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Modding Game Controllers For Greater Grip
japala writes "Fast-paced videogames require a steady hand and great reflexes, it's generally agreed. But some game controllers and pads just don't seem to fit in your hand, and sometimes they slip and slide, making you miss the action. So Metku.net has tried coating videogame controllers with chemical rubber - it seems to improve grip, and possibly even your score."
I find that by wiping off the baby oil, and putting on a layer of baby powder, I get a really great grip on it.
because my game is nethack!
Cretin - a powerful and flexible CD reencoder
So Mektu.net has tried coating videogame controllers with chemical rubber - it seems to improve grip, and possibly even your score.
My girl improved her grip without the rubber so I don't know wha.. wait.
This is a game controller? Eh *tries to recover* who said love wasn't a game?
--zo
Video game controllers aren't the only thing we should coat in rubber... Remember kids, always keep it safe.
They should have coated it in rich creamery butter. If nothing else, it would have been more delicious.
The Blaster Master Fighting for Truth, Justice, and Evil Pie since 1979
I think a LOT of things could improve with the firmer grip imparted by a chemical rubber coating :)
I'd wager that most net-aware geeks with broadband access have already developed an extraordinary grip thanks in large part to non-gaming computer entertainment. Hell, I've seen geeks who have forearm imbalances like a tennis player! Trust me, geeks are finding ways to develop impressive gripping endurance.
But some game controllers and pads just don't seem to fit in your hand, and sometimes they slip and slide, making you miss the action.
Damn, coffee all over my keyboard. I curse my British upbringing...
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
Again, the similar kind of problem that I had with the ShinyShuttle article. Mod or a Review? In the end, a stock product gets to be something different than what it was when we started, so I think that it justifies this to be a modding article. :)
Not so long time ago, one of our forum members suggested for me to take a look at the product we are about to test in this article; Plasti Dip. Article title says Super Grip but that just felt a good name for the article and have nothing to do with the Plasti Dip Internation's Super Grip product that is mainly used for fabrics. Anyway, in this modding article we will see what these rubber coating products can offer for modders, gamers and DIY people in general. As Corpes0 from our forum told us, Airsoft enthusiasts have been using similar products to improve grip on their airsoft guns. It should be only natural for this stuff to work on computer input devices too. Read on and see how it turned out.
The productSpray or not to spray?
Plasti Dip can be bought in two different forms/containers; Liquid and Spray. Both of them are available in different colors though not all retailers stock all of them.
Colors available are:
Black Red Blue Yellow White Clear / TransparentThe store that I visited had Clear in spray and Black, Blue and Red as liquid. I ended up choosing one spray can (clear) and one can of liquid rubber coating for this article. Price for the products were around 15 euros for each can.
Dangerous?
"Haitallinen" = Harmfull, "Erittäin helposti syttyvä" = Extremely flammable and finally "Ympäristölle haitallinen" = Danger to environment. Fish swimming with backstrokes should be a pretty clear sign that these products are dangerous if not handled properly. In fact so dangerous that they can't be sended via regular post. As always, I don't take responsibility if you manage to harm yourself with these chemicals so read the label carefully and follow the instructions to the letter.
First testDipping
As a first test subject I decided to use a regular adjustable wrench. This is one of the targets that these rubber coating products are meant for. Non-slip handle will make the tool easier and safer to use. Just take a piece of string or wire and dip the item inside the can so that all the areas you want to get covered are submerged. You could use for example a brush to apply the coating to the item.
Result
After at least four hours of drying you get a smooth and rubbery finish on the tool. The coat isn't too thick but you can build up the thickness but dipping the tool to the can several times. Surface feels, well, rubber and it makes the handle and the tool very comfortable to use. A good result with metallic tool, what about input devices made out of plastic?
You mean your score for volatile hydrocarbons circulating through your bloodstream?
You there, fill it up with petroleum distillate and re-vulcanize my joystick, post haste.
Nothing compares to Quake or similar in terms of needing reflexes. Console games and their ass controllers just suck all around.
It seems that overclocking the chips are all the rage these days, but I was excellent at Wolfenstein 3D when it first came out, because my computer ran at 20 Mhz and the minimum recommended speed was 25 Mhz. Slowing down the processor turns a real time game into a turn based game.
Now having said that, since overclocking requires massive cooling effects, would underclocking require that there be an external heat source? Or by underclocking, will an endothermic reaction occur, giving you a free air conditioner. Hmmm. I'll have to do some investigating here...
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
I've used a wide variety of controllers from the old 2600 to newer X-Box controllers and have never once had the controlled "slip" out of my hand. Maybe the people having this problem need to put away the Doritos while gaming.
I could see a rubber coating as potentially more comfortable but even that will not be true if you're playing for long stretches of time as the rubber is more likely to wear a blister on your hand (as did a wrech that I dipped in similar stuff a few years ago that I used for automotive work).
Many companies already release skins and covers for things like phones & iPods. I doubt the same thing for controllers would be any different. I REALLY hope to see them try though. It'd be great to see a DMCA case like that laughed out of court. I doubt there's many IP lawyers out there stupid enough to try though.
-Hmm...I got a G+ invite, better remember to remove the request from my sig...-
Nowadays I use just a keyboard and mouse for my games, as I got tired of dealing with a joystick. A product like this just might make me switch back.
RealDolls...
0 to slashdotted in .3s
Moo.
When's the last time you played a game where the score actually mattered?
site is /.'ed, but making something easier to use in the hand is not exactly a stunning new discovery. Look at shaped mice and sculpted keycaps, for instance.
Does this remind anyone of the Moties that modified the pistolgrips? Now THAT would be a mod.
...overclocked their webserver as well.
seriously though, if someone sold this they could make couple of bucks, some players will buy anything
to improve their skills the fast way('optimal' mousepads and dual-sensor optical mouses & etc, like that would change their tactical thinking into any better)..
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
You can buy a can of that rubber stuff at home depot. You dip your (all metal or grips worn off) tools into it and it coats it.
You hardly need to be a hardcore modder to do this. If you had sense, you'd get a roll of the grip tape skaters use and it'd be cheaper and faster.
Has anyone ever had a problem with the controller flying out of their hands?
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I highly doubt this could improve anybody's Counter-Strike or Unreal score. When you suck, you suck. A game controller coated in rubber isn't going to help you. It's going to give n008s another excuse to suck. Sure it wouldn't hurt, but I'm sure it wouldn't make much of a difference.
For anyone wondering the value of college, just refer to this post to see what happens when you haven't had a formal education.
aside from the (previously mentioned) dick jokes, I don't think grip is really key here. The main issue I've always had is accuracy in movement.
This is why I prefer to play PC games with an optical mouse. The accuracy of my mouse is far greater than any other game contoller i've used in the past or present. Also, i can cusomize my mouse movement & acceleration in more detail than a controller.
thelikesofwhich.com
...the rubber coating goes on your hands!
Stop pounding off to DOA: Extreme Beach Volleyball, and you will find the controller doesn't slip out of your hands as much.
Game players need to learn to relax their hold on the controller. The tighter you hold the controller, the sweatier your palms and fingers get. I've played games for hours on end (yes, on many different systems) and have never had a problem hitting the right buttons.
Of course....when you're playing Socom and silenced bullets start popping in the water next to you...it's easy to hit the wrong button out of panic. But that really has nothing to do with grip.
Maybe people should just wear rubber gloves when playing games LOL
Mod points are pointless when you browse at -1.
I tried the tester with reds, and couldn't get better than .3xx times - I tried with green, and got more than a couple .2xx times.
Hmm.
Long ago, a company called Redz Comfort Gear made neoprene game controller covers for the PS2, Dreamcast and GameBoy that saved my thumbs many times from blisters after hours of playing my favorite games. They can still be purchased here.
Side scrolling fighters like MK won't benefit from this as you need to always slide your fingers through all the buttons as fast as possible in order to pull of fatalities!
This is my game.
-------
artlu.net
So what rubber is not chemical?
It looks like they are using more words than needed to sound more intelligent.
Drummers are always concerned with grip on their sticks. I know numerous ones who prefere Gorilla Snot to keep a hold on things. I'm sure it could be used for controllers for a cheaper and less perminant solution.
I know for a fact that Halo tournaments usually require you to use a un-modded controller. The extra grip, specifically on the right thumnstick could have a serious effect on your aiming ability, plus decrease the time it takes you to use your thumb for the gamepad buttons and switch back to the stick again.
Psychologically speaking, pink is close to the colour red. Red means "stop", not "go". I bet that if he changed the background color to green that people's response times would get faster (at least for North Americans).
geeks are cats who dig a certain kind of cool
They are now coating military vehicles in Rhinolining or other truck bed spray on adhesive as additional armor.
This would really improve your grip.. but alas the calluses would be a hinderance to / insert joke/
I always thought of Creationism as the Raving Right's version of the Loony Left's Anthropogenic Global Warming-brightmal
"Fistina Hancock"
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
I know rubber coating my grip usually improves my chances of a score!
My subtext is just a figment of your imagination.
How's it work on reality?
There's always been that tool dip stuff you could buy at hardware stores, to replace cracked rubber grips on plier handles, etc.
My favorite controller of all time (and damned if I can ever find it again) was an Amiga joystick. They sold these tiny joysticks to finance chip development, as it turns out though, because of the small size they were extremely good for making those sudden lunges because the arclength of stick rotation was so short. It was held together with tiny Phillips screws so cleaning and maintenance was never a bother.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
It's not illegal, just not allowed in some Halo tournaments.
Most gaming tournaments wont let you use modded or 3rd party controllers. At least the good ones. Nothing would be lamer than a Street Figher champion who just pushed the "macro" button on his controller which stored a 99-hit combo.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
It's a simple question of wieght ratios....!
"For example if you want rougher surface and extra grip for very wet conditions. First break the untreated surface with a low grit sandpaper or mix rough sand with the Plasti Dip."
Ouch!!!Seriously, who is playing in the pool?
Palmela Handerson
This surgery is not appropriate in all cases. Botox injections are a viable alternative for palmar hyperhidrosis patients. Check out the International Hyperhidrosis Society. As always, ask your doctor.
(And not the nintendo Power gloves) - Why not just take a set of comfortable, thin, strechy gloves, and glue them to the spots where your hands normally hold the controller? Then you only have to slip your hands in the gloves, and you have permanent supergrip. Leave the button fingers unattached, and you're good to go.
Cash prize, guaranteed!
Why not just buy the Hip Gear controllers with the textured body instead of buying an uncoated one and going through the hassle?
They have excellent an excellent gripping surface.
it is metaphysical.
Can't you dunderheads read? Cripes.
What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey
sigs are stupid. I turned them off. If there was only an option to hide posts ABOUT sigs..
Why would you spend $1,000 for a fast computer and then underclock it to make it slower? Just pay $800 instead for the slower one.
When Doom 4 comes out, I can just reset my machine to its factory settings, and not have to spend another 800 bucks.
And there are times when I need or want the speed (when compiling my companies app suite takes 45 minutes, every mhz counts), but most times I dont. I want to be able to switch on demand from "quiet and practical" to "loud and obnoxious".
Because the slower components run just as hot as the faster ones, and I want them to run cooler (and quieter). The HSF on the older northwood P4s was just as loud as the prescotts. I wanna slow a prescott down.
Because the reduced power usage means that my desktop machine will last longer on a UPS. Batteries aren't just for notebooks. I'd love for it to auto-clock itself down about 50% when it switches to battery power.
Because the 3.06ghz P4 is the slowest proc with hyperthreading, which I've found enormously useful. It doesnt make your computer magically faster, but it's much more responsive when some app runs away with the CPU.
Because I don't want to spend 60 bucks on an aftermarket cooler that weighs a pound and a half and will likely destroy my machine if I try to move it because it's 4 times the weight specced.
Because if my machine wasn't so hot under load, and sucking so much power, maybe I'd run folding@home and cure cancer.
Noise? I have a 3.2 ghz machine that I can barely hear. My 1ghz was louder.
So what? I have a 1ghz fileserver with no active cooling whatsoever, and I have a 3.06ghz desktop that sounds like an electric razor.
Hell every laptop nowadays does CPU frequency scaling, they all underclock by default to save power. Next generation intel desktop procs will probably do it to, from what I've heard freq scaling that's another feature that they're taking from the Pentium M core. Less power, less heat, less noise.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Well, my main problem is that controllers just don't "work" for me from an ergonomic point of view.
For instance:
Why they can't make controllers for adults with regular sized hands and adult (poor) vision, I will never know.
OTOH: They seem to work for all my kids.
LongTail SSH Brute Force analysis tool is here!
hand grip? sliping and sliding? missing action? coating your joystick with rubber? improving your score?
And every post so far has been serious!
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
I mean on life, not on your joy-stick. This is just a sign that meaningful progress in video games has come to an end. Video games are out. Real life is in.
Mathematics is not a crime.
"Fast-paced first posting require a steady hand and great reflexes (or a script), it's generally agreed. But some keyboards and mice just don't seem to fit into your diabolical plan, and sometimes they stick up, making you miss the thrill of pissing everyone off. So AnonymousCoward.net has tried coating keyboards and mice with a layer of human feces - it seems to decrease the likelyhood of first posting (or posting at all), and possibly even increase your karma."
Pelican http://www.pelicanperformance.com/ used to sell a product called G-Grips for PS2 controllers. They were small rubber pieces that you attached to the end of the controller for better grip, and they worked pretty well. Unfortunately, I don't think they make them anymore. I bought a few pairs after I found out about them, and I will say that they are a bargain for $10.
So when does the pron version of this come out? Come on! I know I am not the only one who sees the subtle refernces to pron in that article!
Some of us really need to get outside a little.
Rubberize your hands instead! That way you get a better grip with every controller you own, with arcade games, with your keyboard and mouse at work, when shaking hands with random people you meet...
I play Nerd-Folk!
The 3.06ghz P4 *was* the slowest P4 with hyperthreading for a while, but its not anymore. Prescott runs hotter than Northwood at the same clockspeed, so thats a pointless endeavour.
All you really need to do, though, is buy a motherboard that allows you to underclock - they do exist. Its easier on the AMD side of things where processors are often unlocked - all Athlon64s can have their multiplier dropped, and many of the XPs were completely unlocked. AMD has already come out with exactly what you're looking for, though, in the form of Cool and Quiet - underclocking while your machine is idle, just like a laptop. I'd be happy to see Intel follow suit.
Chemical Rubber? Pah!! Real men use superglue.
It does mean you have to get your wife/kisd/gf/butler/nurse to change your disks, type your slashdot posts, feed you, scratch any itchy bits and wipe your bottom for you but damned if I will ever drop a controller again halfway through a frag-fest. Just so long as my midi-interface game-pad does not become obsolete.. oh, sh..
~ Better a freak than a sheep. ~
Hopefully now the guy behind the counter wont look at me so funny when I ask for a pack of Trojans for my 'joystick'.
You can use this feature to your advantage in many ways. For example if you want rougher surface and extra grip for very wet conditions.
Great! I can't tell you how many times I've been playing my xbox in the bath, shower or rain and wished I could get that extra grip
TIAEAE!