It’s always been there, but it never seems to be in the future: talk about mouse accessories on many consoles

Some time ago, a piece of news caught my attention. The Czech developer Vojtech Salajka brought mouse support to the original Sony PlayStation console. After modification, players can use a normal USB mouse to connect to the console to play games. We can see the picture carefully. Understand, this is the development of an adapter that can only be used on games that originally support mouse operation.

New players may not know that the PS console actually had an official original mouse back then, and the number of supported games was not small, but this accessory is very rare. Wen’s classic old game, the spirit of exploration and research is admirable. In fact, in the 1990s, many consoles we are familiar with had exclusive mouse accessories, but none of them were widely popularized. This article will review this inconspicuous but inconspicuous accessory in the history of consoles.

In December 1968, Dr. Douglas Engelbart of the University of California, Berkeley, officially disclosed the invention of the mouse. He used two vertical wheels to collect displacement information and converted it into the movement of the pointer on the screen through a computer program. This revolutionary product created a new form of human-computer interaction and played a huge role in promoting the popularization of computers in the next few decades. In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh, which allowed the mouse to enter thousands of households, and has since become a home computer. Essential peripheral accessories.

Since then, many manufacturers have launched games in response to the characteristics of mouse operation. The most famous one is Solitaire, which appeared in Windows 3.0 in 1990. Users can easily master this simple and infinitely repeatable game. The operations such as clicking and dragging commonly used in Windows systems can be described as entertaining and entertaining, and they are still one of Microsoft’s signature products today.

With the continuous development of video games, the two major platforms of computer and home console have also begun to merge. Since the operating rules of the mouse and the handle are quite different, hardware manufacturers have begun to introduce mouse accessories for the console, and software manufacturers have also added some games. An optional feature on the host that is operated with the mouse.

In July 1992, Nintendo launched a novel game “Mario Paint” on the SFC console. Players can create their favorite images and even animations. At the same time, there are SFC dedicated games launched with the game. For the mouse, since the early mouse used a mechanical rolling ball, the desktop was severely worn, so of course the official Nintendo mouse pad was indispensable. Since then, the mouse has appeared on popular consoles and has become a new tool for improving the operation of some games. There are many games that support the mouse on the SFC console. The more well-known ones include “The Third Robot War”, “The Fourth Robot War” and “Heartbeat Memories”. Might and Magic 3, Civilization, etc.

The SFC mouse was very popular with players at the time, and now it has become a favorite collection of Nintendo fans. Some ashes fans even developed adapter kits to use on modern computers. In 2017, a third-party accessory manufacturer Hyperkin launched a re-engraved version. The dedicated interface of the SFC host is still used, the color matching also retains the original style, and the shape has become an ergonomic design that is more in line with the habits of modern people. The most important thing is to replace the long-eliminated ball with an optical sensor. I removed the mouse and cleaned it up. I am afraid that those who know this operation are already 30+ years old.

As Nintendo’s rival at the time, Sega, naturally, it would not fall behind. Especially after the release of Mega CDs using large-capacity discs, some computer ported games were very suitable for mouse operation. In April 1993, the MD special mouse was released in Japan and released in 1994. US version.

The MD mouse has two different shapes. The Japanese version and the European version use a two-button design similar to SFC, which corresponds to the AB buttons of the handle. The Japanese version is blue and the European version is red. Interestingly, players can also use the mouse Turn it over and click the trackball to be the C key; the US version uses a completely different four-button shape, corresponding to the ABC key and the independent start button, and the mouse as a whole becomes larger. Left-handed users are very unfriendly.

Unfortunately, the games supported by the MD mouse are far less than those of SFC. The more well-known ones in the cassette version are “Nobunaga’s Ambition”, “Nobunaga’s Ambition”, and the CD-ROM version includes “True Goddess Tensei”, such as “Nobunaga’s Ambition”. Dune 2, which is very suitable for mouse games, is not supported, and in the final form 32X, there is no support. Although MD consoles were widely popular in China at that time, there are very few players who have used or even heard of the mouse.

Next is the Sony PS mouse mentioned at the beginning of the article. There are many games that support the mouse on the PS console. At the same time, the mouse options will be clearly marked on the back cover of the game. The corresponding games can be basically divided into three categories:

1. Japanese-style traditional point-and-click storytelling adventures, representative works “Heartbeat Memories”, “Heartbeat Memories 2” and many other stories, such as “Rainbow Youth”, “Colorful Love Song”, “Living Poems”, etc.;

2. The first-person shooter game, the representative work “Quake 2”, etc.;

3. Real-time strategy games, such as “Red Alert” and “Dune 2000”.

The emergence of real-time strategy games has greatly increased the importance of mouse operation. Playing RTS with a handle back then was a nightmare experience. The emergence of the PS mouse has greatly facilitated players who do not have a computer. At the same time, the PS console has an official online line, which can connect two consoles to compete. Many domestic game rooms used this method to learn from the red police.

Sega SS, the competitor of Sony PS in the same period, launched a matching mouse as early as the host release. The Japanese version of the US version also has a different shape. The Japanese version is called Shuttle Mouse, which adopts ABC and a total of four-button design. , the early version was a blue button on a gray background, and later it was changed to a red button on a white background, maintaining the same style as the two Saturn consoles in the same period. The US version of the mouse is called Netlink Mouse, and its shape is almost the same as the previous generation MD mouse. The game types supported by the Saturn mouse are basically the same as those of PS. The exclusive games include “Sakura Wars”, “Sakura Wars 2”, “Iron Armored Dragon 2”, “VR SWAT”, “VR SWAT 2” and so on.

The last generation of Sega’s host, DC, also has a dedicated mouse. This time the shape is very close to the modern mouse we are familiar with. Two buttons + scroll wheel + side button. Supported games include “Quake 3”, “Railroad Tycoon 2” and “Rainbow” Six”, “Unreal Tournament”, etc. This mouse is mainly designed for Dream Passport software, which can realize web browsing, sending and receiving emails and other network functions on the DC host.

After entering the millennium, the universal and convenient USB interface has rapidly become popular. Starting from the PS2, there is no longer a mouse dedicated to the console. Players can use an ordinary computer mouse to play games, but the premise is that the console game supports mouse operation. For example, in the PS2 version of “Age of Empires 2”, players can directly use a USB mouse and keyboard to achieve an operating experience close to that of the computer version, which is much better than playing with a handle. Use the mouse on the host computer.

Throughout the development of game hardware, whether it is dedicated in the early days or universal in modern times, using a mouse on a console has always been a very niche behavior, and it is different from professional accessories such as arcade joysticks and music controllers. The mouse is generally dispensable for console games. We can analyze it from the three categories of supported games mentioned above.

The first is click games, including story adventures, turn-based strategies, etc. This kind of gameplay has certain advantages with the mouse, but the experience with the handle is not bad, and players in these types of games usually have enough time to think, and the operation is a little slower. Influence, it is obviously unnecessary to buy an additional mouse.

The second is first-person shooting. If it is a light gun game like “VR SWAT”, the player does not need to control the movement of the characters, but only needs to aim and shoot to reload. The mouse is very suitable. It was widely popular after it was transplanted to the PC. A two-button mouse makes it easy to play with one hand. However, if it is an FPS that needs to control the movement of characters, a mouse is not enough. Some games are designed to be controlled by a mouse and a handle, and the actual experience is not as good as playing directly with the handle.

Finally, there are real-time strategy games. This type of game is probably the most obvious advantage of the mouse over the handle. However, there are also the above problems, that is, the buttons on the mouse are far from enough. Either add a keyboard or cooperate with the handle.

In addition to the gameplay experience, there is also a gap between the mouse and the host in terms of usage habits. Computer users are generally closer to the screen. When using, both hands are on the table, and it is very convenient to use the mouse and keyboard; the host user is farther away from the screen, more If you are leaning against a chair or lying down, and if you put a mouse on a tabletop in front of you, it will affect your body’s rest.

In general, the previous generations of consoles still attached great importance to the mouse, and they also took great efforts to continuously improve the user experience. However, due to usage habits and other reasons, it has always been a dispensable state, especially the two major types of FPS and RTS. After operating optimization, players need less console gaming mouse. Taking myself as an example, since I came into contact with the original XBOX “Halo”, I quickly liked playing FPS with a handle, and until today I don’t know how to play games with a mouse. Even for computer users, especially notebook users, with the increasing development of gesture touch and other operations, the mouse is no longer a necessary accessory. It is believed that there will be new breakthroughs and developments in the game interactive experience in the future, and it is also possible for the mouse to become a cultural relic. .

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