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New Cube controller

Posted by timothy on from the largeness-of-lap dept.

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.

6 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. Kick ass by BiggestPOS · · Score: 3, Interesting

    and it WILL make playing PSO easier. I have a DC, PSO, and the keyboard. And while yes the keyboard makes chat 100x easier, switching back and forth from controller to kb is a BITCH. This should be good for any multi-player game where a controller is needed to play well, but chat is important. Too bad I don't plan on getting a GameCube.

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  2. Oh, my, lord. by anotherone · · Score: 3, Interesting
    People say the X-Box controller is big...

    I'm gonna be the first to say, I WANT ONE OF THESE FOR COMPUTER. Heck, you've got all the basics in one package. VERY nice.

    I'd say that it looks more like you hold it on your lap rather than in the air like a normal controller.

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  3. Thoughts from a video game junkie by MBCook · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Well, I'm not quite sure what to say. The idea of the keyboard is a good idea for PSO, but I think that it would be very unweildly to use to move around in the game if you have to do that much (I haven't played the game because I'm too cheap to buy it, I only rent. It's not rentable because the serial number of the game is tied to the serial number of the DreamCast, but I digress). I know that it's the name of the company that probably made it (since they're an old controller company), but it seems a little funny to put "ASCII" on the top of a keyboard.

    On a slightly different note, I think that if (read: when) someone hacks the gamecube to run Linux/BSD/etc. and X, this would be a great keyboard/mouse combo.

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  4. Hardly much of a change by cgenman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The inherint problem with any controller of this type is that you have to radically change hand position when going from chatting to movement, both of which should be common in an online rpg. It has to be rested upon something to type, but movement requires that you hands be wrapped around the sides and back. Even mice are manipulated from the top like a keyboard, and yet all online rpg'ers find the transition annoying. This new controller is the aesthetic and gameplay equivalent of gluing a controller and a keyboard together with Elmer's white. While that might have some post-modern artistic appeal, I doubt it will be anything but kludgy in practice. Why didn't ascii design something that could be controlled entirely from the top, designed specifically for pso?

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  5. why couldn't they... by psxndc · · Score: 3, Interesting
    have tried something like the nokia 5510 or The RIM blackberry???

    Why does it need to be a full sized keyboard. You can type pretty fast on these with just your thumbs after a little while.

    psxndc

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  6. MICROPHONES, anyone? by Vegan+Pagan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hasn't anyone heard of a microphone? Sega made a Dreamcast game where you could speak to other players with the microphone, Alien Front Online. If you play that, you'll know that speaking with a mike is 10 times cooler than typing. It's so much simpler, so much more effective, and so much more fun! I mean, what's more fun, IM or talking on the telephone? Really, online gaming needs to ditch keyboards and get with the voice.