the device manager says "standard USB hub", but I don't know what to do with it.
    Joy2Key doesn't detect anything at all. :(

    Would love to here from you!

    Cheers

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    Replies
    1. And like it always is - just found the solution right after posting this. ;)

      "In the device manager select the broken "Standard USB Hub" and open the properties for it. Select "Update Driver", "Browse my computer for driver software", "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer". There select "USB Input Device" and click OK."

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    2. We use this solution all the time, its not perfect, but it makes those games more fun to play from the couch. Glad to hear you got it working. Cheers!

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  3. Fellow You Don't Know Jack Connoisseur here,
    Just wondering if you can lock out the other controllers from anyone else if they try and screw you up by using their buttons to simulate your answer.
    And also I recommend:
    -changing the Buzz! buttons to Release=S, Press=(Buzzer) for screwing action
    -using the 4th controller to set up the game:
    Button 16 = Escape
    Button 17 = Q
    Button 18 = N
    Button 19 = S, B
    Button 20 = R, A

    Cheers!

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  4. Once I enter the desired controls how do I connect those controls to the game?
    I'm using PCSX2 and when I enter the game Jungle Party it says buzzers not found?
    Thanks in advance!

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    Replies
    1. This post was about how to make these controllers act as a emulated keyboard inputs for a different game. Perhaps a PCSX2 forum might be more useful for an answer to that question.

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