Next, next Gen controls?

[tommy]

From what I've seen and heard from Wii owners in reguards to the motion controler technology i can't help but wonder if all console makers will try to go this way in the future in one form or another?

Some games seem to work great being able to move your arms around and some do not, i think atleast all future consoles should atleast have the normal controler option along with the Wii type motion option as a standard in the future.

Maybe the verdict is still out on the new idea but if all is well i think we will see this sort of thing done even better next time.

[AtomSmasher]

The ps3 controller already has similar capabilities as the wiimote, although I've heard they're no where near as precise as the wii's.  There will soon be a few games coming out on the ps3 that use the technology.

[ImaTest]

The ps3 controller already has similar capabilities as the wiimote, although I've heard they're no where near as precise as the wii's.  There will soon be a few games coming out on the ps3 that use the technology.

I haven't read a lot of problems about precision with regards to the SixAxis controller, it just does not register as many degrees and directions as the Wiimote.  I'm excited to see the SixAxis in use with games like Lair where you can bank your dragon in mid-air by tilting the controller.

[AtomSmasher]

The ps3 controller already has similar capabilities as the wiimote, although I've heard they're no where near as precise as the wii's.  There will soon be a few games coming out on the ps3 that use the technology.

I haven't read a lot of problems about precision with regards to the SixAxis controller, it just does not register as many degrees and directions as the Wiimote.  I'm excited to see the SixAxis in use with games like Lair where you can bank your dragon in mid-air by tilting the controller.

You could be right, I just remember people saying the Wiimote is more powerful and better.

[MajorLag]

Makes sense, history repeats itself: Nintendo leads, others follow. D-Pad, Shoulder buttons, Autocentering analog stick, and now motion sensing.

[leapinlew]

Makes sense, history repeats itself: Nintendo leads, others follow. D-Pad, Shoulder buttons, Autocentering analog stick, and now motion sensing.

Don't forget:
The Bazooka
Powerglove
Robby the Robot
Super NES Mouse

I suppose if you swing enough - you'll hit some homeruns. Nintendo has it's share of goofy controllers I think. We'll see if the Wii-mote is considered a success or a powerglove.

The guitar in Guitar Hero is pretty cool. The games that require a camera that detects your movements are also kind of neat, but can't seem to get any traction.

[MajorLag]

Well, they can't all be strokes of genius. But seriously, I can't help but think that if it werent for Nintendo trying different things and getting some of them to work well we'd still be stuck with non-analog 4-way joysticks with 1-4 buttons and maybe a number pad.

[leapinlew]

Well, they can't all be strokes of genius. But seriously, I can't help but think that if it werent for Nintendo trying different things and getting some of them to work well we'd still be stuck with non-analog 4-way joysticks with 1-4 buttons and maybe a number pad.

Ahh.. you mean when arcade games were fun, not complicated and you could play a game for a few minutes to have a good time instead of hours?

Yeah, that would suck. 

[ChadTower]

What about all of those people who have been tilting the controller back and forth for years for no reason?   

[ImaTest]

Makes sense, history repeats itself: Nintendo leads, others follow. D-Pad, Shoulder buttons, Autocentering analog stick, and now motion sensing.

I love how Nintendo gets credited for the Dpad, analog sticks, and motion sensing when they inevented NONE OF THEM.  Neither Nintendo or Sony are inventing anything in the control arena this generation (or the last)... they are simply working off of previous designs and showing them to the mass market.

Nintendo isn't leading as much as they are simply the first to COPY....

[MajorLag]

Nintendo may not have invented them (are you sure about the D-Pad?), but they were the first ones to make them work well with any success, and thats whats important.

[ChadTower]

IIRC, the Master System was out before the NES was... and it had a D pad.

[leapinlew]

I love how Nintendo gets credited for the Dpad, analog sticks, and motion sensing when they inevented NONE OF THEM. 

Yeah, I hear this all the time too. Whatever.

Overall I'm a big nintendo fan - I just don't believe they invented the wheel.

[MajorLag]

Chad, but wasn't the Game & Watch (origin of the D-Pad AFAIK) out before then?

[tommy]

I played the demo of excite truck today and i really liked the feel of the remote and how the menu was used with the remote.  I really did not care for the game but i did like how the controls felt.

Looks like a home run of a controler to me.

[AtomSmasher]

Makes sense, history repeats itself: Nintendo leads, others follow. D-Pad, Shoulder buttons, Autocentering analog stick, and now motion sensing.

Don't forget:
The Bazooka
Powerglove
Robby the Robot
Super NES Mouse

I suppose if you swing enough - you'll hit some homeruns. Nintendo has it's share of goofy controllers I think. We'll see if the Wii-mote is considered a success or a powerglove.

I think the difference is that those were all peripherals added to a console that was alreadt around, the ones that were successes were all the main controller for their system.  It seems like the ones they know are going to be great they make the standard for their system.

I love how Nintendo gets credited for the Dpad, analog sticks, and motion sensing when they inevented NONE OF THEM.  Neither Nintendo or Sony are inventing anything in the control arena this generation (or the last)... they are simply working off of previous designs and showing them to the mass market.

Nintendo isn't leading as much as they are simply the first to COPY....

No one said they invented the technology, if you look, he said they lead with the technology.  He could be wrong about the D-pad, but Nintendo was the first company to make the analog controls and the motion controller in their console.  Neither of them had been successly used in a console before Nintendo showed how it is done, and now analog sticks are the norm and soon motion sensing will probably also become the norm.

[MajorLag]

Actually I think the Atari 5200 was the first console to have an analog stick on its main controller. Problem was it wasn't auto centering and broke if you looked at it funny. Because of that, I think its correct to say that Nintendo was the first one to do it successfully.

[ChadTower]

Chad, but wasn't the Game & Watch (origin of the D-Pad AFAIK) out before then?

They started producing them around 1980 but the early ones didn't have D pads.  I don't know off the top of my head which was the first and when it was.

But the more I think about it, the more my aging memory wants to credit Yokoi with the D Pad's patent.  That would give it to Nintendo but not for the NES, probably for the Game & Watch.  Nice call.

[tommy]

Nintendo was on the right track on their very first console i think.

I don't remember it being a big hit but it was a step in the right direction.

[MajorLag]

Nintendo was on the right track on their very first console i think.

The Color TV Game 6? Going to have to disagree on that one 

[tommy]

Nintendo was on the right track on their very first console i think.

The Color TV Game 6? Going to have to disagree on that one 

The max controler in the pic, it was a start of sorts to full motion controls early on.

[AlanS17]

Nintendo was on the right track on their very first console i think.

I don't remember it being a big hit but it was a step in the right direction.

I honestly couldn't stand the NES Max. The NES Advantage was an awesome arcade-style joystick, though. I used it for every game. It's all opinion, though.

[tommy]

Nintendo was on the right track on their very first console i think.

I don't remember it being a big hit but it was a step in the right direction.

I honestly couldn't stand the NES Max. The NES Advantage was an awesome arcade-style joystick, though. I used it for every game. It's all opinion, though.

I agree it was bad, but i do think it led to the N64 controler in some way. It was something other than just a 4 way pad.

Just my opinion though.

[Hoagie_one]

MAttel made teh power glove

[ChadTower]

First of all, the NES D pad is 8 way, not 4 way.

And the MAX is only different in that it had that odd sliding circular bit.  It is the same 8 way underneath.  After about the first hour of use the MAX would gum up with plastic dust and become barely responsive.  It was a terrible controller, so tight that it shaved its own material off to gum itself up almost immediately.

It was nothing at all like any sort of motion sensing.  It was just an alternate (terrible) 8 way interface.

[MajorLag]

I've taken more than a few NES pads apart and I'm certain they're 4 way, since they only have 4 contacts for the D-Pad. The diagonals come from more than one direction registering simultaneously. A true 8 way would have 8 contacts.

Actually, they way the controller electronics work, you can construct one that will allow you to push all 4 directions at once if you wanted. TASers do crazy things like that, pushing up and down at the same time to, say, launch themselves up ladders in SMB2.

[ImaTest]

I've taken more than a few NES pads apart and I'm certain they're 4 way, since they only have 4 contacts for the D-Pad. The diagonals come from more than one direction registering simultaneously. A true 8 way would have 8 contacts.

Actually, they way the controller electronics work, you can construct one that will allow you to push all 4 directions at once if you wanted. TASers do crazy things like that, pushing up and down at the same time to, say, launch themselves up ladders in SMB2.

what "true 8 way" has 8 contacts?  Every 8way controller or joystick I've ever seen has had 4 contacts.

[ChadTower]

what "true 8 way" has 8 contacts?  Every 8way controller or joystick I've ever seen has had 4 contacts.

That's how they pretty much all work.  Diagonals = two directions pushed at once.  I've never seen one with 8 contacts.

The difference between an 8 way and a 4 way is just restriction of the stick/pad from hitting two contacts at once.

[MajorLag]

Ok then.