GrIP User’s Guide
Chapter 1 – Introduction
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Introduction
Thank you for choosing to upgrade your computer gaming environ-
ment with Gravis GrIP™. Your new MultiPort™ and GrIP-Pad™ con-
trollers are based on the patent-pending Gravis Interface Protocol
(GrIP). GrIP technology allows game controllers to communicate bi-
directionally, at high speed, through a standard PC game port.
The PC game port has changed little since its introduction over 15
years ago. It supports a maximum of two controllers, X and Y axes for
each, and two buttons for each controller; and the task of reading a
single analog joystick uses 12 to 14% of CPU cycle time, slowing the
performance of your games. As the developers of today‘s complex
games try to add more players, dimensions, and special functions to
their games, the limitations of the standard game port get in the way.
Gravis GrIP opens the door to radical game development. GrIP technol-
ogy imposes no practical limit on the number of controllers, buttons,
and axes that can be connected to a single PC game port. The
MultiPort allows you to connect four GrIP controllers or two traditional
joysticks. And the MultiPort supports all eight independent buttons on
each connected GrIP-Pad.
