[geeks] Videogame controls

[nate at portents.com]

> If you asked around, you would find that people who "grew up" using
> console controllers, won't play games without them. I recently saw
> an X-BOX controller for the PC at a local store. My speculation
> is that they are bought not by people who buy X-BOX games ported
> to the PC, but by X-BOX owners who want the same interface on
> their PC.

There is both a theoretical upper-bound on how well a controller maps to a
range of gaming actions, and there is the fluency of a player to use that
controller within it's potential.

And certain games have a higher upper-bound for certain controller types.

For instance, 2D platform games are best suited to an 8-way directional
pad controller (or keyboard equivalent mappings).

Third person perspective 3D platform/action games are best suited to an
analog or dual-analog gamepad controller.

Precision first-person shooter games are best suited to mouse control with
additional key inputs (the lack of precision of a gamepad has to be
compensated for by auto-aiming and or/other mechanisms in the game
otherwise).

Aracade racing games requiring twitch response at unrealistic speeds are
best suited to an analog gamepad with analog shoulder triggers for
variable acceleration and braking (first introduced on the Sega Saturn
analog controller, which was the basis of the Sega Dreamcast controller,
and which the XBox controller is derived from).

Simulation racing games are best suited to a real wheel-and-pedals,
ideally with force feedback.

Simulation flight, likewise, a true joystick and flight throttle.

It could be argued that three degress of freedom games (3DoF) are best
suited to controllers such as the SpaceOrb (which was even available in a
PlayStation 1 version) or Novint Falcon 3D.

Also, games such as Steel Battalion are of course best suited to custom
controllers, such as the dual-stick, 40-button $200 controller bundled
with the game.

While almost any game can be adapted to any type of control, there are
real consequences which can be partly compensated for by design changes.

And as you point out, some people prefer to use a less well-suited
controller that they are already fluent in rather than take the time to
learn the motor vocubulary of a new controller.

A contemporary example of this is the Saitek P3600 "Cyborg Rumble Pad"
which has an "FPS" button on it, so when you press it the drivers map one
of the analog sticks to be a mouse controller so that the player can use
the gamepad for PC first person games that would not otherwise work with
an analog gamepad.  (I even saw a review of the P3600 where the reviewer
*only* tested the gamepad with first person shooter games, and didn't test
it with any third person, platform, or racing games.)

- Nate