Pandora Analog Nubs

[ImmaculateChimp]

How many different directions can Pandora's analog nubs sense movement in? I was wondering because, to emulate things like Intellivision properly they would need to have 16 directions. Of course you can make do in most(if not all) Intellivision games with less, but for true accuracy it would need the full 16. I certainly can survive without finding out the answer, but I was just a bit curious so I thought I'd just go ahead and ask. Thank you in advance.
from: Paul

 

[zhasha]

All analog nubs are referred to by 2 axis controllers, so in essense, the resolution is so high you won't have any problem emulating anything. They can probably sense something like 256 pressure levels in 2 dimensions. ie. a f***ton of directions

 

[Vorporeal]

Analog nubs don't really sense movement in a "direction". They work by mapping the current position of the nub to a point in an xy-coordinate plane, where the origin, (0,0), is the default/home position, and the x- and y-axes go from -1 to 1 - left to right and bottom to top, respectively.

 

[lulzfish]

Look up "analog".
It's like the joydicks on a PS1 or PS2 or Gamecube or N64 or PS3 or Xbox or Xbox 360 controller, or like any other analog joystick.

If you own any of those, just go play with the controller for a bit.

 

[Nivek10]

Do we know if the analog nubs "slide" like the PSP one? Or actually pivot like xbox and playstations.

 

[BackAssward]

Do we know if the analog nubs "slide" like the PSP one? Or actually pivot like xbox and playstations.

Yes, we do know they slide. To pivot they would have to be elevated above the case for clearance, this would interfere with the lid closing. I can find the thread but it is quite a while ago it was said.

 

[God Ginrai]

Do we know if the analog nubs "slide" like the PSP one? Or actually pivot like xbox and playstations.

Here's a hint:

"nub"=slide
"stick"=pivot

EDIT: This is true for all analogs on gaming systems up to this point.

-God Ginrai

 

[VRAndy]

Look up "analog".
It's like the joydicks on a PS1 or PS2 or Gamecube or N64 or PS3 or Xbox or Xbox 360 controller, or like any other analog joystick.
If you own any of those, just go play with the controller for a bit.

Of course, "analog" sticks are not actually analog. Some of them (N64!) have really crumby digital resolution.

joydicks on a PS1

Heh, heh. You said "Joydicks"

 

[Consequence_9]

joydicks on a PS1

Heh, heh. You said "Joydicks"

lmfao, freudian slip?

 

[craigix]

Those nubs were an absolute nightmare to develop. Flat tiny nubs = very complex to get right.

 

[dflemstr]

Those nubs were an absolute nightmare to develop. Flat tiny nubs = very complex to get right.

...says the man who just was involved with the design and didn't actually sit in the factory creating those things

But yeah, I can imagine that they are pretty intricate.

 

[VRAndy]

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but why not use off-the-shelf nubs like these?

 

[emil10001]

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but why not use off-the-shelf nubs like these?

Yes, lots of discussion on this topic several months ago. There were a lot of people who hated PSP nubs and a few who didn't mind them. The nubs going on the pandora will have a greater travel than psp nubs do, which is what most people seemed to care about.

 

[Consequence_9]

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but why not use off-the-shelf nubs like these?

'cause those suck sooooo hard ;]


for real tho, those things are a joke; no travel, huge dead zone, inaccurate & hard to grip. I was sorely disappointed with the psp's nub [in case you hadn't noticed]

EDIT: ninja'd h34r:

 

[craigix]

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but why not use off-the-shelf nubs like these?

We dis try to buy some nubs off the shelf from two companies, both of which could not actually produce them when we wanted 8000.

Also, many of the 'replacement' psp nubs blatantly infringe Sonys nub copyrights etc.

 

[#1 GameMaster]

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but why not use off-the-shelf nubs like these?

I hate those nubs I have died a few times in a hard to get to spot in several games because they're to small and the grip on top doesn't work that great because they slip. So I glad that they are using the ones they are now.

Thank you craigx.

 

[fiori_musicali]

for real tho, those things are a joke; no travel, huge dead zone, inaccurate & hard to grip. I was sorely disappointed with the psp's nub [in case you hadn't noticed]

Speaking of deadzone, Gamecube controller had the most dreadful analog stick I've ever used. Push it half the travel and it's on 100%.

 

[craigix]

It is pretty hard to make analogue controls small, but a lot of tweaking has gone in to the Pandora ones, since the travel is small you just have to be gentle. The tweaking went on right up to the end of Nov.

 

[second exodous]

Do you own any kind of patent on these or do you think places like Sparkfun will sell them like they do the ones that work for PSP?

 

[craigix]

We will probably sell them on the website.