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What's up with the angling?
kahlid74:
This is really interesting. I never thought about this. I'm not super young but my arcade days were mostly 88 and on and I don't really remember this with 4 player games. Every cab I build has the joystick angled because it's easy for me to take Lusid's layout and angle it on the top of the control panel, tape down and drill. My first cab from 2003 is still played fairly often at a friends house (we played four player during Super Bowl) and no one had any issues with the angled joysticks. Now that I think about it, it does take a few moments to get accustomed to the up direction towards the monitor not being 100% up but then you adjust and don't think about it again.
Very interesting.
Gray_Area:
--- Quote from: pinballjim on February 16, 2012, 12:38:23 pm ---Angled control panels mean you don't have to touch the guy standing next to you. Works for me.
--- End quote ---
I see you're studiously trying to avoid your true nature.
Yeah, I've noticed this, too. Looks aesthetically interesting. Looks functionally problematic. But then, I think I remember some kid back in the day playing on Atari or something with the stick diagonal-facing, and he rocked. Reminds me of them teaching us to write with our papers at an angle and all that in school. I still do that sometimes, before I notice the crook in my damn neck.
Howard_Casto:
You know I always told people back in the day that VF was garbage and the controls handled like a..... well garbage truck. Now I have proof. :D
Weird angles and designs are always caused by one thing when you look into it... the franken-panel. People are trying to stuff 20 pounds of crap in a 10 pound sack. The angled design is their way to try to stuff more uselessness on. The trend to do two rows of four buttons, simply because consoles do so, is eating up a lot of room... even on modest panels.
I would also like to point out that on those rare arcade games where the joysticks WERE angled, directional input wasn't curcial to the game. I know a few 4-player cabinets did it, but they housed isometric beat-em-ups. The only thing you use the joystick for in those games is to very slowly adjust your walking direction... it isn't like street fighter where a mis-aligned joystick would ruin your game.
Xiaou2:
--- Quote ---You know I always told people back in the day that VF was garbage and the controls handled like a..... well garbage truck. Now I have proof. Cheesy
--- End quote ---
It wasnt just the angles of the sticks. The game used Happ Ultimates... which didnt work well for very long due to the fast wear of the spacers. Of course, there were some other 3d fighters and 3d games, which also stunk around that time. Quite simply put.. .the technology for 3d used in a fighting game, just wasnt ready for prime time.
--- Quote ---Weird angles and designs are always caused by one thing when you look into it... the franken-panel. People are trying to stuff 20 pounds of crap in a 10 pound sack.
--- End quote ---
Let the Trolling begin ::) Thats why, on the spacious CP of Virtua Fighters, the sticks were angled? Ohh, wait.. Contradiction. There are plenty of large and multi-controller control panels that have correctly angled sticks, that play and feel just fine.
--- Quote --- The angled design is their way to try to stuff more uselessness on.
--- End quote ---
Ahh, Uselessness? I never realized that having a game control the way it was intended... was Useless. Tempest with joystick? It will play like BUTT... butt hey, we dont want the control panel to look cluttered or too 'ugly', so that we upset someone... right?! ::)
--- Quote ---The trend to do two rows of four buttons, simply because consoles do so, is eating up a lot of room... even on modest panels.
--- End quote ---
Hmm, maybe The[Y], use 8 buttons, to play emulated console games, which use more than 6 buttons? Maybe they utilize the buttons in different ways, to be more authentic to the original layouts... such as NeoGeo's 4-in-a-row.. yet still able to use the SF style layout as well? Whats it matter to you that they burn an extra 4" of CP space to make THEMSELVES HAPPY, playing THEIR CONTROL PANELS?
Stop being so black and white.
Theres a big difference between not knowing something, and making a well informed and decided choice, based on finances, space, and personal preferences.
The usual decision to angle sticks is simply because many builders have never seen the underside of real arcade machines. And or they think they can improve upon things... but just dont have the experience.
To the others... Yes, you could train yourself to operate a stick at an angle (but others who are not trained will not be happy). However, it almost never fails... that you end up making at least one mistake every now and then, due to the stresses in quick action games. You may also say that your fine with a gamepad at an angle.. so why not a joystick? The thing is... is that your grip on the controller is very tactile. You can feel where things are... and thus know instantly which direction is which based on that feel. With a joystick in a large CP however, theres nothing tactile to feel. The CP edge isnt really enough. You Might be able to semi-solve this with some vertical linear bumps. But even that may not be quite enough. Its far better to just keep the sticks parallel to the monitor.
amendonz:
er no, not gamepad I was talking about playing with a arcade stick on console.