I haven’t had an XBOX in a while so the lone game controller that was left behind has been long since retired in the “forgotten drawer”. Recently though, I began thinking back to when I once played Nintendo games on emulators, circa 2000 (maybe the nostalgia from the end of a decade is getting to me). I was somewhat surprised to find emulators for nearly every game system ever made, even recent ones like the Wii and obscure systems such as Coleco Vision and Commodore 64.
My problem with playing video games on a PC is using the keyboard and mouse for game play. After a quick Google search, I found a forum post on someone wanting to have his classic Xbox controller PC compatible. Granted, there are adapters available for purchase; about 10 bucks plus shipping. But why purchase when you can just make one yourself? It takes all of 10 minutes and is relatively easy. The only tools you need are wire strippers, electrical tape, a spare USB cable (any type will do), and your Xbox controller. 
To get started, go ahead and ship off the ends. I cut mine off a couple of inches from the base of the adapters. You will need to pull back the cable shielding to access the wires. By the way, the wires are really small, maybe 24 gauge, so be careful not to accidentally cut or break them while trying to strip them.
As you can hopefully see, all of the wires match colors. Red from the controller matches up to red in the USB cable, black matches with black, and so on. All you really need to do at the point is twist the corresponding wires together, secure them with solder or electrical tape, and make sure none of the other ones are touching. (There is a yellow wire that is use for various things in the Xbox controller like light guns. I just taped mine out of the way. )
If you’re interested in which wires do what,
USB Pinout
Red= +5v
Green= -DATA
White= +DATA
Black= -5v (Ground)
XBOX Pinout
Red= +5v
Green= -DATA
White= +DATA
Yellow= +12v (Unused)
Black= -5v (Ground)
And voila, the finished product – 
I made the cord extra long since everything seems to be wireless these days and I don’t want to be limited to sitting 5 feet from a TV screen.
Finally, one of the most important steps – go to http://www.redcl0ud.com/ to download XBCD. The most recent version is from 2005, but it is more than adequate. After the quite download and install, you may need to reboot before pluging in your new gamepad and configuring it for an emulator. XBCD actually includes a setup utility to configure and calibrate the controller.
Now it’s time for me to see how well the Dolphin emulator plays with this new gamepad…
