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Input Devices Entertainment Games

The History of the Game Controller 142

Posted by Zonk from the buttons-and-knobs dept.
1up.com has up a feature going through the history of the game controller. Starting in the dark ages of the PDP-1, the article moves all the way up to Nintendo's mysterious Revolution controller. From the article: "And when will Nintendo tip its hand? All we know at this point is that the Revolution will be backwards compatible with GameCube controllers, so at the very least the system will support all the functionality you're used to. But apart from that, will the controller feature a built-in touch screen and microphone, like the Nintendo DS? Is it just a box of brain-wave-reading goo? One thing is for sure: if history is any indication, there's no telling what the game controller we use twenty years from now will look like. And just as long as there's no numeric keypad, we should be okay."
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The History of the Game Controller More

The History of the Game Controller

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    • Spong is as reliable as a GNAA troll, don't get your hopes up.

    • Nintendo and controllers (Score:5, Insightful)

      by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @12:48PM (#13558917)
      For everyone out there who's worried about Nintendo somehow making a lemon with the Revolution and that the controller will be terrible consider that Nintendo has been responsible for a lot of controller innovations that other companies have "borrowed" later on.

      The D-pad was pretty popular. I've seen one on just about every major console controller since the NES. The same goes with shoulder buttons that were added on the SNES controller. And then they reinvented the analog stick for the N64. That one also seems popular now days.

      Consider this part from the article: Nintendo had long shrouded the controller for its upcoming Nintendo 64 hardware in secrecy. Developers working on games told stories of having to put the controller

      As is now widely known, the controller that Nintendo revealed at its Japanese trade show featured an analog thumbstick. After the failure of the Atari 5200 controller, analog joysticks were basically taboo in the video game industry. But Nintendo's thumbstick differed from previous designs in two important ways. First, it wasn't actually analog. Analog joysticks like the 5200's had too many moving parts and were prone to breaking. Nintendo's stick was digital, but provided enough levels of sensitivity that the distinction was moot. Second, Nintendo's stick worked just like a D-pad: you weren't gripping the handle but pushing it with your thumb.

      And by showing off the new controller with a polished (but not complete) version of Mario 64, Nintendo showed the killer app that made the thumbstick more than a gimmick. Sony and Sega saw the writing on the wall: next generation meant 3D, and 3D meant analog. They immediately set out to create analog joysticks for their consoles. Sega actually moved so quickly on their design that they beat Nintendo to market in the US (though not worldwide).

      Perhaps now you'll get over the paranoia that Nintendo has been displaying towards their controller. While the controller for the Xbox 360 is more or less set in stone, Sony might still have enough time between now and the launch of the PS3 to "borrow" Nintendo's designs.

      Nintendo has been doing a lot of innovation with respect to controllers. So far they really haven't let me down. I'll trust whatever it is they're doing with the Revolution controller given the past record they've had.

      • What I hate about the N64 "analog" stick was that, despite giving it the sensitivity of an analog stick, the edge limit is hexagonal which pretty much turns it into a 6-sided D-pad. So it's a digital control masquerading as an analog stick which is hedged in to discrete values at the limits. This removes the smooth action of an analog stick that makes it enjoyable to use in the first place... until the stick hits the edge.

        • I'm holding one in my hands right now. The edge limit is octagonal, not hexagonal.

          I know a lot of people don't like the way that Nintendo's analog sticks have these octagons underneath them, because it feels restrictive, but I personally prefer it, because I know where absolute left is, where absolute up-left is, etc.

  • Best control goes to... (Score:4)

    by XxtraLarGe ( 551297 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @11:36AM (#13558224) Journal
    The Dual Shock on the PS2. I've owned several consoles, including the Atari 5200 and Dreamcast. There's just something much more comfortable about the Dual Shock than the XBox controllers (why have the analog sticks in different positions?) and the GameCube controller. IMHO, the only way the Dual Shock controller could have been improved is if they included two more buttons in addition to X, 0, the box & the triangle.

    • ...the Saitek P880 [saitekusa.com] with two more shoulder buttons. And vibration.

      Dunno about you guys, but said P880 is the only controller I use (my old Sidewinder gamepad and joystick both catch dust now).

      Duck Hunt on the NES, right? Nope -- it's an Atari arcade game called Qwak! Okay, maybe Nintendo did a little bit of stealing here, but that was how the business worked back in the day

      TFA put that in the side column, first page, as if companies don't steal [google.com] now...

    • My thumbs object to this. The DS2 dpad is an atrocity and the symmetric analog sticks are pointless. Most games use the left analog + right buttons layout, that's why the analog should be in the primary position on the left. Leaving the dpad there just encourages bad game designers to use the dpad instead. I don't know what idiot thought that splitting the dpad like that and leaving it this way even after Nintendo's dpad patent expired was a good idea. It just hurts.

      Never mind those stupid button names hat
      • I don't know about you (you may be a mutant) but the range of movement on my thumb is much greater when my thumb is in the lower position. With the analog stick up top, your thumb is already half way to the end of it's vertical range of motion when you're in the center position. This is fine for buttons that require little fine motor control, but it's not good for analog sticks.

        Keep my analog sticks in the lower position please.
        • WTF? When your thumbs are in the neutral position they have the greatest range of motion. Let your hands relax and sit naturally---see how the thumbs both point forwards at a 45 degree angle to your wrist line. See how that lines them up perfectly with the Dreamcast, XBox, or Gamecube controller thumbstick layout? The PS2 controller forces the thumbs into the very bottom range of motion (parallel to the wrist line), very awkward, very sucky. Very cramp inducing. I hate the PS2 controller more than I hate th
          • With your arms pointing in such that your hands are the same distance apart that a controller would hold them and your palms vertical, your thumb is parallel to your wrist in the neutral position.

            That's the beauty of the DS2. Your hands are almost held vertically without twisting your wrist, and your thumbs are between the D-pad and the analog stick (but more towards the stick) when you're in the neutral position. Abominations of controller design like the original Xbox controller and the Dreamcast controll
            • Palms vertical my thumbs move higher, not lower. The only way to get my thumbs parallel to wrist position is to move them, or twist my wrists forward.

              If I let my hands relax completely, the XBox controller can slide right into the curled gap my fingers and thumb make. My palms don't even come close to facing up.

              I do agree that the original Xbox controller was a horrible, horrible thing. Worse than the PS2 even. That's why I didn't even consider getting an XBox. Last year I noticed that the controller in the
        • You must be doing something wrong because I can do a lot of fine motor control with the GC analog stick (I apply it in Kururin Squash!, most people probably use it more for Super Monkey Ball).
      • My Airflo XL clearly has labels on the buttons. All of them. X, triangle, square, circle, L1, L2, R1, R2, the D-Pad, Start, Select, Mode (analog), and the fan control. I don't know what's wrong with yours.
    • Insane, or maybe you have more robust hands than mine. I hate the PS2 controller with the passion of a thousand suns.

      And no analog triggers is pretty annoying.
      • I agree with you to the fullest extent. I wonder how people are able to use the thing at all. I've heard many a time that the GameCube's controller sucks because it has one big button in the middle, even though all it does is let you have your thumb on a button if you need to press it quickly, and it adds comfort to games which use mainly one button. Resident Evil 4 fits in both of those. I've also heard that the analog triggers suck because you have to press further to press the trigger, but that idea prov
    • I think we're all forgetting that everyone's hands are different sizes. The dual shock controller is perfect for me because I have a small hands and my thumbs naturally fall on the analog sticks. The BF, however, hates that controller and prefers the Xbox S-controllers because his hands are better and his thumb naturally rests on the left analog stick on that.
    • Nah, the Logitech Wireless Xbox controller is the best for me. The size is somewhere between the Xbox "Duke" (i.e. large) controller and the Controller-S.

      The "Duke" XBox controller isn't nearly as bad as every gaming site says it is, though. I find it quite usable for extended periods... what's really stupid is that they got such a bad rap that nobody makes them anymore, so if you prefer the "Duke" controller, you can't go out and buy a new one, you just have to hope one's up on Ebay. (And yes, there are

    • Re:Best control goes to... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @02:13PM (#13559703)
      WHAT?!

      Sorry, but the DualShock controller (you do know that it came out for the original PlayStation first, right?) gets to go down as one of the worst controller designs in history. Half of this is because the original PlayStation controller is the second worst controller design in history.

      Let's start off with the d-pad. Good d-pads allow you to simply rock your thumb in the direction to move the pad. Does the Sony controller? Nope! You get to slide your thumb around!

      Secondly we have the shoulder buttons. A single shoulder button works, the double ones just made the controller INSANELY awkward to hold. Most games just ignored the L2 and R2 buttons since they're next to impossible to press while holding the controller in a natural position. Most players I know just stick their fingers between the L/R1 and L/R2 buttons to allow them to kind of slide and press, which allows them to hold the controller without awkwardly having their middle fingers extended.

      (Try this. Hold out your hands, palms facing each other, like you're holding a controller, and try to press a button with your middle finger. Feel how your ring fingers want to move with it? With the PlayStation controller, you needed to use the ring fingers to support the controller. If you didn't, you were left with your pinkies to support it.)

      Finally we have the set of four buttons on the right. Are these set up properly, as buttons along two concentric circles based on the ball joint of the thumb? Nope. They're laid out in a grid. (And, as you mentioned, this would have been the PERFECT place to add an extra two buttons to get rid of the L2 and R2 buttons.)

      Most games only use Square and X. Triangle and Circle get dumped off as rarely-used controls, because they're practically impossible to press at the same time as any other button!

      And that's just the base controller. Now lets add the DualShock. The DualShock takes that horrendous basic design, and dumps two analog sticks onto the controller. (And adding force feedback, but they COULD have done that with the normal PlayStation controller.)

      Are these analog sticks placed such that they rest at the thumbs' neutral position? Nope! They're placed at around 30 degrees, and pushed in.

      As an added bonus, the analog sticks are buttons, too! Yes, you can push on them to get L3 and R3. Those buttons are rarely used, though, since trying to press down at an already awkwardly placed analog stick is just the height of foolishness.

      Sorry, but the DualShock controller does not get the position of "best controller", but it does get a prime position in the Controller Hall of Shame.
      • Gripe gripe gripe.

        You don't know much about what you're talking about, apparently.

        You say L2 and R2 are such horrible buttons because of their placement. And then directly following that, you say your friends found a way to not bother with it.... You don't NEED your fingers on the buttons at all times, especially if (as you say) you aren't using the buttons very often.

        Go play SSX, you know the PS2 launch title or one of its' sequels. It makes use of every shoulder button, and it is easily one of th
        • there are two problems with the Playstation line of controllers,

          one is the retarded ass four button fake d-pad, the moment the nintendo d-pad patent expired sony should have been rolling d-pad controllers off the assembly line.

          the other problem is the symbol'd buttons, especially since they named the shoulder buttons l1 l2 r1 and r2 defeating the only possible benefit of symbol labels which could be cultural neutrality between japan, usa, and europe. but even that is weak since most of the game-playing

    • Well, controllers are learly a very subjective matter, but since you so nonchalantly hand out awards, I'll do the same myself and thus officially give you my "most insane person on slashdot" award. The PS2 controllers are extremely unergonomic. They give me the cramps. Weird shape, no actual, real, usable analog shoulder buttons (which are great for racing games), stupid symmetric analog sticks which makes using the left analog stick even more cramped, all the buttons look the same (so no primary/secondary/

      • "And to top it all, no letters to name the buttons, but geometric shapes. "

        I agree with you, when I frist played the PlayStation I was amazed with the buttons "names". It is simply stupid, how are you supposed to explain someone how to play: "press the box button to punch and then the circle button to run", when it is a thousand times simpler to say "press A to run, B to crunch" or whatever, also It is easier to memorize a letter than a "box", and if someone wants to tell you to quickly press one button, wi
    • Now that you point that out, that reminds me of previous thoughts on what the Revolution's controller would include. The possibility of a modular controller where you can swap the analog sticks, buttons, and d-pad seems like a good idea, especially due to preferences like yours.
    • I actually hate the Dual Shock for some games. For Katamari Damacy they work great... until you try to do a charge move (alternate the sticks as fast as you can) and accidently do a 180-degree reverse (press "in" on both sticks at the same time).

      And for games that require super-precise control, Dual Shock sucks even more. Super Monkey Ball played great on a Gamecube (the game even featured a controller calibration option on that platform), but the PS2 version is almost unplayable on some levels.

      However,

  • Why stop at the PDP-1? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ivan256 ( 17499 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @11:49AM (#13558344)
    There are some bad-ass controllers on some pneumatic spinning lathes and milling machines made in the 1950s and even earlier... I'm not just talking a joystick and a couple buttons either. These things had knobs, switches, slides, etc... All things that could make for interesting input on modern controllers, or have been experimented with on game controllers in the past.

  • I really miss the SpaceOrb (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Shivetya ( 243324 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @11:51AM (#13558375) Homepage Journal
    as I found it to be one of the best methods of playing FPS games, especially Descent. While not perfer for other games it had a level of control and ease of control that was hard to match.

    The ASCIISphere was a version which existed for the PS2 playstation
    http://playstation.video-game-store.info/B00001ZUT U/Agetec-ASCII-Sphere-360.html [video-game-store.info]

    Some information on this controller,
    http://www.mindflux.com.au/products/spacetec/sorb3 60.html [mindflux.com.au] (product information from former seller)

    Old review.
    http://www.joy-stick.net/reviews/other/orb360.htm [joy-stick.net]

    Closest to current support you can get, as in enthusiast who moved it to XP/2000

    http://www.planethardware.com/spaceorb/ [planethardware.com]
    • I actually own one of these- I bought it in a moment of stupidity.
      Yes, it massively sucked.

      While the concept is cool- the excution was very poorly done- there was no way to tell how much force you where applying to the thing in the games that it did work with.
      This was espically true for the up / down, yaw & pitch movements.

      eh, I wonder what I did do with that thing...

  • Am I the only one... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by game kid ( 805301 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @12:00PM (#13558462) Homepage

    ...who noticed the "original Sega Saturn pad" [1up.com] has the Playstation logo? (Here's what seems to be the actual one [google.com].)

    • There were two official digital pads released for the Saturn, much like the Xbox's Controller and Controller-S. The first release was what you link to as the "actual one," whereas the second release [wikipedia.org] was almost exactly like the Lik-Sang pad in TFA. As can be inferred by Lik-Sang's copying of the second pad, the second design was much more popular than the first.
      • Your so-called "second release" was actually the original japanese pad. The so-called "actual one" is the redesigned pad that was released in north america (though Sega eventually grew a brain and released the original version here, too).

        The one pictured on the 1up site is a pad that Sega released very recently. I have one of these PS2 pads, and it's spot-on. It feels exactly like the real Saturn pad. Great for shooters and fighters.

  • The D-pad sucks (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Cthefuture ( 665326 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @12:01PM (#13558468)
    This is an interesting read, rather shallow and missing a lot of information, but interesting. Being born at the start of the 70's, I grew up with all this stuff.

    Dispite what they say, the D-pad is retarded. Tell me how many arcade games had D-pads? Why do you think that is? Joysticks still rule.

    I friggin hate thumb controls. Yeah, lets take the most clumsy, one directional (ie. weak in all other directions) finger and control everything with it! Pfffft... this is why I haven't gotten into and played console games since the mid-eighties when I switched totally to computer and arcade games. That's still mostly all I play. I do have recent consoles but they all suck (save a few games like DDR that don't use the ass controller).
    • Agreed, the NES Advantage [atariace.com] made Nintendo fun!

      The only other console I've bothered buying was the Dreamcast, and that was because I got bored one day. I never did find a good stick I liked for that console that could do it all, although there were a few that came close.
    • Arcades don't use d-pads because they don't use controllers because a handheld controller would either have wiring that is too stringy and would be broken by reckless players or too strong, which is awkward (try playing console games at a game store and you'll see what I mean).

      I think the real issue here is that all 3 consoles only have one main controller design (the XBox has two, but they're quite similar fundamentally, one is just less atrocious than the other). Why can't Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft
      • Well, different control schema for different games makes sense and really works well. However, it requires more significant investment on the part of the consumer, and increases complexity... It's not does little Timmy have console A or console B, it's A with controller 1, or A with controller 2 or... For a portion of the market(including most slashdotters who are into console games) this isn't a big issue. However, from the market as a whole, it would probably be a bigger factor. It's not an insurmoun
    • I'm a child of the '90s, and I personally find normal controllers are quite good for most games (perhaps I find them more useable becuase I grew up with them), but for some games like 2D fighters, you can't beat a joystick. I really like my Dreamcast Arcade Stick, I wish I could find something similar for my Xbox, the cheap Gamester one I found is too small, it won't sit on my lap nicely, and just feels wrong.
      • I really like my Dreamcast Arcade Stick, I wish I could find something similar for my Xbox, the cheap Gamester one I found is too small, it won't sit on my lap nicely, and just feels wrong.

        The Dreamcast one messed me up because the joystick wasn't straight. If you pushed it directly up from how you were sitting, it was actually off to one side (the right I think) a bit. I never got used to it.

        I've got a "Real Arcade Universal" that I picked up on sale at Gamestop when I was playing a lot of Soul Calibur 2.
    • Yeah, lets take the most clumsy, one directional (ie. weak in all other directions) finger and control everything with it!
      Uh... You have four other opposable fingers on each hand?
      I'm not saying thumb controls are the best possible solution, but in what way does a thumb have less freedom of movement than your other fingers? It's got one less knuckle, so it can't curl all the way back on itself... Other than that, I look at how far I can move my thumb independently side-to-side versus my other fingers, a

      • Re:The D-pad sucks (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Cthefuture ( 665326 )
        I guess I should have been more clear. The thumb is not as dexterious as the other fingers because it is made to grip and hold while the other fingers perform more detailed work. However, this is totally beside the point I was trying to make.

        What I meant by my comparison is that the thumb sucks compared to using your hand/wrist/arm like with a joystick or mouse. I can quickly and extremely accurately snap my hand to specific positions whereas trying to do the same thing with just your thumb and its limit
    • Yes, Grandpa. I know, back in your day they didn't even have thumbs. ;)
  • http://www.google.com/search?q=%22game+controllers [google.com]
    Also, starting with the dual shock, adding the two buttons mentioned by another poster, adding the center xy-axis control and z button from the N64 controller for alternate hand grip. (I liked the N64 controller for race games like Crus'n USA), buttons for the lower three fingers of both hands with the standard grip, controller tilt sensors, removal of the 'analog' button that switches the controller between digital compatability mode for old games and a

  • N64 credit... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by kisrael ( 134664 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @12:32PM (#13558757) Homepage
    N64 also gets credit for bringing back 4 controller ports on the system, something lost since the Atari 8-bits...every intermediate system neeeded a multitap, external hardware that never gets as much support as the base unit. DC and Xbox got the idea; Sony remains steadfast against it, and is the poor sister when it comes to party and splitscreen games.

    As for
    Say what you will about the Sega Dreamcast, but can we at least admit that its standard control pad was a carnival of screwups?

    I think that's a huge stretch. Maybe for fighters it could've used more buttons (though I hate 6 similar buttons), and possibly a second analog controller, it brought in good analog triggers, and the VMU was really really nifty...I wouldn't be shocked if future controllers get little screens builtin at somepoint.
    • The VMU needed a light. Or at least a led on the controller.

      Even then, I've noticed that focussing back on the controller too often is not good. The example would be with the GBA/NGC for Zelda: Four Swords.
      I found that it took me a second or two to get used to the difference in brightness and focus.

    • Sony remains steadfast against it, and is the poor sister when it comes to party and splitscreen games.

      Wrong. PS3 supports 7 controllers out of the box.
      • you are wrong, PS3 isn't out yet and Sony is so full of shit there is no way to know anything they said the ps3 will have actually will be there.

        i would trust Microsoft before i would trust sony. i don't even own and xbox nor do i particularly like Halo, but after getting fucked on a defective PS2, which sony refused to admit there was a problem with despite massive failure rates for the first generation of ps2's i will never again buy sony hardware.

  • Spice tins (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fm6 ( 162816 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @12:39PM (#13558834) Homepage Journal
    Those guys at MIT always had way too much money to spend on hardware. That's why EMACS is so much more complicated than Vi -- it was originally designed to work on a very expensive terminal, whereas Vi was designed for a cheap "dumb terminal".

    When the MIT guys were doing that fancy Spacewar controller, less well-financed colleges were making them out of spice tins [tias.com]. Poke a couple holes for a rheostat and a trigger button, and voila! That was the first game controller I ever saw.

  • Pretty damn long article (Score:5, Funny)

    by xenocide2 ( 231786 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @12:56PM (#13558984) Homepage
    For something that can be summarized as "Nolan Bushnell is the idiot savant that created video games, and Nintendo is the group that saved gamers from their creator."
  • Okay, so Atari didn't get out of the hardware business entirely after the XE. With the PlayStation and Saturn launches two years away, Atari took another stab at the US market with the ill-conceived Jaguar, which was 64-bit in the same way that the TurboGrafx-16 was 16-bit (it wasn't).

    *sigh*

    It's been over a decade, yet game journalists KEEP REPEATING THIS %*$#ING LIE. Yes, it was 64-bit. Multiple chips were 64-bit, along with some system busses. They called it 64-bit BECAUSE IT IS.
    • "They called it 64-bit BECAUSE IT IS."

      Not in any way that mattered to a gamer. Correcting anybody on interals of the machine won't take away the fact that the machine's power was grossly exaggerated by Atari. If handed you my cell phone and called it a digital camera, you'd likely correct me by saying "No, it's a cell phone with a crappy ass camera built into it." If I were to say "But technically it has a CCD, so it's a digital camera!" you'd think I was a twerp. Ponder on that.
      • Actually, it's hard to know what the machine was capable of - they didn't have great development tools available, and half the games were little more than 16-bit ports that did little more than use the 68k chip, leaving the rest of the power unused. Was it exaggerated? Well, we'll never really know. (To be fair, what console hasn't exaggerated?)

        And I would actually say that your cell phone can work as a digital camera - not a good one mind you, but it's there.
        • "Was it exaggerated? Well, we'll never really know."

          That's the problem, iddn't it. What good is capability if it's never used? Meanwhile, they did have games like Somethingmoprh (I forget what 'something' was...) and Iron... err. Iron Soldier? (the big mech game) that were full 3D. Both those games relied on goraud shaded polys and used very little (if any) fully textured polygons. Both those games had a hard time maintaining 30fps, and to be honest, I don't recall the morph game going much past 20.
          • Both those games had a hard time maintaining 30fps, and to be honest, I don't recall the morph game going much past 20. Frankly, given some of the numbers involved, I'm not surprised.

            Wow. You shore can count fast. I bet nothing gets by you. Nothing!
      • If Sony hands me a video game system and claims it can throw down 84 Million Polygons per Second doesn't mean it will.

        Not that it makes it right, but gross exaggerations aren't limited to just Atari.

        Sony: Polygon counts. Sega: the "Blast Processing" Nintendo: Revolutionary [reference.com]? Microsoft: Basically, anything they say.

        What's important isn't the marketing hype. It's definitely the fun factor of the games. Some may call it a crappy ass camera, but everyone and their mom has a camera phone these days.
        • "Not that it makes it right, but gross exaggerations aren't limited to just Atari."

          Never implied that. The difference between Atari and Sony, however, is that Sony's systems clearly outclassed the other systems of the day. Jaguar owners felt ripped off. There's exagerrating and there's setting false expectations.

    • By that logic, the Sega Genesis is 24 bits, as it has a 16-bit 68000 and an 8-bit Z80. I don't even want to think about how many bits the SNES would be, thanks to all the specialized chips it had for music and graphics and whatnot.

      And something tells me that you had a Jaguar and are still a little bitter about it... (Oh, and no single chip on the Jaguar was 64-bit. In theory, it could process 64 bits of data at once, if you were using every single processor in the system. Most games just used the 68000 var

  • The Revolution (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Iscariot_ ( 166362 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @12:58PM (#13559001)
    I think we are about to get a great controller upgrade from Nintendo (once again). They recently bought these guys: http://www.gyration.com/ [gyration.com] . This could also explain why Nintendo said that twilight princess was the last of "this type" of Zelda game. I expect the next one to actually let you swing the controller to swing your sword.

    Kinda neet:
    http://www.gyration.com/files/demos/Remote_web_Ger man.wmv [gyration.com]">http://www.gyration.com/files/demos/Remot e_web_German.wmv

  • So am I the only one here that thinks the Game Cube controllers suck? The big honkin' X-box controller isn't that much better IMHO. Sure, they both looked cool, and had all the necessary controls, but there should be more time/R&D put on the long term usability and ergnomics of controllers instead of just making them look cool.
    I think the controllers of the future need to have better tactile feedback as well. The vibrate function is cool, but I think an analog trigger needs to have controllable bounce
    • Sometimes I think I'm the only person who absolutely loved the gamecube controller. It fits my hands so perfectly and the trigger shoulder buttons have always been a pleasure to have around. As a matter of fact, if I could take the gamecube controller and somehow merge it with the N64 controller I'd be in heaven. On another note I have total faith in Nintendo to reveal something completely new. Even if it does seem gimmicky at first they will support it and show the masses why it is so great. When it comes
      • My only problem with teh GC controller is that the shoulder button is in a recess (may only be the wave bird). this causes my finger to hook funny to push it and Viewtiful joe (where it is held down during intensity) to hurt. When I play it too long the pain extends to my elbow.

        I actually am thinks about reshaping the controller with a dremmel because it looks void of electronics in the part sticking out causin problems.

    • Re:Game Cube Controllers (Score:5, Insightful)

      by realityfighter ( 811522 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @05:47PM (#13561579) Homepage
      You're complaining about the ergonomics of the Cube controller? The only controller to put the A,B and X buttons on the same axis as the arc of your thumb movement? The only controller to make the buttons different shapes so you could FEEL your way around the controller instead of having to "hunt and peck" for the right buttons? The only controller with analog shoulder buttons, which, by the way, exhibit the kind of resistance you were talking about - it actually feels like you're pulling a trigger when you push the button down. And while we're on the subject of those shoulder buttons, notice how they're dropped down to be exactly where your index fingers naturally land when you grip the controller? On a dual shock the L&R buttons are on stilts above the controller that force you to extend your fingers, and that hurts. (When you strain your index finger, it affects muscles all the way up your arm too.)

      When I hold the GC controller, it's designed so that I only need to press together with my palms to hold it firmly, leaving the rest of my hand free to move. Try doing that with a dual shock - doesn't work, your hand only contacts at one point so the whole thing feels unbalanced. The Cube controller can also rest prefectly balanced on my middle fingers - again, the dual shock can't. The drops for the L&R 2 buttons get in the way of me curling my fingers up to meet the bottom of the controller; It will balance if I straighten my fingers, but that requires me to let go of the controls. The only option is to grip the dual shock tightly with your fingers already extended across the controls. The Cube controller actually allows you to relax your grip without feeling out of control. (I would compare with an Xbox controller, but I don't have one.) I've seen a lot of people say, "My hands are too big for the cube", and I'll give em that...but bad ergonomics, or unplanned ergonomics?? Surely you jest, sir. The ergonomics on the Cube controller are a work of art.
      • The XBox also has analog shoulder buttons, and in certain cases they feel better than the Gamecube ones. (Racing games comes to mind)

        Actually, a lot of the buttons on modern controllers are analog. I know the right-side buttons on both the Dualshock and the XBox controller are analog, don't know if the cube has them too.

  • The proud history of the numeric keypad (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Webmonger ( 24302 ) on Wednesday September 14, 2005 @01:34PM (#13559342) Homepage
    This article's gripe about numeric keypads on console controllers is reasonable, I guess. But the keypad has done much good service as a video game controller.

    Back in the days when PC XTs roamed the earth, the numeric keypad, in its arrow-key form, was the standard way to control direction using a keyboard.

    The 'wasd' layout for directions came much later, around the time of first-person shooters. I don't remember whether it was Doom or Quake.
    • The standard means of controlling your "guy" in PC games (no mouse) was to use the arrow keys on the number pad. If you wanted to play a 2-player game that allowed both players to play at the same time, the WASD configuration was often the player 2 control set. Of course, back then it was WAXD, and S was used for jump or fire. Sadly, I don't remember which games specifically used this. Hell, it might have been on my C-64 for that matter.

      Once the arrow keys came into their own, I beg
    • The keypad (or something like it) is essential for certain types of games where you give input that must be unambiguous and instant, like for example DROD [caravelgames.com]. If you have to fumble with a dpad, then you'll sometimes get up or right, when you meant up-right.

      But there's always a case that can be made for any type of addition to a controller. Let's add a lasso rope to the controller so that some cowboy game will work.

    • "The 'wasd' layout for directions came much later, around the time of first-person shooters. I don't remember whether it was Doom or Quake."

      None of them. It was a bit later, with Half-Life, that the WASD layout was popularized. Nowadays basically any FPS defaults to it for movement keys.
  • Does anyone else feel like the controller interface has gotten out of hand? With all the buttons and pads and triggers and whatnots the things are hard to make sense of. And I imagine you folks are completely used to them after logging your thousands of hours of consoletime, but try watching somebody new figure it out. I guess the funky controller design we have stems from the idea that one controller should work for all types of games. It used to be that you'd plug in different controllers depending on
    • I'll grudgingly agree with you.

      I've gotten used to all the new fandangled controllers, but I think the main reason I can't get my non-techy wife and computer-illiterate friends to play video games with me is they are scared of the controllers with a dozen buttons on them.

      Even if they only have to use the controller stick and two buttons, it's too difficult for most of them.

      (course now I have the steering wheel and gas/brake pedal for my favorite game (GT4) and I let my non-tech friends use that... they have
  • Am I the only person that likes the Dreamcast controllers? I still play the heck out of my DC, and I've found the controllers to be a lot more comfortable than I expected.

    Oh well, it's a dead system anyways, I'll just keep my two around and be glad we finally get consoles with decent texture filtering. (Yes, I mean you Playstation.)

    • I agree with you entirely. The dreamcast controllers were truly great. I have very large hands and those little pussy dual shock and gamecube controllers make my fingrnails dig into my fists. The dreamcast xbox controllers are just so much more comfortable.
      • Hmm, I don't have big hands myself, the dual shock fits me just fine. Good for Sega to figure out a way to make a controller usable for more people.

        I did have a moment of "how in the world can you use THIS" when I first looked at one, but now I have four of them sitting next to the TV.

  • In terms of the future, you might want to check out the GameRunner [gamerunner.us]. It's a treadmill controller designed to work with the computer, xbox, and playstation.
  • Here's a link to a fairly comprehensive video game controller family tree (complete with thumbnails).

    http://www.axess.com/twilight/console/ [axess.com]

    The article just seemed a little too verbal when a good summary graphic could have guided readers that might not have a clue about some of those systems.

  • Numeric Keypad... please! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Red Flayer ( 890720 ) on Thursday September 15, 2005 @10:18AM (#13566748) Journal
    "And just as long as there's no numeric keypad, we should be okay."

    I hope they do include a numeric keypad. I'm an accountant -- I could treat it as a business expense and save some money on my taxes!

    Now, if only Nintendo put out a green see-through visor as an accessory...

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