USB controllers

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 11:01 pm

i'm looking to get a usb controller i can use on my pc.

my options seem to be:

-get a converter (for a ps2 or saturn controller)
-buy one of those sega usb controllers

now i've heard that the sega usb controllers are really decent, and i know there are people on this board who just play with a converter, but i've got no clue where to start in deciding.

what is the response time on the above options? any lag? which would be better for mame?

eventually, when i have ze cash, i'll have sticks for all my shmupping, so i'm thinking of this as a stepping stone, because playing with the keyboard gets stale real quick.

thanks
capt

Post by **Shatterhand** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 11:27 pm

I never tried it with mame, but I do have an PSX->USB adapter made by Players, and it works real nicely. I bought it to play Pro Evolution Soccer 4, but I've also played some Spectrum games in a Speccy emulator, and had some games of Super Volleyball and Street Fighter 2 in a Mega-Drive emulator.

It supports 2 joypads at the same time, it has analog support, but the "pressure senstivity" thing is not supported. It says that the vibration is supported, but as I never played any game with it, I can't say if it works or not. It works very nicely, no lag, no driver problems (I only needed my Win98 cd), no problems at all. I still haven't tested it, but I think it even runs under Linux (At least its shown as a detected device, unlike my USB webcam which refuses to work)

bigbadboaz · Post by **bigbadboaz** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 2:54 am

I would recommend the PC 3-in-1 JoyBox with a Saturn pad. I have two and they work flawlessly. The USB Saturn pad is worth considering, but I have been told the cord on the thing is only two feet long (!), and I also own the reissued PS2 Saturn pad and find it doesn't feel quite as good as the trusted original.

SAM · Post by **SAM** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 5:20 am

I suggest you to acquire a USB version of Sega Virtual Stick (those look like the old Saturn Joystick.) It actually mount a Seimitsu LS-33 within. (I can confirm this, I had opened mine and check this part. The restrictor gate of the joystick is missing though. So you could not change the 8-ways joystick into a 4-ways or 2-ways stick.) It also got auto fire to switch on for each indivial buttons.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-1i-70-gyn.html

Tychom · Post by **Tychom** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 8:51 am

The USB Saturn pad is worth considering, but I have been told the cord on the thing is only two feet long (!)

Try meters.

It's a nice pad too, worth the money but if you're going to go stick then it's always worth waiting a while and picking up a PS2 adapter.

azmun · Post by **azmun** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 1:40 pm

SAM wrote:I suggest you to acquire a USB version of Sega Virtual Stick (those look like the old Saturn Joystick.) It actually mount a Seimitsu LS-33 within.

Wow this is new to me. I know the two player version virtua stick pro (hss-0130) did use seimitsu but I wonder if the original sega saturn virtua stick (hss-0136) had seimitsu joysticks as well.

Ix · Post by Ix » Wed Oct 26, 2005 2:24 pm

O_o that's news to me, too. i own two Saturn Virtua Sticks, and neither of them have LS-33s. they have those crappy sticks that can be found on old PS1 ASCIIware sticks. it's great that they changed the sticks, since the old ones were pretty bad.

loopyeddie · Post by **loopyeddie** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 4:12 pm

I love the Virtua Sticks. I bought them for everything (Saturn, USB, PS2, Xbox)! I have had very good luck with them and love the button layout.

bigbadboaz · Post by **bigbadboaz** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 10:57 pm

Cap'n,

Couple more thoughts for you. If you're intending to go stick anyway, I would suggest picking up an HRAP with VGO's incredible deal (see the HRAP 2 thread) and just getting PS2 -> whatever converters for it. I paid $120 for this stick and absolutely adore it. I would have been so happy to get a pair at $92 each.

Also, I had a chance to try the Xbox 360 yesterday, and to my great surprise the controller really is as excellent as the mainstream sites have hyped it to be. Might look into the PC wired version of that if you have any use for analog control.

- BBB

Post by **Shatterhand** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:39 am

If anyone is still interested

This PSX-USB adapter I have do work under mame. I played a lot with it.. I found little game called "Minefield" which is LOTS of fun, and very suitable for the dual shock (as it uses 2 sticks ala smash-tv). Played it for like an hour!

And it DOES work under Linux... I am currently using the Ubunt 5.04 distro, and it didn't need any drivers...

azmun · Post by **azmun** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 12:34 pm

bigbadboaz wrote:Also, I had a chance to try the Xbox 360 yesterday, and to my great surprise the controller really is as excellent as the mainstream sites have hyped it to be.

I've only seen pics of it and it does look really nice and ergonomic. My only gripe is that I hear it's wireless? Batteries need to get replaced every 40 hours or so and I wish they'd make a cord version.

japtor · Post by **japtor** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:22 am

azmun wrote:
bigbadboaz wrote:Also, I had a chance to try the Xbox 360 yesterday, and to my great surprise the controller really is as excellent as the mainstream sites have hyped it to be.
I've only seen pics of it and it does look really nice and ergonomic. My only gripe is that I hear it's wireless? Batteries need to get replaced every 40 hours or so and I wish they'd make a cord version.

theres a wired version for $10 less. i heard theres a 'for windows' version for $45 which comes with a drivers disc i guess. other option could be the wireless one with the play and charge kit (supposedly once attached with the cable it transmits all signals through that instead of wirelessly), but that would be pointless unless you got a 360 later on, and expensive at $70 for both.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 4:17 pm

i bought this. it performs like a $10 digital ps1 clone should (read:acceptably). in any case, its better than playing with a keyboard.

does Warning Forever accept joystick input?