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PS3 Controller Flimsy, Wii Controller Fun
Posted by
Zonk
on Mon Oct 16, 2006 02:13 PM
from the so-say-we-all dept.
from the so-say-we-all dept.
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."
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Great News (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Great News (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Next thing you know, Richard Simmons and Tony Little will be endorsing the Wiimote.
Re:Great News (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
So this isn't a direct comparison? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:So this isn't a direct comparison? (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re:So this isn't a direct comparison? (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Parent
Re:So this isn't a direct comparison? (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
More damning news (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, and... (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:Yeah, and... (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Parent
whiiiiii! (Score:3, Interesting)
I wonder if the bad feedback of the ps3 controller continues, if it will spark a redesign? Its not like it hasnt happened before, the original dual shock came out years after the lauch of the original playstation if I remember correctly. I wouldnt mind seeing the "boomerang" controller they showed off early in the design. Is the flimy feel a real problem or is it simply the loss of heft from the rumble motors?
Lazy Gamers (Score:4, Insightful)
Useless without pics (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/05/ps3-control
Correct me if this is out of date, it looks like it's from May. Same style/feel of the PS2 dual shock.
Oh my (Score:3, Funny)
You carefully position the disc-based media of your choice against the PS3's front-loading drive slot and the magic fairies deep inside suck it up like a particularly enthusiastic four-quid whore.
o_Ô
Re:Good Title (Score:5, Interesting)
I'll be honest, I'm a born-again Nintendo fanboy. I desperately want a Wii, and have no personal interest in a PS3. But what's with the anti-Sony smear campaign? How does that make sense?
Parent
Re:Good Title (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Parent
Re:Good Title (Score:4, Informative)
It's fun if the games themselves are fun. That's not really entirely up to Sony.
What is up to Sony are things like the touch-sensitive power and eject buttons.
I will say that I played some Minna no Golf and some Gran Turismo on the PS3's Sony has set up in Ginza last week, and I was pretty blown away by the system. No, those two games aren't anything we haven't seen before (though they've never looked that good). But the system looked and felt extremely polished, and if these are first-gen games, then I can't wait to see what's coming down the road.
I left with the distinct impression that a lot of people bashing the PS3 simply don't know what the hell they're talking about. Maybe there aren't any games you like yet, but the PS3 itself is an extremely well-designed system that exists now, you can play it now, and that seems like it's got room to spare in the power department. That's pretty much all Sony can do.
As for the controller, it's very light. Otherwise, it feels just like the Dual Shock, a controller that even just a few years ago a lot of people were saying was the best game controller ever designed. I never really felt that way myself, but I never disliked the controller either... still, I don't get how you go from loving the Dual Shock to hating the Sixaxis. It's the same controller, just minus a few ounces. And that weight savings comes completely from the motors being removed; it's not like the plastic itself is even any different.
Let me just reiterate - the PS3 exists and is sitting there waiting to be played in Tokyo. So there's really no reason for any of these myths to be flying around at this point. If you can't play the system for yourself (I'm looking at you, Zonk), just listen to the people that have.
Parent
Re:Zonk Articles Flimsy, Actual Journalism Fun (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Nintendo wasn't even present TGS.
Re:Bring out the 'zonked' tag - never said "flimsy (Score:5, Informative)
FTFA:
"Personally, we can't help but feel that the SIXAXIS (as it's now known) has been sadly neglected when viewed alongside the rest of the PS3. Compared to Microsoft's uber-comfortable Xbox 360 pad, the SIXAXIS feels cheap, plasticky, uncomfortable and disconcertingly light - almost as if it's going to fly out of your hands during those more extreme gaming moments.
More worrying still, the newly-designed lower L and R shoulder triggers feel more like they belong on an early controller prototype than the near-final model. Replicating the 360 pad, rather than being simple shoulder-mounted buttons, the triggers are now hinged horizontally along the controller, with pressure forcing them inward along the bottom - like triggers then, really. Trouble is, they're placed almost unnaturally low meaning we found ourselves operating them by jamming our fingers in between the hinges to apply pressure, rather than using the buttons themselves. What's more, the triggers are convex, with no grooves to keep your fingers in place - an issue further compounded by their smooth finish, offering no resistance against your finger tips. Invariably we found our digits slipping off with the triggers snapping back to their default position. Bah. Of course, the PS2's Dual Shock pad wasn't without its faults either but we still learned to live with it. It's just a shame that Sony hasn't used its resources to bring its controller up to next-gen standards along with its cutting-edge hardware."
Parent