UltraStik360 on Playstation 3?

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

I see that Andy now has a PS3 adapter for the IPAC (which is great, since I've already got an IPAC4) but it only emulates digital switches.

I've never used a u360 before, but from the screenshots I see it identifies itself as a 2-axis, 8-button joystick in Windows.  (I've heard the PS3 is pretty open about what it accepts as a controller, as long as it's over USB...)

Would it be possible to assign a custom map to a u360 that would emulate PS3 analog-axis and/or digital pad plus button inputs?  (I may be misunderstanding the mapping system here...)

... or would the u360 require a firmware upgrade for the PS3 to even acknowledge it as a controller?  Has anyone ever just plugged one in and tried it?

I realize you'd still have to connect the u360 to a PC to change the maps/configuration, if necessary, but this functionality would definitely be great to have.  I'd probably use it to play fighters, which generally don't use analog input, but to have even 1 analog stick available (or two, in the case of two u360s on the same control panel maybe???) would open up the control panel for a lot of other PS3 games.

Am I making sense here?  Is all of this just a pipe dream?

[kronic24601]

I don't have a PS3, but I do have the u360's ... I highly doubt you could get them to work due to the required windows based software.

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

I'm not so sure about that.  From the Ultimarc website for the u360:

#  Input mode: Allows connection of up to 8 buttons per joystick.
# Output mode: Allows joystick to be connected to an interface such as the I-PAC, to replace a standard switch-type joystick.
# Sends analog data via USB to the PC either alongside the above modes, or when the auxiliary interface is not used.

This, coupled with the fact that he has already figured out how to interface with the PS3 in one form - with the IPAC to PS3 console adapter - you gotta figure it is at least feasible. Would he *implement it* in the u360's code, for one random guy asking for it?  That is the question.  (Perhaps if it meant the sale of a couple of u360s?) 

C'mon Andy, set me straight.

[kronic24601]

Well the main reasoning behind my thought (which is just that ... a thought), is that it's very different than a IPAC. If you did hook the u360 up to an ipac, in my opinion, it would sort of defeat the purposes of buying that stick. It's an analog joy, which custom software that can manage the particular mapping for different games. It's pretty complicated stuff and I think it would be hard to emulate the FULL range of the u360 on a PS3

But someone can feel free to set me straight.

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

That's not what I was saying.  I don't want to hook up the u360 to an IPAC just to hook it up to the PS3 -- you're right, that defeats the purpose of using the u360(! I'll use the cheapo Happ Comp sticks I already have if I buy the IPAC adapter, or hack a Sixaxis instead.)

I was trying to point out that the u360s send analog (and therefore, likely any and all) data over USB regardless of Input/Output mode.  It's not too far fetched to imagine it sending analog data to the PS3, especially considering he already has a product that interfaces the PS3's basic control scheme (the IPAC adapter.)  In a perfect world, I'd like to use the u360's flexibility to emulate both a digital and an analog stick on the PS3.

That said, I agree that the real problem lies in the way the u360 measures and interprets its' analog data (magnetic) vs. the way the PS3 controllers do (pots.)  You'd have to translate that data into values the PS3 would expect.  It's not impossible, I just want to know if it's something Andy would possibly spend time on.  As powerful as the u360s seem to be, it seems like it could be a firmware upgrade solution.

Yes, I will likely end up hacking a Sixaxis... 

[kronic24601]

Ok, just playing devils advocate here. Suppose that you could get the PS3 to register the analog signal, and you had a working analog joystick ... well in my opinion, that is STILL a waist of the u360. I mean, there is this whole other component to the u360 where you can manually switch between analog and different misc restricted values using software. It is that software that I highly doubt will ever made comparable with the PS3... is it possible  ... but I'd imagine even if it was Andy would need a pretty decent number of people who would use/want it to make it worth his time. (all speculation here).

Are you trying to use this for the PS3 AND for a PC ... or just the PS3?

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Are you trying to use this for the PS3 AND for a PC ... or just the PS3?

Ah. I gotcha now ... yes, it is for both.  I thought that was implied from the original post.  Yes, the whole point of using the 360s is their configurability.  It would probably help if I mentioned I intend to move my PS3 into the same cab with my PC (where, as I did mention, I already have an IPAC) ...

As I understand it, the software to configure, create and switch maps is in Windows, but the maps themselves are saved in memory in the u360.  Is that not how it works?  If the u360 doesn't have firmware on-board, then this whole conversation is moot.

Sorry for the confusion! 

[kronic24601]

ahh ... I see, well that makes more sense for your situation ... 1 stick to rule them all.

Yes, the firmware is applied to the stick ... so If I set it to analog it stays analog till I change it. Now other programs such as LEDBlinky can change it upon launch of a certain game in MAME, so there would be other complications in the crossover between MAME and the PS3 (ie, what if you just played Q-Bert on the PC, then went to play the PS3 ... would Q-Bert still be saved in the controller or would it re-set to analog?)

Another thing you may want to consider, I have seen it somewhere on these posts, but I cannot remember where. Someone took the u360 and attached a standard 4 micro switches (plus the actuator above the magnet) to the u360. They did it in a way that preserved the full usability of the u360, but you could also have a standard 8 way stick if you wired up the micros. This may be a solution for you on the PS3 (obviously not analog ... but might work depending on the games you are playing).

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

It's funny, because the majority of the games I play on the PS3 (fighters) don't utilize the analog -- but yes if I could have "one stick to rule them all" that would be incredible!

Sadly, I think I'm going to end up doing this the other way around: use an AXISdapter for the PS3 digital inputs, de-solder the thumbsticks from the Sixaxis, extend the thumbsticks' wiring, mount the thumbsticks in my Control Panel -- and hook the Frankensteined thing up to the PC via USB.

And/Or maybe I could find some way to Rube Goldberg the pots from the Sixaxis to a spare joystick with no microswitches... Hmm...