Playstation mouse (PS1) question

[Serious]

I would like to use a USB trackball on PS1 games that support the Playstation Mouse (especially Atari Anniversary).

 

I'm wondering if anyone knows if there is any type of adapter that would work for this?

 

There seem to be adapters out there that are designed to allow the use of USB mouse and keyboard on FPS for the PS2, but since those games were likely not designed for the Playstation Mouse, I am doubtful that I'd get the same kind of accuracy and responsiveness on games designed for the Playstation Mouse, but perhaps I am wrong?

 

 

 

[Rex Dart]

I seriously doubt this will work at all with actual hardware.

 

Why not try an emulator?

Edited April 15, 2014 by Rex Dart

[Atariboy]

Why not just buy the Nyko Playstation track ball? Works well in the track ball/mouse compatible classic compilations like Atari Anniversary. Not arcade quality, but far more satisfactory than a gamepad.

 

 

There seem to be adapters out there that are designed to allow the use of USB mouse and keyboard on FPS for the PS2

The few games that did this like Half-Life support USB mouse and keyboards directly. There aren't any adapters, you just plug them into the PS2's two USB ports.

 

Edit: I guess you're talking about 3rd party devices meant to allow such control in a game that only supports the gamepad. I rather doubt something that only provides okay control at best in a FPS, which is what they're built for, would translate very well to a completely different type of game like Missile Command.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Atariboy

[Serious]

I seriously doubt this will work at all with actual hardware.

Why not try an emulator?

 

I already have a MAME cabinet with a trackball, but I also own alot of arcade classics discs for the PSX. The various arcade sticks available for that platform are great for most of those games, but given that many Atari games used spinners and trackballs, and the Atari collection for the PSX (as well as Tempest X3) apparently have Playstation Mouse support, I'd like to find a way to use a trackball (and possibly a USB spinner) to get more accurate control.

 

 

Why not just buy the Nyko Playstation track ball? Works well in the track ball/mouse compatible classic compilations like Atari Anniversary. Not arcade quality, but far more satisfactory than a gamepad.

 

Cool. I wasn't familiar with this device. I'll look for one and will give it a try!

 

Edit: I guess you're talking about 3rd party devices meant to allow such control in a game that only supports the gamepad. I rather doubt something that only provides okay control at best in a FPS, which is what they're built for, would translate very well to a completely different type of game like Missile Command.

 

Nah, I wouldn't expect good results there, either. I'm just looking for a solution for Atari Anniversary Redux and Tempest X3 that would be more true to the arcade experience while leveraging the built-in mouse support of these games.

 

I wonder how a steering wheel would work for Tempest X3?

[Atariboy]

Playstation steering wheels aren't seen as a mouse.

 

Furthermore, they're not free spinning like the Atari 2600's driving controller, a wheel on an overhead arcade racer like Super Sprint, or rotary arcade controls such as in Tempest are. They're going to be about 180 degrees from lock to lock so even if you could control Tempest X3 with it, you wouldn't want to.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Atariboy

[Rex Dart]

I already have a MAME cabinet with a trackball, but I also own alot of arcade classics discs for the PSX. The various arcade sticks available for that platform are great for most of those games, but given that many Atari games used spinners and trackballs, and the Atari collection for the PSX (as well as Tempest X3) apparently have Playstation Mouse support, I'd like to find a way to use a trackball (and possibly a USB spinner) to get more accurate control.

 

 

 

I wonder how a steering wheel would work for Tempest X3?

 

 

Maybe I wasn't clear. Why not try using your PC trackball with a PS1 emulator on your PC? That would theoretically allow you to use your trackball with the PS1 versions of these games, like you were wanting to do.

 

 

 

And... terrible. I've tried playing Tempest with both a NeGcon and an UltraRacer, and it's no good. The game isn't designed with them in mind (though they are supported), and only responds to a small section of the wheel's entire range of movement. You wind up having to tweak the wheel just a tiny bit left or right of center, and it just doesn't work very well, at least not for Tempest.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Rex Dart

[Serious]

Playstation steering wheels aren't seen as a mouse.

 

They're going to be about 180 degrees from lock to lock so even if you could control Tempest X3 with it, you wouldn't want to.

 

 

I was worried that would be the case.

 

 

Maybe I wasn't clear. Why not try using your PC trackball with a PS1 emulator on your PC? That would theoretically allow you to use your trackball with the PS1 versions of these games, like you were wanting to do.

 

Primarily because I'm exploring alternatives to PC-based emulators for playing classic arcade games, so emulating the Playstation wouldn't achieve what I'm trying to do.

There are people in the competitive gaming community who regard MAME as unsuitable for competition, but sanction Wii Virtual Console (since it is not easily manipulated). The Wii Virtual Console doesn't have very many arcade titles, though, so I'm looking at the PS1/PS2.

 

And... terrible. I've tried playing Tempest with both a NeGcon and an UltraRacer, and it's no good. The game isn't designed with them in mind (though they are supported), and only responds to a small section of the wheel's entire range of movement. You wind up having to tweak the wheel just a tiny bit left or right of center, and it just doesn't work very well, at least not for Tempest.

 

Thanks very much for the insight. I'll try using a trackball for Tempest instead. Unless I can find a way to connect a USB spinner to the console, this may be the best option.

 

 

[Serious]

Playstation steering wheels aren't seen as a mouse.

 

Furthermore, they're not free spinning like the Atari 2600's driving controller, a wheel on an overhead arcade racer like Super Sprint, or rotary arcade controls such as in Tempest are. They're going to be about 180 degrees from lock to lock so even if you could control Tempest X3 with it, you wouldn't want to.

 

I found a controller that provides a 360 degree wheel.

 

I just tested it out with Tempest on Atari Anniversary Redux (PS1), and its not bad.

 

The controller is called the "Innovation Jolt Pad". Here is a photo:

 

 

The controller has multiple modes:

 

Mode 1: JogCon (red LED) "standard joypad without any function on steering wheel"

Mode 2: JogCom (green LED) "R4 joypad with force feedback function on steering wheel"

Mode 3: Analog (green LED) "normal joypad with normal steering wheel function"

Mode 4: Analog (red LED) "normal joypad with force feedback function on steering wheel"

Mode 5: Analog (yellow LED) "only as a rotary steering wheel with force feedback"

 

I am getting ok results with it on Tempest. What I have found to work best is to set the game's analog sensitivity to 1 and to put the controller into mode 5. This seems to provide the most accurate control.

 

However, it does not work like a spinner/knob would, or how I suspect the mouse would work. The amount you turn the knob is the speed at which you rotate in one of two directions. So I can't say it is giving me the kind of precision control I'm looking for.

 

I think I'm going to keep looking for a Nyko Track Ball.