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Sony, Nintendo, id Lauded With Emmys
Nintendo, Sony, and id Software have all been given Emmy awards for technology-related contributions to gaming and entertainment. Nintendo's Wiimote, obviously, garnered an Emmy for Peripheral Development and Technoogical Impact of Video Game Controllers, while id collectively received two awards. John Carmack was given The Pioneering Development Work in 3D Game Engines award, and id as a whole received an accolade for Quake's rendering technology. As reader NexusTw1n points out, though, there was something odd about Sony's award. "On Monday, Sony claimed their revolutionary SIXAXIS controller had been honoured with an Emmy , leaving many wondering why the Wiimote had been ignored. Yesterday, that press release was clarified, with a statement making it clear the award was actually for the PS2 Dual Shock controller, rather than the new PS3 model."
This will likely be modded offtopic, but whatever...the database is down at work and I'm bored.
What is the fascination with the Dual Shock? I mean, is it the analog aspect....what is it? It's an OK controller, but I would hardly call it the best ever. For it's time, ok fine...but still, the 360's controller is awesome, hell even the controller S was awesome...the dreamcast had a good controller too (I KNOW I am in the minority in thinking that, but whatever)
What made the dual shock so appealing to people though? I always found it to be a bit uncomfortable...
Living With a Nerd
I've always been rather partial of the SNES controller. More specifically, the SN PRO PAD (the original was a little too small for my hands) Still, the layout, the feel, everything...it was a FANTASTIC controller, and perfect for fighting games. Also, the old NES arcade stick (it's name eludes me at the moment) was quite cool, with the big ol' red buttons and the knob that unscrewed
Living With a Nerd
Just curious, have you used the xbox controller and do you consider it a big improvement? I've only ever used it at kiosks in stores, and though it didn't feel bad, it also didn't feel any better to me.
The original Xbox controller was the worst I've ever used, because it was physically impossible for me to reach the left analog properly, I could only push it from the side up and to the right. Yes, I have very small hands, and yes the xbox controller was too damn big.
The S version though is a very nice controller, and I found it to be very comfortable.
I'm not stuck on symmetry as a general concept, but when playing shooters it seems like a natural arrangement. If I wanted one of them up high, it would just seem natural to put the other up high as well on. Do you know of any controllers that do this, and if so, what did you think of them?
Nope, never used one. Most controllers are based on the concept of making whatever you use the most be the most natural thing to touch. For most games that's the control stick for the left, and the face buttons with the right, so both are in the normal "straight thumb" position. Shooters are an exception because you are constantly using the right analog to use the more PC-like movement/aiming setup, and the trigger buttons are the main buttons you use. A controller designed for console FPS that had both sticks in the raised position would probably work very well. Dual shock is the opposite -- it just makes both your hands have to hold an awkward position.
The enemies of Democracy are
I know one who got really angry when I explained him what an axis is and that SIXAXIS is just false advertising.
Oh come on, I hate sony as much as the next guy but that's just pedantry. Take it to mean "six degrees of freedom of movement" and it's perfectly valid. I have a flightstick with three degrees of freedom -- two translational and one rotation -- even though the rotational axis is geometrically just translation in the other two axes. Now in this case the axes are distinct physically, the rotation axis is a separate mechanism from the other two, while SIXAXIS probably uses the same accelerometers for detecting rotation and translation, but that's picking nits.
The enemies of Democracy are
Yep, they got one too, but I guess since it's Slashdot, people failed to mention it.
Microsoft won an Emmy for Xbox Live.