Video game I/O

This is a topic that I haven't seen any in depth discussions about it. I was wondering what would a universal video game controller be like, what would it need and so I released that there are lots of IO devices for videogames beside the common gamepads. Most of these devices where used in arcades, think of light guns, steering wheels, trackballs etc and things like keyboards or touchpads for home systems. A simple gamepad can't hold all of this, maybe there could be a universal gamepad but not a universal controller and so I released that motion controller like the Wii controller or the kinect could easily take the place of all that other stuff but sadly people doesn't see them as that. Output isn't that complicated as far as I know, I'm not aware of anything beside common screens and still I think people isn't using them at their full potential. Arcades have a long history of using TV screen in portrait mode but home releases have never done this beside a psx sh'mup (Can't recall the name right now) that had a portrait mode but it warned you that setting your home TV that way could damage it. I imagine HDTVs do not have such issues and with the penetration of smartphones in our society tuning your living room TV into portrait mode should be common.

home console controllers have been pretty standardized these last couple generations. four buttons, two analog sticks, a d-pad, start, select, two right buttons and two left. the only difference really is what they're called

>>555 >I was wondering what would a universal video game controller be like, what would it need The only satisfying answer, while entirely impractical, would be a brain interface, but few people, hopefully, are going to want to plug electronics into their brains to play the latest games. Your musing on the universal interface is, in a way, a question several thousands of years old. Consider, as an example, what a crippled player would need; based on the nature of the crippling and other considerations, there would be a great deal of variation and we often see such interfaces tailored to the player or even also the individual game. >I released that motion controller like the Wii controller or the kinect could easily take the place of all that other stuff but sadly people doesn't see them as that. I question if motion controls will ever be suitably accurate for that. There's also the want for real feedback and, again, the considerations of crippled players. Part of the fun of arcades, as you've mentioned, is the specialized controls, which is lost under such a general means. >Output isn't that complicated as far as I know, I'm not aware of anything beside common screens and still I think people isn't using them at their full potential. Arcades have a long history of using TV screen in portrait mode but home releases have never done this beside a psx sh'mup (Can't recall the name right now) that had a portrait mode but it warned you that setting your home TV that way could damage it. I imagine HDTVs do not have such issues and with the penetration of smartphones in our society tuning your living room TV into portrait mode should be common. I'm particularly interested in how these goggle headsets will be put to use. I've seen them used in racing games and I found that an interesting overcoming of the movement limitations they generally impose. >>557 The Nintendo Switch controller does include its own set of motion controls, among other things. A major improvement over the motion controls of the Wii is how, I believe, the Switch uses simpler gyroscopes, which has the orientation of the controller to the system irrelevant. That is, rather than pointing, one is simply tilting; it's a difference I'd call relative, rather than absolute. This obtains many of the uses of the more complex motion controls while abandoning most of the disadvantages and also allows one to set orientation how they please in software, as is seen in games such as Splatoon 2. It's superior, I find.

I forgot about sound and the output that some controllers can give Sounds is a forgotten topic in video games, people doesn't seem to care about the resolution of video game music or how sound can be used in video games. People goes all ape over graphics cards and FPSs while most computer today process audio in software mode to output to only two speakers. Its like if video games and audiohilia never cross over >>577 True but my concern is with stuff beyond that >>578 Yes, a universal controller will be awkward but still there are some addition that can be made to traditional gamepads, dunno what could be done for disabled players tho. Yes, the physical feedback that physical inputs give is something I ignored (alongside sound) and taking that into consideration a thing like the kinect isn't good but stuff like the joycons excels and could easily recreate the arcade inputs I like but i still have to try them for myself I really don't know what to think about vr headsets, probably because I haven't tried one.

>>580 >symmetrical stick placement >not going for an interchangeable system to be honest you should be using the xbox elite controller as a base, add the Xbox S Black and white buttons and you'd be close enough to the perfect universal controller.

I got one of these a while ago. It's pretty terrible. Would not recommend, since the rubber's eroding from the main stick pretty quickly. Also, the button map isn't ideal, and the shoulder buttons aren't analog like the original.

I always had a thing for the ps1-2 style controller. My only gripe has always been that the buttons have either really terrible or nonexistant analog support, especially using an adapter for PC. I have tried xbox360 controllers, but I don't see the logic in the digital pad's placement and only the triggers are analog, and even then the analog response is sloppy at best. Honestly, any attempt at a completely "universal" controller will always be half-assed, and at best will still get the "feel" and "experience" all wrong. No amount of fancy analog buttons or motion detection will ever replace a good racing wheel and pedals. Since you brought up arcade machines, no gamepad will ever replace a good arcade stick and buttons for fighting games either. > I imagine HDTVs do not have such issues and with the penetration of smartphones in our society tuning your living room TV into portrait mode should be common. Many LCD monitors can do this just fine (and even autodetect it in more expensive models), I do not see why a television using the same technology would be any different. >>578 A brain interface would be best for sure. You could get rid of the silly looking VR headset nonsense too. >>673 The gamecube's controller design itself is pretty terrible to be honest. Not n64 terrible mind you, but pretty damn close. Nintendo had it right with the SNES controller, but for some reason from there decided to be "different" after sony copied and perfected it through the failed nintendo/sony partnership that led to the playstation's creation.

>>673 >>674 >>674 The gamecube controller is one of the best video game controller of all time. what the fuarrrk are you people on about? also there is no such thing as a universal controller

just throwing this out there: joysticks used to be a much more prevalent input device for pc gaming, and not just for flight sims. seems kind of intuitive once you get used to it. for an fps, all of your movement is handled by a single 6 axis analog stick. there's enough buttons for everything you'd hotkey on a mouse. traditional mouse input (e.g. for menus) would be a little awkward, but most of them include a smaller joystick on top that would kind of be like using a trackpoint. if that plus the base buttons and throttle isn't enough, you could ignore them and keep one hand free for the keyboard. i wouldn't use it for everything, but i'd be interested to see how joystick+keyboard makes up for the shortcomings of my preferred mouse+keyboard setup. it would probably work pretty well for everything other than strategy/menu focused games (where mouse and keyboard would be better) and console action/platformers (where you'd probably still want a controller).

>>694 It could be considered as such if it didn't have less buttons than a standard controller. >missing one shoulder button >missing a select equivalent

I recently came across this guys blog https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art6.html He has been coding emulators for obscure gameboy accessories, the barcode readers took my attention and then I remembered that toys to life are also a thing. So there is another category of video game input, collectables that are read by the machines to do something in the game, seems like cards have been the most common historically and toy to life are going to be a short episode on history.

>>706 Can....can we Emulate the Ereader now?

>>708 The gba ereader? http://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/GBA_e-Reader_emulators Sadly seems there are lots of undumbed cards.

>>555 >universal controller I guess that's a attempt of the Steam controller with the highly customized setups you can come up with. I just bought one and I have troubles setting my hands to run properly with it, as gamepad ergonomics prescribes, in an "intuitively" manner. to be honest I feel like digging more about how the controller works, especially the embedded gyro and those alternative commands you can set from a single press. I have to admit though, it's not for everyone. It's hard to believe players presumably gain higher skills on CS:GO or Elite:Dangerous using it. Although videos exist that show it seems possible to enjoy games in a very peculiar and personalized way. I'd like to have your opinions if you succeeded in "taming" this beast.