Hello all.  This is something I've been thinking about for quite a while, but I have never before gotten feedback from anyone who is as heavily into space sims as I am, so it should be interesting to see what this site's patrons think.

The mouse vs. joystick debate has reached maximum temperature with the upcoming releases of SC and Elite: Dangerous.  SC in particular has invoked passion on the subject far beyond anything I've seen anyone display toward their wives or girlfriends.  I had been somewhat neutral on the subject having used both mouse+keyboard and joysticks (both standard and HOTAS) extensively, and am heavily financially invested in both types of setups.  Lately, I have come to find mouse+keyboard superior, or at least mouse+G13.  There are several reasons for this, first, and primarily, I find that the joysticks simply cannot achieve the kind of precision a high quality gaming mouse can, which is requisite for the more sophisticated space sims.  Second, the best space sims are 6DOF, and translations are important.  I'm currently using with my left hand the Logitech G13, which has a thumbstick perfectly suited for lateral and vertical translations, and which still leaves most of my fingers free.  This is far superior to joystick hats, and (at least in theory) it can be mapped to analog.  I can still set main engine throttle with mouse scroll, or any number of buttons.  Admittedly, the mouse has some slight disadvantages, it is not as comfortable setting rotation to zero (i.e. taking your hand off the joystick) and if mouse velocity is mapped to ship rotational velocity (as opposed to mouse position being mapped to rotational velocity, i.e. with a deadzone) then there are range of motion problems, although I find I can still be pretty effective with the mouse in Freespace.  This latter problem is really only for games which are not designed for mouse, and isn't really a deficiency of the mouse as a control surface.  Lastly, I notice that a lot of people like joysticks for the sake of "immersion".  This is definitely something I appreciate, but for space sims I think it certainly makes sense that spacecraft built hundreds or thousands of years in the future would have more evolved, perhaps more appropriate control surfaces.  In a way, you might consider it more immersive to have anything OTHER than a joystick.

Surely some (perhaps most) people will rave against the conclusions of the last paragraph, but I don't much begrudge it since I too have spent much time using joysticks, in some ways appreciating them for nostalgia more than anything else.

Anyway, I can't help but feel that the mouse (even with the G13) is in some sense sub-optimal.  Perhaps there is a 3rd, better option?  Well, there sort of is, it is called a 3D mouse:

http://www.3dconnexion.com/products/spacepilot-pro.html

To be clear, these are not designed for gaming (the manufacturer's advertisements notwithstanding).  They actually bear more resemblance to a joystick than a mouse.  They are mainly designed for use with CAD software, but are also used frequently for 3D modeling.  I know some people in the engineering field who have used them and swear by them, saying they'd never go back, but again, this is for CAD's not gaming.  I have not used one myself, as they are extremely expensive and I know it would be folly to try to use one that is not specifically designed for gaming as it would be a nightmare to setup, and is obviously not supported by any existing game.  I can't help but notice though, that they could easily have everything you need: it is designed specifically for 3 rotations + 3 translations (the full 3D Euclidean Poincaire group), exactly what we want in space sims.  If you add 2 buttons to the knob, you'd have essentially 6*(2 directions)+2=14 buttons accessible with one hand (12 of which are analog), without having to move your fingers.  

Anyway, these will never be around for gaming unless people show some desire for a better control surface.  So, is there interest in this?  Do others feel that both joystick and mouse+keyboard are inadequate?  Has anybody who has used one but who also plays a lot of space sims agree this is a good idea?  Do existing models have the sensitivity that would be needed (hopefully, if they do not, the limitation can be overcome in newer models)?  I'd be interested to see any discussion.

Personally, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to find a major organ or limb I'd be willing to give up to have one of these which is specifically designed for space sims, and which is supported by said sims.  I was wondering if anybody else could summon as much enthusiasm for this as I can.