Arcade Sticks and Portable Profiles

One can only assume that the next VF for PS3 and 360 will sport portable profiles. Going to a gathering/tournament and constantly switching out memory cards (for 360 players) and USB sticks (for PS3 players) along with the sticks would quickly become a pain. My solution? Add a tiny USB hub to the next iteration of the VSHG (or whichever stick). Why? Because now players can simply throw their stick into a USB port and don't have to worry about anything else.

Basic concept: Hot swapping USB sticks with a player's unique profile via the extremely handy location of the arcade stick sitting in your lap.

I was originally going to suggest having a tiny amount of memory built inside for the stick, but that would cause problems with regards to sharing sticks since now you'd be sharing profiles. I was also going to suggest using something like SD cards or memory sticks, but not all PS3's have it and you don't need that much memory so the USB sticks would be easier and cheaper to get. There's also the possibility of actually using the VF cards that arcade players use. That would be great for arcade players who can use their own profiles at home and the like, but that alone brings up the issue of players boosting their ranks at home as well as the fact that availability of said cards outside of Japan would be scarce at best. Using something universal like USB which can have all sorts of different sizes (for players who need more memory for more characters...although 128Mb USB stick should be WAY more than enough) would be a fantastic solution.

If Sega can attach controller configurations to each profile, then you'd have something really special. Tournament hosts can then simply set up consoles and sticks and players simply hot swap their USB sticks as they play. No waiting for players to change their controller configurations and no fiddling around with USB slots. Quick and effective. The 40GB PS3, which only has 2USB ports, would really benefit from this idea.

Sega can also do a couple of nifty tricks to really seal the deal. They can make it so that the USB stick "follows" the controller. If it goes to the 2P side, then the profiles switch over automatically and if they can make the profile system universal for both 360 and PS3...then that would really be awesome (i.e. using the same USB stick for both versions of the game).

What do you guys think of the idea?

 

I love the idea. Something close, if not exactly the same, existed in PS2 VF4 ver. C. Put in memory cards on appropriate sides, select vs. mode, fight with profiles.

It would be great if it was brought back.

I like your arcade stick USB slot idea. Won't help pad players, though.

 

If you really want a usb hub in a vshg, it's very do-able. Wouldn't even need to solder anything, just open up the vshg, plug the joystick cable into the hub, run the hub's cable to the outside of the joystick (probably need an extension cord depending on the length of the hub cable). Secure the hub & the memory stick with some double-sided tape, and voila.

I dunno if usb sticks are usable for xbox360 profiles, though.

 

I'm pretty sure theyre not (thanks, microsoft). nice idea, though.

 

@Myke: 100% with you on that Myke!

@Kod: Thanks for the quick mod guide. It does seem rather easy (i.e. not that expensive to do).

@Plague: Thanks. Never played the original VF4 (only got into VF with VF4 evo). It's a damn shame they took out portable profiles since then. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

The reason I like my "USB hub in the arcade stick" idea is because of how close we would come to simulating the arcade experience. For example, take the Evo tournament. They set up a tonne of TVs, PS3's and arcade sticks all ready for the players. All they have to do is jam in their USB sticks, choose their character, and win! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif No messing around with controller configurations (provided the button layout for the sticks are all the same). It's quick, easy and makes for a seamless tournament experience. For X360 sticks, I guess you can just replace the USB hub with a 360 memory card hub (or whatever). Too bad this solution accomplishes nothing in regards to uniting 360 and PS3 players.

Of course, I'm also hoping that the likes of Tekken, Soul Calibur, DOA, and even the 2D games (SF, GG, KoF, etc etc) all adopt the portable profile philosophy (even if it's as simple as just having a custom controller configuration tied to your profile). That way, arcade stick manufacturers would be much more willing to adopt the USB/memory card hub feature for their own arcade sticks.