720 controls design - wouldn't this be better??

[Ummon]

This is extremely crude, but should suffice. In descending order: ball, stick, race, encoder shaft.

Speculation: if the ball were two pieces, the top part being 'free', and the cross-section of the ball being parallel to the race, it would allow a 'flat' movement of the hand, and the force required to turn the assembly would be a natural 'resistance'.

Then again, it may bind, and one could simply connect a crank instead of a stick shaft.

[Xiaou2]

 What you have drawn is a crank.

 First off, there is no way you would have enough strength to maintain that
handle without it being tied into the main shaft.  Someone could easily snap it
off by putting enough pressure on it.

 2nd... 

 The Reason why they probably didnt go with a Crank... is because you can get
your fingers, clothing..etc.. caught in the thing.   You can see at that your drawing
could pinch at the centerpoint, just above the control panel.   Where as the originals
pivot has been moved out the the edge... making it much harder to blend some kids
fingers up.

 The ball probably didnt roll for a few reasons.  One such as being that eventually,
it would have worn and flew off.  Next is that the angle wouldnt be correct, so again,
the pinching effect would be in order from the needed shaft bend. And finally, with
a loose ball, the player may lose control of the thing too easily.  Thus slipping up
when trying to do a move, or when trying to catch the spinning shaft to stop it.

 A bend in a shaft also weakens it.  Thus making a player mass easier to bend it
if he so desired to do so.

 

[SavannahLion]

What's to stop MAMEDev from defining raw input, allowing us to leverage that raw input and then let people like Randy develop the hardware to go with it? Isn't that exactly what 255 USB class is specifically for? For situations just like this.

255 USB class?  I'll have to look that up.  But...

255 or FFh from what I understand is a sort of catchall for USB devices that don't fall under the normal device class framework. It specifies that vendor drivers are required.

I think there is a unique position that MAME enjoys. There are hardware developers who are probably more than willing to create new USB hardware for the gaming community but they're burdened by the limitations imposed by the MAME developers. If MAMEDev and the hardware developers work together to define a new interface to handle game input from the likes of the 720 controller and some standard set of drivers to go along (no need to worry about Linux, with enough care and an open standard, Linux will most certainly follow suit) then they'll not only capture the rare old input but ensure that future input methods will be captured as well. Might actually solve the gun input problems in one fell swoop. Will definitely capture the motion/position sensing cabinets in arcades now. 

[Ummon]

 What you have drawn is a crank.

It is a diagonal crank. I don't see the rest you're talking about, though. Make it a separate piece that screws into, is screw-fastened onto, or is welded onto the hub of the race. And it'd be covered by a special dust washer.

But by 'crank', I meant something at a ninety degree angle. As I said, something analogous to the handle and wheel-spoke on a manual drill or hand mixer. Again, a dust washer would cover it.

But if you're really worried about 'child-safe' stuff............have spinner with a large-ass top (say four inch diameter) that has a little handle (could be spinning, even) near the edge of the plane. Like those early manual super-soaker water guns that you cranked. I remember seeing some kind of game back then having something like this.

Yeah, this last would be the way coolest.