Playmessiah Controllers Obtained

***Cosmonautical*** · 01-07-2011, 11:11 PM

Just received late christmas presents from family overseas:

http://gearmedia.ign.com/gear/image/...216843-000.jpg

My evaluation: Controls well, works fine, d-pad is very sensitive. The touch-buttons that replace start and select are actually an improvement, because the old soft start and select model always ended up failing after prolonged use. I prefer the Y-B angle of SNES controllers to the B-A slant that the GBA has been fitted with, but it's not something that bothers me on these as the buttons are still close enough together to function effectively.

I should mention that there were only 5000 of the lunchbox sets produced, and this happens to be #314.

Also, I finally got my hands on a copy of:

U-Force Power Games

If you're not familiar with the U-Force, it's another gesture-based controller similar in premise to the Power Glove. What isn't similar to the Power Glove is that it actually works. People diss it, mostly because they don't have any skill with it as a controller type. I don't see it as always being an equal or superior control method for things like platform games, but it's adaptable and it can't be accused of functioning poorly. I've used it to beat Super Mario Bros 1, myself. With the flight stick, it's better than a D-Pad for Rad Racer. You can use it to actually control Punch-Out! by punching. Or slapping, if that's funnier.

U-Force Power games is a great reproduction game for collection, because it was never released. It's not a great game for playing, though, as it was never released with good reason. The games available here have so little substance, it pales in comparison to even the myriad Power Pad games. Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, plenty of regular well-made games control much better than this made-for-the-controller cart.

Still, I'm very amused to attempt to play 1 on 1 basketball with SD, neither of us being quite certain how we're supposed to control the game. Failing is somehow just as fun as succeeding, with that one.

***Cosmonautical*** · 01-08-2011, 11:37 PM

SD just got us another, better-conditioned SNES and a boxed w/manual copy of Sim City for SNES. I'm pretty pleased.

Mysteriously, one of the controllers for the SNES comes from software house Hudson Soft. Being that I believe they had a hand in the Multi-tap adaptor, I'm not surprised, but it's pretty odd to see hardware made by a company I still think of as a software establishment.

Finally have a second AC adaptor now, too. I'd been sharing one between the NES and SNES, since the PAL version of the SNES has a jack the same size as the NES.

Bomby · 01-08-2011, 11:43 PM

The ultimate question is... do you have a multitap and Super Bomberman 2? That is the **** right there.

***Cosmonautical*** · 01-08-2011, 11:48 PM

Yeah, but that's with Cravdraa at the moment. With the moving into different places all, the SNES and N64 stayed with him, while I got the family NES. Although, I do have 4 pc controllers with full access to emulation on my projector screen. That means I get to play the additional 3 Super Bomberman games that were never ported stateside, plus the PC-Engine versions, which were first party. I do prefer the co-op mode in the first Bomberman greatly to the second version, though. Story mode doesn't cut it in SBMan2.

***Marilink*** · 01-09-2011, 03:39 PM

I'd love to play those unported Super Bombermans...that'd be great.

I should maybe look into these controllers. I only have 1 more working SNES controller and I'm afraid it may be on its way out...

***Cosmonautical*** · 01-09-2011, 11:17 PM

Ah, unfortunately the SNES controllers are hard to get hold of. I'd keep my eye on Amazon/ebay, though.

**Cravdraa** · 01-10-2011, 03:14 AM

Hey ML, you should try cleaning your old controllers if you still have them.
AI and I were hard on ours. Hours of playing. They got thrown. They got stepped on. The neighborhood kids would come over and and play with us regularly. I only had one working original left and two crappy knockoffs for a time.

A while back I effectively taught myself how to clean the contacts and wow if it didn't work wonders. I now have 9 working SNES controllers, including my cherished turbo controllers that were the first to die. I made a guide for it a while back but it's pretty simple stuff. Just open them up and wipe off both the contacts on the buttons and the ones on the circuit board itself with a damp cleaning cloth. Then rub them with a clean pencil eraser. Works like a charm. If all else fails you can usually steal parts from one broken controller to fix another slightly less broken one.

Seriously, try this with old broken controllers. I have a number of them that didn't work at all before and now they work like new. None of them have started to regress yet either and it's been a while.

***Marilink*** · 01-10-2011, 12:56 PM

That...sounds like a really good idea. I hope I remember that sometime this summer when I'd have time/tools to do that.

Antisocial · 01-19-2011, 04:38 PM

Nice lunchbox, man.

What food do you plan to put in it?

***Cosmonautical*** · 01-19-2011, 11:54 PM

The inedible, plastic kind of course.

It goes well with my Metroid themed lunchbox which happens to contain (almost) all of my Metroid games.

01-07-2011, 11:11 PM	#1
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,156 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	Playmessiah Controllers Obtained Just received late christmas presents from family overseas: http://gearmedia.ign.com/gear/image/...216843-000.jpg My evaluation: Controls well, works fine, d-pad is very sensitive. The touch-buttons that replace start and select are actually an improvement, because the old soft start and select model always ended up failing after prolonged use. I prefer the Y-B angle of SNES controllers to the B-A slant that the GBA has been fitted with, but it's not something that bothers me on these as the buttons are still close enough together to function effectively. I should mention that there were only 5000 of the lunchbox sets produced, and this happens to be #314. Also, I finally got my hands on a copy of: U-Force Power Games If you're not familiar with the U-Force, it's another gesture-based controller similar in premise to the Power Glove. What isn't similar to the Power Glove is that it actually works. People diss it, mostly because they don't have any skill with it as a controller type. I don't see it as always being an equal or superior control method for things like platform games, but it's adaptable and it can't be accused of functioning poorly. I've used it to beat Super Mario Bros 1, myself. With the flight stick, it's better than a D-Pad for Rad Racer. You can use it to actually control Punch-Out! by punching. Or slapping, if that's funnier. U-Force Power games is a great reproduction game for collection, because it was never released. It's not a great game for playing, though, as it was never released with good reason. The games available here have so little substance, it pales in comparison to even the myriad Power Pad games. Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, plenty of regular well-made games control much better than this made-for-the-controller cart. Still, I'm very amused to attempt to play 1 on 1 basketball with SD, neither of us being quite certain how we're supposed to control the game. Failing is somehow just as fun as succeeding, with that one.

01-19-2011, 04:38 PM	#9
Antisocial Janitor Join Date: May 2000 Gender: Posts: 11,471 Thanks: 14 Thanked 1,296 Times in 536 Posts	AWESOME Nice lunchbox, man. What food do you plan to put in it?

01-08-2011, 11:37 PM	#2
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,156 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	SD just got us another, better-conditioned SNES and a boxed w/manual copy of Sim City for SNES. I'm pretty pleased. Mysteriously, one of the controllers for the SNES comes from software house Hudson Soft. Being that I believe they had a hand in the Multi-tap adaptor, I'm not surprised, but it's pretty odd to see hardware made by a company I still think of as a software establishment. Finally have a second AC adaptor now, too. I'd been sharing one between the NES and SNES, since the PAL version of the SNES has a jack the same size as the NES.

01-08-2011, 11:43 PM	#3
Bomby You just freaking blew Joe Biden's mind! Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: WHAT?house Gender: Posts: 19,491 Thanks: 513 Thanked 1,449 Times in 849 Posts Blog Entries: 5	The ultimate question is... do you have a multitap and Super Bomberman 2? That is the **** right there.

01-08-2011, 11:48 PM	#4
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,156 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	Yeah, but that's with Cravdraa at the moment. With the moving into different places all, the SNES and N64 stayed with him, while I got the family NES. Although, I do have 4 pc controllers with full access to emulation on my projector screen. That means I get to play the additional 3 Super Bomberman games that were never ported stateside, plus the PC-Engine versions, which were first party. I do prefer the co-op mode in the first Bomberman greatly to the second version, though. Story mode doesn't cut it in SBMan2.

01-09-2011, 03:39 PM	#5
*Marilink* Gotta catch 'em all! Supermod! Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Location, Location. Gender: Posts: 29,118 Thanks: 2,535 Thanked 1,823 Times in 1,008 Posts	I'd love to play those unported Super Bombermans...that'd be great. I should maybe look into these controllers. I only have 1 more working SNES controller and I'm afraid it may be on its way out...

01-09-2011, 11:17 PM	#6
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,156 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	Ah, unfortunately the SNES controllers are hard to get hold of. I'd keep my eye on Amazon/ebay, though.

01-10-2011, 03:14 AM	#7
Cravdraa VGF RPG Mod Join Date: May 2001 Location: It's Round on the sides and high in the middle. Gender: Posts: 8,470 Thanks: 171 Thanked 662 Times in 404 Posts	Hey ML, you should try cleaning your old controllers if you still have them. AI and I were hard on ours. Hours of playing. They got thrown. They got stepped on. The neighborhood kids would come over and and play with us regularly. I only had one working original left and two crappy knockoffs for a time. A while back I effectively taught myself how to clean the contacts and wow if it didn't work wonders. I now have 9 working SNES controllers, including my cherished turbo controllers that were the first to die. I made a guide for it a while back but it's pretty simple stuff. Just open them up and wipe off both the contacts on the buttons and the ones on the circuit board itself with a damp cleaning cloth. Then rub them with a clean pencil eraser. Works like a charm. If all else fails you can usually steal parts from one broken controller to fix another slightly less broken one. Seriously, try this with old broken controllers. I have a number of them that didn't work at all before and now they work like new. None of them have started to regress yet either and it's been a while.

01-10-2011, 12:56 PM	#8
*Marilink* Gotta catch 'em all! Supermod! Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Location, Location. Gender: Posts: 29,118 Thanks: 2,535 Thanked 1,823 Times in 1,008 Posts	That...sounds like a really good idea. I hope I remember that sometime this summer when I'd have time/tools to do that.

01-19-2011, 11:54 PM	#10
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,156 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	The inedible, plastic kind of course. It goes well with my Metroid themed lunchbox which happens to contain (almost) all of my Metroid games.