Question Lodgenet Controller to N64 (Help for Controller Chip)

[Z3LD0N1C]

This is totally a stupid project since the original N64 controller is already perfect for the console to begin with, but I wanted to make a N64 Lodgenet controller that'd work on a normal N64 (purely for myself really). So far I'm hung up on adapting the N64 controller's chip to the Lodgenet's board. I've looked at the pinout diagram of the N64 controller's chip and several breakout boards, but I feel like I'm missing something whenever I look at these boards. Currently, I'm looking at Luis Mendonça's breakout board which seems to be the simplest out of the breakout boards. To me, it makes sense, but when I look at a board like RDC's, it's definitely more complicated. I'm wondering if I could get away with using Mendonça's design as a basis, if I need to use something like RDC's design, or if I could just cut the sacrificial controller board while also saving the oscillator and just directly wire power, ground, and data to the chip from the cable. I'm also aware of using modern micro-controllers or a Teensy in place of an original N64 chip, but I don't have a programmer for something like the Atmega, and I'd rather stick to something closer to stupid simple for this, even if there'll be some heavy levels of jank.