#game controllers

One thing I really gotta hand to Sony, though?

They nailed the controller.

Check it.

This is a SNES controller:

Four face buttons, two let's call them system buttons, directional inputs, two shoulder buttons.

This is a Gravis PC GamePad (no way!)

Looks an awful lot like a SNES controller with the system and shoulder buttons removed, and very popular in its time.

This is a Philips CD-I controller:

That's literally a Gravis PC GamePad with a different plastic color are you fucking kidding me?!

This is a PlayStation 1 controller:

Take a SNES controller, double up the shoulder buttons and add some grips. That's it, you're done.

This is a Gravis PC GamePad Pro:

That's the forbidden love child of a SNES and a PlayStation. That looks like it could be a fucking Nintendo Play Station controller. Enough said.

So clearly, Nintendo had it Right with their SNES controller, when all Sony could do to improve on it was adding grips and more shoulder buttons.

And then the Sony devs got a horrible idea.

This... is the PlayStation 1 Dual Shock controller.

Dual for the twin analog sticks, shock for the force feedback motors hidden in the grips.

From then on, all PlayStation controllers would follow the same basic design (except for Move), and after an initial hiccup with the Duke, the Xbox series' controllers would take after it as well. Some would have the directional pad and left stick switch places but these controllers are all basically interchangeable!

Here's a Logitech F310 (I use one myself), Xbox Series X, Switch Pro, and PS5 controller.

In low visibility conditions, you wouldn't be able to tell these fuckers apart!

So basically?

The SNES controller was the beginning of the end.

The PS1 controller was the end of the end.

Got a Japanese Sega Saturn--to use its BIOS to run a golf game, pretty much. ; D

The CD-ROM drive on this one is busted, but that's okay, because it came with a SAROO, an open source optical drive emulator that plugs into the Saturn's RAM Expansion slot and runs games off a microSD card. But I got it for its other trick, which is that once you've pasted a certain 13 lines of assembly code into its config file, the next time you run a game from the SAROO, it'll dump the Saturn's BIOS to the microSD card.

Before SAROO, to get a Saturn BIOS "legally"--and emulators require them to run games, even the games you might legally rip yourself from your own game discs ; )--you'd have had to disassemble the Saturn, desolder its BIOS chip, and dump it with an EPROM programmer. 'p'

The Saturn & SAROO also came with this wireless pad--some SAROO builder appears to be a Megaten fan. ; )

terry bogard w/ red, wolves, video games, & kidcore for @elwoowoopostings!

Are you satisfied with your gender? Well, it is what it is. with games & technology for anon