N64 rumble packs

[rumpelstiltzkin]

Hi does anyone no what the best rumble packs are for the n64 as i have gone off the official ones as there a bit weak.  Are the joytech ones anygood?       -thanks

[ChadTower]

IIRC they're all pretty much the same.

[horseboy]

I never could tell any difference.

[ChadTower]

Some had "rumble control"... a three setting switch that was supposed to make for more or less vibration.  All it really ever did was eat batteries faster.  Some also had built in memory for gamesaves.

[horseboy]

Some also had built in memory for gamesaves.

I believe all of those were third party as well. Those were what made me vow never to get a third party memory card ever again.

[ChadTower]

The variants were definitely third party.  I never did have any trouble with them but I tended to make fairly light use of them.

[hypernova]

Hi does anyone no what the best rumble packs are for the n64 as i have gone off the official ones as there a bit weak.  Are the joytech ones anygood?       -thanks

How much rumble did you need?  Too much will end up being a nuisance, possibly affecting your gameplay as well.

It's not because your Nintendo brands are old (used very frequently,) is it? 

[crashwg]

Why don't you use some BYO ingenuity and hack in a more powerful motor and larger weight? 

[Howard_Casto]

Probably one of my first hardware hacks (I was around 14 at the time) was to hack the n64 rumble pack.  There were a ton of good rumble vests/seats ect out at the time (like there is now) but they all used the audio out of the game to rumble, which as you know is lame and totally sucks (again just like they do now).  All I did was pop open the rumble pack, take the ground and power leading to the motor, splice in a rca port, drill a hole in the back of the unit, and hot-glue the rca port to the shell so that the port stuck out of the hole.  Then you take your rca cables that came with the vest/seat ect.. plug them into the pack.  Since you didn't disconnect the rumble motor it still works and the vest amps up the signal anyway, so the fact that some of the current is used to power the orignal motor won't matter.  You could put in a toggle switch though I suppose.

[ChadTower]

Maybe it's just me but I don't really get the appeal of rumble... for the most part I ignore it or turn if off if I can.

[horseboy]

It was very helpful on some games, such as Zelda.

[ChadTower]

Hrm, I only played through OOT and don't remember rumble being necessary.  That was a long time ago, though.

[rumpelstiltzkin]

Yeah i dont always like rumble myself for certain games but some games were born to have rumble like exite bike 64 or wave race 64 were you just wana feel the bike or waves. I wouldnt have minded having the shindou wave race but i wouldnt care about the shindou mario as i like a platformer with out rumble.

[ChadTower]

That's the thing for me... I would like rumble if it weren't a tiny vibration in your hand.  That's not where you actually FEEL a rumble from a bike, though, so it isn't all that appealing to me as a substitute.

[rumpelstiltzkin]

True but i think a tiny/preferibly big rumble in the palm of your hand is appropriate for a game like excitebike 64. I think if i was to strap on an all over body suit it would have to be some virtual reality  motocross machine. But i do know what you mean rumble just isn't intirely neccesary for games as half the time you dont notice it or turn it off but its good to have the option.

[ChadTower]

Maybe a rumble chair would be better.  Slap a transducer under your ass.   

[horseboy]

Hrm, I only played through OOT and don't remember rumble being necessary.  That was a long time ago, though.

Not necessary, but helpful. For example, when you would get close to a Skultula, it would rumble. There were other little helpful rumbles like that.

[ChadTower]

Ah, good use.  I don't usually plug a rumble pack into my N64 controllers.  I did play through the game with a gold controller if it helps.   

[Tahnok]

One of the first games I was ever blown away by rumble on was Gran Turismo 2, for the PS1. With the dual shock controller (which, I have to admit, is pretty well done), it allowed you to actually drive better by being able to feel the road under you. Small details like being able to feel when you hit the apex of the turn, knowing when you're on the ground in a rally, etc, helped greatly.

[KenToad]

Yeah, I actually loved rumble for unrealistically simulated gun vibration in Goldeneye, Turok, etc.  But the best dynamic use of rumble was definitely Gran Turismo.  Also, it was really amazing to see how Hideo Kojima used it so ingeniously in Metal Gear Solid.  I actually bought a Playstation just because those two games were not really well serviced by emulated rumble a few years ago, although now my Super Joybox Adapter functions pretty well with the latest PS emulators.  Also, rumble was one of my deciding factors in purchasing an adaptoid a while back.   

[boykster]

Maybe a rumble chair would be better.  Slap a transducer under your ass.   

I have transducers in the chairs in my theater (tied into the LFE output), where I play Gears of War....nothing like actually FEELING the ground shake as the train at Tyro station roars by or a near-miss boomshot shell hits the wall next to you....

 

[ChadTower]

I'm working on the plans for my basement now... seating with transducers will be part of the plan.

[boykster]

I'm working on the plans for my basement now... seating with transducers will be part of the plan.

It is SOOO worth it.  I even have the cheapie ones like these:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=299-028

and they're the shiznit.  I can't imagine what makes this one:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-864

worth 10x the price. 

The most important thing is to buy an inexpensive, but DEDICATED amplifier for your transducers, and NOT an old receiver/amp combo.  I have 4 transducers, 1 per seat, powered by a 2 channel amplifier -> 2 transducers per channel.  I bought a cheap Sampson Servo professional amp off of ebay for $100 and threw it in my rack to drive these.  Best investment ever.  I previously was powering them with an old spare receiver/amp I had and they were weak.  The dedicated (albeit inexpensive) amp made all the difference.

The BEST part of having transducers is when the family is sleeping, you can turn off the sub but still "feel" the LFE when watching movies / playing games.....

 

[horseboy]

Do you just have them on for gaming? Or movie watching as well?

[boykster]

Do you just have them on for gaming? Or movie watching as well?

They're great for movies....thats actually why I got them, the gaming experience is just icing on the cake.

[horseboy]

What kind of chairs/seats do you have?

[ChadTower]

I have been mostly planning on getting a regular woodframed couch and attaching them to the frame inside. 

Good advice on the dedicated transducer amp, I'll definitely add that to the concept list.

[boykster]

What kind of chairs/seats do you have?

I have "Hollywood" seating, sold by Klaussner furniture.  I don't recall if they are the manufacturer as well, as I initially found them at Costco Home, but they didnt' have the color options I wanted:

http://www.klaussner.com/products/productDetails.php?cid=1&scid=5&pid=87&move=next

(you'll need to re-navigate to the page as the image isn't loading right.  Select "Living Room" -> 'Reclining Sofas & Sectionals" -> "Sect - Hollywood" to see their picture).  They are reclining (manual, not power) theater style seats, that are modular and you can essentially build any configuration you want.  If I were to do it again, and had the $$ to do it, I'd get power Berkline's....but these are very nice.

[boykster]

I have been mostly planning on getting a regular woodframed couch and attaching them to the frame inside. 

Good advice on the dedicated transducer amp, I'll definitely add that to the concept list.

That will work just fine too.  No need for fancy theater seating, just a good comfy place to enjoy the show/game.  If it isn't a "dedicated" room, I actually would recommend AGAINST dedicated theater seating, as it just doesn't "fit" in a multi-purpose room IMHO.

Oh and one tip, for adding transducers to any seating.  If there isn't a suitable place already on the bottom of the couch/chair, add a mounting plate made from 1/2" plywood that spans a section of the frame.  I had to add these to install the transducers in the seats I posted above.  As long as the plate is rigidly attached to the frame of the couch/chair, you'll be in business!

[horseboy]

I dig those seats boykster. They look mighty comfy. Did you build that back row platform yourself?

[boykster]

They are very comfy, so comfy that my wife regularly dozes off mid-movie/tv show....

I built everything in the room...the only work I didn't do in the room was laying the carpet, I hired a crew to do that.  The riser is built exactly like a stick framed wall, only out of 2x8's and left lying down.  I then ran power for the step lighting, and capped it with 5/8" CDX with a layer of roofing felt between the plywood and the framing.  Before closing it up, I stuffed all the open cavities with as much fiberglass batt insulation as I could to reduce the "hollow" sound it would have otherwise, and to reduce resonance from the transducers.  The floor underneath is concrete, and the riser is rigidly attached (construction adhesive and concrete anchors) to give it an addtional solid feel.

The stage upfront (not seen in any of these pics) I went one step further and filled the open cavities with dried sand.  The subwoofer sits on top of this surface, so I wanted to minimize ANY resonance or cavities that would cause additional "boominess"

 

[ChadTower]

Cool.  I'm not going dedicated... but highly geared for that type of viewing.  I don't have the space to dedicate completely.  I am still trying to decide projector or LCD now that LCDs are coming down so fast.

[boykster]

Cool.  I'm not going dedicated... but highly geared for that type of viewing.  I don't have the space to dedicate completely.  I am still trying to decide projector or LCD now that LCDs are coming down so fast.

Yeah, that's a tough choice, especially if you don't have a <ton> of space.  I'm helping a friend with a similar decision.  Hes at the beginning stages of layout/equipment ideas and we've been running some numbers for screen size / viewing distance, etc.

Flat panel prices are falling fast, but so are projector prices.  Its a tough call.

[btp2k2]

Also, it was really amazing to see how Hideo Kojima used it so ingeniously in Metal Gear Solid. 

Oh man!!!! That just totally brought back memories....When Psycho Mantis moved your controller across the table by making it vibrate....I was way to stoned when I played that, and I vividly remember freaking out cause I thought the game was actually reading my mind. Ah.....the good old days.

[ChadTower]

Flat panel prices are falling fast, but so are projector prices.  Its a tough call.

My primary deciding factor may be the amount of "soft space" a projector takes up... as in the space you can't put anything in or walk through without blocking the projection.  I still have to decide exactly where the image would be, where the seating would be, and how far from that spot the projector would have to be to get the max image size.  Plus, there is a pole somewhat limiting the options.

[tommy]

I have noticed that Nintendo made rumble paks were stronger than anyother made pak. Using Nintendo made products always work better on Nintendo made products.

[btp2k2]

I used to work for the Big N in Redmond, WA and they are all into the "Licensed products only" thing...I never understood it much until I started troubleshooting consumers systems and lo and behold....9 times outta 10 it was the 3rd party controller or mem card, etc that was causing the problem.

[KenToad]

Isn't that also because they don't really fully support all 3rd party developers, just the ones they like?  Quality control is one thing, but Nintendo has a tendency to get all Macintosh when it comes to manufacturing peripherals and the rights to do that. 

[horseboy]

Third party memory cards and such are just as unreliable on other systems as well.