Conference rusure::nintendo

    I'd suggest the NES Advantage.  For the majority of times, this controler
    works just great.  For anything else, the standard stock controlers
    are just fine.  (IMO)
    

    I agree.  The NES Advantage controllers are the way to go.  I've
    try most of them except for the remote control ones.
    
    Rodney
    

    Oh yes,  NES Advantage runs around 39.99 per stick..  
    
    Stiff price, maybe, but the thing is tuff as nails, and makes
    some of the games infinitely more playable.  (Top-gun and Pro-Am
    to name two)

    I'd suggest the NES MAX. It's much smaller than the advantage.
    Also It's much cheaper($19.99), and if you are used to the regular
    Nintendo controllers the cycloid control doesn't feel too different.
    The MAX has two turbo(rapid-fire) buttons under the regular a and
    b buttons. So if you are in an important part of a game you don't
    have to move your hand up to turn turbo on you just simply move
    your hand down, hold turbo down and keep on playin'.
    
    Matthew Andella

    thanks.....
    
    So far the votes are:  Advantage -      3
                           Max       -      2 (one is via a friend
                                               at work)
                           Remote Control - 0.
                                                                       
    The Adventure was 29.99 and the remote control one 39.9 at Lechmere
    last week.  Is anyone aware of any "dis-advantage" with the Advantage
    and/or aware of the "remote control" one?  
    
    thx
    Dan

    The good thing about the "Advantage" is that it has a big joystick.
    I feel that this is a lot less work on your hands and therefore
    your hands don't get tired and sore as easy as on the stock contollers.
    When I used the stock controllers, I found my thumb becoming sore
    but with the "Advantage" controller, this was eliminated thus I
    was able to do better in the long run.  The "Advantage" might be
    a bit bulky but the large size makes the button pushing under pressure
    easier and more accurate.
    I guess it's a matter of preference.  Your best bet would be to
    borrow the different kinds from someone and try them yourself to
    decide.
    
    Rodney
    

    Re .8:
    
    > 50% of your coordination is required just to keep the thing in your
    > hands.
    
    The Advantage is not made to be held in the hands.  It should be placed
    on a table.  This would typically be a coffee table, requiring the
    player to sit on the floor.  Then the player's hands are completely
    free to control the joystick.
    
    
    				-- edp

    The last show (a couple of months ago) a new "no contact" controller
    was shown.  You control by moving your hand over the controller,
    not by actually touching anything!  It is supposed to be out about
    mid year.
    
    Ray T.

    I just got an Advantage for my birthday, I'm not sure if it was
    for me of the kids that gave it to me, however, I've gotten to the
    last mission on Top Gun and we finished Link (finally).  In our
    case the Advantage is #1 for shot'em ups and parts of adventure
    games.
    
    Steve

I may have made a mistake........

After making the decision on getting the Advantage, the stores I went to
didn't have it..   The last stop, did have one of the remote controllers
- I broke down (39.95) and picked one up.  

It "looks" like the standard controller that comes with Nintento - except
it does have rapid fire.  Without ever having used the Advantage, I 
don't know how they actually compare.  

I thought it may have been a concern to ensure the controller was always
pointed right at it's "box" - BUT it turned out the controller can be
pointed up to 80 degrees off and still be picked up.

The controller has an indicator red light that goes on when any of the
buttons are pushed. After using it for a couple of days (allot of use) the
red light tends to stay on for a period of time - after the buttons are 
released, which tends to keep things going/changing etc.

In addition - now that the batteries are starting to ware down - "things"
can happen that weren't "pushed for"......

If it gets allot of use (which is status quo in our house) it appears we're 
going to have to get chargeable batteries and a charger...

Without having used the Advantage - I can't say one way or the other which
is the better - although from the inputs, it appears the Advantage is 
preferred...

Dan

    I have tried the Mega, th Hyer, the MAX and the ADVANTAGE.  I find that
    the ADVANTAGE is the best!!!  The large buttons make it easier to fire,
    the turbo is great, the large joystick is needed for many games.  The
    MAX has this cycloid directional dial and that is the only think about
    the MAX that I didn't like.  PLUS the ADVATAGE has a slow-motion
    feature - granted it doesn't work with all games but evidently
    they(Nintendo) came up with idea for slow motion before incorporating
    slow motion into their games.  The ADVANTAGE is the best I think...

    *Debbie*
    
    
    
    

    Has anyone tried the Freedom Stick remote controller?  I am considering
    purchasing a remote controller and would like to hear about your
    experiences, good or bad, which them.
    
    Thanks,
    Paula
    

    Re: .14
    Is the Freedom Stick remote the one shaped like a triangle? If it
    is, I definitely have some feedback for you.
    /chuck

    re .15:
    
    The one which is just compatible with the Nintendo system only is
    indeed shaped like a triangle.  The one I had looked at is compatible
    with Nintendo, Sega, Atari, ... and is shaped much like the NES
    Advantage. 
    
    I'd still like to hear your feedback as I am assuming they both
    function in a similar manner.
    
    				-- Paula
    

    OK, well then, here's my comment on the triangular shaped remote
    controller. I tried it out on Metriod and had two problems with
    it. First, unlike the Advantage there's only one power switch to
    control *both* A and B buttons. (When I say "power switch," I'm
    talking about the extra button that puts you into automatic mode,
    so pressing down on the A or B buttons repeats automatically.) This
    makes it worthless for Metroid (and both Link adventures) which
    don't work well if automatic is selected for jumping. By contrast,
    the Advantage has separate autorepeat controls for the A and the
    B button.  So, in Metroid and Link games, I can autorepeat the B
    button for rapid fire but stay in normal mode for jumping. (I just
    remebered this is so for all jumping games, SMB included.)
    
    But, even if that weren't a problem, I discovered that there's a
    significant delay when holding down the fire (B) button. This
    translates into getting clobbered when you're face to face with
    something shoting something at you and the delay between the first
    shot and the subsequent shots is a much as two seconds! Even one
    second is a big delay.  I don't know if this is caused by the fact
    that it's a remote, but I went back to the good 'ol hard wired
    Advantage.
    /chuck

    re .17:
    
    Thanks for the comments.
    
    Has anyone had difficulties with response, when shooting, with any of
    the other remotes on the market?
    
    				-- Paula
    

Hi,

    We've been considering the purchase of the Advantage Controller.  One of
    my son's friends brought his over so that we could try it.  To our
    surprise, it didn't work on some of the games!  Was this a problem with
    his controller, or is this symptomatic of the Advantage?

    Specifically, it didn't work on Metroid -- our favorite game right now.
    we could push the start button 'til we were blue in the face, but the game
    wouldn't start.  It did work fine on Paperboy.  All the connections were
    in tight, I checked.

    Also, what exactly does the "slow" button do?  I asked my son's 7-year
    old friend, and got a very interesting performance.  But I still don't
    know what it does....

Thanks,
Doug

    Re: .19
    
    The controller definitely works for Metroid and should work for
    any game that the regular controllers work on.  Is it possible
    that the "player" switch was turned to #2, rather than 1?  I
    think it's the best choice going. 
    
    The "slow" option doesn't work on all games.  When it does, it
    does exactly what you'd think...slows down the game.  
    
    
    Bob

�    Also, what exactly does the "slow" button do?  
    
    It repeatedly pauses and unpauses the game.  If the game does not have
    a pause feature, the slow motion won't work.

    Re .19:
    
    Besides the switch set to player 2, as .20 mentioned, another
    possibility is that the player 2 plug was in the Nintendo's player one
    slot.
    
    
    				-- edp 

RE .20:

    Is it possible that the "player" switch was turned to #2, rather than 1?

& RE .22:

    another possibility is that the player 2 plug was in the Nintendo's
    player one slot.

I flipped the player 1<>2 switch back and forth several times, as well as
checking the connections.  No difference.  I'm willing to believe Mr. Lewis
that the Advantage will work, and that my son's friend had a bad controller.
Especially after watching him trip over his cord and pull our NES onto the
floor.  Twice.  (Sigh....)

Doug

    I agree completly,
    
    	If you are thinking of buying a new controller then I would suggest
    the advantage.  Your game play will improve because the joystick and
    the buttons are big enough for adult hands.  also the Slow feature is 
    great, I don't know what I would do without it when playing "Back to
    the future"  
    
    P.S. He knocked it on the floor twice....Ouch!
    
    					Happy Gaming  Kevin

Re Advantage:

	While I don't have a large number of games, I have found a couple ways
    to mess up with an Advantage.  In addition to getting the cables crossed
    and putting the player switch in the wrong position, check that -

    o	You have the slow button up (off) on startup.

    o	You have the turbo buttons are up (off).

	Especially with Metroids and SMB, you do NOT want turbo on when jumping.
    If it is, you end up with a short or aborted jump.  The controlers that have
    a single turbo control for both buttons would be a serious problem there.

	The slow option only works for games that use the START button to pause
    the game and do not bring up a pause screen.  Some games use SEL as the 
    pause control.  Does anyone know what would be required to exchange SEL and
    START on an Advantage, including surgical alteration of the PC board?

	I have also noticed that the Advantage will sometimes do the wrong
    thing like go left when you want it to go right.  (I sometimes do the
    wrong thing myself and have to watch out for that, but there are rare
    occasions when the only explination is that the controler or deck has
    screwed up.  Maybe it's time to clean the contacts on the deck.)

    I bought the NES Advantage a week of so after just buying the
    Nintendo game. For me I found a big 'advantage' with a joystick
    controller. Like was said before the larger buttons and the
    range of motion is superior to the regular Nintendo controllers.
    
    I am no Pro at Nintendo...haven't beat a game yet, %-}, but since
    I started 2 weeks ago on Mario Bro's and having rented about 10+
    games at the video store...I would reccommend it, as did Jack Cuniff
    who suggested I look into it as well.
    
    Yeah buy one.
    
    Have FUN!
    -Arthur