@timixretroplays@digipres.club
Post #3989770
2024-07-21 11:18 UTC
Enter the GamePad Pro, with its *ten* digital buttons as well as the customary D-pad. You could argue (many have) that it's a complete rip-off of the original PlayStation controller, but there's more to copying electronics than tracing around the outside - the PS1, like other consoles, used a digital protocol to talk to its controllers. But the PC gameport was totally analogue - no smarts at all, just four little lights that flickered, and four more that dimmed. So Gravis had to get clever.
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@timixretroplays@digipres.club 2024-07-21 11:19
How did they do it? Well, if you've ever tried hooking up a GamePad Pro or another digital controller - like the original Microsoft Sidewinder, or a big Logitech Wingman - to a USB to gameport adapter, and then looked at it under Game Controllers, you'll have seen buttons 1 and 2 blinking like mad. This isn't a broken controller sending spurious button presses - this is actually how it communicates with your PC! It works kind of (kind of) like Morse Code. #retrogaming #retrocomputing