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The History of the Game Controller
1up.com has up a feature going through the history of the game controller. Starting in the dark ages of the PDP-1, the article moves all the way up to Nintendo's mysterious Revolution controller. From the article: "And when will Nintendo tip its hand? All we know at this point is that the Revolution will be backwards compatible with GameCube controllers, so at the very least the system will support all the functionality you're used to. But apart from that, will the controller feature a built-in touch screen and microphone, like the Nintendo DS? Is it just a box of brain-wave-reading goo? One thing is for sure: if history is any indication, there's no telling what the game controller we use twenty years from now will look like. And just as long as there's no numeric keypad, we should be okay."
N64 also gets credit for bringing back 4 controller ports on the system, something lost since the Atari 8-bits...every intermediate system neeeded a multitap, external hardware that never gets as much support as the base unit. DC and Xbox got the idea; Sony remains steadfast against it, and is the poor sister when it comes to party and splitscreen games.
As for
Say what you will about the Sega Dreamcast, but can we at least admit that its standard control pad was a carnival of screwups?
I think that's a huge stretch. Maybe for fighters it could've used more buttons (though I hate 6 similar buttons), and possibly a second analog controller, it brought in good analog triggers, and the VMU was really really nifty...I wouldn't be shocked if future controllers get little screens builtin at somepoint.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
You don't. I'm just saying that the modern game controller and joysticks have roots that pre-date gaming. Surely a "history of game controllers" should talk about the roots and influences of the device. It's not like controllers and joysticks were invented for gaming...
The D-pad was pretty popular. I've seen one on just about every major console controller since the NES. The same goes with shoulder buttons that were added on the SNES controller. And then they reinvented the analog stick for the N64. That one also seems popular now days.
Consider this part from the article: Nintendo had long shrouded the controller for its upcoming Nintendo 64 hardware in secrecy. Developers working on games told stories of having to put the controller
As is now widely known, the controller that Nintendo revealed at its Japanese trade show featured an analog thumbstick. After the failure of the Atari 5200 controller, analog joysticks were basically taboo in the video game industry. But Nintendo's thumbstick differed from previous designs in two important ways. First, it wasn't actually analog. Analog joysticks like the 5200's had too many moving parts and were prone to breaking. Nintendo's stick was digital, but provided enough levels of sensitivity that the distinction was moot. Second, Nintendo's stick worked just like a D-pad: you weren't gripping the handle but pushing it with your thumb.
And by showing off the new controller with a polished (but not complete) version of Mario 64, Nintendo showed the killer app that made the thumbstick more than a gimmick. Sony and Sega saw the writing on the wall: next generation meant 3D, and 3D meant analog. They immediately set out to create analog joysticks for their consoles. Sega actually moved so quickly on their design that they beat Nintendo to market in the US (though not worldwide).
Perhaps now you'll get over the paranoia that Nintendo has been displaying towards their controller. While the controller for the Xbox 360 is more or less set in stone, Sony might still have enough time between now and the launch of the PS3 to "borrow" Nintendo's designs.
Nintendo has been doing a lot of innovation with respect to controllers. So far they really haven't let me down. I'll trust whatever it is they're doing with the Revolution controller given the past record they've had.
I think we're all forgetting that everyone's hands are different sizes. The dual shock controller is perfect for me because I have a small hands and my thumbs naturally fall on the analog sticks. The BF, however, hates that controller and prefers the Xbox S-controllers because his hands are better and his thumb naturally rests on the left analog stick on that.
WHAT?!
Sorry, but the DualShock controller (you do know that it came out for the original PlayStation first, right?) gets to go down as one of the worst controller designs in history. Half of this is because the original PlayStation controller is the second worst controller design in history.
Let's start off with the d-pad. Good d-pads allow you to simply rock your thumb in the direction to move the pad. Does the Sony controller? Nope! You get to slide your thumb around!
Secondly we have the shoulder buttons. A single shoulder button works, the double ones just made the controller INSANELY awkward to hold. Most games just ignored the L2 and R2 buttons since they're next to impossible to press while holding the controller in a natural position. Most players I know just stick their fingers between the L/R1 and L/R2 buttons to allow them to kind of slide and press, which allows them to hold the controller without awkwardly having their middle fingers extended.
(Try this. Hold out your hands, palms facing each other, like you're holding a controller, and try to press a button with your middle finger. Feel how your ring fingers want to move with it? With the PlayStation controller, you needed to use the ring fingers to support the controller. If you didn't, you were left with your pinkies to support it.)
Finally we have the set of four buttons on the right. Are these set up properly, as buttons along two concentric circles based on the ball joint of the thumb? Nope. They're laid out in a grid. (And, as you mentioned, this would have been the PERFECT place to add an extra two buttons to get rid of the L2 and R2 buttons.)
Most games only use Square and X. Triangle and Circle get dumped off as rarely-used controls, because they're practically impossible to press at the same time as any other button!
And that's just the base controller. Now lets add the DualShock. The DualShock takes that horrendous basic design, and dumps two analog sticks onto the controller. (And adding force feedback, but they COULD have done that with the normal PlayStation controller.)
Are these analog sticks placed such that they rest at the thumbs' neutral position? Nope! They're placed at around 30 degrees, and pushed in.
As an added bonus, the analog sticks are buttons, too! Yes, you can push on them to get L3 and R3. Those buttons are rarely used, though, since trying to press down at an already awkwardly placed analog stick is just the height of foolishness.
Sorry, but the DualShock controller does not get the position of "best controller", but it does get a prime position in the Controller Hall of Shame.
Sometimes I think I'm the only person who absolutely loved the gamecube controller. It fits my hands so perfectly and the trigger shoulder buttons have always been a pleasure to have around. As a matter of fact, if I could take the gamecube controller and somehow merge it with the N64 controller I'd be in heaven. On another note I have total faith in Nintendo to reveal something completely new. Even if it does seem gimmicky at first they will support it and show the masses why it is so great. When it comes to innovation Nintendo never disappoints.
I can, easily. I used hand held digital joysticks through the eighties and nineties.
People get used to using second best kit and don't know how to use the good stuff. Old console kids think that the DPad is some sort of awesome gaming setup. Playstation generationers think that the dual shock, one of the worst controllers ever, is actually one of the best. Old school PC gamers think that the people who are using wasd and mouse for fps instead of cursor keys are crazy kids.
You're complaining about the ergonomics of the Cube controller? The only controller to put the A,B and X buttons on the same axis as the arc of your thumb movement? The only controller to make the buttons different shapes so you could FEEL your way around the controller instead of having to "hunt and peck" for the right buttons? The only controller with analog shoulder buttons, which, by the way, exhibit the kind of resistance you were talking about - it actually feels like you're pulling a trigger when you push the button down. And while we're on the subject of those shoulder buttons, notice how they're dropped down to be exactly where your index fingers naturally land when you grip the controller? On a dual shock the L&R buttons are on stilts above the controller that force you to extend your fingers, and that hurts. (When you strain your index finger, it affects muscles all the way up your arm too.)
When I hold the GC controller, it's designed so that I only need to press together with my palms to hold it firmly, leaving the rest of my hand free to move. Try doing that with a dual shock - doesn't work, your hand only contacts at one point so the whole thing feels unbalanced. The Cube controller can also rest prefectly balanced on my middle fingers - again, the dual shock can't. The drops for the L&R 2 buttons get in the way of me curling my fingers up to meet the bottom of the controller; It will balance if I straighten my fingers, but that requires me to let go of the controls. The only option is to grip the dual shock tightly with your fingers already extended across the controls. The Cube controller actually allows you to relax your grip without feeling out of control. (I would compare with an Xbox controller, but I don't have one.) I've seen a lot of people say, "My hands are too big for the cube", and I'll give em that...but bad ergonomics, or unplanned ergonomics?? Surely you jest, sir. The ergonomics on the Cube controller are a work of art.
A strain of paranoid prevention can be worse than the disease, whate'er the intention.
Well, controllers are learly a very subjective matter, but since you so nonchalantly hand out awards, I'll do the same myself and thus officially give you my "most insane person on slashdot" award. The PS2 controllers are extremely unergonomic. They give me the cramps. Weird shape, no actual, real, usable analog shoulder buttons (which are great for racing games), stupid symmetric analog sticks which makes using the left analog stick even more cramped, all the buttons look the same (so no primary/secondary/back button) and are placed awkwardly and to top it all, no letters to name the buttons, but geometric shapes. Bad controller.