Main > Reviews
Super Ultra-Mega Massive 49-way Review online at Retroblast!
KenToad:
--- Quote from: 2600 on June 28, 2005, 05:05:04 pm ---KenToad,
I'm going to play devil's advocate. Please don't get me wrong as I think you did great job stepping up to the plate and reviewing the products, but I just want to add some constructive criticism so that your next review is even better.
Disclaimer: My wording and wordchoice is going to be bad only for affect as the article isn't as bad as I'm describing.
Keep the reviews coming.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, thanks a lot for the feedback, 2600, I would have been a little suspicious if not a single person offered up a little criticism. I also appreciate that you buffered it with praise. Also, thanks go to Markrvp for explaining a bit of the rationale for writing the review this way. Mark is right that I tried to make it clear that the quirks are in the joystick and the software, not in the hardware, which works as you would expect--basically as they are marketed.
--- Quote from: 2600 on June 28, 2005, 05:05:04 pm ---1. I think the descriptions could of been a little clearer and your thoughts more organized. More of a separation, between the products and a description of their use in theory. You describe some aspects well, but if you take Druin's board for example you hardly describe how it operates in theory or anywhere in the article. You go throught all the other parts in the intro and there is a picture of Druins board, but you don't talk about it.
--- End quote ---
To answer what you're referring to in number 1 of your points, yeah, I didn't really want to get into the technical business of the hardware. I tried to make it a review of how easily things could be setup by a lay-person and how well they would work. I think the how it works section is really best left to the people who made the products.
--- Quote from: 2600 on June 28, 2005, 05:05:04 pm ---2. 4-way description - You mentioned you could make Mario stop if you moved the joystick to the extreme diagonals, but here it's been alluded that in actual game play you wouldn't do that. You kinda left this open ended and it makes it seem a little negative for the GGG board. On one hand, you are playing PAC-MAN fine, but you run the extreme test in Donkey Kong, but don't actually say how Donkey Kong was in normal play.
--- End quote ---
What I tried to explain is what Mark was referring to. Gameplay in Donkey Kong will depend largely upon how the player approaches the joystick. I can't really say "normal" play since everyone I know plays really differently. One guy I know pushes my heavy standalone CP right off the table, while another guy acts like the sticks have got cooties. Probably neither one of those guys would be sensitive enough to notice that you can stop Mario on a ladder by finding the extreme diagonals.
--- Quote from: 2600 on June 28, 2005, 05:05:04 pm ---3. You start off talking about fighters. I don't play these games generally, but I thought oh cool an aspect I haven't heard anything about. But you don't describe gameplay in 8-way at all. And the fighter reference only comes up again a little bit in the conclusion. I think the gameplay section could of been greatly lengthened, that's why we are all here ;D
--- End quote ---
Other than inviting you over to play SFII with my joysticks , ;D I doubt I could explain it better than to say that I can do all the moves with ease. There are a million 8-way games and I haven't found one that didn't react wonderfully to this device. It's all a question of feel.
--- Quote from: 2600 on June 28, 2005, 05:05:04 pm ---4. I'm not sure how accurate some of your statements are "technically" especially when you are talking about analog modes, but this is pretty picky.
--- End quote ---
I did some research about the technical aspects, just because I was curious, but I didn't include it in the review. Check out u_rebel_scum's technical page on 49-ways that is linked to at the end of the Retroblast Review. Also, I reread all the postings about the GPWiz-49 and Randy didn't exactly tell anybody how the system technically works. There were several requests for info. that RandyT politely turned down. I would suggest sending PM'ing him if you want details of how the DRS Technology works.;)
Anyway, 2600, I love criticism and you've given me that. Thanks a lot for taking the time to read and digest the review so thoroughly.
Also, a big thanks again to Markrvp and the others who said they enjoyed the review.
Cheers,
KenToad
KenToad:
--- Quote from: shodokan123 on June 28, 2005, 06:21:51 pm ---can these be used with jamma?
--- End quote ---
I have zero experience with Jamma, but the GPWiz-49 is a USB device, so I doubt it. Anyone else?
Cheers,
KenToad
sc1103:
Great Review-I've been debating swappable panels or the 49-ways, and though I ended up selecting the panels, this review was of great help inmaking the decision. One minor nit-pick; however, in the review you state that the "the drawbacks of a having many different types of joysticks outweigh the drawbacks of playing games with non-original controls". Should the abillity to switch between multiple modes be considered a drawback? I see that as an advantage, not a drawback :P
Great review nevertheless!
Kremmit:
--- Quote from: KenToad on June 28, 2005, 07:35:05 pm ---
--- Quote from: shodokan123 on June 28, 2005, 06:21:51 pm ---can these be used with jamma?
--- End quote ---
I have zero experience with Jamma, but the GPWiz-49 is a USB device, so I doubt it. Anyone else?
Cheers,
KenToad
--- End quote ---
JAMMA + 49-way = No Way!
JAMMA is for regular digital (2, 4, and 8 way) joysticks only.
As for the review, I liked it, but would have liked to see at least a mention of the alternatives: the SJC 49-way controller interface, and the Williams 49-way joystick. Not necessarily a full-blown comparison, as this was obvioulsy an article about one specific setup- but a mention of the alternatives would be nice.
Brewser:
Fantastic article. I have been waiting for this.
I actually ordered the joysticks last weekend and just received shipping confirmation.
I have the SlikStik CO2 and it looks like I will have to drill bigger holes for the 49-way. I am not sure how I am going to do this. I don't have a drill press or a router and my board is already populated to even get a router in there. This is something I was unaware of when ordering the sticks.
Any thoughts to drilling bigger holes? I believe the holes are drilled 1 1/8" now.
Another questions is I have the IPac 4 now and ordered 2 max's. Would I replace the IPac 4 with the Wiz Max's or use both?
Thanks for the great article and any help to the above questions.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version