14 replies to this topic

[ghulse]

I was recently looking into getting a gamepad or joystick for the Mac and was surprised to see that most, if not all, are PC-only these days. I tried to get an XBox controller to work using the tattiebogle driver, but without success. Apparently you need a Microsoft-branded wired controller and Microsoft is only making wireless controllers these days. The generic wired controllers we own don't work.

Finally, I went out and bought a Logitech F310 gamepad and I'm currently using it with Atari800MacX emulator. This is PC-only too, but Gamepad Companion (available on the App Store under Snow Leopard) seems to recognize it. I was wondering what everyone else there is using with your emulators or do you guys use keyboards?

[poobah]

Logitech dual action game pad
Homemade cx-40 to USB

[ghulse]

poobah, on Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:26 AM, said:

Logitech dual action game pad
Homemade cx-40 to USB

The cx-40 is the original Atari joystick, right? Does your usb adaptor work well? What emulators do you use it with?

[thegoldenband]

I still use a Gravis USB GamePad Pro that I bought back in 2000 or so. It has the PlayStation form factor, but the D-pad isn't separated into discrete directions the way the PS pad is. It could be more precise, but it gets the job done well. I even use it for Tron -- mapping the spinner to the L1 and R1 equivalents works surprisingly well.

I'm sure you know this, but a lot of items that claim to be Windows-only are actually supported in OS X. I assume the manufacturer just doesn't want to be formally obligated to support the device, but between generic drivers and whatever else goes on, many items will work. Caveat emptor, though!

Edited by thegoldenband, Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:26 AM.

[ghulse]

thegoldenband, on Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:26 AM, said:

I still use a Gravis USB GamePad Pro that I bought back in 2000 or so. It has the PlayStation form factor, but the D-pad isn't separated into discrete directions the way the PS pad is. It could be more precise, but it gets the job done well. I even use it for Tron -- mapping the spinner to the L1 and R1 equivalents works surprisingly well.

I'm sure you know this, but a lot of items that claim to be Windows-only are actually supported in OS X. I assume the manufacturer just doesn't want to be formally obligated to support the device, but between generic drivers and whatever else goes on, many items will work. Caveat emptor, though!

Actually, the Logitech F310 doesn't want to work with anything else. Not MacMAME OS X, not Nanosaur 2. It only works with the Atari800x emulator for some reason. How about your Gravis? Is it available to other Mac applications, or are you using it with one emulator.

[thegoldenband]

ghulse, on Wed Aug 17, 2011 5:19 PM, said:

Actually, the Logitech F310 doesn't want to work with anything else. Not MacMAME OS X, not Nanosaur 2. It only works with the Atari800x emulator for some reason. How about your Gravis? Is it available to other Mac applications, or are you using it with one emulator.

It's worked with all the emulators I've tried that support gamepads, including MAME, SNES9X, all of the Richard Bannister emulators (as long as Emulator Enhancer behaves), FlareStorm, and OpenMSX. I think I've tried it with Stella, but I'm not 100% sure, and I don't think I've tried it with jzintv.

[goldenegg]

Most USB joysticks and gamepads will work on a Mac. There's a standard for USB controllers which makes this possible.

For gamepads, I have two HIGHLY RECOMMENDED suggestions.

1 - Sega Saturn USB Controller

You can get these from multiple stores online, as well as eBay. They're usually found for relatively cheap ($10 - $15) and work really well. The best cones to get are the grey ones, which will PS3 compatibility. Those are the best built of the ones you'll find.

2 - MadCatz PS3 SSF4 Wireless Fightpad

A PS3 gamepad on the Mac? Yup! This incredible controller uses a USB dongle to provide a wireless connection. The dongle is fully supported on Mac and links with the controller without any problems. It's one of my favourite gamepads ever, with a very accurate d-pad. These run for $30 - $40.

http://www.amazon.co...3640026&sr=8-13

[ghulse]

goldenegg, on Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:01 PM, said:

Most USB joysticks and gamepads will work on a Mac. There's a standard for USB controllers which makes this possible.

For gamepads, I have two HIGHLY RECOMMENDED suggestions.

1 - Sega Saturn USB Controller

You can get these from multiple stores online, as well as eBay. They're usually found for relatively cheap ($10 - $15) and work really well. The best cones to get are the grey ones, which will PS3 compatibility. Those are the best built of the ones you'll find.

2 - MadCatz PS3 SSF4 Wireless Fightpad

A PS3 gamepad on the Mac? Yup! This incredible controller uses a USB dongle to provide a wireless connection. The dongle is fully supported on Mac and links with the controller without any problems. It's one of my favourite gamepads ever, with a very accurate d-pad. These run for $30 - $40.

http://www.amazon.co...3640026&sr=8-13

Thanks for the recommendations. I might try that Saturn.

[SpiceWare]

I got a USB adapter that can handle two PSone or PS2 controllers as well as a USB Atari joystick. I've used both of those with Stella, MAME and other games.

Another option, if you're on Snow Leopard or Lion, is a bluetooth PS3 controllers.

[ghulse]

SpiceWare, on Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:51 PM, said:

I got a USB adapter that can handle two PSone or PS2 controllers as well as a USB Atari joystick. I've used both of those with Stella, MAME and other games.

Another option, if you're on Snow Leopard or Lion, is a bluetooth PS3 controllers.

Looks like Mac MAME OS X supports PS/2 to USB. That would be cool to play Donkey Kong using a joystick.

[goldenegg]

ghulse, on Sat Aug 20, 2011 11:23 AM, said:

SpiceWare, on Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:51 PM, said:

I got a USB adapter that can handle two PSone or PS2 controllers as well as a USB Atari joystick. I've used both of those with Stella, MAME and other games.

Another option, if you're on Snow Leopard or Lion, is a bluetooth PS3 controllers.

Looks like Mac MAME OS X supports PS/2 to USB. That would be cool to play Donkey Kong using a joystick.

Honestly, there's little reason to use MAME OS X anymore. It's extremely outdated (8 major versions behind). I would honestly recommend learning how to compile MAME SDL on your system and using a fronted like Mame+GUI or QMC2 (The latter of which I'm responsible for the OSX builds).

[SpiceWare]

goldenegg, on Sat Aug 20, 2011 9:09 PM, said:

Honestly, there's little reason to use MAME OS X anymore. It's extremely outdated (8 major versions behind). I would honestly recommend learning how to compile MAME SDL on your system and using a fronted like Mame+GUI or QMC2 (The latter of which I'm responsible for the OSX builds).

I haven't used MAME in quite some time, but plan to do some Berzerk/Frenzy play testing next week as research for Frantic, my next homebrew for the 2600.

Found a site with a current SDL MAME build for OS X ver 10.6+ on Intel based Macs. I'll check it out tomorrow with the front ends you mentioned, thanks!

[dualcam]

ghulse, on Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:00 AM, said:

I was recently looking into getting a gamepad or joystick for the Mac and was surprised to see that most, if not all, are PC-only these days. I tried to get an XBox controller to work using the tattiebogle driver, but without success. Apparently you need a Microsoft-branded wired controller and Microsoft is only making wireless controllers these days. The generic wired controllers we own don't work.

Finally, I went out and bought a Logitech F310 gamepad and I'm currently using it with Atari800MacX emulator. This is PC-only too, but Gamepad Companion (available on the App Store under Snow Leopard) seems to recognize it. I was wondering what everyone else there is using with your emulators or do you guys use keyboards?

If you'd like to use original 2600 controllers, I have USB adaptors available -
http://2600-daptor.com
Works with paddle and driving in addition to joystick.

Tom

[Deteacher]

Stelladapter and CX-40! Only way to go!

[SpiceWare]

SpiceWare, on Sat Aug 20, 2011 11:43 PM, said:

Found a site with a current SDL MAME build for OS X ver 10.6+ on Intel based Macs.

Finally got around to installing SDLMAME and QMC2. It works, just need to figure out the video options, don't like the blurry up-scaling it's doing.