Partytap

The Partytap is used in the following games:

• Casino Derby
• Gimmi a Break - Shijou Saikyou no Quiz OuKetteisen
• Gimmi a Break - Shijou Saikyou no Quiz OuKetteisen 2
• Project Q

It consists of 6 separate 1-button controllers (labelled buttons 1 to 6 below).

7  bit  0
---- ----
xxxx xxxS
        |
        +- Controller shift register strobe

7  bit  0
---- ----
xxxC BAxx
   | ||
   | |+- Serial data (Button 1, Button 4)
   | +-- Serial data (Button 2, Button 5)
   +---- Serial data (Button 3, Button 6)

The first read returns the state of buttons 1 to 3, the 2nd read gives buttons 4 to 6. The third read apparently returns a detection value ($14).

The device supposedly requires a relatively large number of cycles between writes/reads (games wait up to 80-500 cycles in-between some operations).

• nocash’s NES documentation
• Forums - Party Tap (in Japanese)

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