I just had a pretty cool idea for a game controller

[Zeke109]

Having it snapped together shouldn't affect the motion sensing at all. If it did, than the Wii Zapper wouldn't work.

I actually have a zapper for my sister's Wii. I use it for playing Brothers in Arms: Double time. Anyway, there is a hole in the front the same size as the aperture of the Wii remote. Be sure not to make it too thick, or else the sensing capabilities of the remote will be compromised and have a much narrower range.

 

[Miles Tormani]

Well, the nunchuk for the Wii has two triggers, as do most other controllers these days on each side of said controllers. Having two triggers on both parts of your controller would be a start. Replicating the functionality of both the Wiimote/Nunchuk and a DualShock seems to be a big factor for you, so, yeah.

Also, I'm not a fan of the Wii's IR sensor method. It doesn't give me the flexibility I'd want in many cases, and that's something that Wii MotionPlus doesn't alleviate. I blame the sensor bar's size (which is just two IR LEDs anyway), the visual range of the Wiimote's IR sensor, and the lack of decent calibration options. It may be better than the Power Glove's three sensors, but to be honest, I like the way Sony's going with their own motion wand with having the PS3 Eye (or in this case, just some sort of camera) detect the controller, rather than the other way around. Sure, that big glowing lightbulb on each controller looks weird, but at least it provides detection of the controller from more angles, both of the player relative to the TV/camera, and of the controller itself.

But for sake of argument, let's say you're going to stick with the IR sensor method. This will sound redundant with my last paragraph, but add a calibration option to the system, let me place the two IR LEDs (maybe three-LED arrays so the controller can detect which corner it's looking at) on the edges of the TV (maybe even four so I can place them on the bottom two corners as well), and increase the capture range of the IR sensor. Also, I would suggest putting the IR sensor on both parts of the controller. Using a bow and arrow with the Wiimote and Nunchuk is largely unsatisfying because the nunchuk has no idea where it is in relation.

 

[Quadtrix]

Well, the nunchuk for the Wii has two triggers, as do most other controllers these days on each side of said controllers. Having two triggers on both parts of your controller would be a start. Replicating the functionality of both the Wiimote/Nunchuk and a DualShock seems to be a big factor for you, so, yeah.

Also, I'm not a fan of the Wii's IR sensor method. It doesn't give me the flexibility I'd want in many cases, and that's something that Wii MotionPlus doesn't alleviate. I blame the sensor bar's size (which is just two IR LEDs anyway), the visual range of the Wiimote's IR sensor, and the lack of decent calibration options. It may be better than the Power Glove's three sensors, but to be honest, I like the way Sony's going with their own motion wand with having the PS3 Eye (or in this case, just some sort of camera) detect the controller, rather than the other way around. Sure, that big glowing lightbulb on each controller looks weird, but at least it provides detection of the controller from more angles, both of the player relative to the TV/camera, and of the controller itself.

But for sake of argument, let's say you're going to stick with the IR sensor method. This will sound redundant with my last paragraph, but add a calibration option to the system, let me place the two IR LEDs (maybe three-LED arrays so the controller can detect which corner it's looking at) on the edges of the TV (maybe even four so I can place them on the bottom two corners as well), and increase the capture range of the IR sensor. Also, I would suggest putting the IR sensor on both parts of the controller. Using a bow and arrow with the Wiimote and Nunchuk is largely unsatisfying because the nunchuk has no idea where it is in relation.

I dunno if an IR sensor would really affect the Nunchuk's ability to detect positioning. But I did say that I wasn't tech savvy, so I could be wrong.

I would have used Sony's Wand as an example over the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, but we won't know if Sony's Wand is truly the better controller until it's released.

 

[Miles Tormani]

I dunno if an IR sensor would really affect the Nunchuk's ability to detect positioning. But I did say that I wasn't tech savvy, so I could be wrong.

It would let me dual-wield in The Conduit.

I would have used Sony's Wand as an example over the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, but we won't know if Sony's Wand is truly the better controller until it's released.

It has demonstrated the capability to know where I'm pointing off the sides of the TV rather than going "omfg u n0 point at scren u f1x n0wz" and, again, ruining some of my FPS-based gameplay. Honestly, that's good enough for me.

 

[Quadtrix]

I dunno if an IR sensor would really affect the Nunchuk's ability to detect positioning. But I did say that I wasn't tech savvy, so I could be wrong.

It would let me dual-wield in The Conduit.

I would have used Sony's Wand as an example over the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, but we won't know if Sony's Wand is truly the better controller until it's released.

It has demonstrated the capability to know where I'm pointing off the sides of the TV rather than going "omfg u n0 point at scren u f1x n0wz" and, again, ruining some of my FPS-based gameplay. Honestly, that's good enough for me.

There's a problem with dual wielding with two remotes with IR. What would happen if you aimed 1 remote to the far left, and one to the far right? You'd probably end up breaking the game. I suppose you could just have a temporary transition to 3rd person if each gun points opposite ways.

Also, in a well-made FPS on the Wii, the Wii remote will not de-sync with the game, unless the battery dies, or you actually go out of your way to break to connection between the sensor bar and to controller. IR also allows for fast menu navigation, as opposed to using a control stick to cycle through options.

 

[Ace of Spades]

I'm good with my PS3 controller thank you.

 

[SsilverR]

the playstation dualshock is so awesome it hasn't changed in 3 generations .. it's the only one i'll ever love

 

[Miles Tormani]

There's a problem with dual wielding with two remotes with IR. What would happen if you aimed 1 remote to the far left, and one to the far right? You'd probably end up breaking the game. I suppose you could just have a temporary transition to 3rd person if each gun points opposite ways.

Also, in a well-made FPS on the Wii, the Wii remote will not de-sync with the game, unless the battery dies, or you actually go out of your way to break to connection between the sensor bar and to controller. IR also allows for fast menu navigation, as opposed to using a control stick to cycle through options.

But aiming in two separate spots is more fun. :<

As for the remote not de-syncing, the allegation that it depends on the game is incorrect. If the IR sensor on the Wii remote does not see just one end of the sensor bar, be it from aiming directly at the bottom right corner of a fairly large TV (I'm talking 25", even), or from me covering either half of the IR sensor (or should I say "camera", now that I think about it?), or even that half of the sensor bar, the reading sent back to the Wii via Bluetooth does nothing but make the Wii think you're not pointing at the TV, and that results in your cursor outright disappearing from the screen.

Furthermore, if the Wiimote's IR sensor detects more than two infrared light sources, the Wii pretty much goes apeshit, and your cursor just jumps all over the place. In both of these cases, no software (in this case a game), regardless of how well programmed it is, can make hardware do what it's physically incapable of in the first place. That's why you can't burn a CD at 8x when your drive can only write at 4x, regardless of how powerful the writing software is.

As I said, for your controller mock up, my opinion on the IR sensor stands. The actual Wiimote's IR camera is below par and an improvement to capture radius, increased support for additional IR sources, and a better "sensor bar" are needed. (Why's it even called a sensor bar if it doesn't even SENSE anything? It's seriously just two lights on a stick.)

 

[Quadtrix]

http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News-375933.aspx

Son of a *****...

 

[Quadtrix]

Sounds really good, and is well thought through.

Really off-topics; but you have to look at this monster of a gameing keyboard

Spoiler

Hmm, it looks OK, but I've always been able to customize the controls of a normal keyboard so that everything is within instant reach, so I'm not sure if you really need a keyboard designed specifically for gaming.