I must admit to never liking Centipede. I never really liked the trackball controller (had a knack for getting pinched by it), and the ambiance didn't work for me. Some of the games Mark plays above actually look a bit nicer to me; perhaps because they're a bit slower and less frantic.
It's a pity you never liked the trackball as a controller, as it - much like the spinner (which functions in a somewhat similar manner at its core) - provides a control mechanism that the modest joystick just is not up to. There are many trackball designs, including "no pinch" designs. The one on my MAME machine is not advertised as such, but it's designed in a way where there's no real possibility of a "pinch".
You should also check out the roller controller on the ColecoVision. It was well implemented and really the only other properly supported trackball controller besides the one for the Atari 5200 (which was superb). The standard Atari home trackball (standard Atari joystick port compatible) only received limited native mode support ("trackball" mode versus "joystick" mode), and really only on the Atari 8-bit line.
*************************** Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
I must admit to never liking Centipede. I never really liked the trackball controller (had a knack for getting pinched by it), and the ambiance didn't work for me. Some of the games Mark plays above actually look a bit nicer to me; perhaps because they're a bit slower and less frantic.
It's a pity you never liked the trackball as a controller, as it - much like the spinner (which functions in a somewhat similar manner at its core) - provides a control mechanism that the modest joystick just is not up to. There are many trackball designs, including "no pinch" designs. The one on my MAME machine is not advertised as such, but it's designed in a way where there's no real possibility of a "pinch".
You should also check out the roller controller on the ColecoVision. It was well implemented and really the only other properly supported trackball controller besides the one for the Atari 5200 (which was superb). The standard Atari home trackball (standard Atari joystick port compatible) only received limited native mode support ("trackball" mode versus "joystick" mode), and really only on the Atari 8-bit line.
***************************
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.