Helping A Fellow Gamer (Analog Joysticks and PS2)

[KevSteele]

I got a very interesting RetroBlast email yesterday from Steven Dent, who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. He's trying to find a way to use larger analog joysticks with his PS-2 game system, and...well, he can explain it better than I:

My name is Steven Dent. My disability is Cerebral Palsy. I am in a wheelchair and my hands don't work. I enjoy playing video games. I send a e-mail to Sony and I ask them, can they make me a big analog joystick controller but I got the run around. They said, they can't help me. I can't use the small analog controller that comes with the video game system because I can't hit those little buttons with my wrist and elbows. I use a digital Shadowblade joystick controller for Playstation 2 but 90% of video games are analog now. It is very frustrating for me. Can you put 2 analog sticks in the Shadowblade joystick controller? Can you help me? Please!! You are my last hope.

I'm going to try and do some research on this, but I don't have any answers yet. If you have any suggestions or solutions, please let me know and I'll forward our findings to Steven. Don't let a fellow gamer down!

Kevin

[ani]

This seems to be a standing problem in the community that alot of people have intrest in, myself included. I am all for doing everything I can to help, especially to help someone disabled be able to play. I hope others will also possibly reappropriate some of their time to help out.

First we need to figure out our objectives, and may need to get Steven involved in this.
so here we go...

1) 1 stick or 2 (per individual)?
2) Should they be sticks that are digital 8 ways that simply interface with the analog inputs, but that are not actually analog?
3) Should they be 49 ways that are analog direction wise, but not pressure wise? Or can we pull off analog pressure and direction?

my opinions-
1) 2 sticks per player, l and r analog
2) I think we can pull off analog
3) We can probably get directional with the 49 ways and some modifications to the newly released 49 way usb interfaces, as the xbox is simply a usb port with a different size plug.

To do pressure wise we could allways try a modification like someelse suggested of physically attaching the joysticks to the controllers hidden in the control panel. This would work as long as the right size hole was drilled in the mdf to restrict the movement before the sticks were snapped off in the pcb. Would still have problems with vertical movement on the sticks though.

That's all I got for now, anyone else have any thoughts?

[KevSteele]

I'm definitely thinking he needs dual analog joysticks large enough to control with his elbows (talk about a dedicated gamer!)

We need either a product that will do this, or some way to modify an existing product, or some way to create one from arcade parts.

Any Dr. Frankensteins in the house?

Kevin

[NoBonus]

Could you just hack apart the current analog mushroom sticks on the PSX controller, modify the interface between the pots and the joystick to fit into a PC flightstick of some sort, then hack them into a couple of pc flight sticks?  This would give you a much larger analog control joystick using the same pots. My only concern would be breaking the pots (since there are tiny comparitively) and the amount of movement needed to move the controls seeing as they were once very short and only needed to move a little ways, but now they are very tall and would need to be moved quite a bit to get the same effect.  You would have to find a way to mount it, but that should not be too terribly hard.  

Additionally, you could do the PC flightstick hack like we just discussed and instead of putting the flight stick back on, you could replace it with some sort of other joystick without buttons; this may require some grinding, filing, and drilling, but should not be too hard conceptually once you get the flight stick apart. This way you end up using your choice of sticks, the pots and wiring from the PSX controller, and the analog interface from the PC flightstick.

Any thoughts on that approach?

NoBonus

[NoBonus]

Could you just hack apart the current analog mushroom sticks on the PSX controller, modify the interface between the pots and the joystick to fit into a PC flightstick of some sort, then hack them into a couple of pc flight sticks?  This would give you a much larger analog control joystick using the same pots. My only concern would be breaking the pots (since there are tiny comparitively) and the amount of movement needed to move the controls seeing as they were once very short and only needed to move a little ways, but now they are very tall and would need to be moved quite a bit to get the same effect.  You would have to find a way to mount it, but that should not be too terribly hard.  

Additionally, you could do the PC flightstick hack like we just discussed and instead of putting the flight stick back on, you could replace it with some sort of other joystick without buttons; this may require some grinding, filing, and drilling, but should not be too hard conceptually once you get the flight stick apart. This way you end up using your choice of sticks, the pots and wiring from the PSX controller, and the analog interface from the PC flightstick.

Any thoughts on that approach?

NoBonus

If you need more info on this idea, let me know, I am working on something sort of similar at home.

NoBonus

[Brax]

Wouldn't Dave's new "Analog Kontrol Interface" work?

http://dave.bit2000.com/aki.html

If it won't why not recruit him to make modifications to it so it WILL work?

[ani]

So does he just need normal joystick tops, or does he need a big full size flight stick type thing to knock around with his elbos?

[KevSteele]

So does he just need normal joystick tops, or does he need a big full size flight stick type thing to knock around with his elbos?

He just can't use his elbows with the tiny "knub" analog controls on a PS2 controller, and the controller he uses doesn't have analog controls on it.

He needs large-size controls that could be moved by wrists or elbows.

Kevin

[dema]

Wouldn't Dave's new "Analog Kontrol Interface" work?

http://dave.bit2000.com/aki.html

If it won't why not recruit him to make modifications to it so it WILL work?

The only problem is that this encoder is designed for the PC, not for the Playstation 2. I asked Dave if this would work for an XBox or PS2 if you take the USB connection end and attach it to a USB to PS2 or a USB to XBox adaptor, but he wasn't sure if it would work or not. I was told the issue would be getting the drivers to be recognized on the consoles.

[NoBonus]

Wouldn't Dave's new "Analog Kontrol Interface" work?

http://dave.bit2000.com/aki.html

If it won't why not recruit him to make modifications to it so it WILL work?

The only problem is that this encoder is designed for the PC, not for the Playstation 2. I asked Dave if this would work for an XBox or PS2 if you take the USB connection end and attach it to a USB to PS2 or a USB to XBox adaptor, but he wasn't sure if it would work or not. I was told the issue would be getting the drivers to be recognized on the consoles.

I still feel a manual hack using the larger PC Flightstick analog setup and PSX pots would do the trick.


NoBonus
NoBonus

[Knoxximus]

It's really too bad that the PS2 isn't backwards compatible with the PS1 Dual Analog Fight Stick (why this is, I don't know considering everything else is compatible).  I'd be willing to part with mine if someone could figure out how to get the PS2 to recognize it.....it's big as hell and already has the PS/PS2 connector on it....maybe a re-wire hack?

[Dave_K.]

He just can't use his elbows with the tiny "knub" analog controls on a PS2 controller, and the controller he uses doesn't have analog controls on it.

He needs large-size controls that could be moved by wrists or elbows.

Kevin

What you want is this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=21193&item=8106283154&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Large dual analog joysticks for playstation (with large buttons!). I have one of these and there are some analog games its not compatible with, but others it works fine.  You could always hack a dual shock 2 inside of it (someone has done that before on this board).

[Stingray]

I have one of those too. Why on Earth it should not work with PS2 is a complete mystery to me. One of these days I'm going to hack it to a PS2 controller.

-S

[KevSteele]

What you want is this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=21193&item=8106283154&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Large dual analog joysticks for playstation (with large buttons!). I have one of these and there are some analog games its not compatible with, but others it works fine.  You could always hack a dual shock 2 inside of it (someone has done that before on this board).

That looks perfect! I'll forward him the URL and see what he thinks. Thanks for the URL!

Kevin

[spidermonkey]

I do believe that stick was made by Act Labs for Sony so maybe they could be contacted for info on how to hack it for PS-2. I'm gonna go check out their site now and see what I can find.

[Knoxximus]

Yeah, it really sucks that it won't plug and play.

[KevSteele]

I can't believe I missed an obvious choice: the X-Arcade!

From their FAQ:

http://www.x-arcade.com/service/xfaq.shtml#14

Big buttons, big joysticks, PS2 compatability, and the ability to switch between simulated analog and digital input.

I think this may be the ticket.

Kevin

[Knoxximus]

Eureka!  Damn, talk about right under your nose!  He could get the 2-player model and go to town.  Is it X-Arcade or Slik Stik that makes the dual stick 1-player model?

[KevSteele]

SlikStik makes the dual-stick single player unit (the Solitaire, which I will be reviewing sometime soon!), but I don't think they have PS2 adapters.

Kevin

[KevSteele]

Just thought I'd post a follow-up: Steven replied to me recently, and he found a joystick that might suit his special needs:

Hi, I just found TOPMAX DOMINATOR 2 ARCADE STICK/PS2AC.  It says ?analog/digital?
We will see if it is really analog.  You can check it out at:
http://www.gameexpress.com/product_detail.cfm?UPC=675333118779


Hopefully he's got something that works for him.