Use ANY Controller Lag Free over USB!
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2019-05-06
·
2,421 words · ~12 min read
0:00
So it's Friday night and you're, you're broing out.
0:02
You got this great idea.
0:03
You're like, yeah, you know what, man?
0:04
We should play some retro games.
0:06
All of them.
0:06
Because emulation isn't dying
0:09
because of Nintendo lawsuits.
0:11
Oh.
0:12
Anyway, fortunately, you're a well-equipped retro gamer.
0:14
You got all kinds of controllers
0:16
for all kinds of amazing retro consoles.
0:18
N64, SNES, original NES.
0:21
Yes.
0:23
Coleco.
0:23
Wow.
0:24
But there's only one problem.
0:26
Even though you've got your emulation PC all set up
0:29
and you got your retro arch.
0:31
Oh, can he turn this?
0:32
Oh, wow.
0:33
This is terrible.
0:34
Everything is terrible.
0:35
You're going to have to come around.
0:36
You got your retro arch all set up
0:38
with all your games and everything.
0:40
Then you're like, oh, how do I plug?
0:43
How do I plug one of these into one of these?
0:49
If only there was a solution.
0:53
Oh, there it is.
0:55
And we're going to tell you about it
0:56
after this word from our sponsor.
0:58
Mack Weldon.
0:59
Mack Weldon makes great underwear, t-shirts,
1:01
socks, wallets, and more.
1:03
They believe in simple shopping.
1:04
And if you use code TECHTIPS,
1:06
you will get 20% off your next purchase.
1:08
So go check them out at the link below.
1:18
So this right here is the Bliss Box.
1:23
In the box, you get the Bliss Box adapter,
1:25
which has got one USB-B,
1:29
so a USB-2-B at the back.
1:32
Then it's got four HDMI connectors.
1:36
Now, here's a funny thing that a lot of people don't know.
1:39
There is a huge difference
1:41
between physical connection standards
1:44
and electrical connection standards.
1:47
And while you might see an HDMI port,
1:49
that's a totally normal HDMI port,
1:51
and go, okay, so that's for video, right?
1:53
You might not always be correct.
1:55
And I have seen HDMI used for all kinds of things.
1:58
I've even seen it used for PCI Express.
2:00
That was pretty weird.
2:02
In this case, all they needed was some kind of cheap,
2:05
standard connector that they could get
2:07
that had enough pins for everything.
2:08
For everything they could possibly want to connect to it.
2:11
And can you walk us through, what are all these?
2:13
Some of them are fairly recognizable.
2:15
I don't know if they're all labeled.
2:16
That's SNES.
2:17
This is SNES.
2:18
This is NES.
2:20
This looks like GameCube.
2:21
There's the Coleco.
2:23
They ship you the Bliss Box,
2:24
and then this entire bouquet.
2:28
Oh, thank you.
2:28
Oh, it's so cute.
2:30
Of adapters, so that you could have four controllers
2:33
for pretty much any retro console you would want.
2:36
And you don't have to go with,
2:38
even the slightly different experience
2:41
that you might get with something like
2:43
an 8-bit Doh controller.
2:44
Wait, is this from 8-bit Doh?
2:46
Oh wow, no, this is from a SNES Mini.
2:47
Yeah.
2:48
Oh, so this is first party.
2:49
Yeah.
2:50
All right then.
2:51
Does this have an adapter too?
2:51
No.
2:52
Oh.
2:53
That was a mistake.
2:54
We did not think of that.
2:55
So in terms of setup, honestly, there's not a whole lot.
2:56
You gotta configure these dip switches
2:58
to determine whether you want four-play mode
3:00
or single-play mode.
3:01
And then it doesn't require external power.
3:03
You just go ahead and pop that USB in the back.
3:06
It supports a hundred plus types of controllers.
3:08
So everything we've got here,
3:10
I mean, with the exception of maybe this,
3:11
is pretty mainstream from a retro gaming perspective.
3:14
And it even supports advanced functionality
3:16
like pressure-sensitive buttons on PS2 controllers
3:19
in games that support that.
3:20
And it has the ability to detect
3:23
what kind of controller is in what type of port.
3:26
So your emulator, just with a restart at worst,
3:30
should be able to pick up exactly
3:32
what all the button bindings are
3:33
without any dinking around whatsoever.
3:35
The last major benefit of this,
3:37
aside from that it's just
3:38
a single cable solution,
3:39
instead of having a bunch of dongles
3:40
hanging out of the front of your case,
3:42
is that it is extremely low latency.
3:45
So the idea, and we went and obtained
3:47
this mammoth of a TV specifically
3:51
so that we could evaluate that for ourselves,
3:53
the idea is that you should have
3:55
an as-good-as-original latency gaming experience.
4:00
But I'm not sure if I buy it yet.
4:02
Let's see.
4:04
One thing we missed,
4:05
apparently you need to reset the bliss box
4:07
when you change the controllers around.
4:08
I think there was a button here.
4:09
So every one of them has a button right beside it.
4:14
Not yet.
4:15
Oh, I see what's going on.
4:17
It's plugged into the keyboard.
4:20
Oh, well, we don't have it plugged in at all.
4:24
Dang it.
4:25
When you're trying to reset it and stuff,
4:27
it should say some kind of yellowy text
4:29
at the bottom of the emulator.
4:31
If that isn't showing up, maybe not plugged in.
4:35
There we go.
4:36
All right. Wait, what?
4:37
Hold on. I'm just doing mine too.
4:39
Is yours working?
4:41
It was working for like a second.
4:44
And then I touched it.
4:48
Okay. So we had some problems and we have re-equipped.
4:52
I went home.
4:53
I got my SNES controllers, like OG SNES controllers,
4:56
and my PS2 DualShocks.
4:59
Also, we figured out what was going on
5:02
with Luke's PlayStation controller.
5:04
It's Mad Catz.
5:06
There's also like a fray on the cable.
5:08
There's some detection issues there.
5:10
The N64 controller is trying to work.
5:11
Yeah. The N64 controller is trying to work.
5:11
Yeah. The N64 controller is trying to work.
5:11
Turns out that was a retroarch issue.
5:13
And then finally, the Coleco,
5:15
it looks like these are very simple devices.
5:18
There's nothing to really detect,
5:20
but there's a manual override.
5:21
So we're just gonna try again.
5:24
Can we just play some SNES games?
5:26
Because like the whole thing
5:29
is it's supposed to be really low latency.
5:30
Like there's some part of the USB standard that it's using
5:34
that mostly gets ignored.
5:35
That's supposed to allow it to be interrupt driven.
5:39
It's so, theoretically, it's like the best thing
5:41
ever.
5:42
Okay. So can we just do Super Mario World?
5:44
Yes, absolutely.
5:44
Okay. Because within a very short period of time,
5:47
I should be able to tell in this game.
5:49
This is my jam.
5:50
You probably have more experience here than me,
5:51
but I've also played this game a bunch.
5:53
Are you calling me old?
5:54
No, it's a classic.
5:56
Classic, shut up.
5:57
You just were, you know,
5:59
part of it when it first came out.
6:00
That's all.
6:02
This is feeling pretty good actually.
6:04
I kind of zoned out just watching,
6:06
but it looks like it's going well.
6:08
Oops.
6:11
Oh, why did I do that?
6:13
Dang it.
6:15
Stupid.
6:15
No more super high points for you.
6:17
Stupid.
6:21
That's feeling good.
6:24
Trying real hard right now.
6:29
SNES Super Mario World.
6:32
I'm impressed.
6:33
Works good.
6:34
I'm impressed.
6:34
Zero issues from my stance.
6:35
All right. Okay.
6:36
You pick the game this time.
6:37
You pick the game.
6:38
Pick a game where you know how to play it and I don't.
6:40
See, I'm not this old.
6:43
We're going to do this one.
6:44
You hyped me up on this.
6:45
Okay. We can play another Linus game.
6:47
I'm going to be cool.
6:49
I'm going to be hairy.
6:51
Okay.
6:52
Flatland is like,
6:53
I'm pretty into Flatland.
6:54
You have to do Flatland.
6:57
Which one even am I?
6:58
I'm up here.
6:59
What the heck?
7:00
Okay. I don't remember any of the controls.
7:02
Okay. I don't even know what just happened there.
7:05
I think having the AIs in here might've been a mistake.
7:08
Okay. What the heck, dude?
7:11
Wait, was that, is that you?
7:12
Yeah. There you go.
7:14
Eat that bone, loser.
7:16
That's right.
7:17
Now you know what's up.
7:18
Wait. Oh boy.
7:22
Oh, I just picked up a heart.
7:23
I think, I think I picked up a heart.
7:25
Oh. Someone threw a log at me.
7:26
Eat logs, loser.
7:29
Oh crap. I just got bombed.
7:30
I'm in danger.
7:32
Whoa.
7:32
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
7:34
Watch out.
7:35
Watch out. He's got the bomb.
7:38
No.
7:44
So anyway, this is-
7:45
We should probably move on,
7:45
but that's actually kind of fun.
7:46
This is a game that I used to play.
7:47
I miss games like that.
7:48
Yeah.
7:49
That are just like,
7:50
you can kind of figure it out kind of right away.
7:52
Stupid, dumb fun.
7:53
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
7:54
Okay. That was cool.
7:55
I liked that.
7:55
Also, no problem with the controllers.
7:57
Yep. Everything seemed to work fine.
7:58
Yep. Feeling good.
7:59
Yeah. GameCube controllers are apparently like,
8:01
Yeah.
8:02
A thing now?
8:02
Yeah.
8:09
AudioCop.
8:10
Yeah. Thank you. I heard it.
8:12
Sorry. Which-
8:13
I don't care.
8:16
Yeah. Let's do Flower Cup.
8:19
Jeez. What a guy.
8:20
I'm funny. To me.
8:26
See ya. See ya.
8:29
Whatever. I have the crappy analog stick,
8:31
which actually is making more of a difference
8:33
than it was previously.
8:34
So I've been playing this game
8:36
with the classic controller on the Wii.
8:39
And, um,
8:40
I thought I sucked at this game,
8:42
but actually I don't.
8:43
That controller just is not actually very good.
8:47
So wait.
8:47
Because I'm perfectly good at this game now.
8:48
The jank N64 controller you have right now
8:50
is better than the classic one.
8:52
Oh, so much better.
8:53
I mean, part of it too, though, again, is muscle memory.
8:55
Like there's no way I would have been able to overtake
8:57
that truck on the classic controller.
9:01
There we go. Come on, baby.
9:02
Show me that first place.
9:04
Yeah, you got it.
9:05
I'm like gonna hopefully get six.
9:07
I got completely wrecked.
9:08
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
9:09
Ah.
9:11
Oh.
9:11
Oh, that was hard to watch.
9:12
I actually hated this controller.
9:14
Really?
9:15
I did not realize.
9:16
I didn't mind these controllers.
9:17
This fight, I just got tools.
9:19
I just didn't like how asymmetrical they were.
9:21
Like it's a weird ergonomic situation here for me.
9:25
Are you ready to play some burger time?
9:26
No, I want to watch you play first.
9:33
Oh.
9:34
I think I'm dead now though.
9:36
Yeah, super dead.
9:36
But I put one.
9:38
Okay.
9:39
So you have to step on something
9:40
and make it fall.
9:43
Go, go, go.
9:44
You're in.
9:46
Okay.
9:49
This seems like the place where I have the most options.
9:53
They're on you though.
9:55
I know.
9:56
I just, I want them all behind me.
9:57
Oh, that's a whole burger.
10:02
Here he goes.
10:04
Okay.
10:05
We get to see what this is.
10:06
Yeah.
10:07
It is.
10:07
It's free life.
10:08
That's awesome.
10:11
Yeah, that's right.
10:12
You all went that way.
10:13
Good trick.
10:14
Oh, no.
10:16
Very good run.
10:17
Very good run.
10:18
Okay.
10:19
I think we can make it.
10:24
Okay.
10:25
Yeah.
10:26
They had you.
10:27
What?
10:28
What?
10:29
So I think really we can draw our conclusion, right?
10:32
Yeah.
10:33
If the objective of the foreplay from Bliss Box
10:36
is low latency, multi-controller support,
10:40
then I think they're a lot of the way there.
10:42
There's still some software niggles
10:44
that a lot of them are as much to do
10:46
with third-party software as they are to do
10:49
with Bliss Box's implementation.
10:51
But it does mean that the user experience
10:53
with what with the resetting controllers
10:55
and restarting your software every time is not amazing.
11:00
Yeah.
11:01
And there's the cost issue.
11:02
It is not cheap at 55 bucks for the box
11:05
and then $7 each for the adapters.
11:07
Especially when you compare it to something like this
11:09
that costs anywhere from 15 to 25 bucks
11:13
for a couple of controllers.
11:14
I mean, seven times two is a lot of that cost,
11:18
but the latency.
11:22
And the ability to have this sitting on your desk
11:24
and hot swap controllers,
11:25
as much as you want.
11:26
Even though you still have to have a lot of dongles
11:28
sitting in a drawer somewhere.
11:29
That's true.
11:30
So I think they're on a good path.
11:33
The retro gaming experience,
11:35
aside from our choice of titles,
11:37
actually a lot of fun.
11:39
Yeah.
11:40
So...
11:40
I mean, BurgerTime was pretty mint.
11:42
We're giving it a conditional thumbs up.
11:45
Yeah.
11:46
Conditional thumbs up.
11:47
Still some work to do on the software and the ease of use.
11:49
And luckily all the problems can be software
11:51
or firmware updated.
11:53
But controller support was actually pretty darn good,
11:55
across the board for us.
11:57
And we even got Dreamcast support, apparently,
11:58
which is pretty cool.
11:59
Yeah.
12:00
Ting!
12:01
Ting is the mobile carrier that makes sense.
12:03
It's the mobile carrier that lets you call them
12:05
and talk to an actual person,
12:07
which, I mean, who could imagine that in this day and age?
12:10
You need to talk to customer service,
12:12
you actually call and someone picks up and is like,
12:13
hello, what can I do for you?
12:15
And you don't even pay extra for the privilege.
12:18
With Ting, you pay only for the data
12:20
and the talk time that you use.
12:21
And the average Ting bill is just 23 bucks a month
12:24
per device.
12:25
Or if you switch to Ting,
12:26
they'll cover 25% of your cancellation fee
12:29
from your existing contract up to $75.
12:31
And this is great.
12:33
If you check out their savings calculator,
12:35
which we're gonna have linked below,
12:36
and you would save money on Ting,
12:38
if you use our link,
12:39
so that's linus2018.ting.com,
12:42
you will get 25 bucks in service credit
12:45
or towards a new device.
12:46
So don't wait, go check them out today.
12:49
So thanks for watching, guys.
12:50
If you disliked this video, you can hit that button.
12:52
But if you liked it, hit like, get subscribed,
12:54
or maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff
12:56
we featured at the link in the video description.
12:58
Also down there is our merch store,
12:59
which has cool shirts like this one.
13:00
Yeah, you'll like this one.
13:02
And our community forum.
13:03
Community forum!
13:04
Which you should definitely join.
13:06
And Floatplane.
13:07
And Floatplane, you should join that too.
13:09
And you should probably get a ColecoVision controller
13:11
so you can play it perfectly.
13:12
You should probably not do that at all.
13:15
I am not endorsing the ColecoVision at this time.