Re: Under appreciated hardware/software for Apple II's

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Brian J. Bernstein writes ...
>
>   Actually, I would move to say that Paddle-Adapple was rather popular
> and not shy of advertisements.. ....
>

     Yes; however, very few games ever took advantage of Paddle-Adapple's 
dual-stick capability. Also, except for the January '85 issue of inCider, 
I do not recall reading any Paddle-Adapple reviews. 

 
>   Just to note it for people not familiar with this device, it was
> basically a small circuit board (about 3"x2") with a connector that ran
> to the Apple's joystick port, and then two ports on this board. A small
> toggle switch let you select which port you wanted to use, so you could
> have two controllers (or a joystick and a set of paddles, or a joystick
> and a Koala pad, etc..) and it wouldn't be that difficult to switch
> between the two. This was more important to the original ][ and ][+
> since their game connector was internal (a 16-pin DIP socket), and if
> you wanted to switch from Paddles to Joystick, you had to open the
> computer and switch the connector around. This made the connector
> external (MUCH easier!). The jumpers he mentioned was basically a 32-pin
> DIP socket which let you put jumper wires across for which of the 16
> pins you wanted to connect. This device did not make it possible to have
> two joysticks simultaneously.

     Did so! As noted in the Paddle-Adapple ("for Apple II, //e, & 
Franklin") data sheet, with the switch set to "A" plus proper jumper 
settings, you can access two two-button sticks. A Paddle-Adapple is 
connected to our II+. It's been used for numerous two-stick sessions of 
"One-on-One". The jumper socket has 22 pins. (Perhaps you are thinking of 
some other adapter?)

 
>   Again, the device faded from view around 84/85 since it wasn't as much
> of a hassle to switch controllers on the external ports of the 'new' //e
> and //c computers.
>

     This was, probably, the main factor. Even had more two-stick games 
been produced, the new, external port could easily have accommodated two 
one-button sticks via a simple Y-connector. 



Rubywand