Cheap, Rugged, Multiplayer Gamepads for Linux

IceAgeComing writes "Anyone interested in exploring multiplayer games under Linux should know: you can now pick up a four-way gamepad hub, with four gamepads, for under $15. It is known as the Gravis Multiport, and now it is supported under Linux. The link describes patches for Linux 2.4, but the drivers are now included in Linux 2.6. This input system used to cost more than $100, but it has been abandoned by Gravis since Windows 98. Now it's possible to pick them up extra cheap. Four-player Gauntlet under XMAME, anyone?"

Comments

wow

[emkman]

that actually sounds better than those [console]-to-usb adapters, especially for the price.

Great!

[irokitt]

Now I can play Microsoft flight simulator...oh wait.
Does anyone out there know of any Linux games that require a joy stick? I'm a keyboard/mouse junkie myself...

Re:Great!

[__aatgod8309]

It sounds like it's aimed at retro-gamers. (I play SNES and Genesis games on my machine, and joypads are the only way to go)

gaming on linux:

[nil5]

with perhaps the exception of xmame, gaming on linux is almost as fun as,well, typing in an xterm while picking one's nose.

Re:gaming on linux:

[ciryon]

Not true. I've had many hours of gameplay on linux. First off, many windows games work very well with Wine or Transgaming.

I've also played a lot of old nintendo games. I hooked up my box to the TV (using a nvidia card with TV-out) and then I inserted two Gravis Gamepads which only need one gameport. Kernel modules worked just fine, and this was some years ago. Grab the latest SNES9X-emulator and start gaming!

Not quite.

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, I find the d-pads on these things horrendous, especially after a month or so of use.

Your better bet by far would be to get several Dual-Shocks (PS1 version would be fine) and some -$10 USB adapters from Radio Shack. I did, and it works great.

Re:Not quite.

[zumbojo]

XBox controllers are much easier to connect to computer hardware; they are USB controllers in disguise (read: "with proprietary connectors"). My friend simply bought a USB cable for two dollars and wired it inline on one of his XBox controller cables. Now he can use that controller on his PC (he uses it often to play NES emulators at work) and if he so wishes, plug USB devices into his hacked XBox. When he wants to fire up Halo, all he does is reconnect the controller.

Side note: The XBox proprietary connector is actually 5-pin (+, -, data, ground and "strobe") though with the fifth (strobe) wire disconnected the controller works just fine. Maybe it is for some as yet unreleased peripheral, but the controllers sure as hell don't use it.

Gamepads, and computer gaming

[Geeyzus]

Is it me, or does nobody use gamepads for computer games anymore?

Sports titles, racing titles, action titles fill the catalog of PS2 and XBox. Adventure and party-style titles grace the inside of a GameCube. These are suited to the gamepad.

But on the computer, what are the usual games? FPSes, RTSes, first person adventure/role-playing games, games that use the mouse to its fullest (The Sims). The sports titles exist... but I don't believe they are best sellers.

Why? Gamers simply don't play those kinds of games, gamepad games, on computers. Yes I'm sure that SOME do. Most do not. And it's for a reason, computers lend themselves to keyboard-and-mouse games quite nicely, and consoles lend themselves to gamepad style games.

So to me, this is no big deal. I love computer games, but I can't think of one computer game I have played in the last 5 years that I would have liked to play with a gamepad. And I love my PS2 also.

Also... Gauntlet on XMAME? 4 people crowded around your computer desk... I can imagine the comfort level there. 3 people probably can't see the screen well enough, and even if they can, the crowded space will make this interesting for about 20 minutes of gameplay... a novelty.

Nothing against the poster, but use the medium for what it is best at... one player and online multiplayer games, and leave the gamepad games to the consoles...

Mark

Re:Gamepads, and computer gaming

[__aatgod8309]

This is the era of "Gameplay? But we've given them all this beautiful eye candy, why would they want gameplay?"

Retro-gaming (8- and 16-bit consoles and, perhaps to a lesser degree, home computers) won't appeal to many new gamers (the games are longer in some cases, and more complex in others, and on the whole just not as pretty), but there's a great deal of nostalgia for those who grew up with older systems (originally Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, personally, and arcade games of that era), and i reckon that's what this is targeting.

You're unlikely to get four 18 year-olds huddled around a monitor playing Gauntlet, but four 30-something gamers who grew up with it? Different story...

Here's a starter list.

[Blaede]

Tomb Raider series
Thief
Max Payne
Prince of Persia
007: Nightfire

Keyboards are hell with these type of games.

Re:Here's a starter list.

[bottlerocket]

Did anyone that modded the parent up actually play the games listed? Two first person shooters, two third person adventurers, and one, count it, one side scroller. Have you actually played a game from the first two categories mentioned... on a gamepad? Do you know why Halo was so celebrated? Because it was perhaps the first FPS that was semi-playable on a gamepad.

So...

[iamdrscience]

How long until there's good support for these in EMacs?

I had one of these things, it sucked

[SexyKellyOsbourne]

I got one of these -- just the controllers, not the gamepads -- back in the day when I was looking for a good emulator controller. It looks like it has 8 buttons, but it actually only supports the old standard of 4 -- the extras are just "turbo" buttons. Even though that's good enough for NES, they're still unwieldy due to the crooked cross controller, making Contra hard to play when you have to aim down -- it keeps running forward.

Linux's USB Sidewinder Pro support is perfectly fine, and they're not longer made and cheap. For $15, you get a controller with 9 buttons and good handling, more than enough for any console emulation.

Hooray

[bottlerocket]

...but it has been abandoned by Gravis since Windows 98. Now it's possible to pick them up extra cheap

So Linux finally got around to supporting a crappy gamepad setup that was released almost six years ago and isn't even supported by the manufacturer anymore, and we're supposed to...what? Help me out here. In what way could this even be remotely considered news or something that matters?

they can kiss my sorry butt.

[mushroom blue]

I swear by the EMS USB2 adapter. it allows you to use 2 Playstation Dual Shock pads per adapter. fully supported under linux, and recommended by the PyDance authors for those who crave Dance Mats. Works wonderfully in every emulator that supports the kernel joystick driver, and especially rules for XMame's fighting games The PS2 Dual Shock is the best controller ever made, other than the Japanese Saturn controller. Why use a crappy Gravis "good enough" pad if you already have the real thing?

Re:Are you insane?

[keroppi]

Your arguments for the advantages of a game pad over a keyboard are completely unfounded.

I'd have to utilise 3 fingers, a joypad only required my thumb.

First of all, if you know what you're doing with a keyboard in any FPS, you would be using ASDF as your movement keys, or some kind of equivalent set of 4 in the same row.

Using WASD may seem the most intuitive to most people used to the arrow pad, but moving your middle finger up and down to go forwards/backwards is incredibly inefficient. Using the arrow keys is just plain stupid, you can't press any other keys with the left hand while using the mouse since they're so far away.

The other disadvantage of a gamepad over a mouse is the fact that you can't aim precisely. When you move a gamepad joystick, it only spins your view as fast as its maximum speed is set. The mouse however, just does a translation of your crosshair as far as you move your mouse. There is a reason why we use mice to navigate 2d computer interfaces instead of a joystick. Same for trackballs.

Then there's the case of ease. With the keyboard I'd have to give quick looks to make sure I didn't hit the wrong key.

Learn where the keys are on a keyboard, or at least change your keys for every new FPS you get to be virtually the same as all the others you've played. I've been mapping ASDF for movement and other keys nearby for everything else since Quake 1.

With a gamepad, I never had to look at it, my eyes could remain on the screen 100%

Just because you can't type doesn't mean that a gamepad is better.

And in closing, Turok is just another FPS, with the exact same control as all the rest. You cannot aim, or move quickly but precisely with a gamepad -- nor can you press nearly as many buttons for complicated games. But there aren't complex and detailed games for the console, that's not their market.

It's a good price...

[cowbutt]

...but I think I'd prefer the flexibility of a Sony PlayStation Dual-Shock controller together with a USB adaptor. In the UK, the adaptors are easily available from Maplin for 7.99. Alternatively, they also do USB pads for 5.99 each.

I have no connections with Maplin, I'm just a satisfied customer.

--

ATTENTION SLASHDOT EDITORS

[gazbo]

I also have a product that I wish to advertise on your website. What are the rates for a story like this one?

Thanks in advance.

Re:Retro Hardware for Retro Gamers!

[ukyoCE]

Did you even RTFA? This "ancient piece of hardware" is obviously quite useful, and the reason it's so cheap? WINDOWS XP DOESNT SUPPORT IT! So linux actually has better device support in this case, as in many others.

And btw, afaik all modern video cards (ie: radeon and nvidia) are very well supported in linux, and DVD+-RW drives should work flawlessly as well. I've heard RAID does too, but have never used it myself.