27 replies to this topic

[BigO]

Anybody else just buy stuff because it makes them curious? I mean, you don't really know what it is but it for some reason captures your attention and you buy it.

Like this that I picked up today without really knowing what it was, just 'cuz I liked it:


Now the curiosity turns to matters of value. Is it worth anything to anybody? Or should I figure out a way to hack it to work with game systems that I actually have?

Edited by BigO, Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:05 PM.

[the.golden.ax]

I wouldn't hack that one up. It's a CD-I kids controller. Pretty sure it has some value. They used to get $40.

AX

[Austin]

That's a CD-i trakball. Probably not worth much (I remember seeing on sit on eBay for the longest time), but you can use it with nearly any game on the system. Works great with the point 'n click games, which the CD-i has plenty of.

[the.golden.ax]

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 130506578839

Last one in the box went for $80. The roller controllers are required for some games.

I wouldn't let it go for less than $25, but I'd try to get $40 out of it first.

AX

[rmaerz]

oh...I thought you misspelled "bi-curious" then noticed it was posted in "Classic Gaming General"...

[atari181]

I am always Buy Curious

[Austin]

the.golden.ax, on Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:25 PM, said:

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 130506578839

Last one in the box went for $80. The roller controllers are required for some games.

I wouldn't let it go for less than $25, but I'd try to get $40 out of it first.

AX

Damn.. I guess you are correct. That one looks pretty nice, too. All the wrapping and everything.

[SlowCoder]

rmaerz, on Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:27 PM, said:

oh...I thought you misspelled "bi-curious" then noticed it was posted in "Classic Gaming General"...

I clicked with caution too.

[BigO]

Heh. Had I just posted "Philips CD-i roller controller" I figured nobody would click at all.

I thought the pun would get more attention. Sorry to disappoint anyone who didn't recognize that it was a pun but I just don't "roll" that way.

[Lemmi]

when i looked into selling my kids controller back in 2008 they wernt selling for more than $15, so i kept it

[BigO]

the.golden.ax, on Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:25 PM, said:

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 130506578839

Last one in the box went for $80. The roller controllers are required for some games.

I wouldn't let it go for less than $25, but I'd try to get $40 out of it first.

AX

I'm not really impressed with the smoothness (lack thereof) of the action on this thing. I took it apart and the shafts have some slight drag to them but nothing too significant. I'd guess they just never were very free rolling.

Sounds like a sale could potentially be profitable. Though, I still think it would be kind of fun to have as a functioning trackball on my desk at work.

Maybe I'll toss it up in the marketplace here @ AA and see what happens.

Edited by BigO, Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:48 PM.

[the.golden.ax]

I'd be interested if I actually had a CDi and some kids games.

AX

[Rex Dart]

I haven't seen one of those since the 90's... is it a full ball & does it actually roll, or does it just sort of lean in each direction?

[BigO]

Rex Dart, on Fri Apr 15, 2011 4:16 PM, said:

I haven't seen one of those since the 90's... is it a full ball & does it actually roll, or does it just sort of lean in each direction?

It is a full ball and it rolls.

Edited by BigO, Fri Apr 15, 2011 4:19 PM.

[misspent_youth]

BigO, on Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:47 PM, said:

I still think it would be kind of fun to have as a functioning trackball on my desk at work.

Maybe you could get your work to reimburse you for your 'ergonomic input device'?

[Hatta]

I don't think any games actually required the trackball. Philips was pretty insistent on every CD-I game using the same pointing mechanism. It's one of the reasons input is always laggy. Even action games had to be hacked to be controllable with a mouse type pointer.

[Austin]

Hatta, on Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:59 AM, said:

I don't think any games actually required the trackball. Philips was pretty insistent on every CD-I game using the same pointing mechanism. It's one of the reasons input is always laggy. Even action games had to be hacked to be controllable with a mouse type pointer.

Yep, same with the mouse. I started a thread at the CD-Interactive forums a while back asking about what games work with it, and it turns out everything does. That's not to say anyone would want to play an action game with a mouse, but I guess it would be a fun experiment on a rainy day. I'm assuming it's the same way with the roller controller.

[BigO]

Interesting...after searching around for technical information, I find some indications that this controller may communicate via RS-232.

http://nfggames.com/...g22350#msg22350

http://www.alpinecom...apter/index.php

Edited by BigO, Sat Apr 16, 2011 5:23 PM.

[Austin]

Haha, very nice! So you could indeed try using it as a pointing device on your PC after you get or build an adapter.

[BigO]

Austin, on Sat Apr 16, 2011 5:29 PM, said:

Haha, very nice! So you could indeed try using it as a pointing device on your PC after you get or build an adapter.

Yeah, that actually does make it more appealing as I could build an adapter to make it work with almost anything. I repaired a broken 3rd party Atari 2600 trackball by programming a PIC uC to read the encoders and output the emulated joystick signals so I'm not a total stranger to the concept.

[BigO]

I couldn't convince myself that this thing was working as designed so I applied some wax lubricant to the bushings (KryTech: stuff I use on my bicycle chain, cables, etc). It rolls much more smoothly and quietly and most importantly doesn't cause the ball to ride up on the driven shaft.


With the hollow, hard plastic ball, it still makes scratchy-scrapey noises that I would prefer it not make, but I suspect this is normal.

Edited by BigO, Sun Apr 17, 2011 10:37 PM.

[Hatta]

There's a schematic for making a PC->CDI adaptor here. If you look in the archive there's technical information about how the CDI pointing interface is implemented. This should help you make a CDI->PC adaptor if you want.

[BigO]

Hatta, on Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:27 AM, said:

There's a schematic for making a PC->CDI adaptor here. If you look in the archive there's technical information about how the CDI pointing interface is implemented. This should help you make a CDI->PC adaptor if you want.

Some of those documents should be very helpful. You just never know when something subtle from the factory docs might come in handy, e.g. "communications should use the RS-232-C interface.

Step .5 completed. I found a matching socket on an Oki LED page printer (envelope feeder connection) so I should be able to hook this thing up to a PC for testing.

Edited by BigO, Sat May 7, 2011 4:59 PM.

[Seob]

Austin, on Sat Apr 16, 2011 2:06 PM, said:

Hatta, on Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:59 AM, said:

I don't think any games actually required the trackball. Philips was pretty insistent on every CD-I game using the same pointing mechanism. It's one of the reasons input is always laggy. Even action games had to be hacked to be controllable with a mouse type pointer.

Yep, same with the mouse. I started a thread at the CD-Interactive forums a while back asking about what games work with it, and it turns out everything does. That's not to say anyone would want to play an action game with a mouse, but I guess it would be a fun experiment on a rainy day. I'm assuming it's the same way with the roller controller.

You can even play all games with the Peacekeeper Revolver (light gun). I played flashback with it, it's possible but very hard.

[Chuck D. Head]

I read it as "bike curious" and thought Bryan O had made a new BackIn89 masterpuece!!