6 replies to this topic

[keilbaca]

Topic says it all.

Pac-Man and such are unplayable IMO because its so hard to hit true down, true left, etc.

I know arcade sticks and the early namco sticks have a true arcade like faceplate, but by how the new stick presses to make the connections, the conventional faceplate won't work.

Any ideas?

[onmode-ky]

keilbaca, on Wed Dec 1, 2010 2:36 PM, said:

Topic says it all.

Pac-Man and such are unplayable IMO because its so hard to hit true down, true left, etc.

I know arcade sticks and the early namco sticks have a true arcade like faceplate, but by how the new stick presses to make the connections, the conventional faceplate won't work.

Any ideas?

The 12-in-1 ("Retro Arcade featuring Pac-Man," AKA "Namco 5," released late 2008) is already a 4-way stick. The only 8-way stick Namco TV Games were the assorted Ms. Pac-Man ("Namco 2") models. Everything in the Namco series since 2006 has been 4-way only. Try to move diagonally in either Xevious or Bosconian on the 12-in-1, and you'll find you can't do it. If you're having control issues in Pac-Man on the 12-in-1, it's not because the stick is 8-way.

onmode-ky

[keilbaca]

onmode-ky, on Wed Dec 1, 2010 9:30 PM, said:

keilbaca, on Wed Dec 1, 2010 2:36 PM, said:

Topic says it all.

Pac-Man and such are unplayable IMO because its so hard to hit true down, true left, etc.

I know arcade sticks and the early namco sticks have a true arcade like faceplate, but by how the new stick presses to make the connections, the conventional faceplate won't work.

Any ideas?

The 12-in-1 ("Retro Arcade featuring Pac-Man," AKA "Namco 5," released late 2008) is already a 4-way stick. The only 8-way stick Namco TV Games were the assorted Ms. Pac-Man ("Namco 2") models. Everything in the Namco series since 2006 has been 4-way only. Try to move diagonally in either Xevious or Bosconian on the 12-in-1, and you'll find you can't do it. If you're having control issues in Pac-Man on the 12-in-1, it's not because the stick is 8-way.

onmode-ky

Really? Mine's an 8 way. I opened it up and there is a twist that you can adjust the directions (I think), but there's just nothing there.

I tried using tiny pieces of paper to prevent the diagonals from happening, but that failed.

[onmode-ky]

keilbaca, on Fri Dec 3, 2010 1:08 PM, said:

Really? Mine's an 8 way. I opened it up and there is a twist that you can adjust the directions (I think), but there's just nothing there.

I tried using tiny pieces of paper to prevent the diagonals from happening, but that failed.

Yours has true diagonals? As in you can effortlessly execute diagonal movements in Xevious and Bosconian? If that's really the case, then this must be a revised version . . .

. . . but I honestly find it hard to believe Jakks Pacific would make that change. It makes no sense; only 2 out of 12 games in the collection need 8-way capability, while several others would suffer if it were added back. Given the awful user feedback from their first 8-way stick, which severely handicapped the Ms. Pac-Man experience, it seems unlikely that they'd switch back.

Can you unequivocally say that your stick flawlessly executes diagonals in Xevious and Bosconian? If so, then this is all pretty weird for Jakks to do. Maybe it would mean they had even fixed the Xevious enemy mapping errors that were introduced in this stick.

onmode-ky

P.S. What do you mean, "there is a twist that you can adjust"? You're not talking about the twist mechanics for Pole Position, I assume?

[keilbaca]

onmode-ky, on Sat Dec 4, 2010 3:35 PM, said:

keilbaca, on Fri Dec 3, 2010 1:08 PM, said:

Really? Mine's an 8 way. I opened it up and there is a twist that you can adjust the directions (I think), but there's just nothing there.

I tried using tiny pieces of paper to prevent the diagonals from happening, but that failed.

Yours has true diagonals? As in you can effortlessly execute diagonal movements in Xevious and Bosconian? If that's really the case, then this must be a revised version . . .

. . . but I honestly find it hard to believe Jakks Pacific would make that change. It makes no sense; only 2 out of 12 games in the collection need 8-way capability, while several others would suffer if it were added back. Given the awful user feedback from their first 8-way stick, which severely handicapped the Ms. Pac-Man experience, it seems unlikely that they'd switch back.

Can you unequivocally say that your stick flawlessly executes diagonals in Xevious and Bosconian? If so, then this is all pretty weird for Jakks to do. Maybe it would mean they had even fixed the Xevious enemy mapping errors that were introduced in this stick.

onmode-ky

P.S. What do you mean, "there is a twist that you can adjust"? You're not talking about the twist mechanics for Pole Position, I assume?

Yes it is a true 8 way. My only suggestion is that they forgot to put that part into production. If you open up the stick, you can see on the underneath, where the two bolts bolt the thing together, there is a small center with 4 dots and a cross along the lines. I can twist this, but nothing happens obviously. I'm sure if you tried to twist it, it'll shift it from 4 way to possibly 8 way, or it'll just allow diagonals to happen and no up/down/left/right.

At any rate, yes it is a true 8 way... and there is no restriction on anything, which makes pac-man and such unplayable.

[onmode-ky]

keilbaca, on Mon Dec 6, 2010 12:09 PM, said:

Yes it is a true 8 way. My only suggestion is that they forgot to put that part into production. If you open up the stick, you can see on the underneath, where the two bolts bolt the thing together, there is a small center with 4 dots and a cross along the lines. I can twist this, but nothing happens obviously. I'm sure if you tried to twist it, it'll shift it from 4 way to possibly 8 way, or it'll just allow diagonals to happen and no up/down/left/right.

At any rate, yes it is a true 8 way... and there is no restriction on anything, which makes pac-man and such unplayable.

Hmm, I think yours is unique, maybe from a "bad" batch. I went out and bought one from a store today to see if this was a newly revised version of the stick, but the stick was still strictly 4-way. Completely physically impossible to go diagonal in Bosconian and Xevious. This being the case, then, I think the solution to your problem is very simple: go out and buy another one!

onmode-ky

[keilbaca]

onmode-ky, on Mon Dec 6, 2010 10:49 PM, said:

keilbaca, on Mon Dec 6, 2010 12:09 PM, said:

Yes it is a true 8 way. My only suggestion is that they forgot to put that part into production. If you open up the stick, you can see on the underneath, where the two bolts bolt the thing together, there is a small center with 4 dots and a cross along the lines. I can twist this, but nothing happens obviously. I'm sure if you tried to twist it, it'll shift it from 4 way to possibly 8 way, or it'll just allow diagonals to happen and no up/down/left/right.

At any rate, yes it is a true 8 way... and there is no restriction on anything, which makes pac-man and such unplayable.

Hmm, I think yours is unique, maybe from a "bad" batch. I went out and bought one from a store today to see if this was a newly revised version of the stick, but the stick was still strictly 4-way. Completely physically impossible to go diagonal in Bosconian and Xevious. This being the case, then, I think the solution to your problem is very simple: go out and buy another one!

onmode-ky

Sounds good to me, then I can use that for an arcade project.

I'm actually curious how the restrictor plate works inside of there, its not a standard arcade restrictor plates like the other versions.