Gaming Confessions & Blasphemy

The N64 is one system I do not regret missing out on. I liked some of the games my friend brought over, but not much measured up to what the SNES or GameCube put out. It was like an awkward puberty stage for Nintendo.

Vrikk wrote:

I don't like the Nintendo 64. I think it's a crappy system with, at maximum, 5 good games for it.

Totes agree with this part. But some of those good games are actually great games (Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Pilotwings). Part of me wants to say Goldeneye and Perfect Dark as well but those games totally don't hold up.

Vrikk wrote:

Also? The controller is stupid... but that's pretty common knowledge.

I loved it at the time but looking back it is pretty meh. The level of sensitivity on the analog stick is really terrible compared to even a first gen DualShock.

McIrishJihad wrote:
PRG013 wrote:

I would marry Morrigan even though I would be dead by morning.

No one will fault you for that.

Morrigan will.

IMAGE(http://cosplaypro.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/morrigan2.jpg)

Speaking of controllers, I'll never understand the love for the GameCube/Wavebird controller (own both).

People say it's the most comfortable thing ever while it was more ergonomic than Sony pads, the buttons and sticks quite frankly stunk.

The L and R Triggers hurt after prolonged use (try extended scanning sessions with Metroid Prime for proof). The C-stick (i.e. R Stick) was nothing more than a pencil eraser nipple that couldn't even rotate fluidly thanks to the octagon bezel. It frankly made moving around in 1st or 3rd person perspective awkward and unintuitive. Some praise the Big 'A' Win button surrounded by jelly bean buttons, but I found them just as incongruous as the differing L/R sticks, as opposed to the traditional diamond button layout.

Other than that it rocked though.

Gamecubes/Wavebirds are the best because they combine the overall shape of XB/PS controllers, good analog sticks (you're right about the stupid bezel, though), AND NOT-SH!T D-PADS. If Microsoft and Sony would just copy/rent/buy the ability to have a classic Nintendo d-pad, that has been perfect since NES, I wouldn't hate the Xbox and Playstation controllers so much.

I realize now that I liked the GameCube controller so much in part because I only ever played first-party games on it. The N64 controller is in the same boat. If nothing else, Nintendo does a great job of tailoring their games to their unique control layouts. Playing a game like Ocarina of Time on something other than an N64 controller is a different experience even just with the little details like the scale of the ocarina's notes going upward in the direction of the face buttons so that A is the lowest note and C-Up is the highest.

But yeah, if I tried to play a game designed for dual analog controls on the GameCube, I might hate the C nub, too.

Rykin wrote:

I loved it at the time but looking back it is pretty meh. The level of sensitivity on the analog stick is really terrible compared to even a first gen DualShock.

Not exactly sure what you mean. Maybe it's because the US (non-japanese?) versions of the controller developed some bad dead zones in the springback, but the N64 analog stick seemed just as good as any other in terms of sensitivity. That is to say, developers never seem to take advantage of it past 2 or 3 levels. I felt like N64 games really did take advantage of multiple levels, though. Mario 64, Pilotwings, F-Zero X all really asked for varying levels of input.

There was a reason I hardly ever lost to my buddies in F-Zero X. Ok maybe a couple. It was my N64 and game and they never owned one, but they were still really good. But I had the time to hone my analog skills and muscle memory on the tracks. I was actually banned from using the black bull and fire stingray (the pink one from the original, piloted by Samurai Goroh).

I don't think it has the same range of values as other analog controllers (the Xbox 360 for example works in a range of around -64,000 through 64,000 if I remember correctly). Going back to it after playing newer system makes it feel like there is very little gradation between the extremes. This may be a game specific thing though.

Sticking with the controller talk, I was a big defender of the OG Xbox Duke controller, even feeling like MS sold out when they introduced the smaller Controller S.

Yeah, I recently got my hands back on the Duke after not having touched one in years...Holy hell, that thing is an unwieldy monstrosity.

What the hell was I thinking?

I'm a big guy with pretty large hands but the Duke was big even for me. I have a friend who loved it though. His hands are so big that he usually can't get his fingers into the holes of bowling balls so he just palms them and does this weird sideways throw.

IMAGE(http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215142996_22jgm-L-2.jpg)

IMAGE(http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215161632_vH4R5-L-2.jpg)

PRG013 wrote:

I would marry Morrigan even though I would be dead by morning.

"Our surgeons did what they could, but it took them two hours just to get the smile off his face."

Morrigan eh? Hmm.

I loved the big giant OG Xbox controller. Big hands, you know. Which worked out well, because of course everyone had the one that came with the system and nobody else wanted to use it.

hbi2k wrote:

I loved the big giant OG Xbox controller. Big hands, you know. Which worked out well, because of course everyone had the one that came with the system and nobody else wanted to use it.

That worked out well for my brother, too. I preferred the S, and he liked the original. When I was working at GameStop all my coworkers were tall guys with huge hands that loved it, too. I felt bad when Microsoft decided options are a bad thing.

I also did a paper for my usability class on the three controllers, and determined the Playstation controller was the worst because none of the buttons were clear to their purpose and it was angular and uncomfortable to hold. The Xbox S and GameCube were good for different reasons. The Xbox S was smooth and more fitting for your hands and fingers, but it had a similar issue of having to decipher the controller's meaning. This is where the GameCube controller was surprisingly genius. As was stated, the green Confirm button was big and green, a positive color, so anyone could look at it and think "I should press this button". The B-Button was also prominent and red, and when someone wanted to cancel it was more obvious to hit that button. X and Y were wildcards, but they were off to the side and colored gray. Little attention was called to them.

The GameCube controllers weren't the best, but in trying to get non-gamers to learn how to play, they were a step above the competition.

Whoever made the "let's create black/white buttons and put them in a weird spot just to be DIFFERENT" decision at Microsoft really needs to be kicked somewhere unpleasant several times. They were still awkward on the S controller, but the placement on the original Xbox Duke controller was . . . seriously, did any gamer ever actually try to use those buttons during playtesting and say, "Hey, awesome, I really like how I have to reach way the hell up there to use these two buttons that are tiny and close enough to flush to the surface of the controller that they're hard to push!"

I find the alignment of buttons/joysticks on gamepads a bit weird from an ergonomic point of view.

Hold your thumb out in front of you, move it forwards and backwards, and side to side. Now repeat those motions on a gamepad joystick and you're moving in diagonals. I have once come across a game that lets you calibrate this, and I can't remember what it was.

Buttons are a little better, but it's still awkward using more than A and B regularly (or perhaps I've got freakish hands), and really bad if you have to regularly use both the right joystick and buttons frequently, or fast responses on multiple buttons while expecting your right hand to remain holding the pad, say for the joystick or trigger buttons.

The whole design of the 'standard' pad just strikes me that Sony got something that worked pretty well back in the 90s and then no one has the guts to do anything good with it since then because it was safe. Sadly because it's the standard we're probably stuck with it, just like we're stuck with a whole load of other things like QWERTY keyboards.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Whoever made the "let's create black/white buttons and put them in a weird spot just to be DIFFERENT" decision at Microsoft really needs to be kicked somewhere unpleasant several times. They were still awkward on the S controller, but the placement on the original Xbox Duke controller was . . . seriously, did any gamer ever actually try to use those buttons during playtesting and say, "Hey, awesome, I really like how I have to reach way the hell up there to use these two buttons that are tiny and close enough to flush to the surface of the controller that they're hard to push!"

Yea I never understood why they didn't just place them like this:

IMAGE(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3170/2967684624_acb426dcc5.jpg)

That controller is my go to controller for SNES. It is a really joy for fighting games.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Whoever made the "let's create black/white buttons and put them in a weird spot just to be DIFFERENT" decision at Microsoft really needs to be kicked somewhere unpleasant several times. They were still awkward on the S controller, but the placement on the original Xbox Duke controller was . . . seriously, did any gamer ever actually try to use those buttons during playtesting and say, "Hey, awesome, I really like how I have to reach way the hell up there to use these two buttons that are tiny and close enough to flush to the surface of the controller that they're hard to push!"

Agreed. Loved the feel of the OG Xbox controller in the hand, but the placement of the black and white buttons was just {ableist slur}.

Rykin wrote:

I'm a big guy with pretty large hands but the Duke was big even for me. I have a friend who loved it though. His hands are so big that he usually can't get his fingers into the holes of bowling balls so he just palms them and does this weird sideways throw.

I am one of those guys. The size of the duke was amazing and I miss it every time I play a game with a controller.

Scratched wrote:

The whole design of the 'standard' pad just strikes me that Sony got something that worked pretty well back in the 90s and then no one has the guts to do anything good with it since then because it was safe. Sadly because it's the standard we're probably stuck with it, just like we're stuck with a whole load of other things like QWERTY keyboards.

I think the PS4 controller looks quite nice. Be nice if they would sell a version with the stick and the d-pad swapped though. I find the Xbox layout much more comfortable for long play sessions these days.

Dakuna wrote:

Morrigan eh? Hmm.

Morrigan eh?

Morrigan: A perfect example that most video game character designers develop female outfits in hopes that women will cosplay as those characters.

Didn't know Morrigan had a lazy eye.

ccesarano wrote:
hbi2k wrote:

I loved the big giant OG Xbox controller. Big hands, you know. Which worked out well, because of course everyone had the one that came with the system and nobody else wanted to use it.

This is where the GameCube controller was surprisingly genius. As was stated, the green Confirm button was big and green, a positive color, so anyone could look at it and think "I should press this button". The B-Button was also prominent and red, and when someone wanted to cancel it was more obvious to hit that button.

I'll disagree with you slightly on this.

On the Xbox controllers, A is green and in the "neutral" position, and generally used for "ok/accept". B is red, and while it's position is reversed from the Gamecube design, its still used as the default "cancel".

The Playstation controllers as still fubar'd. Green is Triangle, and the "hardest to reach". O is red, and usually "cancel", but then X is blue and usually "ok/accept". o.0

McIrishJihad wrote:

The Playstation controllers as still fubar'd. Green is Triangle, and the "hardest to reach". O is red, and usually "cancel", but then X is blue and usually "ok/accept". o.0

To nitpick, that quirk is likely a fault of non-Japanese people programming games for a Japanese controller. In most Japanese PS1 games "Circle" is the confirm button, and "Cross" is cancel. Somewhere along the line Western devs switched it up and the Japanese gave in on it with the advent of the PS2. However, it would be horribly confusing to switch them so this is where we are.

Regarding "Triangle" and "Square," the designer intended for Square to open menus and Triangle to be related to the camera or point of view. However, this didn't become standard because people were used to the top button being the menus (Final Fantasy games were very, very influential in the mid-nineties) on the SNES. This article details the whole situation.

Man, all this controller talk, I guess this is one:

I like the PS3 Dual Shock 3 a whole lot more than the XBox 360 Controller (with the earlier caveat that I suck with both)

I heard them ragging on the PS3 thumbstick layout on Weekend Confirmed, and I just couldn't get onboard. There's a nice symmetry to the PS3 layout.

gore wrote:

Man, all this controller talk, I guess this is one:

I like the PS3 Dual Shock 3 a whole lot more than the XBox 360 Controller (with the earlier caveat that I suck with both)

I heard them ragging on the PS3 thumbstick layout on Weekend Confirmed, and I just couldn't get onboard. There's a nice symmetry to the PS3 layout.

The problem is that there is not a symmetry to how you use the different parts of the controller. The PS controller has symmetry, but the offset style of the 360 controller makes more sense. Ergonomics matter more then symmetrical balance.

I suspect that the majority of people that prefer the PS controller scheme, started gaming on a PS1. Otherwise, it's poor ergonomics drives most people away.

At least that's my hypothesis.

Jayhawker wrote:

At least that's my hypothesis.

I don't fall into that category, and I like the PS3 controller now. The ergonomics are initially terrible for people with larger hands. I didn't really like it at first. I would get sore hands from gripping the thing. With practice, however, you learn how to hold it properly and relax your hands. If you clutch Dualshock 3, look at how your hands are placed, remove your hands from the controller, and then put your hands in the same position, it's actually a fairly natural position. You have to keep your hands relaxed, though, otherwise your 4th and 5th fingers will get fatigued. So yeah, it takes practice, and people who have been using the design for awhile, will be more comfortable with it.

The PS4 redesign looks like the extended grips will help force you to relax those 4th and 5th fingers like the 360 controller does. It should be pretty decent.