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Ken Levine Defends Lair's Control Scheme
A recent Gamers with Jobs podcast (well worth listening to) features co-hosting duties performed by Ken Levine of Irrational/2K Boston, makers of the title BioShock. During the podcast, Levine comes to the defense of Factor 5's Lair , saying that the folks over there may not have had much choice in how to proceed with their game. "Let me speak in these guys' defense for a minute as a game developer. I'm sure somebody came to them at some point and said, 'We have this motion control controller, and we have to make a go of it. And we really think you should try to make your game exclusively on that.' I think you're seeing a lot of this lately. Aren't there a lot of games where you're just like, 'Dude, can I just use the d-pad or the analog stick?' Ever since the DS came out I feel that there have been a lot of games like that. They've been so impressed by their control mechanic that they just really, really want you to play with that." It's still really, really bad.
Is there a game, with the exception of Wii Sports, that you've been thrilled that there's no option to go back to a regular d-pad?"
All of them, and Nintendo should be refusing to license games with CC/GC support. Kinesophobes should take the plunge or not play. Traditional controls served their purpose, but their time is up and it's time for them to die.
As someone who has actually played Lair, rather than some internet hate bandwagoner, I can tell you that Lair is actually pretty good.
It's not the best game ever, but it is fun, and the controls are actually well made. Why all the hate? Simple, it's not exactly the same as controls for 50 games you've already played. You weren't good with a D-pad when Nintendo came out, you weren't good with an Analog Stick when Dual Shock came out, and you weren't good with Sixaxis when Sixaxis came out.
People whine and bitch and moan when every game comes out that it is unoriginal garbage that plays exactly the same as every other game in the genre. When a developer takes a chance and makes a game that plays different, everybody bitches that it sucks because they won't take an hour or two to get used to the differences. You hypocrites should either admit that you want every game to be the same, or shut up and let intelligent gamers enjoy something new.
I'm sorry, but everyone who has spend more than 5 minutes with an electronic device in their lives tends to look for a button to control a device. I don't know though, maybe you're the exception...maybe you're the guy pawing at his car window because he's trying to drag it down rather than hitting the "button".
"Life's short and hard, like a body building elf." -- The Bloodhound Gang