Trackballs on gamepads

[CurryKnight]

What would people think to replacing the right tumbstick on the xbox/PS2 controller with a trackball?

It would take some getting used to and would certainly not be as user friendly to casual players but it would give soo much more flexibility to the pads. RTS games might become playable on consoles, fps games would be faster paced (especially online)

 

[NaveT]

Trackball is quite similiar to the Thumbstick anyway. Just hack off the sticky out bit and then you have a trackball.

But i've never like trackballs.

you might be interested in this - http://trackball.modwest.com/

 

[CurryKnight]

Trackball is quite similiar to the Thumbstick anyway.[/url]

Thanks for the link.

They are similar but they do have 1 main difference as stated in that web page...

With joysticks, you do not directly control the position of your cross hairs. You control the rate and direction at which it moves across the screen. For example, if you move the joystick slightly to the left and hold it, the cross hairs will move slowly until you bring the joystick back to center. That means that every movement of your cross hairs actually involves two small movements in the joystick. This is a subtle difference, but it is multiplied thousands of times when a game is played.

With a mouse or trackball, you control the rate and position directly. If you roll the mouse to the left and hold it, the cross hairs will do the same. This is a fundamental advantage in usability, as there are less movement decisions to make and less potential mistakes overall. Although there is a theoretical limit to cross hair speed/sensitivity with mouse and trackball input, accomplished users can achieve near-instantaneous "twitch" movement with them.