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Greetings and welcome to LGR Oddware! Today, we're taking a look at hardware and software that is odd, forgotten, and obsolete. And yes, we're taking a look at the Mouse Yoke this time, from 1992.

A device made of plastic and other materials, the Mouse Yoke adapts a normal computer ball mouse and turns it into a flight yoke in some way. We'll take a closer look at this unusual device to see what makes it so fascinating.

We've got the Mouse Yoke by Colorado Spectrum right here, and it was released in 1992. We're not quite sure why this device exists, but we can't deny its interest. Let's dive in and explore this oddity from the past.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Greetings and welcome to LGR Oddwarewhere we're taking a look at hardwareand software that is odd,forgotten, and obsolete.And yeah, we're taking a lookat the Mouse Yoke this time, from 1992!A device, plastic and other things,that adapts a normal computer ball mouseand turns it into a flight yoke, somehow.Yeah, let's take a look at this weirdness!All right, well we've got the Mouse Yokeby Colorado Spectrum.In 1992 is when this was released.And I don't know why,but I really like thename \"Colorado Spectrum\"as well as their logo.It's just, it's wonderful.But yeah, 1992 when this came outand that was for a suggestedretail price of $34.95here in the US,about $79 accounting for inflationas I'm recording this in 2024.\"Turn your mouse into arealistic aircraft-style yoke\"for Macintosh, Amiga,IBM and IBM Compatibles,laptops, notebooks, portables.If it's got a mouse that fits in there,then it's probably gonna work.And yeah, you can prettymuch see what the idea is.You just take your mouse andliterally strap it into placeand the rest of thisjust bolts onto a deskacting as a flight yokewith mousey appendages.The thrill of realistic flight in seconds.It's as easy as \"SSPS!\"Secure, strap, press, and slide.That sounds like a good time.\"New level of realism for software pilots.\"Uh, I mean, I guess.There were obviouslyplenty of yokes around.Gameport flight yokes were availablethroughout the '80s andinto the '90s, of courseand they still are, but yeah.They were just from all the usualjoystick manufacturers back then,usually around $80 to $100.Of course, with this, itwas a fraction of the pricefor similar results, probably, supposedly?You lose the use of your mouse, but, you know.And yeah, despite being very \"Made in the USA,\"I mean, it says it all over the place.I mean, the company's named\"Colorado,\" for goodness sake...I actually found this in the UKor from a UK seller on eBay.And I found a good number of adsactually, from different Amigaand Atari ST magazinesand other microcomputermags in English and French.So I guess it got a passportand got around back then.Now, as for Colorado SpectrumIncorporated themselves,they were founded in 1991in Fort Collins, Colorado.And I gotta tell you,it is a very annoying thingto search for nowadays.Search engines just wanna bring upSpectrum internet service in Colorado.But no, Colorado Spectrumjust made flight stufffor the most part.Their first product really seemsto have been this Mouse Yoke here,but they also made theMouse Wheel before too long,and, you know, that makes sense.It's the same thing butin racing wheel form.But also a couple of otherreally interesting deviceslike the Notebook Gameport,which, as the name implies,allows you to take a laptopor really any computerwithout a 15-pin gameportand use your serial port to get thatand then you have a mouse passthrough.A really interesting device.And they also offered the R/C: PC,which is a computer interfacethat you can connectto a remote control planecontrol unit to perform testsand diagnostics and things,but also use that controlunit as a PC joystick.And then one of the lastthings that they made,from what I can tell, were screen saverslike Feature Presentations: Flight in 1994.Perhaps they found softwarewas more lucrative.I don't know.It cost $40 for just that screensaver,five bucks more than the Mouse Yoke here.In terms of how it did in the reviewswith the press and whatnot,I mean, overall pretty well.It was praised for beinglow cost, as you'd expect,and being a pretty innovative designas well as using quality materials.There was particular praisefor the extruded anodized aluminum.But there were plenty of cons as well,the biggest one being thatthere was no fire button,really no buttons of any kind,and returning it tocenter was kind of iffy,and is pretty easy to knockthe mouse loose apparently.And there was concernsof the clamp it usedscarring your deskand aerial maneuvers like loopsand things were hardto perform, they said.However, that didn't stop it from gettingsome product tie-in endorsementstuff going on with it.I mean, it's got an officialMicrosoft Flight Simulator logoright there saying it's compatible with itfor MS-DOS and Macintosh.And in fact, it evenmade it into The OfficialMicrosoft Flight Simulator5.0 Strategy Guideright there in black and white.That's like, \"hey, this is a thing.You can use this if you don't wannashell out for a real yoke.\"The box does mentionsome other games by name.I particularly like that LHX is on there,but also Stunts, that's a driving game,so I'll have to try that.But it also says virtually any flightor driving sim that utilizes a mousefor directional control.I mean, in theory it shouldjust work with anything, right?It's a mouse, so we gotta try, like,a paint program or something.I don't know, Doom, why not?Anyway, whatever!That's enough talking about stuff.Let's just get this thing open.I don't think it's ever been used.I've never used it.All right, a bunch of paperwork.And here we go,all tidily packed into thisfitted cardboard packaging.We've got... shaft!Yeah there is the Mouse Yoke,just a hollowplastic thingy and that's it.Yeah, no buttons, no anything,just a kind of a logo and some plastic.And then this is, I guess,kinda the core of it,just where the mousestraps in right there.Nice, again, that wonderful logo and name,made in USA, extruded aluminum.We have our clamp.And this is one thing thatthe reviewers were on aboutis that this was kind of a harsh edge.There's no like, foam or anything,so it might mess up your desk.And it looks like it justgoes in there, right?It's as easy as SSPS.So. Yeeeah.I also did see it in some of the reviews.They were like, if youreally wanted to pull upand do those aerial moves and whatnot,it's like, ah, crap.It just comes right out.There's nothing holding it in there.But it's a pretty lengthy shaft.What is that, 10 inches?Oh, I was spot on.Yeah, I know my shaft length.Let's see here.I got some registrationstuff for Colorado Spectrum.Ooh, a free SpectrumMouse Yoke or Mouse Wheel,or, well, a chance to winone in a monthly drawing.PCs and Amigas, Macs, and Tandys.No mention of an Atari ST,even though it wasadvertised in ST Format.There is, of course, the MouseWheel, just an ad for it.Save $5 if you mail this inwith it up until June 1993.We just missed it.Got our quick start sheet.Interesting notes.Separate for Logitech mouse users.Okay, so yeah, adjusting sensitivity,but also turning off the ballistic effectalso known as mouse acceleration.I mean, I don't thinkit's turned on by defaultwith the regular, like,CuteMouse or MS Mouse driversthat are normally used.I'll check.\"Congratulations.You've purchased a qualityproduct made in the USA.\"Oh, over and over and over.Do you know where this was made?Oh, we got some suggested settings herefor some of the games,or I guess all the gamesthat were mentioned on the box.I guess these are justpopular ones that they tested.And got some troubleshooting tips here.Very important subjectmatter like what to doabout dirty shafts and balls.And some silliness, always welcome.The garage hasn't been cleaned in a month.You're spending too much timeusing flight simulation software.Loan your Mouse Yoke to a frienduntil you get your garage cleaned.Well, I loaned it to a friendand now I can't get it back.Tell 'em happy birthday.At this price you can affordto get yourself a new Mouse Yoke.All right, well, let's get this set up.Should be simple enough.I will need a mouse, though,'cause they got a Macone-button mouse thereand just kind of abeige-y two-button thing.Eh, let's check out the mouseinfestation in the basementand see what I got.All right, what do we got in here?These are all pretty specialty in there.I got more generic selections.Yeah, here we go.Like your standard Microsoft IntelliMouse,or what was that, Mouse Systems something.Oh, this is IBM.That's pretty basic.Actually, yeah, this oldLogitech something or other.Standard two-button serial mouse.Perfect.Put a little bit of tape on herejust to try to avoid the scuffing issue.I mean, considering the endof that is just pushing upagainst the bottom of the desk,if it gets scuffed up, I don't care.Heh.Make sure my ball bay is cleaned.Seems all right.So this just straps in and, okay.Yeah, there's definitely no adjustmentsto tighten it or anything.It's it's in there.Yeah.All righty.Well, it's all set up, and yeah.It works pretty much how you would expect.It's moving the mouse ball aroundwith a rod up againstthe bottom of the mouse.That's... that's it!That's what you get.I mean, no complaints in that respect.It does what it promised.Now, there is the difference between the Xand Y movements,so horizontally it's very fine movements,whereas opposed to Y hereis just extremely sensitive.And that's generally howit is anyway with a mouse.You don't normally notice it so muchwhen you're just usingthe mouse on its own,but when you're controlling itwith a rod sliding this way,it becomes incredibly noticeable.But yeah, I just wannatest a paint program here,and this is, oh yeah, okay.Hey, there we go.See if I can, whoop, whoop.Yeah, it's that up anddown sensitivity is nuts.Sure, LGR logo.Couldn't ask for any better.All right, so let's get a game openthat it specifically mentionedbeing compatible with,I mean, everything is gonnabe compatible, of course,that uses a mouse, but, you know.I guess the mouse is notimmediately supportedat least for the menu or this part.So yeah, it is supported ingame, so let's just do that.Oh!That's neat.Okay, very, very sensitive.Let's see here.I don't actually know if there's a wayto change the sensitivity.Well, there's slow mouse.Let's see what that does.Yeah, that actually, well, there you go.I should never have doubted you, LHX.Oh yeah.It's a little odd because, yeah,getting it sort of centered again is...I don't know, this feels weird.It's definitely not anabsolute position thing.It's relative to whereverall the components are.But the fact that it's on slow mouse,that definitely helps.So, oh man, I wish I had triggers.I was like, where's the buttons?Shoulda used hellfires.There we go.Yeah, it's expectedlyawkward, for sure, because,well, I mean, you know,look at this nonsense.Yeah, getting it centered is just,it's a constant struggle toget it centered back again,because, okay, this is exactly center,but this is not exactly center down here.So, like, now it's pushedall the way forward,except there's still more to goand now it's pulled all theway back according to the game,but there's still a lot more to go here.Yeah, I don't know.Could probably get used to this,but I immediately don't like it.And I also don't like up against here.This is a problem.I just paused it here.This plastic is bumpingup against the metalthat's clamped down to the desk.Yeah, that is in as far as it will go.It's up against the desk and the clampand everything is, it's in there.It physically can't goany farther in at all.But yeah, it's like, it'sreally up against it there.I can blow up camels just fine.Oh, this isn't great, either, dang it.Because of the way that this works,my fingers and everything arebumping right up against here.It's like it needs tostop right about here,but instead it goes all the way in, so...Oh, man.Yeah, see that?There's not even a finger width of spacebetween the yoke and the desk.So yeah, if you're all the wayin on that, that just sucks.And that's the same, well,similar kind of problem we'regetting here with the plastic.It's just, it's notunbearable, but it isn't great.Amusingly, these issuesthat I'm running intoare not mentioned here at all.So let's see how it doeswith some prop craft.There we are set to Mouse Yoketaking off from LaGuardia.Let's look there, parking brake off.Get the throttle going.Okay, and we're alreadygoing wherever the yoke wants us to.Eh, whatever.This concrete pad is fine.Ah, good enough.All right, we are in the airsomehow, haven't crashed.How do we change these views?I'm just curious to, oops.Nope, nope, didn't wanna do that.All right, it's a beautifulday in New York City.Oh, okay.My goodness, the centering,yeah, that is very much a thing.Okay, let's say thatright here is centered.All right, here's gonna be my solution.Just gonna just pull thatout and put that right back.Oh yeah, yeah, that didn't work at all.Crap, come on, go forward.I need to really go forward.Ugh, this is not good.Less throttle.I need to change the flaps.Ah, no!it would help if I had theflaps in the right position,but, oh, come on.Okay, well, you know,I forgot the planes actuallybust apart in this version.Flight Simulator 98 is great.It would definitely help tohave some different sensitivityfor X and Y.I don't know if you can actually do that.Yeah, we can adjust overall sensitivity,but not individually for X and Y.That is unfortunate.It's the up and down that are insane.Oh, well, that's gonna be that.Yeah, well, you know,this thing is dangerous.All right, so let's trysomething else, Doom II.Let's get our wheel inplace here for, like,a NASCAR F1 situation.Oh yeah, so we got some mouseselection going on here.Very sensitive.Oh, whoa, whoa.Didn't mean to go therealready, but all right.This is wild.How are we gonna...I'll just do that for shoot.Control over there.Yeah, there we go.Well, perhaps I should justuse it for the left and right.Talk about driving thesedemons back to hell.Oh, I kinda want the stupidsteering wheel version now,just because.Oh, well, well, time to punch.I'll kill you with a Mouse Yoke.Yeah, you guys suck.Ah well, you know, I suck worse.So, let's see, let's trysome Unreal Tournament.All right, okay, whoa, whoa, whoa.- You suck.- Yes, yes, I do.Okay, okay, okay.Oh, oh, oh, oh.Oh no.Well, you know, oh, oh, shoot, shoot.Yeah, killed somebody.Ah.Okay, I could probablyget this a little betterif I map shooting over tosomething else over here.Let's...Well, I really gotta trya driving game after this.Oh, come on now.Hey.It helps that I've turnedthe bot difficulty down,like, all the way.Aw.All right, so this did specificallymention, was it Stunts?Yeah, let's give that ashot as a driving thing.Wait, how do we do this?What, right click is accelerate?Fine.Oh yeah, this is pretty good.Immediately so much betterthan anything we've tried so far.Oh, oh, lost it there.Again, the centering is a bit of a,okay, well, okay, well.All right, so I am centered here,both here and on the screen.So I turn this way, that's a full turn.Turn that way, it's a full turn.And returning to center, itjust is a full turn again.I do have the accelerationturned off, too.I mean, it is just a rubber ballrubbing against this plastic rod,so whatever, though.It's not the most importantin this game, really.I mean, it would be nice if it centered.This just makes me wanna whipout an actual racing wheeland play this.Okay, how did that land andI was okay, I don't know.Lamborghini Countach is made of magic.But yeah, even withoutthe proper centering,this is pretty fun consideringI'm literally just usinga regular mouse and a goofyplastic and metal appendage.I do wish this in particularwas a racing wheelbecause nobody wants to drive with a yoke.All right, one last thingwith Descent II running here.Just had to test it.What about an optical mouse?Will it work with that?Well, check this out.It actually does, for the most part.The problem is, well,see, now the X and Y,sometimes it just doesn'tdo anything at allif you move it quickly.Like, you have to do itreally fast along the Y axis,but along the X, like,even just sort of doingthat, it doesn't do anything.You have to do it slowlyso that it tracks it.Some of that may just be due to, you know,a black kind of shiny finish.Either way, this is stilla silly half-baked oddity.Well, that's about itfor the Colorado Spectrum Mouse Yoke,about as straightforward apiece of Oddware as it gets.And I gotta admit, sometimesthat's my favorite kind.It straight up doeswhat it says on the tinand not a bit more.The type of wildlypractical low cost solutionthat I have to appreciate for what it is.Although, yeah, it's obviousthere are design flaws.The fact that the yoke pushesall the way up againstthe base and the deskand collides against things is annoying.And the centering issue is an issue,a huge one, really,since a large appeal of aflight yoke instead of a mousein flight sims is that absolute control.You know, exactly howmovements translate in gameso that muscle memory kicks in.That's something that's not possible here.Since a mouse has no absolute center,you're meant to move iton a desk, pick it up,move it again once you get to the edge.And plus there's theextra sensitive Y axisfor controlling pitch.To address that, you reallyneed games like Duke Nukem 3D,or rather, its setup program,since it's one that lets youspecifically adjust both the Xand Y axis of the mouse independently.That's not a common feature.And even then the Y axis pitchis still far more sensitivethan the X axis roll.And yes, I also tried pureDOS with TSR mouse driversand no acceleration enabled.Same issues.You know, driving games reallyseem to be the best use casesince the Y axis is completely ignored,but that relies on the gamehaving support for mousecontrolled steering,something that becamepretty scarce beyond,like, 1994 or so.Eh, whatever.This thing was relativelycheap and it did what it said,and sometimes on LGR Oddware,that's all you can ask for.And if you enjoyed thisepisode of Oddware,then check out my others,like the KeyStik Clip-on Joystick,another oddity that triedturning a regular peripheralinto a gaming one.Or stay tuned for new stuffwith early access to episodesnow available throughLGR YouTube memberships.And as always, thanks for watching.\n"