MSX mouse as joystick

Champion (260)

27-08-2019, 14:35

When you insert an MSX mouse with its left click button pushed, it acts as a mouse. Slide it to a direction then game character or whatsoever moves accordingly. This feature is useful with some shmups. If you have one, plz try.
This is explained in various Japanese online articles (example) but I cannot find any in English. Is it really unknown or everyone knows it and it doesn't deserve to be described?
Note this feature is not supported by most of the PS2/USB mouse to MSX converter.

By Wolverine_nl

Paragon (1046)

27-08-2019, 16:24

Did you mean "it acts as a joystick" ? Otherwise it doesn't make sense.

By Danjovic

Expert (83)

27-08-2019, 16:35

I think Mouse may behave like a joystick when it is powered on with left button pressed, I mean is a feature of the mouse, not from the system.

By Louthrax

Prophet (2093)

27-08-2019, 19:12

I know I knew that "back in the days", when I had my VG-8235. Maybe this was described in the Philips manuals, I do not remember. I tried it with Vampire Killer, but it was just unplayable.

I'm curious about which shmups or games this could have an interest. Must say I have some doubts: the ships / player speed is not increased with that trick (unlike Arkanoid 2 with its dedicated controller).

By hamlet

Scribe (2605)

27-08-2019, 19:33

I remember playing Breaker by Radarsoft with that mouse/joystick control. It was a nice experience.

By Louthrax

Prophet (2093)

27-08-2019, 19:41

hamlet wrote:

I remember playing Breaker by Radarsoft with that mouse/joystick control. It was a nice experience.

IIRC, you can choose your controler type in Breaker in the first menu (you don't need to keep the mouse button pressed at boot time). The mouse is handled as a mouse this way, with faster moving speed.

By hamlet

Scribe (2605)

27-08-2019, 19:53

Ah, ja, that may be. All my memories fade to good and better, the older I get. But that is a good reason to refresh it and play a round of Breaker.

By Manuel

Ascended (15804)

27-08-2019, 20:08

I played Aleste 2 like this, after setting the game to the highest speed.

By Takamichi

Champion (260)

28-08-2019, 08:33

Wolverine_nl wrote:

Did you mean "it acts as a joystick" ? Otherwise it doesn't make sense.

Oh sorry, it was a simple typo. Acts as a "joystick". Even Japanese wikipedia for Atari Joystick mentions this though it's lying this feature requires both left and right buttons to activate. Right is unnecessary.
This feature suits shmup because you can roughly match your mouse position and your position in the game.

By Samor

Paragon (2030)

13-09-2019, 03:42

Never knew/tried, I have a mouse now (did not back in the old days) so I hope to try it sometime.