Karate Champ had the right idea!
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Considering trying this out with the XAC to see if I can do a bit more simultaneous movement/camera control while having access to some core buttons. Only thing that gives me pause is thinking about how this device might be used by the IDF.
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So why does no major console manufacturer offer hall effect or TMR sticks even as an option in a more expensive premium controller?
They aren’t very expensive, which is evidenced by the fact that every Chinese brand has switched over to them for everything except their absolute cheapest controllers.
Is there a reason potentiometers are preferred?
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my guess is sheer laziness, they’d have to switch suppliers or some shit
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Yeah same reason Apple took so long to switch to GAN charging bricks
Laziness is right, but going into the details:
- Premium controller option is sorta not worth bothering with anymore. The margins are rock bottom and most of the target audience are already happy with a third party
- For default controller, the people pushing the change inside the company are likely required to file extensive paperwork to justify the BoM increase to the bean counters. Yes, even for pennies
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given the enormous expense and logistical struggles nintendo specifically has dealt with doing RMAs on alps pot sticks i would be surprised if the alternatives had not been thoroughly considered. hall and tmr are better but not perfect wrt sensor drift, require additional calibration, and the moving components still degrade the same way as pot sticks (eg. get floppy).
the alps parts are old and battle tested at this point even if they fall short of consumer expectations, where the newer tech is arguably unproven to be a worthwhile improvement long term
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I’m sure there’s an actuary that’s done the math on it to prove they’re making more money this way than having better products.
On top of that I imagine most consumers would still be terrible w/ mag sticks breaking them in other ways and not knowing that it’s their fault instead of the mag.
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Didn’t the Anthony Michael Hall Effect play Magfest this year?
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Yeah I think that even though they’re potentiometers still they almost definitely made sure that the Switch 2 sticks are more durable.
No reported cases of drift so far except for people who touched sticks while they’re calibrating and temporarily messed up the input.
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Best avoid driftwood
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base product wasn’t goofy enough so ofc they’re also showing a huge rig for desk mounting
complete with
“built-in turbine fan that simulates airflow”
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When will a company make a nice affordable wheel but also with force feedback 
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Still pining for a negcon 2. I love the novelty of a twistable controller though i never sat down with it long enough to tweak sensitivity to where it would be more practical than like a bog standard ps1 pad.
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Hey folks, it’s me, too many controllers guy. I decided for my birthday that “one more…just one more controller will fix me…” and I had an Amazon gift card anyhow, so I got the Gulikit TT MAX. But first…
Gamesir Cyclone 2: Pretty nice, pretty nice…pretty standard Xbox style controller, with microswitch buttons and d-pad (so, y’know, base your opinions accordingly). Controller comes with a nice little dock that the 2.4 GHz USB connector plugs neatly into, so you can keep the whole thing plugged in and use it wirelessly. I like it. I’ve been playing a lot of Assassin’s Creed Shadows with it, and it’s been alright. Except for that time I bricked my first one…I got a replacement but uh, yeah, careful updating the firmware (or it’s probably fine, just don’t be a dunce like me and try to hodgepodge an update through Linux).
Gulikit TT MAX: Oh heck yeah. You open this thing up and the first thing you see is a nice little controller sarcophagus (protective case, whatever), various replacement analog sticks (different heights, so you can pick which you prefer, I guess), and a key puller and an extra set of buttons. It comes set up for the Switch layout, but the key puller works really well and swapping in some standard ABXYs was simple. It’s got kind of an odd floating D-Pad, and I was worried I got stiffed on the Genesis style D-Pad, but no, it was in there…in the sarcophagus (it has a nice little mount for it inside).
Anyway! It feels nice. Played some Katamari and the PS style stick layout felt right. Played some SF6 and didn’t have any issues there. Played some Super Mario 64 (the uhhh PC port, y’know) and only really had issues pulling off those running long jumps, since Mario kept doing butt stomps. There’s a toggle to make the triggers digital, I may try that, see if that helps. Imagine it will.
Anyway! At some point I gotta put a bunch of these controllers up for sale or something…but if I had to get one more (I WON’T) it would be another one of these TT Max’s. Maybe that’s premature but it’s good!
If I had to rank all these suckers…
- Gulikit TT Max: Real nice, lotta options, nice and weighty.
- Tie between Gamesir Tegenaria Lite and Gulikit ES Pro: Both are dirt cheap ($15-20 for the Gamesir, $25-30 for the Gulikit) and feel great. Really probably all you need outta these things, just gotta decide if you’re cool with wired (Gamesir) or wireless (Gulikit).
- Gamesir Cyclone 2: Solid controller. But for a little more you can get that TT MAX…
- Tie between that Genesis-style 8Bitdo and the N64 8Bitdo: Special use cases for each of these, I guess, but they’re both extremely good for what they do. A lot more utility for the 6 button pad with fighters and such, but as specialty sort of controller, they’re good.
- Various 8Bitdos: Y’know the ones. They’re fine.
- Mobapad Chitu: I use this one with my Switch all the time, but it’s probably a hair under the standard 8Bitdo pad as functionality goes, and that’s maybe just because mine is possibly a bum unit that hedges a slight right press on down. Made doing downward stabs in Blasphemous a nightmare.
- Standard Xbox pad: Boo hiss. I dunno. It’s the standard, but it’s been outclassed - it’s laggy, it’s too fucking expensive, and you’re gonna cross the picket line buying one. Get a Chinese controller instead.
- Gamesir Super Nova: Didn’t care for this one. It feels fine but it was really wonky getting it to work the way I wanted to. It also has rubber grips, so, y’know. Enjoy it while it lasts, before it gets sticky…
- The real cheap ass Gamesir controllers I got when I saw they were like $10 on Amazon from a Wario64 thing: Gamesir makes some good controllers, but they also make some dogshit ones. These cheap ones, no good.
Okay that’s it. No more controllers. No more.
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I can controller post too. I got a wireless 8bitdo Ultimate 2C after using a wired for a few months. The wireless seems to have a shitty dpad. I was playing Blazing Chrome and Sonic and kept feeling like I had false positives. Which sucks!
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these days I mostly just use an arcade stick for anything that I’d want to play with a dpad, both because it’s usually better and because playing anything reasonably intense on a pad really kills my hands almost regardless of the ergonomics of the controller. the only problem is a lot of modern 2d games are designed around using shoulder buttons extensively, which can sometimes be a little awkward on a stick depending on the functionality. not a problem for older games
speaking of arcade sticks I am currently using a seimitsu sels-70x lever with a bullet top, and it is quite nice. a little too expensive, but I was being stupid and wanted to try one. mine squeaks, which sucks, but I play with headphones on because my speakers are basically dead so it doesn’t really matter. other than that, no complaints. it’s a low deadzone stick with a reasonably light throw, adjustable height, and a sort of hybrid square gate. it is extremely good for shmups, I couldn’t think of anything I’d want improved for that use case. I also like it for everything else I’ve used it for, which the notable exception of fighting games where it is touch and go. for fighters the low deadzone combined with a spring that feels only marginally heavier than a JLF/JLX means it’s pretty easy to accidentally jump during a lot of motions. the gate feels quite nice for fighters though, and your ability to walk and block is better than a JLF. my stick has the ability to disable up on the lever and rebind it to a button, which I think is ideal for this lever and is probably something I’ll start messing with (I traditionally play fighting games with a leverless these days, but I am finding over time that my hands are getting worse and the precision that a leverless affords you has the downside of also, you know, requiring that precision. often times I simply can’t do it, I’ll mess up DPs all the time no matter which of the 37 shortcuts I use. leverless also sucks for grapplers). not that I can play fighting games anymore anyway
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I got that Gulikit TT Pro and I’m surprised how comfortable it is despite being the same size as the KK3 or 4 I used before and thought was uncomfortably big. The PS style dual analog layout does a lot towards making it feel comfortable and the new Saturn dpad/disc dpad is really nice and accurate.
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