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[Prophet]

I agree about September. Good quality gaming controls are what REALLY set Pandora apart from every other small computing device IMO. So it's worth delaying it a bit to get that aspect right.

And I don't say that easily - I check this forum every day hoping to see Pandora released for purchase.

 

[Shiny]

It's a shame that they were discontinued and I'm definitely not feeling it for this possible replacement; too little travel :/ I'd be more than willing to wait a little while for a better solution. Great controls is part of what sets Pandora apart from the crowd.

 

[CronoTriggerfan]

Damn, this is tough. Ultimately, though, I'd have to say I'm more concerned about a speedy release than the nubs. I mean, for menu navigation we have a touch screen, for retro games you can use the d-pad, what exactly is all that limiting about these smaller nubs? Maybe sneaking will be tougher in MGS, or pulling off stealth moves in Tenchu, but other than that, I don't think it's as limiting as you guys are making it out to be. Sure, the other nubs would've been a lot better, but a September delay seems like overkill for such a small issue. And as I stated before, the longer development continues, the more problems will be unearthed, and the farther back the release will be pushed. I'm not saying Pandora is in danger of becoming vaporware or anything, but all these delays don't bode well.

That being said, I'm clearly in the minority with this one, it would seem. :lol: Does anyone else agree with me? No? Damn.

I think, if the Pandora is going to be pushed back, the preorder should be pushed up. I think that having the 3,000 set and letting eager consumers know that they've got their unit secured would quell a lot of tension, as well as make development more of an adventure and less of a whine-fest from people chomping at the bit to secure a Pandora. What say you guys?

 

[shmuck]

Is there a reason that the PSP nubs couldn't just be used as a drop-in replacement? There's plenty of availability for those, and the travel is pretty good. Is it just because we'd be losing the stick-click?

I've never thought that the stick-click worked all that well anyway - it's hard to click the stick while keeping the nub from moving laterally at all.

 

[Snu]

urg, as much as i hate the thought of waiting longer (and not having pandora for my summer vacation! doh), that smaller nub downright sucks... might as well put in a couple more dpads :\
i vote for delay... and hope that maybe just maybe an alternative will come up sooner.

 

[darkbiship]

@ChronoTFan
I agree fully with you, seriously stick travel isnt to serious of an issue. I want it out sooner than latter. andora1:

 

[CronoTriggerfan]

Is there a reason that the PSP nubs couldn't just be used as a drop-in replacement? There's plenty of availability for those, and the travel is pretty good. Is it just because we'd be losing the stick-click?

That actually wouldn't be bad at all; replacement caps would be readily available, and if someone didn't like the size or feel of whatever one Craig and co. decide to put on it, it's fully user-swappable to 3rd party caps. Only problem is, I can hear the Microsoft/Nintendo fanboys crying now... :lol:

In all honesty, guys, what is going to kill you to use a different nub? Is there some killer-app I've missed out on that requires a 2mm travel or something? Besides, the Pandora can always be upgraded/updated in later versions to sport bigger analog nubs, and seeing as time doesn't seem to be an issue to some people concerned with nub "quality", they could always wait. It's a win-win situation.

Or perhaps even a win-win-win situation...

 

[MiL0]

how about concentrating on the bluetooth drivers for PS3 joypads? This way, the Mk1 can be released on time with the possibility of using a PS3 joypad if you need to play some analogue controllable games.

Which reminds me, apart from PS1 games, what do we need the analogue nubs for? N64 emulation at a playable speed isn't a certainty and we have the touchscreen for any homebrew that needs it. I honestly can't think of any practical reason why I would ever use the analogue nubs.

But I understand that other people need them so if there's a delay, so be it =]

 

[waffles]

I like the psp nub idea, its a good piece of kit, available, and cheap.
i say we use it until a better solution arises, if its likely to result in a long delay.

 

[Prophet]

Some of you simply want it ASAP, and don't care about it being done right all around. But Pandora began for that reason - to do right what other companies (i.e. Gamepark) were doing wrong.

I struggled with Zodiac's horrid analog, cried trying to play fighting games on the miserable PSP controls, am disgusted by my DS Lite's inability to hit diagonals...

Controls matter. More than people may realize.

EDIT: Also, the last thing we need is for different production runs of Pandora having significantly different components. That was no fun with the BLU and BLU+ for example.

 

[CronoTriggerfan]

Some of you simply want it ASAP, and don't care about it being done right all around. But Pandora began for that reason - to do right what other companies (i.e. Gamepark) were doing wrong.

I struggled with Zodiac's horrid analog, cried trying to play fighting games on the miserable PSP controls, am disgusted by my DS Lite's inability to hit diagonals...

Controls matter. More than people may realize.

Of course they do. But Pandora has far more versatile control options than any of those consoles could ever dream of already. And no one has yet to point out to me exactly what games or applications they would use a larger analog nub for.

 

[Gilrad]

I vote for a delay. So much in fact, if you were going to release the first models with these tiny nubs, I would wait until the next model would be released, with proper nubs.

 

[Prophet]

Of course they do. But Pandora has far more versatile control options than any of those consoles could ever dream of already. And no one has yet to point out to me exactly what games or applications they would use a larger analog nub for.

You just want your Pandora sooner than later. I do too. But I want it done right the first time. I don't want to see multiple Pandora revisions sporting various types of analogs, because that will only complicate things on the software side. Devices like this ideally should sport fairly uniform components.

And I'm not going to justify my opinion, although I can. I'm sure anyone here can think of reasons why good quality analogs might matter if they try.

 

[CronoTriggerfan]

And I'm not going to justify my opinion, although I can. I'm sure anyone here can think of reasons why good quality analogs might matter if they try.

Please do, then. I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything, I legitimately want to know what the point of waiting would be. If I could better understand your point of view I might agree with you more.

 

[Prophet]

I'll answer by asking the opposite question - what do you get by using poorer quality analogs?

The only answer is a faster release schedule. Maybe you get it a month sooner.

And that's not a good enough reason to limit a device's potential or compromise its quality in the long run.

 

[bigtruck]

CronoTriggerfan - While I'm torn on the issue, I'm leaning towards agreeing with you. Whether or not this affects anyone a whole lot depends on what they're planning on doing with the Pandora. Some games/emus probably don't need all that fine control. But to play devil's advocate, FPSs such as Quake3 would probably benefit from more precise aiming, as well as one of the main games I'm hoping gets ported, Freespace 2. I'm sure there are other games where the difference would be noticeable. I doubt they would be impossible to play with the inferior analogs, but there would be a difference.

 

[gruso]

Of course they do. But Pandora has far more versatile control options than any of those consoles could ever dream of already. And no one has yet to point out to me exactly what games or applications they would use a larger analog nub for.
Driving games. Specifically, Gran Turismo. It's only one example, but I'm really looking forward to it - and bad analogue controls will diminish it greatly.

I'm feeling a bit gutted about the possiblity of waiting longer, but if it means getting the right controls then I'll wait.

 

[waffles]

I think this is being vastly overly dramatic.
If its delayed, we loose a month or two and get some better development - a meh scenario.
on the other hand, i think there is no way the dev team would ship a analog stick they didn't feel "worked" the way it should. Also i thought the problem with psp controls wasn't that the stick sucked, but that there was two of them.
Theres too many variables to really have a reason for or against it, the new stick could suck, be excellent, or this could delay the pandora till December, we don't really know.
Personally if its only a month or two setback and there are no decent alternatives, i say wait.
If we do wait, what stick will we use?
IMHO, as long it is comparable to a PSP nub, its fine with me.

 

[gaterooze]

Mouse emulation on Amiga/ST/DOSbox. Yes, touchscreen can be used for this, but in games like Vroom and F1GP analogue would be superior.

 

[Esn]

After seeing that video, I vote for a delay. 1mm really does look too small; what's the point of an analogue nub if you can barely control the strength of the direction?

1 month does not sound so bad (though since that's the "minimum", it'll probably be a little longer).