Ironically, the Atari -like joystick from the 2000’s from Walmart for $15 that plugs directly into your TV with games stored in the joystick is a better joysticks than the original 2600 joysticks.
However, I would contend that the Intellivision controller was worse.
I had a Colecovision (and Vic 20), and although I will say that was better than the 2600 and Intellivision joystick, I have to emphasize to all these youngsters complaining about the original NES controllers that those were still an improvement over previous default joysticks.
Flashbacks! This reminds me of my first Gravis Gamepad (IIRC). Was a disappointing joystick, even compared to old Intellivision controllers.
It was okay with fighting games, and I do recall a nineties PC giant robot fighting game (One Must Fall maybe?)
Still, my first joystick that I actually loved and made a game much better was an old CH Products flightstick. Early flightstick, so it only added a throttle to the base, so no rudder control.
I remember playing Comanche Maximum Overkill with that stick and just popping in and out of canyons. Also Earthsiege and Strike Force Centauri. I ended up with a Saitek Flightstick, and it was even better (Independence War is a fond memory) but the difference was not as revolutionary as going from a regular joystick to that first CH Products flightstick.
The developer of Fist Puncher has an insightful “Promoted Comment” now on the Ars Technica article:
therealmattkain I’m one of the creators and developers of Fist Puncher which was also published by Adult Swim on Steam. We received the same notice from Warner Bros. that Fist Puncher would be retired. When we requested that Warner Bros simply transfer the game over to our studio’s Steam publisher account so that the game could stay active, they said no. The transfer process literally takes a minute to initiate (look up “Transferring Applications” in the Steamworks documentation), but their rep claimed they have simply made the universal decision not to transfer the games to the original creators.
This is incredibly disappointing. It makes me sad to think that purchased games will presumably be removed from users’ libraries. Our community and our players have 10+ years of discussions, screenshots, gameplay footage, leaderboards, player progress, unlocked characters, Steam achievements, Steam cards, etc. which will all be lost. We have Kickstarter backers who helped fund Fist Puncher (even some who have cameo appearances in the game) who will eventually no longer be able to play it. We could just rerelease Fist Puncher from our account, but we would likely receive significant backlash for relaunching a game and forcing users to “double dip” and purchase the game again (unless we just made it free).
Again, this is really just disappointing. It seems like more and more the videogame industry is filled with people that don’t like and don’t care about videogames. All that to say, buy physical games, make back-ups, help preserve our awesome industry and art form. March 7, 2024 at 12:51 am
I used to use PlayOnLinux for exactly this thing. It’s a front end/manager for WINE. Heroic and Lutris are similar, but have carried the concept further.
I loved Earthsiege! IIRC I got the game with an expansion card (STI Lightning 128?), and it really was fun playing with my first flight stick, a CH Products flight stick.
There are some remakes of adventure game classics out there, Day of the Tentacle specifically comes to mind. Not sure if it’s “one-finger friendly” though.
Got distracted playing Beyond A Steel Sky, and it seems designed more for controllers, with one stick for looking, b add the other for moving. Granted I didn’t force it to use mouse inputs only.
Got so many good games through Humble Bundle. I remember the early days when all the games were Linux compatible. That was around when I stopped dual booting and just ran Linux full time.
I’ll double check on my Steam Deck, but from what you described, many old point-and-click game would also work, since a mouse input without right clicking should translate well one finger touch input. This might make SCUMMVM and all the compatible classic adventure games potential successes. More modern adventure games might also work well.
Like I said, I’ll have to test, but tentatively I’ll suggest:
SCUMMVM + numerous classic adventure games (Amazon Queen and Beneath A Steel Sky are available for free for the SCUMM project, completely legally).
I’d agree. In theory, there are many legitimate reasons to “sell” FOSS software. If I was putting it on a DVD, labelling, and mailing FOSS software my time and materials certainly deserve to be rewarded. Likewise, listing it on closed store like the MS store but keeping it updated from sources might make it easier for people embedded in the MS ecosystem to keep up to date.
I would expect legitimate repackagers/redistributors to be open that the software itself is freely available though. Besides I fear the well is poisoned by hustlers trying to sell something free for cheap to make a quick buck.