8-Bit Mice?

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

I'm wondering if any of these allowed for an optional mouse controller:

 

Colecovision

Sega Master System

NES

 

If they didn't have any official or third party mice of their own, I'm wondering wether at least C64/Amiga/Atari ST mice could possibly work on the Coleco or the SMS?

[Rockin' Kat]

Well, you can use a Commodore 64 mouse on anything that can use an Atari 2600 joystick.

 

The 1530 model emulates a joystick as it is.. you move left and it sends the left button signal to the system.. same for other directions...

 

The 1531 model is a real mouse, but can be put into joystick emulation mode by holding down one of the buttons when you turn the system on... I can't remember which one though.. but there's only two of them... just try each one and see which one it is........... though I think it was the left button.

 

Won't be variable speed though.

[JB]

Hi there!

 

I'm wondering if any of these allowed for an optional mouse controller:

 

Colecovision

Sega Master System

NES

 

If they didn't have any official or third party mice of their own, I'm wondering wether at least C64/Amiga/Atari ST mice could possibly work on the Coleco or the SMS?

The CV and SMS both had trackballs, which are just upside-down mice. So I think it's safe to say they allowed for one.

 

I'd bet the NES could do it too, though no mouse was created and nothing was coded to use one.

...

Anyone know if the Arkanoid controller is a pot or optical encoder?

[Rockin' Kat]

The CV and SMS both had trackballs, which are just upside-down mice. So I think it's safe to say they allowed for one.

 

I did not know the SMS had a trackball.. know offhand of any games which supported it?

 

...oh there was a mouse released for the Genesis... but that's not 8-bit..

[Cybergoth]

Anyone know if the Arkanoid controller is a pot or optical encoder?

 

I was wondering about that too

 

...oh there was a mouse released for the Genesis... but that's not 8-bit..

 

The SNES had one as well, IIRC for Sim City.

[vdub_bobby]

Anyone know if the Arkanoid controller is a pot or optical encoder?

 

I was wondering about that too

 

According to this thread it is a pot:

Then it's either the pot itself or the A/D converter chip. Get out an ohmmeter and check to make sure it's connected properly.

[JB]

The CV and SMS both had trackballs, which are just upside-down mice. So I think it's safe to say they allowed for one.

 

I did not know the SMS had a trackball.. know offhand of any games which supported it?

It was called the "Sports Pad."

 

I know there was a football game that used it, but I'm not sure what else did.

[Cybergoth]

Anyone know if the Arkanoid controller is a pot or optical encoder?

 

I was wondering about that too

 

According to this thread it is a pot:

Then it's either the pot itself or the A/D converter chip. Get out an ohmmeter and check to make sure it's connected properly.

 

Hm... so I understand it that the A/D converter chip is inside the Vaus controller? Inside the NES would be a better deal I guess, no?

 

The CV and SMS both had trackballs, which are just upside-down mice. So I think it's safe to say they allowed for one.

 

I did not know the SMS had a trackball.. know offhand of any games which supported it?

It was called the "Sports Pad."

 

I know there was a football game that used it, but I'm not sure what else did.

 

Would be interesting to see then, if it was possible to hack Populous to make use of it

[JB]

Anyone know if the Arkanoid controller is a pot or optical encoder?

 

I was wondering about that too

 

According to this thread it is a pot:

Then it's either the pot itself or the A/D converter chip. Get out an ohmmeter and check to make sure it's connected properly.

 

Hm... so I understand it that the A/D converter chip is inside the Vaus controller? Inside the NES would be a better deal I guess, no?

A/D converter HAS to be in the paddle. NES only accepts serial data as input(though it can accept a wide variety of serial data).

 

That actually has advantages, in that the signal is less prone to interference and the system doesn't need to be calibrated(on the 5200, every system out there has drifted out of calibration , so no 2 systems will read a controller exactly the same). You will always see a value of 0-255 that corresponds roughly to where the actual pot is set, until the pot starts to fail.

 

The DISadvantages, of course, are that the controller needs power and has more components. But most systems offer power on the controller port anyways, and ADCs got cheap. Hence why modern analog controllers are constructed that way. And that it's midlyl less friendly to home-made controllers(you suddenly need a serial encoder instead of just a lot of wires and a plug)

[Cybergoth]

And that it's midlyl less friendly to home-made controllers(you suddenly need a serial encoder instead of just a lot of wires and a plug)

 

Learning such things was kinda the intention of my question originally. So for a mouse-game, the Coleco and SMS would be much better suited targets it seems.