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New Cube controller
steveo777 writes: "I was surfing through IGN when I noticed this new controller. It made me fall off my chair laughing (people at work are wondering what could be so funny). But it's no joke. Aparently it's for Phantasy Star Online." If this isn't real, why not? Something like this looks like a great idea to me.
Hmm, makes you wonder if they're going to push email and web access with that baby, no?
Yup, you can see where they expect to make money.
Why buy a PC?
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This just looks like some of the wireless keyboards I've used with integrated track ball and buttons on both sides.. Works fairly well for basic mouse manipulation, but I can imagine doing anything fast or precise with that controller- There's something strange about haveing your hands that far apart.. Is this just a slow plodding point-and-click game?
air and light and time and space
What about something similar, but it would "telescope", so that it would act as a regular controller if you wanted it, but you could pull it out for keyboard functionality? Just another stupid idea.
Last post!
Ok, it looks cool. I mean, besides the fact that it's a foot wide, it does, as many have stated.
But I think we need to take off our slashdot goggles and think who this is marketed to.
The n64 was eventually marketed to little kids, come on, pokemon rights were bought exclusively by nintendo. My little brother has one and it's all he plays.
My question is, if they can't type, is it supposed to hold their sippie cup?
...I mean really? It just a keyboard with a joystick on the left and some buttons on the right!
Do this: take your keyboard and put it in your lap. Then take your hands and place them at the left and right respectively. Is that so uncomfortable? Actually I think it feels great, specially for games where you have to type.
And of course you can hold it up in the air... but why? I mean, if you are going to type a lot, might as well just leave it on your lap! And we don't know how heavy it is yet!
Hell, if it's heavy, it'll be a good workout for those geeky arms you have! j/k
This controller, although it looks completely insane, is completely sane for the reason that it was built: to help someone play Phantasy Star Online better. In fact, I could see many uses for it if a lot of games start going online. Can you imagine attempting to DM some goulish monster and try to type out a message for help on a standard 4-5 button gamepad? It would be almost to completely impossible. Perhaps it looks strange now, but I can definately see multiple uses for such a controller sometime close in the future. Just my $0.02 worth
-mrbkap
Actually that's a brilliant idea.
simulate radio noise/interferance/jamming by jumbling the text.
speech to text is not bad right now, given training, and so this may be practical in a year or two.
But this is where the command macros could be useful. a single word or letter combo translates to a full string of text. etc.
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