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."

Comments

Stop Digging

[tfinniga]

Sony's PR lately has been the worst PR I've ever seen.

Although some might say that's because I haven't been watching Sony's PR long enough.

Re:Stop Digging

[Pojut]

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...

Re:Stop Digging

[Chris Burke]

What made the dual shock so appealing to people though? I always found it to be a bit uncomfortable...

Dual analogs, as far as I can guess. That was the main thing it brought to the table, oh and maybe having rumble built in rather than an add-on. The N64 controller made analog control sticks the new standard in consoles, so Sony decided to include not one but two. The reason I've always found it uncomfortable is because since Sony wasn't certain that analog was going to take over -- and not to mess up existing games which used the D-pad -- they put the left analog stick down and to the right so it requires flexing the thumb just to touch the stick. Okay, that was fine for the PS1, but the bastards didn't move it for the PS2 or PS3, while every other controller swapped the dual shock's d-pad/left analog position so that the control you used 99% of the time -- the analog -- was in the most comfortable, natural position.

It's not the worst controller ever, and dual analog sticks was a good improvement, but I agree it isn't that spectacular.

Re:Stop Digging

[Chris Burke]

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.

Sony Award

[TwistedSpring]

"Sony, we will be honouring your legendary controller technology with an Emmy." "AWESOME we cannot believe we won over Nintendo with our hasty stab at copying their functionality. Release lots of embarrassing press releases patting ourselves on the back and saying how fantastic we are for our revolutionary SIXAXIS controller!!" "Haha, only kidding. It's for the DualShock, suckers" How much of a smack in the face is that? Quality work Emmy dudes.

Quake, as in the original Quake?

[Chris Burke]

While it would be rather late to give an award, I do think Quake would be the most deserving of an award for graphics achievment certainly since and maybe before. Fully 3D environments with arbitrary geometry -- fairly complex geometry at that -- on hardware that had no business being able to render such a thing was quite an achievement. Throw on the lightmaps and you've got something even more impressive. Nothing looked like Quake at the time, and everything since is more detailed geometry, higher detailed textures, and better lighting/texture shader effects. Yay Quake! Of course the game itself wasn't that great, setting the precedent for all future iD games. :)

I particularly liked how they got good performance out of the game by requiring hours and hours of pre-processing on the maps to create visibility trees. There were even servers you could submit your maps to that would then run vis on them so hobbyists could save some time.

Re:Quake, as in the original Quake?

[jackbird]

16 Player deathmatch over TCP/IP, with players able to join and leave at any time, vs. 4 player deathmatch over LAN (or incredibly painful middleware like KALI) everyone has to join at the same time. Add in threewave CTF, Quakeworld, and Team Fortress for giggles, too (threewave didnt' even require the clients to download a mod).

Quake wasn't just about the graphics, it was about the multiplayer gameplay. I agree that the single-player version felt like a tech demo, but then again, so has every id game since.

Wiimote? Maybe not yet...

[Leviance]

joystiq is saying the Wiimote didn't win either, but that the D-pad was the lauded innovation? What about the thumb-stick?

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/09/oops-sony-declar es-sixaxis-emmy-emmys-say-uh-uh/

Scientific progress goes *boink!*

Re:SIXAXIS disqualification

[odie_q]

Actually, it detects rotation and translation along three axes, and also has two dual-axis thumb levers. So that's seven axes, and ten degrees of freedom.

How has their ego bubble not burst yet?

[Zeek40]

FTFA:

"The overwhelming consumer demand and critical acclaim for PS3 is testament of the platform's strength and the industry's desire for a true next-generation entertainment system,"

Is that why there are PS3's gathering dust at almost every shop within 50 miles of my house and i still cant get my hands on a damn Wii?

So what _are_ the six axes?

[Draconix]

My best guess...

1)x
2)y
3)z
4)t (time)
5)? (???)
6)p (profit)

Actually...

[Pojut]

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

Re:Technoogical?

[Chris Burke]

What does Technoogical Impact of Video Game Controllers mean?

It means what happens when your Wii remote hits your 40" plasma screen. :)

Re:Emmy for Sony

[Chris Burke]

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.

No mention of Microsoft's Emmy?

[MSFanBoi2]

Yep, they got one too, but I guess since it's Slashdot, people failed to mention it.

Microsoft won an Emmy for Xbox Live.

Re:No mention of Microsoft's Emmy?

[MSFanBoi2]

I think they may have actually won another for DirectX.