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PS3 Controller Flimsy, Wii Controller Fun

With the advent of new input styles in the PS3 and Wii, many gamers are wondering what it will be like to actually play with the new controllers. Via Aeropause, an article on IGN says that the SIXAXIS controller is flimsy and poorly designed. Meanwhile, via Joystiq, an article on British site Entertainmentwise reports that the Wii isn't physically exhausting at all, as some people feared. After two hours of playtime, in fact, they loved the experience. From the article: "Some gamers have shown concern that the activity level required to play Wii games, especially the sporty titles, may be too high. There are concerns that you have to stand for long periods of time and use body actions such as swinging your arm above your head or at the side of your body. After playing non stop for two hours, did this happen to me? No. I'm not exactly Wonder woman in terms of fitness and I can assure you, as a regular player there was enough action to warrant perhaps making sure one has access to a tap before playing (you're going to want a drink if you play for as long as we did!) and possibly ensuring plenty of moving around space in your living room. The key to the Wii control is that even the most active title on the launch line up, Wii Sports, doesn't require you to make large body motions unless you want to."

24 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Good Title by Shihar · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I love whoever came up with the title for this topic. Excuse me while I get into my flame proof bunker and hide this war out.

    1. Re:Good Title by RoffleTheWaffle · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My guess is that the Slashdot smear campaign against Sony is about a 50-50 mix of Zonk's blatant Nintendo fanboyism and Sony's string of recent and highly publicized failures and oversights, starting with or perhaps preceding the XCP rootkit scandal last year. At this point in time, Sony isn't being viewed by many people in an especially positive light, and with good reason. Frankly, I'm not especially confident in Sony's offerings either, especially after that whole flaming battery thing, but I digress...

      Even if from time to time it looks like the PS3 will barely make it out of the gate, it's impossible to judge a product that hasn't yet been released. (It could wind up either kicking or sucking huge amounts of ass, or some bizarre combination of ass kick-suckery in between.) Yet, it would seem that this post was crafted specifically to make the PS3 look bad by comparing it's controller - which was mentioned in TFA-1 as being awkward and uncomfortable, though still usable - to the Wii's controller, described in TFA-2 as being comfortable easy to use, even though the remainder of TFA-1 showed that not only did the writer approve of the PS3, he fucking loved it. (On a slightly unrelated note, why the fuck would I want to take any site devoted to gaming journalism seriously anyway, when it's been proven time and again that gaming journalism might as well be considered freelance fiction work?) In spite of all this, it'd seem that whoever posted this stuff almost hoped we'd just take their word for it instead of R'ing either TFA, and just take their own 'flimsy' inference as gospel. None of it makes sense, until you look at who posted it.

      I'm in the same boat as you, though I have much fonder memories of Sega. I love Nintendo as much as the next guy, and they haven't pissed me off nearly as much as Sony has over the past year, but come the fuck on. This is like Anti-Sony propaganda now, and almost all of it is spouted from the pen - or should I say keyboard - of Zonk. It would've been fine enough to post the articles individually. A mostly glowing review of the PS3, and a nice piece on the Wii's controller, but no. He just had to roll them all into one speculative clusterfuck of bullshit and fail in a thinly veiled fit of fanboyism disguised as reporting. It's this kind of shit that makes Slashdot look less like a news site and more like a retarded fanclub.

      Seeing as he can't do it himself, I think someone needs to put a cap on Zonk's shit, or at least give him a stern talking to about the virtues of shutting the fuck up until he has something intelligent to say.

    2. Re:Good Title by bunions · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > And Jon Katz, we loved ya.

      That's a goddamn lie and you know it.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
  2. Great News by kmhebert · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Everyone I have talked to about Wii was concerned about the need to constantly move around in order to interact with the system. Frankly people seemed concerned that they would look "stupid". I can't wait to try these games, I believe that the Wii Remote and Nunchuck controllers will allow real 3D control over 3D environments for the very first time, it seems like it's going to be nonstop fun.

    --
    Regular Meta Moderators are not more likely to get mod points.
    1. Re:Great News by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Frankly people seemed concerned that they would look "stupid"...
      ...all while bouncing around on a Dance Dance Revolution machine.

      The double-standard of this "I'll look stupid" and "it's too much exercise" argument kills me. DDR was one of the most popular games in history (greatly improving PS2 & Dancepad sales), yet people worry about holding a remote control? The way I figure it, most couch warriors are used to holding remotes. There's not much on TV, so it's *flip* *flip* *flip*. Plenty of exercise for warming up to the Wii. ;)

      The one part of the article that really stuck out at me, though, was the comment that "large motions is how you have fun". I don't know how many people here have played Laser Tag-type games, but the sweeps and motions you make with your weapon are quite different when you're relaxed and when you're pumped. When you're relaxed, your reaction time is extremely slow. You tend to use extremely fine movements in attempts to aim, and may even tilt your wrist quite a bit. Yet when you're pumped, you work the floor, dodging, sweeping, and rolling. Your arm is primarily used for targetting, and you gain quite a bit of precision because of it.

      It's just a lot more fun to get up and exercise. It releases a lot of good hormones that make you enjoy yourself. Besides, there's nothing quite like professionally strapping on your gear, just to have the guy next to you asking, "Have you ever played this before?" Oh yeah, bring it on. :D
    2. Re:Great News by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      off topic rant but if it is so much like tennis why not actually play tennis?

      Because
      1) I live in a city of 8 million people, where actual tennis courts are usually unavailable, and
      2) Because I suck at actual tennis. I spend more time chasing down and picking up errant balls than playing the game itself.

  3. So this isn't a direct comparison? by hal2814 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This post is grabbing one review for one piece of hardware and comaring it to a completely different review of another piece of hardware? That's just silly. Somebody let me know when there are some side-by-side comparisons of both controllers actually comparing the featuresets and performance of each.

    1. Re:So this isn't a direct comparison? by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So what you're saying is you have a problem with an "apples and oranges"-type approach when discussing an apple and an orange?

      --
      Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    2. Re:So this isn't a direct comparison? by hal2814 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But we're not looking at apples and oranges. They're both gaming controllers. They have an awful lot in common. A single review (or even two reviews that review the same metrics) would be a much better defense of the headline than the rather disjointed reviews they've used up here.

    3. Re:So this isn't a direct comparison? by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I started to agree with you. Then I realized that these are games we're talking about. They should be fun. Well constructed controllers are great, but if it feels or seems wrong, then, in terms of what a game system needs, it is wrong. A feature for feature comparison will never tell you that.

    4. Re:So this isn't a direct comparison? by Kabuthunk · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Surprise, apples and oranges are both fruit that you eat. Both are acidic, and both grow on trees.

      So if you wanted to get a reveiw of cars, would you completely ignore any review by a site that only did a review of one of the cars you wanted? Sometimes, you don't have the option of having a single source review everything on earth.

      --
      Planet Zebeth - Metroid with a twist
    5. Re:So this isn't a direct comparison? by hal2814 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "So if you wanted to get a reveiw of cars, would you completely ignore any review by a site that only did a review of one of the cars you wanted?"

      No, but automobile reviews contain actual measurable data more often than not. I can get actual metrics from one vehicle and compare it to the same metrics gathered elsewhere for another vehicle. I sure wouldn't go take one person's personal impressions of the car and put them up against one other person's personal impressions of another car, especially if one of the cars in question wasn't even the focal point of one of the reviews but merely a side commentary.

      For the Slashdot editors to trot this crap out as some sort of legitimate comparison is deplorable.

  4. Yeah, and... by ivan256 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...PSP UMDs come flying out like throwing stars during normal gameplay all the time...

    Forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical of a negative review of a Sony product before it is even released. I'll wait until I see a demo unit and judge for myself.

    1. Re:Yeah, and... by ciw42 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They may not be available to the general public yet, but these guys have actually played with the respective controllers, so it's hardly speculation, and with production lead times being what they are, they'll have been playing with actual release revisions of the hardware and not just protoypes as those who made pretty much the same comments months ago were.

      Granted, if it were your mate from down the pub telling you the same thing then you'd be quite right being sceptical, but I don't think so in this case.

  5. Funny how.. by Colourspace · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The UK is in the last of the major regions to get these consoles, yet both articles originate here. How odd.

  6. Lazy Gamers by pembo13 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Of all the things to be worried about in a console, getting some physical activity in (for the average person) should be the _least_ of ones concerns, and should instead be welcomed. Most should be able to come to grips with the fact that they likely don't get enough physical exercise as it is. I'm more worried about what the multiple purchases will do to my account than my arms. In the worst case scenario, think of it as a thermostat of sorts: when you spend too much time playing, you have feedback in the form of pain so you know its time to do something else.

    --
    "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
  7. Re:More damning news by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I agree, that explanation does bite. The three rotational axes are about the same axes as the translational.

  8. Re:Zonk Articles Flimsy, Actual Journalism Fun by k_187 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    if you're still working with early controller prototypes a month before launch, you've got problems.

    --
    11 was a racehorse
    12 was 12
    1111 Race
    12112
  9. Re:Of course it's going to be flimsy! by twistedsymphony · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I would think that batteries would add that weight back...

    Weight doesn't always contribute to making something feel high in quality. There's also...
    • Tacktile feedback of buttons
    • size of the split in the plastic shell
    • consistancy of the split size in the plastic shell
    • amount that the controller can flex in areas where it shouldn't
    • Consistancy of linear feedback across the entire range of movements in the analog sticks and triggers
    • noises the controller might make that it shouldn't (creeks when flexed, or buttons rattling against the shell
    • how well the weight is balanaced across the controller
    • the surface finish of the plastic shell and buttons
    • the responce on screen following a button push
    etc. etc. etc. Sometimes more weight makes something feel like it's higher in quality, but it's not even close to being the only metric. Pick up a cheap 3rd party knock-off controller, most of them will weigh the same as the 1st party they're emulating yet you can feel the quality difference just holding it in your hands, most of which is due to some of the factors I mentioned above. Using cheap plastics, or cheap injection molds will give the plastics a cheap feel regardless of weight, you can feel the minute unevenness of the split in the shell (even if you can't see it), smoothness of the analog feed back and crisp tactile buttons response go a long way towards perception of quality in a control device as well.
  10. Wow, you're not kidding by bunions · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's actually pretty disgraceful.

    Henceforth, along with the worthless whatever.com is, like slashdot, an OSDN company disclaimers, every time Zonk posts something game-related I'd like a Zonk is incapable of performing his function as a reasonably unbiased editor on this topic. And I think it's important that the disclaimer stays there when he dupes the article the next day too. At least that'd tell people something they might not know.

    --
    there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    1. Re:Wow, you're not kidding by heinousjay · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I can tell you've stopped. Your post proves it beautifully.

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
  11. Wii controller fun by Trogre · · Score: 2, Insightful

    PS3 controller functional.

    It seems the Wii controller is still having problems working in a room with sunlight, or fluorescent or halogen lighting.

    I think I'd rather have a controller that worked properly and could be change if desired.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  12. Zonk is reporting the news by Baldrake · · Score: 1, Insightful
    Seeing as he can't do it himself, I think someone needs to put a cap on Zonk's shit, or at least give him a stern talking to about the virtues of shutting the fuck up until he has something intelligent to say.

    I have to admit that on reading the title to this article, my first thought was to cringe at the controversy that Zonk is bringing on himself.

    But the truth is, Zonk is reporting the news on this one. Sure, TFA1 is a love-fest for the PS3. That just isn't news. Did anyone actually expect this to be anything but an awesome console? The negative press has all been about the cost, the delays, the decision to go BlueRay, etc., etc. Nobody but nobody has been predicting that all those pixels and polys per second would lead to a console that wasn't fun.

    On the other hand, there has been a lot of speculation on whether the PS3's controller would be any good, or just a "me too" quick ripoff of the Wiimote. This article answers that question, and that's news. There have also been a lot of questions about how tiring the Wiimote will be to use and how effectively it really works. TFA2 addresses that, so that's news too.

    Sorry, guys - Zonk got it right on this one.

  13. Smear campaign? by jotaeleemeese · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Are we talking about the same company that tried to 0wn our computers by means of infecting them, that also put people at risk with their badly designed batteries and that releases a new version of firmware for the PSP every other week because they get annoyed that people may actually dare too use the device they bought to hve somecomputing fun?

    The same company that sold MP3 players that did not play MP3 files?

    Or maybe we aren't andI am getting confussed.

    Maybe you are talkig about Zony, Soni, or Sonee.

    Sorry, my bad.

    --
    IANAL but write like a drunk one.