Reason why Sega got away with a cross-shaped D-Pad (Nintendo patent until 2005)

http://nfgworld.com/mb/thread/991-Sega-Dreamcast-D-Pad-How-d-they-do-it

Nintendo owned the cross-shaped D-pad patent until 2005.

Here's the patent: http://www.google.com/patents/US4687200

Just thought I'd share!

 

hated the d-pad on the DC controller, would have much preferred it if they kept the saturn / megadrive design. Also not fond of the 4 button config again preferring the 6 button

 

I never knew about any of this thx for the info.

 

Love the DC pad. Love it so much I'm thinking of getting an adapter to use it on my PC. I don't mash the d pad, but use light movements, so the precision of the dpad was always appreciated.

 

The DC d-pad wipes the floor with Sony's PlayStation d-pad fuckup. I played many shooters with the DC's d-pad and it was always sufficiently precise and comfortable, even at high-concentration play - can't say that about Sony's pad. I played DDP Daioujou with it a lot due to the lack of a proper controller, and my hand would always hurt like hell after a session. Horrible d-pad, SEGA however did good.

It's bad for fighting games, though. That, I agree on.

 

I love a lot about the Dreamcast controller, even the D-pad's okay though kind of sloppy ala the Xbox 360's in my opinion. Analog stick is a bit slippery as well though I wouldn't have thought it prior to owning one. Love the triggers and the buttons.

Edit: At the end of the day these are just opinions, everybody has different experiences with different controllers. This was still ingenious of Sega.

 

I loved the DC pad too for shooters and it was pretty good for other games too. The big issue was only having 4 face buttons for fighting games. I still maintain that the PlayStation D-pad has always and still is bloody awful. For me the best retro pad was Saturn (JPN design) followed by the SFC Hori pad with 6 face buttons, MEGA Drive 6 button pad, Dreamcast pad, Master System pad, Famicom pad and PlayStation pad right at the bottom. Playing with the PlayStation D-pad for any length of time on shooters or fighting games is painful.

 

The Vita d-pad is one of the best though.

 

The DC d-pad was okay. It wasn't anywhere near as good as the Saturn's, but it was still better than the d-pads from most other manufacturers. It was also in kind of an awkward position. I think the analog stick on the DC was pretty good, but not as good as the Gamecube's, which has my all-time favorite analog stick.

In regards to the PSX d-pad, I agree that it's pretty awful. However, I've found that in most games it's still useable. But I've also found that it's pretty much unacceptable for shooters. I just can't move it fast enough to really play a shooter well.

 

For a while I thought SEGA was the devil and I really hated the shape of the where you grip the front and back of the controller. The Playstation D-pad may be shit but the controller feels much more natural than this(especially with the dual shock and analogs). I never thought about the cross shaped d pad besides when it hurt my left thumb trying to grind a handrail and tag shit for extended periods. While being terrible at Jet Grind radio, I figured it was either the controller or I was just really terrible on Dreamcast, but there are other games on the console I'm really good at.

I think the Saturn D-Pad is better but I would rather have 4 buttons than 6. I also don't really like the Genesis D-Pad, (have never used a Mega Drive controller so I wouldn't know a difference if there is one). I also don't like the clear colored controllers Sega produced, I only like the white ones with the orange swirl. But that's just aesthetic the color of the controller isn't going to fuck you up in the middle of something and why didn't any of the SEGA controllers come with a rumble pack built in?

But all in all the Dreamcast controller isn't bad I just thought it was shit for a while.

 

I liked the design of the JPN Saturn controller though I thought the D-pad's edges were too sharp and it could've been a bit bigger.

I didn't care for the Dreamcast's though. I felt like they just didn't get the D-pad and stick placed correctly.

My main gripe about Sega's controllers though is that they always felt hollow and cheap. Like they would break in half if too much pressure was placed on them. This for me is especially true about the Dreamcast controller what with it having that large hollow space for the VMU. The only exception was the three button Genesis controller. That brick felt solid.

 

Way too small for me.

This ^

 

prudy much this.

tried to play Street Fighter alpha anthology for the PS2 and it was awful trying to play it with the PS2 pad.

on that note if anyone can recommend a good PS2 joystick or pad then i'd be greatful

 

In terms of accuracy I prefer this Sega Saturn controller. The d-pad is just really loose and I like that.



Dreamcast d-pad I never had an issue with. Would rather use a DC pad to play Third Strike than a PS2 pad for sure.

 

This is my favorite Saturn controller as well. Though I often use different controllers for different games:
RPGs and Blast Wind - 3D controller
Radiant Silvergun - Bomberman controller
Everything else - US controller

 

3D controller has such an amazing joystick though.

 

I never really had troubles using a dualshock for street fighter, i prefer it more than the SNES (placement of the L button was really awkward)....but on topic, as much as i loved the DC i despise the d-pad, it just feels so stiff. Saturn and PS1/2/3 (triggers on PS3 are abit meh though) all the way for me

 

To be fair, I think some of the Dual-shock d-pad hate is in people's head. I can understand it though, some were really stiff and hurt your finger.

 

This patent must be a big reason for the horrible d-pads I've used over the years. Sometimes I'll open up the controllers to fix this or that and the d-pad is this mechanical monstrosity that, yeah, totally seems designed that way for the purposes of getting around a patent.

 

x