Game Controllers For The Feet? 17
Cmdr_Pooky asks: "I like to play a lot of online games and like to use such things like Roger Wilco and play a LOT of Half-life. Is there a device that acts like a switch that can be activated with the feet? I would love to be able to touch a button with my left foot for talking to my clan mates and hold down another button to prime grenades. Anyone know of such a device?" As if game controllers didn't have enough buttons already, this might actually be something that may help some gamers (and get some of the annoying buttons off of the hand controllers!). Are there any such devices for PCs or consoles?
Re:"Activator" ring - D'oh (Score:1)
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"Activator" ring - D'oh (Score:1)
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power pad (Score:1)
the fatal flaw was discovered by these same fat kids, when faced with the possibility they would have to excercise to beat a video game. they discovered that slapping the power pad with their hands produced the same result as having to run and jump on the pad.
Practice: 1 Theory: 0
Floor Pedals (Score:1)
anacron
Possibility? (Score:1)
Re:Nintendo (Score:1)
Yes, NES had a peripheral like this called the "power pad". A friend of mine had one, but I was a po white child living in a trailer at the time. GameFAQs [gamefaqs.com] is ordinarily the place to look for this info. However, there appears to only be a brief mention (as in, name only) of the Power Pad in ANY of the FAQs there. I did manage to find it at nesfan.com [nesfan.com]:
There are pads much like it for the Dreamcast, which are used to play games like Dance Dance Revolution Remix 2 [ign.com].
The "fight ring" device you are thinking of is the "Activator" for the Sega Genesis. According to the Genesis FAQ [gamefaqs.com] by Barry Cantin):
There's also mention of it in this other, smaller FAQ [gamefaqs.com] by Chris Foulger:
I seem to recall some other FAQ or website claiming that it pretty much sucked, as IR is not an ideal application. A friend of mine used to have a IR controller for the original NES which opened much like a laptop, and also had a T-bar adapter which you could plug into a socket in the unit. The socket only served to keep the T-bar in the right location, however. There were also handles you could snap onto the T-bar which had a button on the top; The button would move a flap on the bottom of each handle which had a white surface on it (reflected the IR more strongly) and a black surface (still reflected IR, but not so much.) I can't remember what it was called, because it sucked.
Re:"Activator" ring - D'oh (Score:1)
Yes, it was called the "power glove". Apparently someone at Nintendo has a complex about powerlessness. Anyway, we revisit the peripherals [nesfan.com] page at nesfan.com [nesfan.com] to find this information:
It however was not forgotten at all. There is a device called the PGSI [uiuc.edu] which is a preconstructed serial interface for the power glove. It also seems to support the Sega LCD shutter goggles for 3D, but I don't know much about that. As an aside, if anyone has a set of the Sega Master System shutter goggles, and is willing to part with them, I need a pair. I have the interface controller but not the goggles.
See also:
Re:Nintendo (Score:1)
As for wiring it up, that's really easy, because it's already been done. Check out the SNESpad [emulationworld.com] website, which has all the instructions one needs to wire up a nes or snes or almost any other type of console controller for use as a regular joystick, as well as drivers, I believe they mention a linux driver as well. The connection is extremely simple to do.
Using something like this, it should not be too difficult to very cheaply allow yourself a few extra buttons you can use with your feet.
Build one! (Score:1)
This is real simple stuff beginners can get started on.
Good start for technical info on joystick ports. [www.hut.fi]
Kris.
Re:power pad (Score:1)
I suppose... (Score:1)
Keyboards (Score:1)
Re:Possibility? (Score:1)
-- Eat your greens or I'll hit you!
Nintendo (Score:2)
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Foot Controllers (Score:2)
There is a company, Bilbo Innvoations that makes foot controllers similar to those used for an organ or sewing machine. They mainly are used as meta keys (shift, alt, control), but I am sure they could be mapped to other things inside of a game. Links and pictures here [worklink.net]. If you are looking for a directional syste, then Infogrips No-Hands Mouse may be a better choice. Info and pics here [infogrip.com]. I am not sure how this would work in a game though. I know that the Hacker's Dictionary mentions that the original 'space cadet' keyboard at MIT was supposed to have foot pedals, but in the end it was opted out. I think that was a bad decision, made prior to the GUI revolution, and that the mouse was a poor choice. Picking your hand up from the keyboard is a waste of time. Future interface devices need to include a mixture of hand, feet, maybe some sort of head mounted directional stuff (like the things in airplanes that monitor where your are looking for targetting) and perhaps a little bit of voice recognition.
Been there, done that! (Score:2)
A while back, I hacked a PC keyboard up so I could plug hand buzzers and other controls into it. Idea being, you mash a button and it registers a keystroke.
On my site [wrongcrowd.com] I cover, with photos, how to dissect a keyboard for this purpose. The photos are crummy, sorry, this was years ago before I had a nicer digital camera.
Once you have wired up the keyboard, get an industrial foot pedal [wrongcrowd.com] or three and stomp away! You can get foot pedals at Grainger.com. I bought one and used it for a home-made Time Crisis reload pedal.
infogrip (Score:3)