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E3 Controller Previews
spides writes: "If you thought the original X-Box controller was huge, you're in for a rude awakening. At E3 this past week, Microsoft and Capcom unveiled their 40 button control station for the X-Box's 'realistic' mech simulator Steel Battalion. On the same day, Nintendo and Sega unveiled the new keyboard peripheral for use with the Gamecube version of Phantasy Star Online, which can only be described as the world's largest conventional controller with a keyboard stuck between the directional pad and the usual buttons."
except in the case of xbox controllers. i guess those developers must be giants over at redmond..
Me email iz skyewalkerluke at microsoft's free email service.
Um... what's with the gear shift on the far left?!? At least it looks like an automatic... though I guess it could be handy to be able to pop the clutch on my battle mech ;)
Behold the Power of Cheese!
At first I was ready to write this off as "another stupid gamer story." But then I took the time to peruse the links, and I've reconsidered.
I started thinking about "mech"s. Sure, the stuff of science fiction. But could science fiction one day be science fact? And could that day be right around the corner?
We have historically seen the game industry pave the trail for the military. Doom. Quake. Combat. The list goes on.
I think that the next thing we can expect is military vehicles with this kind of high-tech controller. Imagine a tank or helicopter with 40 buttons.
The result would be literally astounding.
I don't know what the future holds, but names like Sony and Linux are going to be very important to security and stability in this new world we are forging. It's an exciting time to be alive.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
The PS/PS2 dual shock controllers are by far the most comfortable in the industry. If Microsoft would have paid attention to Sony's design rather than the Dreamcast controller design, they would have made a much better product.
why not just plop down a keyboard and call it a controller? 40 buttons? Good luck trying to play the game with that. In an RP i can see, but even still in a battle, how are you going to access things quickly? You need speed in games and having a 40-button controller is going to inhibit that, although its been done on the computer for years, not a lot of us, use a keyboard, even still, for GTA3, using a keyboard to turn around the guy for the FPS, is a pain..
Slashdot Hypocrisy at work?
Many have probably noticed that every MS peripheral is BIG!
For example, the MS Intellimouse Explorer which is double the size of a standard mouse... nice at start, but a small mouse just fits better...
The Natural Keyboard which is double the size of keyboards (tho it's pretty good!)
And ofcourse, every version of Windows just doubles it's size... WinXP is around how much for minimal install? 1GB?
^_^
I don't find the standard X-box controller too big but I have noticed that the 3rd party ones of the same style are a little smaller and have the buttons spaced a bit better.. I always thought the ps controllers where a little small and the N64 has my vote for the strangest yet resonably commfortable shape.. Then again I have big hands.. Kids, I am sure have a little trouble with them.
EA David Gardner -"... but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun."
I still praise Capcom for bringing a niche game to the US. Reminds me of the Sega Saturn Virtual On! game with the TwinSticks, or the DDR dance pads. Take a chance, developers.
A winner is you!
Sorry guys, this is about the coolest things i've seen to come out for any console in a while. I LOVE realistic mech sims, especially the capsules at dave & busters. Tossed salad those things are COOL. Imagine a big 'ol futuristic chamber you step in, with multiple monitors displaying the different systems in the mech universe (heat, weapons, damage, nav, ect) Managing all these different systems is what makes a mech game fun.
Back to the story though, yeah I really like this thing. It will probably be easy to cut the cable and adapt it to pc use (since xbox is usb) plus the price drop we had last week, I want one now.
Just what I needed, a controller that requires 6 additional hands to operate. Hopefully it won't be grossly oversized and also require replacement of my current hands (like the current X-box controller).
I read the internet for the articles.
The Steel Battalion controller, expected to cost $299 reminds me of the 'DualStick' controller for Virtual On using the Sega Saturn platform.
Apparently someone let antigames come into contact with some games, and the resulting explosion slashdotted their server.
--
E_NOSIG
What Game would ever need all those buttons? oh i see.. new streefighter move click all buttons clockwise in 1 second and you win
"Hmm.... Forty buttons."
- "Marthter ?"
"Yes Igor ?"
- "Shall I fetch the box of thingers, marthter ?"
my Dell gamebox has a 108 key game pad.
thelikesofwhich.com
courtesy of Something Awful:
e ndo/controller.jpg
http://www.somethingawful.com/news/8-28-2000/nint
~jeff
Is it just me, or does anyone else want to avoid paying $30+ for a controller you can only use for one game, on top of the $50+ price tag for the game itself?
I could see it if they had a "generic" keyboard controller you could use for any games with a keyboard... but having to purchase a new game (no doubt bundled with the new controller) over and over will become tedious, if it is the route consoles are taking.
I would like to see an alternative to these... button/direction combos, or on-screen keyboards, however tedious they may be, simply so there is a lower-cost option.
Then again these are the types of things you can always pick up at a super cheap price from used games stores like FunCoLand a year or so later, so maybe it's not all bad...
Mark
If you are disatisfied with your Large Xbox controller, bring it to Electronics Boutique and exchange it towards a smaller controller. You can knock as much as $10-20 off the price of the new one through this trade in.
I wonder how long it will be before the console game world realizes that a good solid keyboard and a small, comfortable mouse are the best controllers available.
Ask anyone who's really good at Q3 or any other FPS what they'd rather use, a kb/mouse combo or a gamepad, and I'm pretty sure the answer is kb/mouse.
I think it's only a matter of time before we see game consoles come standard with keyboards and perhaps mice as well. A nice optical mouse preferrably to avoid the nasty mouse pad problem in the living room.
But then if game consoles came with keyboards and mice, wouldn't they just be PCs with S-Video or Composite video outputs? Well, for all intenseive purposes they are for the most part. Look at Linux for Sony PS/2 and Sega Genesis and wonder how long it will be before someone cracks the X-box and ports Linux to it also.
Me personally, I guess I'll just keep my trusty PC with a GeForce3 w/ s-video output hooked up to my TV so that I can play PC games like NFS5 and Quake3 on the big screen, and remember the old days when games were good because of the game play, not the graphics with my MAME and NES emulators.
Duris MUD - The best pkill MUD. Ever.
Obligatory Penny Arcade links:
Obligatory link number one.
Number two.
Lots of buttons is great.. sure beats not having enough.
Exchange your big controller for part of a smaller controller, and give them an extra $30 or so... what Microsoft loses through their own stupidity in X Box loss-leader sales, they make up for in retards rushing out to buy smaller controllers.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
Personally, even the GameCube control I find overly complex.
...
The xBox control may be cool colors, but it totally does not excite me, just like the box.
Since The Sims is coming out for PS2 - guess I'll have to pick up a PS2 in addition to my GameCube soon - but first have to master Pikmin and Star Wars Rogue Leader
-
--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
Here /. effect is preventing you from seeing the other one.
is another review if the
One of my fav's from PA
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view2002-03-25rl.html
ALternative INFO b/c it's /.:
:/
Here, I read about Steel Batallion (the mech game for XBox) a few days ago at gamespy.com. I can't find the article now but here are some screen shots: Screen Shots
From what I can remember, the game has "graphics so good you won't find them amazing because the game looks so real." (or something.)
OKAY HERE I FOUND IT: The article is here: ARTIVIEW ARTICLE!! The actual comment was ""the graphics really don't seem that impressive, because they look so real."
"Steel Battalion will ship with 20 missions on 12 different levels, and although the final price has yet to be determined, you can probably expect to pay about $150 to $300 for this awesome-looking game/controller combo.
Oh, and it WON'T be playable online using XBox-Live
Cover your eyes and click this link!
I am a firm believer of mindless entertainment... and most games coming out today aren't mindless! I would take a good game of pool or darts over this complicated shit box any day!
My dodecatentacle controller allows me to operate in 7 distinct universes simultaneously!!! All kneel to my superiority !!!.
Now I need a midget to lug this shit around for me.
This controller is better.
I don't know about you, but i want to be able to *compose* on my x-box.
using namespace slashdot;
troll::post();
Found this elsewhere:
The 40-button behemoth
-Andrew
There have been some pretty funny shenangans revolving around the Wave Bird over at Penny Arcade (especially today).
mstyne: real name, no gimmicks
Although this thing looks freakin HUGE, it actually seems like a pretty good idea, and shouldn't be too bad - I've actually found the GameCube controller to be my favorite and most comfy to hold (just knocking the Dreamcast controller out of my top spot).
However, I picture lots of broken things if this controller gets thrown out of frustration..
Yet Another Obligatory PA Comic
"My days are less enjoyable because of people." ~ Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
What's next, Russia joins the NATO alliance?
Oh, wait...
Man is the future weird
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
It's amazing how Nintendo put enough thought into the development of the GameCube to make it keyboard ready.
All they need now is the ability to plug a tape drive into the keyboard, and they'll catch back up to where they were back in the early 1980's with the Famicom.
Who know, maybe even NS-HUBASIC (Nintendo, Sharp, Hudson) will be updated for the GameCube one of these days.... Okay, so probably not. The point stands, Nintendo tried the console-computer-entertainment-center thing way before PS2 or X-Box. This time around, don't count on seeing Gamecube try to pretend it's anything besides a game console.
Is it just me, or does anyone else want to avoid paying $30+ for a controller you can only use for one game, on top of the $50+ price tag for the game itself?
There have been several games in the past where the price of the controller is more than the game itself, but the controller literally makes the game. I can think of two examples right now: Dance Dance Revolution (or any bemani game) and Samba de Amigo. Both of these games are fun in and of themselves with the standard controller, but throw in the peripherals, and stand back!
I, for one, spent $50 on Samba then $100 on two sets of maracas. (You heard me correctly. Maracas.) It's an instant party, and a unique game experience you really can't duplicate any other way. Sometimes it's worth it to spend.
Where the wind blows, the tumbleweed goes.
Spreadin' the load around:
Armchair Empire preview
The Controller In Question
It looks to me like this game, an XBox, and the controller would be the best $300 mech simulator ever. That, plus Rallycross, might just push me into getting one.
-- Jeff Paulsen
pretty: http://www.gamespy.com/e32002/image.asp?/e32002/xb ox/sb/7.jpg
_ id=1513230&object_id=481366&channel_id=73&page_tit le=E3+2002%3A+Steel+Battalion&adtag=network%3Dign% 26pagetype%3Darticle%26site%3Dxboxviewer&return_ur l=http%3A%2F%2Fxbox.ign.com%2Fobjects%2F481%2F4813 66.html
non-pretty: http://mediaviewer.ign.com/ignMediaPage.jsp?media
I love the self destruct button, encased in a little clear plastic box, Spaceballs style.
Th
If you thought the original X-Box controller was huge, you're in for a rude awakening.
:o)
Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought so either..
This game, obviously.
there had BETTER be a very simple HUD with just some feedback on stats like energy, life, etc. It's a cool concept and seems like it might make things a little more realistic since you've actually got the control board in front of you instead of just seeing it and punching keys cooresponding to items on the CB (although I think I'd rather learn key commands than where each independent button is).
This is truly disappointing... it looks to me like all the important parts that require coordination are all the way on the right side.
I grew up in a Bally's arcade. I still know every Street Fighter II move, every Mortal Kombat move and finishing move and most morphs, animalities, friendships and so forth....
But with that said on to my question. I remember this game we got from Namco (which I believe owned or partially owned the arcade). It was two players, sit down, speakers behind the head death match style.
Polygon-al (you could probably count them on both hands) and you drove around these little Star Fox looking ships.
For the life of me I can't remember what it was called and I'll donate all my Karma to anyone who can tell me.
It was so nice because of the realism (in control of course because you couldn't live through some of these crashes and I've never seen planes like this).
Even though I didn't use a question mark yet I guess I'm wondering what the XP it was called.
Get your Unix fortune now!
... gaming news sites all over the world crumbled under the DoS power that is /. FBI press releases claim this billion dollar industry has lost trillions today alone.
Instead of having the 'parental guidance' warning on the games, the Xbox just has something similar to the 'You must be this tall to ride this ride', but it's 'Your hands must be this big to play this game'. Sort of a safeguard against 3-year-olds seeing aliens getting shot up playing Halo.
Denver Isuzu Suzuki
For the same reason that people build cockpits like this for flight simulators -- having a controller where all of the controls actually look and feel like they're part of a control panel for whatever it is that they're supposed to be operating in the simulation. There are companies that sell mockup cockpit shells or cockpit interiors to enhance the feeling of actually flying a plane. The extent to which people will go to replicate genuine controls for their computer can boggle the mind; some people spend literally thousands of dollars buying hardware. And it's not just flight simulations; there are cockpits for racing sims available, too.
No matter how flashy you make the graphics, the person playing the game still has to control their plane, character, car, mech, or whatever in the game. And using a two-button joystick and a keyboard to play the game doesn't help them feel as if they're really there in the game; that's why you see all of the steering-wheel and aircraft joysticks on the market. The controller for Steel Battalions is a special-purpose game controller; it's designed to work well with just that one game. There are other controllers, like the Thrustmaster Cougar, that take a more general approach -- a controller that is fantastically programmable to allow the user to customize their controller to suit whatever game they happen to be playing.
I would love to give that controller a go. I think it would be fairly easy to get used to, not having combinations and such to push. Just straight up push what you want when you want it. I like the idea of the throttle on the left and two joysticks for movement. Could also be used quite easily for a tank game. That controller, and ones like it, will deffinately add to the fun of games in the future (As long as it doesn't cost 5000 dollars).
This game kind of overshadowed most of the other mech games due to the unique controller. If you're really into mech games, antigames is running some other stories on Mech Assualt (XBox)and RAD (Robot Alchemic Drive, PS2) by the end of the week. Mech Assault was a great third person mech game and it's worth taking a look at as a second place to Steel Battalion on the XBox. RAD was extremely unique and let you control a robot as a person outside of the cockpit. The idea was to find a vantage point where you could see your mech and control it from there. Look for updates on antigames.com throughout the week for more info.
Sweet, is that a jog dial I see in the middle? Finally, we can play pong and arkanoid properly once they come out!
Anyone whining of the controller being to big has small hands. I'm 6'4" and the controller is perfect for me!
;)
You know what they say about people with small hands.
Small gloves. lol
Here is the GameCube keyboard.o ller.jpg
. jpg
p g
http://cubemedia.ign.com/media/news/tgs2001/contr
http://www.planetgamecube.com/media/thhw009203971
http://www.planetgamecube.com/media/hw009203951.j
There's a thing to be said about blanket statements like that...
FPS games work best with a keyboard mouse, but how about a fighting game? And then there's other options, like a trackball for marble madness or the many other alternatives mentioned in the comments.
It depends on the game, and it just happens that PC games are developed with the KB and mouse in mind and console games are developed with controllers in mind. When Morrowind comes out for XBOX, it will be interesting to see how much it changes simply to accomodate the controller.
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
This is the best picture we've got of the Tekki controller, so I've hosted it up on some personal webspace. If someone wants to mirror it, feel free. Steel Battalion Controller
Maybe this is some kind of strategy on the part of the game makers to "lock in" people to their games or gaming genres. If you buy a SuperWidget controller to play StarGenre, aren't you more inclined to buy StarGenre II vs. PlanetChase I, which also has a custom controller?
I also wonder if its not a way to get more profit out of a given game. I know that you pay money to develop software for gaming platforms, but does hardware have the same royalty setup? Can I sell a PS2 controller without kicking back to Sony the way I would if I wanted to develop games for it? I can't believe the lawyers wouldn't have been on top of this one, but hey, even they miss.
I wonder if they will come out with an equivalent to Stack Up that uses these new controllers so that it at least is tied with R.O.B. in usefulness!
mark
If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. -- Carl Sagan
Since everybody wants to see the pretty pictures.
the real thing
in-game shot
Regarding "Steel Battalion"... people need to see what the controller is before they comment on it. It's not a 40-button gamepad, for goodeness' sake. It's more of a flighstick-from hell. Two joysticks, foot petals, different toggles, switches... even a little hatch-protected eject button. Follow the links above before you shoot off your mouth. ^_^
I played really-quick (about five minutes), so I can't say much about the actual game, other then... well, its very sim-ey, and horribly complex.... which I'm all for. It seems to be the polar opposite of the XBox Battletech game, so everyone might be satisfied come this fall (and we haven't even mentioned the Robotech game, heh). I thought it was really neat, but, honestly, it may very well end up being a poor game with a neat concept. It's fun to play pretend with that set-up, however. ^_-
(Personally, I adore the idea; this is something I've always wanted, ever since I read about those Battletech pods at the CES, years & years ago.)
Damnit, it is right between just right and a tad wee bit to small.
:)
.
:) )
Since when the heck did midgets become the number one player of console games? Yeesh.
Now the one fault that I _DO_ have with the X-Box controller (and all of the other next gen console system controllers for that matter) is how few buttons the player can access at once.
I remember on the SNES controller that you could push any of 4 out of 6 buttons, not half bad. On the N64 controller it was (uh, 1,2,3,4,5,6) out of 8 buttons at once. Kick ass.
On the X-Box it is like 3 or 4 out of how ever many. Yah I know the main analog joystick also presses down, but it is SOO awful that you likely change the joysticks heading at the same time. NOT a good thing, sorry, doesn't count. Not to mention how fricking dinky some of those buttons are, yeesh. Talk about all pad and no buttons!
The PS2 has the same problem that the PS1 did, dinky ass controller, makes me feel like I am using a Pocket Gameboy to control my Console with. Ick. Cramped as hell.
The original N64 controller SEEMED like it was a pain in the ass, and indeed I got an alternate controller and used it for quite some time, but after awhile I was forced to go back to the original pack-in controller and I then realized how kick-ass it was. Yah!
The GameCube has a similar problem to the X-Box, not nearly enough buttons can be pushed at once. But then again Lord Miyamoto says that he plans on designing games that require less buttons to play, so I am not going to complain too much about that one. If the entire console is designed for fewer buttons then OK, but the other consoles out there seem dedicated to using all of the buttons on the control pad but just bunching them up in remote clusters around a pad and making the whole entire thing horribly unergonomic. Yuck.
On the plus side, 40 key gamepads will be quite nice. When I was well into playing Half-Life (since given it up, CS is so painfully slow compared to the frantic strategic action of HLDM) I had at least 20 keys bound on my keyboard and a nine button mouse. . .
;D
(I still have my two original NES advantage joysticks, yes, two of them. Now THOSE where some well built controllers!
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
Ill take a joystick or gamepad any day for my long marvel vs capcom 2 battles.
On a side not, has anybody found a game where a powerglove-like controller is tops? My ex-roommate once tried to play street fighter ex2 using the playstation glove controller. Long story short, I ended up having to buy him a dozen wings because he actually got a hadoken off in half an hour of using the glove. Then he went back to the standard controller and kicked my ass at the game.
..was the most comfortable controller ever made.
;)).. I thought Sony's were a bit too small as well with the Playstation 1.
:p
I can't speak of the Gamecube, but all of Nintendo's controllers in the past have been far too small (Aside for maybe the NES Advantage.
Huge X-Box controllers.
I don't care. If they have a Mech Sim, I'm there.
From the press release:
The KeyMouse XP is the worlds first mouse to integrate a 120 key keyboard inside a mouse. This gives the user the advantage of not having to switch between keyboard and mouse - a repetitive movement which costs the user time and productivity.
The keyboard is located between the left and right mouse buttons.
When asked how difficult this new mouse would be to handle Logitech would only say that the user would need a really big-ass mousepad.
"They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
Maybe it's not "huge", I guess that's a good thing... I thought it was the coolest new product for the GC...
The old Atari Jaguar had an 18 button control pad. It was really cool, because with every game came a little sheet that you could slip over the controller that said what did what.
o ntrol.html for a pic.
Check out http://www.metalstuff.com/area64/jaguar/hardwarec
PayPal $$ if you sign up for free offers (eBay, cred cards, e
The cool thing about Atari's pad was that it was designed to take different overlay templates for the buttons. Thus, once you had the pad the games only needed to bundle an appropriate template you could overlay on the pad.
This has the obvious advantage of making on controller re-useable, but it also meant buttons were correctly labled for the game - rather than having buttons AA through ZZ Alpha Plural Beta Z.
"They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
Uhhh...that's a CG rendering.
Phantasy Star Online's now on other systems? I borrowed the Dreamcast version from a friend, because I've always wanted to play it, and it won't even let me play the Off-Line part of the game.
"The higher, the fewer."
I have to differ with you on the Playstation controller. I'm a pretty big guy with large (some say, "ham-sized") hands, and the Playstation controller is simply the best controller ever, IMHO. The sheer ergonomics of the controller were perfect. All buttons were within easy reach, and the controller was small enough to fit perfectly in the grip. I'm not as big a fan of the original Dual-Shock Analog Playstation controller, as I thought the analog sticks threw the ergonomics off, but I could deal with it for analog control and the vibration functionality. However, the PS2 controller is totally sweet. 255 levels of sensitivity in each button makes for delightful analog button-pusing control, and the analog sticks were tightened up to a usable point. I realize that YMMV, but for my money, the PS2 controller is the only way to fly.
Do not trust the X-Box controller. It is malfunctioning. The PS2 controller will protect you from the terrible secret of space. Do you have stairs in your house?
49 20 68 61 76 65 20 74 6F 6F 20 6D 75 63 68 20 66 72 65 65 20 74 69 6D 65 2E
Why would you assume it can be used ONLY for Steel Batallions? Of course it's going to support other games.
Damn.. Can't wait to play Tetris with this thing....
The old Atari Jaguar had an 18 button control pad. It was really cool, because with every game came a little sheet that you could slip over the controller that said what did what.
o ntrol.html for a pic.
Check out http://www.metalstuff.com/area64/jaguar/hardwarec
Ah, those were the good ol' days.
PayPal $$ if you sign up for free offers (eBay, cred cards, e
If the mega-stick does work well with the game, and assuming that the game is good, it would make for a seriously good gaming experience. I mean, I've played mechwarrior 1-4, and the keyboard/mouse experience was passable, and my force-feedback joystick was really nice too, but I still had to resort to the keyboard. If the game is good enough, I'd look forward to a controller like this. It would surely make the game much better. The only downside is that it's a MS-USB controller, and I couldn't use it on the PC. Eh, what're ya gonna do.
Do you see the sig? Do you have it in your sights? Why yes, Miss Moneypenny...
That would explain the relative popularities of FIFA soccer (fantasy obviously - a decent keeper would never act as stupid as that!) versus Doom (I often find myself shooting demons with rail-guns in real life).
Instead of 40+ button controllers. Why not have a controller that'll spit blood on your hands and/or on your face everytime you kill those ugly zombies? :)
I also got to play with this at E3 and agree with the above poster. I thought I would explain the workings of the controller a little for those that care.
The left stick is for turning. It is left right only (no up/down). The right stick is for aiming your gun. It moves in all 4 directions. The right stick has 2 thumb buttons and a trigger. The thumb buttons are lock-on and missles, the trigger is machinegun. On the far left of the controller there is a shifter for forward gears and reverse. There are three pedals on the floor - gas, brake and the third was not used on the demoed build of the game.
Play impressions: When you start, you actually have to start up your mech. you have to flick several switches and then hit a series of startup buttons. Once you start moving around, there is a nice sense of controlling something large and lumbering. This is nothing like virtual-on from sega. Everything in the environment is destructible. Overall the game was very very deep ad seemed to have a lot of potential. You can even get going too fast and when you turn your mech falls over - oops. I wanted to stay and play for a while but my demo ended and I was forced to share.
I watched the capcom rep play and that was something amazing. It showed that you can master it and use the massive controller in a functional way. The HUD is very intrusive. but not in a bad way. It uses about 1/3 of the screen to show status of weapon system, maps, main display etc. It actually gives you the sense that you are viewing the forward display from with in the mech. The capcom guy was constantly shifting weapons and such - knowing intuitively what to hit on the controller. There is even a "wash window" button for when your display screen has been crudded up from battle. Overall very impressive. If the expense is not too great, I will pick up this one for my xbox.
-matt
Perfect.
Look at that sucker. Add the new Matrox video card with three 22" LCDs, and you've got the perfect Mech sim box.
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
So was Attack of the Clones and I paid $7.75 to see that.
I love video games. Love 'em, Love 'em, Love 'em. But $150-$300 for one game and the largest controler ever? Sorry, I've been burned too many times by console peripherals.
Remember the SNES Mouse?
The Super Scope?
The track mat for the NES?
The DDR mat for PSX?
Every single Sega Saturn add on?
I think a lot of consumers remember these thigns and will hold off to see just how good it is... or just hold off period.
That's enough pedantry from me, please continue.
Complexity is Easy. Simplicity is Hard.
Sheech! The pannel and screen shots look strait out of the Battletech Center mech you would sit in!
Next version is a foudout box that fit the keypad, you and the tv!
Does anybody remember the one-handed controller for the PS a couple years back? I believe it was the ASCII Grip. Sure it was unruly, and not dual-shock, but for a good RPG, it was ideal. You could sit back and eat some popcorn/chips/bacon and not get your controller all greasy/salty/nasty, etc. Although I never had one (and judging by the way it went out of production, neither did anyone else), I seriously considered getting one, and now every time I'm playing a console RPG, kick myself for not buying the only one I ever saw for sale.
- Relativistic? That's barely Newtonian!
Imagine Linux support for these...
What's this Submit thingy do?
Atari Jaguar had a matrix of buttons in its controller's bottom center. I think it was 4 cols x 3 rows, but I'm not sure. Games that used it had overlays to drop on it; it worked pretty well.
But what they really need is multiple monitor/TV support, so you can have the main view and a couple of status views ... now THAT would kick ass ... along with this keyjoythrottlestickdevice ...
Karma? Karma? I don't need no stinkin' karma.
And yes, I used to play Mechwarrior 2 and Descent keyboard only; adding a mouse sometimes helped, sometimes not. With the mouse it's the same argument: it works with most every piece of software while a joystick/special controller doesn't.
Then again, I used to be very big on the fact that a computer (equipped properly) could whoop the ass of any console system in terms of performance. That and you can do a lot more with a computer. But then, you didn't always have the selection, quality, cheapness, or ease of use of console games.
Nathan's blog
"Their". "THEIR"? "THEIR"!
Sorry, I couldn't help it...
(While I'm at it: "handful")
I wanted the same thing for my PC when I started playing Tekken 3 on it. In my search to buy such a thing I stumbled upon Arcade Controls. This is a TERRIFIC site that has all the info you could possibly want about building your own actual arcade controls for your PC. Includes many how tos and examples including links to arcade parts suppliers. Stuff runs around $10 for the stick and $1.50 for a button so it's not that expensive of a project. For the really adventureous there's also information about building your own actual arcade using your PC and various emulators to power it. But that's getting a little OT so I'll stop there.
maybe i have the perspective all wrong, but that thing looks huge (the nintendo keyboard). wouldn't it seem more intuitive to put a small thumb-keyboard ala RIM on a controller?
How much is the default Mandrake install again??
Right. Same with Redhat. Except for Gentoo(as much as I hate those trolls), a default linux dektop install is right around the 1GB mark as well these days.
At this point I think we can say that most linux desktops are as bloated if not more, than XP. Remember KDE+Mozilla='s slideshow. Yes I am aware of how to slim it down, but most linux newbies just run KDE and Moz, thus my bloat statement fits.
The most exciting controller from E3 was, IMO, the SpikeWireless controller demo in the hall between the main s. They were handing out many t-shirts to anyone who would put it on immediately, so plenty of the t-shirts were around the show.
The controller has a custom, multithreaded chip which handles the wireless and protocols and seemed strong. What made me most excited is the opportunity for a third party controller with wireless dongles for each different console. IOW, buy one set of wireless controllers (i.e., one, two, or four to taste) and one dongle for each of your nextgen consoles (e.g., ps2, gamecube, or xbox). Use one set of controllers for all your gaming.
Check it out at
www.spikewireless.com
Good: Eliminate the tangle of wires for multiple consoles. Eliminate the controller 'musical chairs' for getting games working. Use the 900MHz range to play anywhere in a room (a la a phone connection). Only buy one set of controllers (instead of a full set for each console). Tidy. One controller fits all consoles.
Bad: Batteries required. Not available yet. Operational issues? (The exhibitor included one of the engineers, and he gave good tech vibes, so I suspect the design is strong, a la Nintendo's Wavebird.) Prototype controller was a little big (could be fixed with some ergonomic redesign) and heavy (batteries). Generic controller may miss out on some ergonomic feature specific to a particular console --- but with a variety of manufacturers producing these (compatible?) controllers, this misfeature may diminish.
Unfortunately, Spike Wireless has no plans to produce the item themselves. They're doing the licensing thing to get accessory manufacturers to produce accessories using their chipset. The demo had proof of concept controllers, but they weren't selling the solution yet.
Personally, the approach of one set of controllers sounds excellent to me, and I likely would have bought a set (four) with appropriate dongles immediately were they available. Doh. My three console setup gets messy. I'd love to detangle the wires, and have dedicated controllers.
I do hope at least one of the licensees makes a great controller (good ergonomics) a la the standard PS2 or Gamecube controllers. There's no reason for this solution not to work with other controllers as well, e.g., steering wheels, flightsticks, etc..
Bottom line: single set of wireless controllers for all consoles would rock, and SpikeWireless is promising that RSN.
= Joe =
"This site has been taken down due to a denial service attack which keeps persisting, sorry for the incovenience" - www.antigames.com
/. effect :)
They couldn't handle the
The antigames site linked to in the article has been down all day as either "Cannot find site," or more recently, as a blank page with "This site has been taken down due to a denial of service attack which keeps persisting, sorry for the incovenience." It seems that the Slashdot Effect has become more infamous as of late. I implore you, fellow readers of Slashdot, we must use our mighty powers for good, rather than evil! Then, the power of Slashdot will be a force to be respected, not feared.
The antigames links are down... and on their front page, the following message;
"This site has been taken down due to a denial service attack which keeps persisting, sorry for the incovenience"
My guess is the poor site admins have been slashdotted.... pretty much a DDOS for anyone not running an industrial strength server with serious bandwidth....
GAY...
Now anti games home page says "This site has been taken down due to a denial service attack which keeps persisting, sorry for the incovenience"
That was too classic not to share. I assume the "Dos" is just the slashdot effect, but I could be mistaken.
-jim
-Xen
Unfortunately, the reason for the hasty demise of our server wasn't the slashdot effect. We could have handled that traffic - some kind-hearted git apparently read the article and thought it would be hilarious to hit us with a zombie client DOS attack.
Penny Arcade totally sucks ass. Get real!
Christ! What the heck is happening to the console gaming market? Okay, granted the keyboard is far superior for binding keys to do complicated things in video games but what about the majesty of the games of yore? Zelda and Final Fantasy 1 for the NES didnt take 40 freaking keys to play! AND THEY WERE FUN!
Do you really expect a 12 year old kid to sit there and try to master a 40 button controler for a mech simulation? I mean yeah its much more "realistic" but I feel that if the learning curve for a console video game is inherent in the controler! You can make great games that dont need 40 freaking buttons...
Mortal Kombat had special moves you could do with the directional pad... just think about how complicated a 40 button controler would be to master... "Oh yeah tommy! you didnt know? you had to do a SHIFT-ALT-FIRE-Rotate the directional pad 360 degrees counterclockwise-press jump-back-forward-etc-etc-etc combination to fire the special lazer guided rocket to beat the last boss...." DUUH!! i coulda thought of that one man... Shouldnt the object of these games be to ENTERTAIN?!
We have the awsome graphics now - lets focus on STORY and GAMEPLAY! not making 40 freaking button controlers!
-- -=innocent ramblings from the mind of an insomniatic programmer=-
Steel Battalion is the US name for a Japanese game called Tekki . For what it's worth, regardless of the pant soiling number of buttons, the game (beta) wields remarkably well. The big question is whether the damn thing will sell (hint: with a controller that size it won't be cheap).
Cacophanus
http://cacophanus.net/
I'm not quite sure why the developers feel the need to make a single large controller, rather than use a junction box to run two XBox joysticks together to control the system. I remember the Mechwarrior series, and always ran that with two CH Flightsticks plus keyboard - and then the flightsticks could be put to use in other games too. A specialised controller seems somewhat unnecessary.
Far be it from me to deny the rules of journalistic integrity by saying that I am in fact mistaken. According to Sega's E3 press release, the full title of the game will be "Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II", just as Yosho says. Apparently Sega has gone ahead and called it an online title regardless of what Nintendo says on their site. Apologies if my previous post misled you.
I get the feeling M$ are entering a territory they haven't completely thought about...
I've always said the difference between console and PC games are simply the controllers. M$ make a fair bit of money with their controllers for PCs which is fair enough, but the markets huge and they have their little niche which works (flight sims etc).
But in consoles its different. A deviation from the norm doesn't sell games, and its the mass market which counts for those games. A game which uses the standard controller, but is mediocre will likely outsell an outstanding game which needs a keyboard and a mouse...
Its not just the "buy these extra bits to play it" which is the problem, its also the place people play them... A keyboard and mouse doesn't work while squatting on the floor. Big multi buttoned controllers are likely to fall face down onto the floor at vital moments...
Diversity like that needs a really large market. Xbox isn't there quite yet...
Beware of the 100+ key behemoth!!
Check out the enormeous 102-key controller I've connected to my PC!
I know it's probably coincidence, but I worked on a mecha game called Steel Legions back in 1997-1998
It died a death (and I moved on), but here's a list of the realism features it had when I left it:
Sounds impressive huh? Thinking back, it was damn impressive. So why did it never get published? The usual reasons: we were pushing too many polygons with too shoddy an engine; it was a great simulation, but not a great game; we ran out of money.
The second point is the most interesting one. We quickly discovered that the most effective (but aggravating) enemy was a piddly little infantry soldier hiding in a bush with a laser designator and a radio, while the big shiney enemy mecha sat unseen behind a hill crest, firing missiles or mortars from defilade.
Likewise, any realistic model of accuracy and damage (based on contemporary tank systems) means one shot = one hit = one kill, for the biggest weapon systems. If you're in the mecha equivelant of a T-72 up against an M1A2, your only possible option is to never be in a position where it can see you. That's a great illustration of the futility of fighting a stand up war against a technologically superior enemy (as the Iraqi tank battalions learned in the Gulf), but it makes for a hell of a frustrating game.
I'll be very interested to see what Steel Battalions is like, but I rather suspect that it's complex or fully featured as opposed to actually realistic.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Check also their e3 pics
e ll aneous/e3-2002/e3-2002-random-snapshots-4.jpg[/lin k]
[link]http://www.armchairempire.com/images/misc