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Does Groovy Game Gear have something like U-360?

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jukingeo:

Hello All,

I been planning a bartop cabinet for a while now, but one of the reasons I held off was because I was looking for a very small computer.  Now with today's ITX boards, I believe a project is more than ever within my grasp.

Now the question does come to pass that I will not have enough real estate on my control panel to facilitate 2 separate joysticks (4-8 way), so I am going to need a single joystick to do both.  There is just no way around it.

Upon my earlier readings here I did come across a joystick called the U-360 and it supposedly is programmable to mimic various joysticks electronically.  Thus I have a few questions about that.

First off, can it REALLY mimic a 4 way without the use of restrictors? Next, how easy is it to program?  Can the program change with the selected game?

That is just for starters, but the big question I have is if Groovy Game Gear has a similar product.  Reason being is that the U-360 comes from overseas and it is already $60.  By the time I get it, it probably will be close to $100.

That's all for now!

Thanx,
Geo

bkenobi:


--- Quote from: jukingeo on February 06, 2011, 10:22:21 am ---First off, can it REALLY mimic a 4 way without the use of restrictors?

--- End quote ---
Yes and no.  The stick is analog, so depending on where the stick is pointed, the PC can decide what to do.  If you have the stick in a diagonal position and the program is in 4-way mode, it won't send an input to MAME (or whatever emulator you happen to be running).  It does not have a physical restrictor, so it won't feel like a 4-way, but it should act like one otherwise.

Paul Olson:

Ultimarc's shipping is cheap and fast, so I wouldn't worry about that. I recently bought an AVGA from him, and I think it cost $11 to ship, and it arrived in Nevada from England in 2 days.

The U-360 is an analog stick, so when it is programmed for 4-way, only the inputs in the 4 directions are used. It will work well as a 4-way, but since it is not physically restricted, it will not feel the same as a real 4-way stick.
That is about all I know about them as I haven't used one. If they were available when I built my panel, I may have used those, but I went with multiple controls since there really wasn't an easier option at the time.

Search for U-360 here, there is plenty to read on the subject. It seems to be a really popular item.

Hoopz:


--- Quote from: jukingeo on February 06, 2011, 10:22:21 am ---Reason being is that the U-360 comes from overseas and it is already $60.  By the time I get it, it probably will be close to $100.

--- End quote ---
::)

Do the research before making up numbers.  Andy ships faster than any other vendor and you'll get it extremely quickly.  You may also chose to order from Divemaster127 who carries Ultimarc's complete line.  His thread is in B/S/T.

jukingeo:


--- Quote from: bkenobi on February 06, 2011, 10:33:24 am --- The stick is analog, so depending on where the stick is pointed, the PC can decide what to do.  If you have the stick in a diagonal position and the program is in 4-way mode, it won't send an input to MAME (or whatever emulator you happen to be running).  It does not have a physical restrictor, so it won't feel like a 4-way, but it should act like one otherwise.

--- End quote ---

How much control over the program do you have?  Could you program it that if there is a slight arc off center of the left/right up/down positions that it would still register?  The reason being that if you don't have a physical restrictor the joystick will not automatically "guide" you to the correct up/down - left/right.   I do play various games in the early 80's series (Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Dig Dug, etc).  As far as I know with a standard 8-way used in a 4-way game, there will be problems if you hit a diagonal.

But my head did perk up when I started to read about the U-360 in which you can program it to NOT it two outputs on a diagonal, and avoid quite a few of the problems associated with using an 8 way joystick on a 4 way game.


--- Quote from: Paul Olson on February 06, 2011, 11:01:08 am ---Ultimarc's shipping is cheap and fast, so I wouldn't worry about that. I recently bought an AVGA from him, and I think it cost $11 to ship, and it arrived in Nevada from England in 2 days.Search for U-360 here, there is plenty to read on the subject. It seems to be a really popular item.

--- End quote ---

Oh!  That is good news.  I thought it would cost MUCH more to ship.  Yes, I have been doing some reading on the U-360.  I know it is expensive, but given my unique situation with a single player (or multi-player alternating) cabinet.  It might come in handy in respect to allowing me to play a bunch of the 8 way games.  Otherwise the choice would be either 8 way or 4 way games and get the appropriate stick.  Of course that would limit the amount of games I could put on the machine.


--- Quote ---The U-360 is an analog stick, so when it is programmed for 4-way, only the inputs in the 4 directions are used. It will work well as a 4-way, but since it is not physically restricted, it will not feel the same as a real 4-way stick.
That is about all I know about them as I haven't used one. If they were available when I built my panel, I may have used those, but I went with multiple controls since there really wasn't an easier option at the time.
--- End quote ---

I was thinking about going that route too when I had a larger cabinet in my possession, but I was forced to sell my house and now I am shoehorning myself into smaller quarters.  So I have to scale down to something that could sit on a counter or mount into a wall.   So large Frankenpanels and/or multi-player controls will be out this time.


--- Quote ---Search for U-360 here, there is plenty to read on the subject. It seems to be a really popular item.

--- End quote ---

Edit:  I went straight to the horse's mouth and took a visit to the Ultimarc website.

Oh!  The U-360 also has a built in 8 button interface as well?  Hmmm, that DOES make the deal sweeter as I might not have to buy a separate keyboard controller interface.

NAWICE!  You can also program diagonal games in too such as Q-Bert.  Hmmm this IS becoming a sweet deal.   

Ok, will do, thanx!

Geo

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