Controller Chaos: Modding a GameCube Controller for My Brother

My brother is graduating this year and with his birthday coming up and his passion for competitive Super Smash Bros, I decided to create a custom GameCube controller as a gift. Modding a GameCube controller can’t be that difficult… right?

Breakdown of parts I used | Total: ~$360

*Make sure your paracord is long enough and 4mm in diameter for the controller since it can differ depending on the model.

Tools I used | Total ~$210

Design and Mods

The design of the controller is based influenced by the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, my brother’s favorite anime. On the left is the first draft my brother quickly created and on the right is the final design we settled on. I utilized Fires’ shell design template, this can be useful if you plan to send it to someone to paint/customize the controller for you which I did.

For hardware mods, my older brother sked to incoporate a no snapback module, paracord the wire, and modify the triggers to be lighter and smoother. As a competitive Smash Bros player, he wants easier feeling triggers to reduce fatigue and also desires no misinputs from snapback during matches. There are many more mods that could have been incorporated but the few simple ones are enough for my brother’s needs. There is also PHOB, but I didn’t research about it as its features are targted to Melee players.

Purchasing The Parts

Paracord

Which should be fairly easy, I made a mistake twice when purchasing a paracord for the controller. The first purchase was from Amazon

Controller Case

I didn’t have the tools and environment to spray paint the GameCube controller myself so I searched the internet for someone reputable. The CustomGCC discord provided a website for vendors, but for some reason the spreadsheet would never load for me. I continued to research but after a few days of no luck, I decided to reach out to NachoCustomz who specializes in customizing mouses. I found his paint jobs and water decals to be very clean. After paying for the commission and shipping a controller, I stumbled upon ModderMap, a resource for GameCube controller modders and technicians by location. Defintely worth checking out.

Resin Buttons, Sticks, and Triggers

Building Process

Reflection

Resources

• Custom GCC

• [GameCube Controller

  A Disassembly Guide - Hand Held Legend](https://youtu.be/iTBWTBTzPf8?si=3FiAj1QjsFwp-RG_)

• [“No Reset Snapback” Mod For GameCube

  Install Guide - Hand Held Legend](https://youtu.be/ub7Q0-cH-bc?si=BkQjuL2vWG7VKb2J)

• SmashScope Guide
• Fires’ Guides
• NachoCustomz
• Cryonics