Those are all advantages.
The thing is... that they are Generic. If your running a Generic Arcade... then its OK. Cause everyone knows that most modern games today dont have any soul anymore... so why bother making cabinet art? Or cabinets that have unique qualities? Gone are the days when cabinets actually had great cabinet art, like Journey, or Discs of Tron Environmental.
true the japanese arcade machine may not have what we think is a true arcade machine. but most the game people played in the arcade was a clone of a japanese game.
While Japanese have created some great games... Lets not get too high and mighty. Atari created some incredible original classics. And look at Williams... Defender, Robotron, and a bunch of other excellent classics.
Finally, even though the LATER Japanese games were generic... there were many older cabinets that had great looks and innovative features.
The problem is that your just a Fanboy of a certain time period. Im Not. Im a fan of good games... and that means, any time period. Im not hung up on ego, which is exactly why your panties are all in a bunch.
Those generic plastic cabinets are one of the reasons the arcade industry in Japan is thriving to this day. Some of them are made of metal btw.
Sorry to tell you this.. but Japanese arcades are not doing very well compared to the past. Most of them survive merely because of high population density. Meaning.. there are soooo many people in one small area, that its nearly impossible to fail. Another reason, is that most of the Japanese arcades are home of Pachinko & Slot machine style gambling machines.
If you bring over some of the Japanese games to many American spots.. or lower population density areas... they will get ignored. How do I know this??? Because I was a Manager of a USA mall location Namco arcade. The locations of stores in higher density areas... got higher sales. They were also the last to have to close up.
I think a larger tri-sync monitor is a big advantage, but I can understand how you feel it's mounted too close to your face.
The Midway 25" monitors were even a little large, and they were a lot further away than most Japanese machines. Its like sitting 1ft away from your TV. Its stupid... But its necessary, in a tightly cramped Japanese arcade.
If the Japanese had the room, even They wouldnt have made the generic cabinets w/ face hugging, eye burning, EMF zapping monitors.
At least Japanese cabinets correct for this by adjust the angle of the player 2 controls a little.
There are many ways to utilize space. For example, you can leave your elbows out, which puts your hands at an angle... OR... you can but them directly in front of your body... which will save a lot of space... and not require change your hand angles.
What a logical, detailed argument, let's remember what you said about convex buttons.
Feel is very important to how something operates. Almost all buttons which are critical, are concave. It makes it easier to tell where your fingers are. Keeps your fingers from slipping off / out. Directs the fingers to the center of the button, which keeps the button mechanically more effective.
As for the sticks, they are not anything innovative. Pivot balls have been done before. The sticks feel cheap, fragile, super clicky. Some have throws which are way too tight. A lot of them have Hideous color schemes.
Your fingers don't make any less of a curve when you curl them up than they do laying flat. They only do if you curl some fingers up a lot more than others; this isn't comfortable or natural, it's forced by the button layout. The layout should conform to your hand, not the other way around.
When you spread your fingers apart, and bend them, they line up quite well. If you extend your middle finger too far... where it would so called "Naturally Be", it lies too flat, and becomes more difficult to effectively press the button. You want to press the the button vertically, using a straight path, gravity, and good bio-mechanical leverage and spring action.
You simply are Not understanding all the issues involved.
I thought I was being brilliant when making a curved layout. Felt good on on a mock up drawing... but it didnt work well on a real control panel.
Also, straight line keyboards are not known to be comfortable, natural, or healthy. Ever hear of an ergonomic keyboard? Ever hear of carpal tunnel syndrome?
Carpal Tunnel can be caused by ANY highly repetitive action. A lot of it has to do with being too tense too often. Your muscles need to have relaxation / rest times. They need to be stretched and flexed.
The Ergo boards are still rare compared to the standard keyboards... and it has little to do with costs. Probably the most effective keyboards at stress reduction, are also the most difficult to learn to use. Like the vertical splits.
Theres nothing difficult with using my flat keyboard. I dont have CT. And anyone whos seen my marathon post would probably figure that I SHOULD have CT.
Ohh, and another thing... I dont think Ive EVER seen a keyboard with convex buttons.
Besides, straight line keyboards are ergonomic nightmares meant to fit as many keys as possible into a useable space...
They are a method to control. Theres nothing else that will perform the job as effectively.
Even the so called ergo methods do not improve much upon the results.
I remember as a kid, getting an Epyx single handed ergomonic joystick. As nice as it was for its quality micros, and good stick, ...pressing the buttons rapidly on it was not good at all. A simple non-ergo nintendo gamepad was far easier and better to use...
You're getting these problem because you're using poor concave buttons that don't move smoothly or actuate responsively. This is why there are convex buttons, you shouldn't have to hold your hand a certain way to get the buttons to work properly. Again, the control panel should conform to your hand, not the other way around.
Ive already debated this. Again, its not mechanically advantageous to press a button at an angle.
Daigo uses the curved layout. Your fingers don't make a straight line whether they rested on the buttons or held in the air.
In order to make your fingers go in a perfect downward pathway... then you have to adjust your fingers... and that adjustment, creates a straight line. Try doing the sequential 4 finger tap... both with a straight line, and with a curved layout.
And when you are talking fastest most accurate response.. you want a perfect downwards path. Not a longer distance angled path, with a poorly leveraged finger.
While anyone CAN learn to become great with limitations... they could actually play better, with better controller methods.
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Topic: Raising Awareness of Japanese Parts and Button Layouts (Read 29182 times)
