Im surprised there isnt a topic of this already, but the kickstarter for smashbox just started i thought it`d be nice if we had a thread where we could discuss all things smashbox. Legality,usage, whether you plan on buying, how you plan on using it, what you like or dont like about it etc
I remember a similar kerfluffle when the Hitbox was introduced to Street Fighter. It was OK'ed in SF, but SF doesn't have analog anything so it was an easier decision. Generally the rules for controllers are no chords and no sequences.
(Grab is a chord: Attack+Block, but you can map a button to Grab per the software so you can only get chords legally that way. It should NOT send 2 button inputs for a single button press because the game might handle the "grab" button differently that the A+Block chord, and all controllers should be subject to the same behavior there. Particular because the behavior is specially programmed for. What if you have to hold MP for Cody's Zonk Knuckle, which disallows you to Focus Attack because you can't MP+MK. So you map MP to a button and Focus Attack to a button. The software knows about this trick and disallows you, so you must deal with the restriction. But a programming error happens where if you map MP to two buttons and MK to a third, and hit MP + MK frame-perfectly together, the software is tricked and allows Cody to FA even when charging Zonk. If an alternative controller sent two button inputs for a single press, instead of using the software's FA chord, the alternative controller would have an unfair advantage because it can do naked frame-perfect MP+MK without using the software's FA.)
Digital inputs for analog angles is a very interesting concern all by itself. Generally when I hear "makes execution easier" I think of using an arcade stick to avoid having to use "the claw grip" on a pad. That makes a particular kind of everyday execution easier. Analog angles cast to digital buttons is kind of an edge case in my mind.
But when I hear, "you can program what angles you want it to do" I think that's a no, legal-wise. Programmable controllers are generally a no-go in general, albeit because it implies you're getting a perfect sequence of inputs for a single button press, such as a hadoken motion or pianoing a button for greater chance at frame-perfect stuff. I think the ruling is against programmability in general so we don't have slippery-slope edge cases. But it was also be weird if the only 50 angles the sboxx can do is set by the factory, ignoring the other 200 angles, with no chance of end-user modding.
Then again, maybe "programmable" is just the wrong word to use in the marketing speak. If they advertise it as, "you can mod which 50 angles your controller can do", that seems safer from a legality perspective.
Hm.