[HN Gopher] Nintendo's U-Force
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Nintendo's U-Force
Author : bookofjoe
Score : 63 points
Date : 2022-09-10 23:34 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (hackaday.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (hackaday.com)
| shadowgovt wrote:
| So it turns out, non-tactile controls can be exhausting to use.
| There's nowhere to rest one's hand, so simply holding state
| requires constant expenditure of effort.
|
| This is why joysticks are such a saddle-point in the UI space:
| motion controllers are great for novelty, but the industry keeps
| gravitating to joysticks and buttons.
| jjulius wrote:
| This is why I never got into the Wii. My "centered/straight
| ahead" was _never_ where the Wii wanted it to be.
| dmonitor wrote:
| That was entirely defined by where you put the IR blaster.
| There was also a setting depending on whether it was sitting
| above or below your TV. If that was wrong, the whole thing
| felt off
| wccrawford wrote:
| Tiring as it is, motion control is more immersive and just has
| something going for it that gamepads don't.
|
| And the "exhausting" aspect can actually be a good thing. It
| means getting some exercise while doing something fun. I was
| surprised how well VR exercise actually worked for me when I
| tried it.
| lostgame wrote:
| Upvoting this comment, dunno why it's been downvoted to hell
| - you're totally right.
|
| I agree with shadowgovt above, in that; yes - motion controls
| aren't meant to be used all the time, it absolutely gets
| exhausting.
|
| But on the other hand, you're completely right as well - I'm
| also very impressed by VR exercise, and games can be a very
| effective tool for exercise, especially for a nerd like me
| who finds motivation hard.
| yardie wrote:
| My NES came with a catalog of all the Nintendo products, games,
| and accessories you could get for the NES. So if you were into
| gaming and were Xennial, GenX, elder Millenial you probably heard
| of U-Force. Unlike the Powerglove, it wasn't everywhere but it
| was not hidden.
|
| I did have a Powerglove and while the coolness factor wore off
| after a few hours I think it was amazing for the time.
| flanbiscuit wrote:
| I'm a Xennial and I thought I was well-versed in all things
| Nintendo, I even went to Powerfest 94[1] after I won a local
| competition, and I've never heard of U-Force.
|
| 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_PowerFest_%2794
|
| Side note: I just realized my name is on this Wikipedia page!
| yardie wrote:
| Well I knew of it but didn't know anyone who actually had
| one. The Powerglove seemed more practical with actual
| controls and buttons. And I saw it in The Wizard [1]
|
| But while looking for more history on it I came across the
| LaserScope[0] which I was not aware of. So I guess we're in
| the same boat on NES oddball accessories.
|
| [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaserScope
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_(1989_film)
| flanbiscuit wrote:
| I love The Wizard! I recently re-watched it and it still
| holds up for me, but a large part of that could be
| nostalgia. The ending still gets me though.
|
| I stopped by the Dinosaurs of Cabazon earlier this year
| while driving from Palm Springs to LA (part of a larger
| road trip I took this year). It's so different now, they've
| painted them really bright colors. I was there 15 years ago
| and back then they still resembled the ones from The Wizard
| and Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Was still cool though.
| brandall10 wrote:
| I had an original system w/ ROB and was an early member of the
| Nintendo Fun Club (before Nintendo Power was released) and
| don't recall seeing this device before. Not saying I haven't,
| just don't recall.
| Melatonic wrote:
| Powered by sound waves!
| jrm4 wrote:
| Hahaha, I had one of these as a kid, and I literally forgot about
| it's existence until recently. I remember it working much better
| with the included button handled things.
|
| Looking at it now, I see this _probably_ wasn 't a factor -- but,
| in perhaps a prediction of issues to come, at the time I actually
| thought a significant reason it didn't work is because I'm black
| and and it couldn't "see" darker skin?
| dec0dedab0de wrote:
| I wanted one when it came out. I now have an incomplete one I got
| at a yard sale sitting on a shelf.
| crtasm wrote:
| Speaking of Punch Out, the SNES version had a recent discovery:
| https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/08/28-years-later-super-...
| system16 wrote:
| When I was in elementary school, I received the Power Glove for
| Christmas and a classmate received the U-Force.
|
| We became rivals, both trying to convince the rest of the class
| that ours was the ultimate controller and amazing for giving a
| competitive advantage in Punch Out!, Rad Racer, and other games.
|
| Secretly we both knew both controllers were completely useless
| and never worked, but we never dared admit it.
| hbn wrote:
| I love the Power Glove, it's so bad.
| oneepic wrote:
| And I mean.... _bad_.
|
| (AVGN power glove episode:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYDuy7wM8Gk)
| rektide wrote:
| Related question, what are the best Leap Motion uses?
| pipeline_peak wrote:
| If I ever wanted to go to hell, I'd put these at my feet, power
| gloves on my hands and a virtual boy on my head.
| werdnapk wrote:
| I had a power glove that barely worked with anything and even my
| naive prepubescent self knew the u-force would likely not do
| anything close to what it advertised. I still liked looking at
| the "action shots" in the advertisements though of what "could
| be".
| werdnapk wrote:
| My most used accessories for NES/SNES era were likely the
| powerpad and superscope though. (not counting the NES
| advantage)
| jonny_eh wrote:
| The Super Scope was hilariously big, and a battery drain, but
| was shockingly accurate and fun.
| cableshaft wrote:
| I heard about it. I saw it advertised at the time. The ads made
| it sound awesome. Glad I didn't beg and cajole my parents to get
| it for me in retrospect, though.
| AdmiralAsshat wrote:
| We had a U-Force in our household.
|
| My memory of it is it was designed/compatible with exactly one
| game (Punch-Out!), and it never worked. Whether your arm motion
| in front of the panel actually caused Little Mac to punch felt
| entirely coincidental.
| rblatz wrote:
| I had one, but I couldn't get it to work reliably. That's the
| real reason no one heard about it.
| yamtaddle wrote:
| Angry Video Game Nerd covered it long, long ago in a video about
| weird NES accessories.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kBMscW_dVg
|
| NSFW I guess. He does like to swear.
| jonny_eh wrote:
| Not NSFW is The Gaming Historian (and more informative):
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVszKSeSE-0
| justinator wrote:
| You mean the same video that's embedded in the fine article?
| jonny_eh wrote:
| uhh, ya! I hadn't read the article because I already
| watched the video months ago.
| [deleted]
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(page generated 2022-09-13 23:01 UTC)