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User Standard Layout - All Games!
The PS2 controller is a wonderful design: functional, ergonomic, easy to remember layout and quite possibly the most familiar symbolics in gaming history (barring the 3 button ABC D-pad on the Megadrive).
However, it seems that developers aren't making the most of it. Take all first person shooters. The most common features are that you use the left analogue stick to move foward and backwards and to strafe from side to side. The right analogue stick is then used to aim your weapon, up down and around in any direction. The same layout is often used in 3rd person shooters too, although generally auto-aiming is substituted and the right-analogue stick is then used to manoevre the camera view around.
The FPS standards were originally set by PC games, however, Medal of Honor on the PS2 epitomises perfect use of the controller. There is some debate over whether X or R1 should be used to fire weapons, because more often than not R1 is used to select a target, but where there's debate, there's usually a controller configuration menu hidden away on the Options section of the Main menu.
Metal Gear Solid, on the other hand, opted for the Square button for aiming and shooting. This took a lot of getting used to, but at least they kept the same control layout for the sequel.
In driving games, X is used to accelerate, Square is used to break/reverse, Circle is for the handbrake. This standard was set many years ago on the PSX in Gran Turismo, and most, but not all games since have followed the same pattern, making most games intuitive, easy to pick up and play from the first moment they get their packaging removed. Grand Theft Auto took this series one step further by adding the Triangle button to the control setup, used exclusively for getting in and out of vehicles. Because the GTA franchise is so successful, it seemed logical that any game trying to imitate this greatness would be likely to follow in the same footsteps.
So we arrive at The Getaway. The Getaway makes no attempt to commit to a USLAG. It has no camera control, it uses the handbrake button to steal cars, it uses GTA's jump button to shoot, it uses GTA's sprint button to crouch, it uses the steal vehicle button to holster a weapon. Trying to play one of these games after another forces players to make a great leap in acclimatisation and mental dexterity.
In point of fact, it's the least intuitive control system I've ever had the displeasure to have to learn. And after 20 years of gaming you'd think developers would have sorted this out by now.
The only short-term measure until they come to some kind of agreement over what buttons should always be used for what is to force every single games developer to include a controller configuration option somewhere in the opening menus. Until that happens, gamers are forced to set aside essential gaming enjoyment time for the task of re-learning what buttons do what and reprogramming their fingers' automatic memories, a time consuming and arduous task that is better spent fragging Nazis Medal of Honor and setting fire to monkeys in Timesplitters 2.
They should discuss USLAG in depth at an E3 symposium or ECTS talk. It's something that needs addressing more urgently with each passing year because of the changing demographics of the gaming community. We're not getting any younger, and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
The PS2 controller is a wonderful design: functional, ergonomic, easy to remember layout and quite possibly the most familiar symbolics in gaming history (barring the 3 button ABC D-pad on the Megadrive).
However, it seems that developers aren't making the most of it. Take all first person shooters. The most common features are that you use the left analogue stick to move foward and backwards and to strafe from side to side. The right analogue stick is then used to aim your weapon, up down and around in any direction. The same layout is often used in 3rd person shooters too, although generally auto-aiming is substituted and the right-analogue stick is then used to manoevre the camera view around.
The FPS standards were originally set by PC games, however, Medal of Honor on the PS2 epitomises perfect use of the controller. There is some debate over whether X or R1 should be used to fire weapons, because more often than not R1 is used to select a target, but where there's debate, there's usually a controller configuration menu hidden away on the Options section of the Main menu.
Metal Gear Solid, on the other hand, opted for the Square button for aiming and shooting. This took a lot of getting used to, but at least they kept the same control layout for the sequel.
In driving games, X is used to accelerate, Square is used to break/reverse, Circle is for the handbrake. This standard was set many years ago on the PSX in Gran Turismo, and most, but not all games since have followed the same pattern, making most games intuitive, easy to pick up and play from the first moment they get their packaging removed. Grand Theft Auto took this series one step further by adding the Triangle button to the control setup, used exclusively for getting in and out of vehicles. Because the GTA franchise is so successful, it seemed logical that any game trying to imitate this greatness would be likely to follow in the same footsteps.
So we arrive at The Getaway. The Getaway makes no attempt to commit to a USLAG. It has no camera control, it uses the handbrake button to steal cars, it uses GTA's jump button to shoot, it uses GTA's sprint button to crouch, it uses the steal vehicle button to holster a weapon. Trying to play one of these games after another forces players to make a great leap in acclimatisation and mental dexterity.
In point of fact, it's the least intuitive control system I've ever had the displeasure to have to learn. And after 20 years of gaming you'd think developers would have sorted this out by now.
The only short-term measure until they come to some kind of agreement over what buttons should always be used for what is to force every single games developer to include a controller configuration option somewhere in the opening menus. Until that happens, gamers are forced to set aside essential gaming enjoyment time for the task of re-learning what buttons do what and reprogramming their fingers' automatic memories, a time consuming and arduous task that is better spent fragging Nazis Medal of Honor and setting fire to monkeys in Timesplitters 2.
They should discuss USLAG in depth at an E3 symposium or ECTS talk. It's something that needs addressing more urgently with each passing year because of the changing demographics of the gaming community. We're not getting any younger, and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
I think that all games should include some kind of custom configuration set-up. Meaning you can play the game how you want and get the most enjoyment out of it.
FunkPunk wrote:
> If all games had exactly the same set up it might make them feel too
> similar. I know that when I used to play the megadrive (many moons
> ago) alot of the games had a similar feel as the fire/jump/weapon
> select buttons were all the same.
I did consider this too. I think in some cases, you're right, it could be detrimental to gameplay, especially if you only have say 5-10 games in your lifetime. Overall there's always going to be certain buttons that are default, and can't be any other way e.g. X to accelerate. (Or right analogue stick up if you prefer).
Personally, I'd prefer all games to have standard setup. Maybe it's because I play so many of them that it affects me more when I have to hunt through manuals each time I get a new game and have to learn layout diagrams again. For me it's a real pain, so I'd prefer just to be able to pick up and play games knowing intuitively what the controls are going to be, which would allow me to forget about an interface between me and the game, which I figure would allow for a better gaming experience.
> If all games had exactly the same set up it might make them feel too
> similar. I know that when I used to play the megadrive (many moons
> ago) alot of the games had a similar feel as the fire/jump/weapon
> select buttons were all the same.
I did consider this too. I think in some cases, you're right, it could be detrimental to gameplay, especially if you only have say 5-10 games in your lifetime. Overall there's always going to be certain buttons that are default, and can't be any other way e.g. X to accelerate. (Or right analogue stick up if you prefer).
Personally, I'd prefer all games to have standard setup. Maybe it's because I play so many of them that it affects me more when I have to hunt through manuals each time I get a new game and have to learn layout diagrams again. For me it's a real pain, so I'd prefer just to be able to pick up and play games knowing intuitively what the controls are going to be, which would allow me to forget about an interface between me and the game, which I figure would allow for a better gaming experience.
I agree with you in the fact that every game should allow you to set the controller configuration as to how you like it but I disagree that there should be a standard set up.
When ever I get a new game I always attempt to play it using the default controller set-up because I believe that the developers would have put some thought into ease of use. For example on one game you might need to have the fire and jump buttons next to each other in order to complete certain tasks while fighting and it would be easier to 'rock' between the buttons but on other games this might not be nesacary as you might have the fire button next to the weapon select as you might need to scroll between weapons a lot.
If all games had exactly the same set up it might make them feel too similar. I know that when I used to play the megadrive (many moons ago) alot of the games had a similar feel as the fire/jump/weapon select buttons were all the same.
I think we should encourage the software developers to come up with different control set-ups in order to attekmp to improve our gamming experience.
When ever I get a new game I always attempt to play it using the default controller set-up because I believe that the developers would have put some thought into ease of use. For example on one game you might need to have the fire and jump buttons next to each other in order to complete certain tasks while fighting and it would be easier to 'rock' between the buttons but on other games this might not be nesacary as you might have the fire button next to the weapon select as you might need to scroll between weapons a lot.
If all games had exactly the same set up it might make them feel too similar. I know that when I used to play the megadrive (many moons ago) alot of the games had a similar feel as the fire/jump/weapon select buttons were all the same.
I think we should encourage the software developers to come up with different control set-ups in order to attekmp to improve our gamming experience.
User Standard Layout - All Games!
The PS2 controller is a wonderful design: functional, ergonomic, easy to remember layout and quite possibly the most familiar symbolics in gaming history (barring the 3 button ABC D-pad on the Megadrive).
However, it seems that developers aren't making the most of it. Take all first person shooters. The most common features are that you use the left analogue stick to move foward and backwards and to strafe from side to side. The right analogue stick is then used to aim your weapon, up down and around in any direction. The same layout is often used in 3rd person shooters too, although generally auto-aiming is substituted and the right-analogue stick is then used to manoevre the camera view around.
The FPS standards were originally set by PC games, however, Medal of Honor on the PS2 epitomises perfect use of the controller. There is some debate over whether X or R1 should be used to fire weapons, because more often than not R1 is used to select a target, but where there's debate, there's usually a controller configuration menu hidden away on the Options section of the Main menu.
Metal Gear Solid, on the other hand, opted for the Square button for aiming and shooting. This took a lot of getting used to, but at least they kept the same control layout for the sequel.
In driving games, X is used to accelerate, Square is used to break/reverse, Circle is for the handbrake. This standard was set many years ago on the PSX in Gran Turismo, and most, but not all games since have followed the same pattern, making most games intuitive, easy to pick up and play from the first moment they get their packaging removed. Grand Theft Auto took this series one step further by adding the Triangle button to the control setup, used exclusively for getting in and out of vehicles. Because the GTA franchise is so successful, it seemed logical that any game trying to imitate this greatness would be likely to follow in the same footsteps.
So we arrive at The Getaway. The Getaway makes no attempt to commit to a USLAG. It has no camera control, it uses the handbrake button to steal cars, it uses GTA's jump button to shoot, it uses GTA's sprint button to crouch, it uses the steal vehicle button to holster a weapon. Trying to play one of these games after another forces players to make a great leap in acclimatisation and mental dexterity.
In point of fact, it's the least intuitive control system I've ever had the displeasure to have to learn. And after 20 years of gaming you'd think developers would have sorted this out by now.
The only short-term measure until they come to some kind of agreement over what buttons should always be used for what is to force every single games developer to include a controller configuration option somewhere in the opening menus. Until that happens, gamers are forced to set aside essential gaming enjoyment time for the task of re-learning what buttons do what and reprogramming their fingers' automatic memories, a time consuming and arduous task that is better spent fragging Nazis Medal of Honor and setting fire to monkeys in Timesplitters 2.
They should discuss USLAG in depth at an E3 symposium or ECTS talk. It's something that needs addressing more urgently with each passing year because of the changing demographics of the gaming community. We're not getting any younger, and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
The PS2 controller is a wonderful design: functional, ergonomic, easy to remember layout and quite possibly the most familiar symbolics in gaming history (barring the 3 button ABC D-pad on the Megadrive).
However, it seems that developers aren't making the most of it. Take all first person shooters. The most common features are that you use the left analogue stick to move foward and backwards and to strafe from side to side. The right analogue stick is then used to aim your weapon, up down and around in any direction. The same layout is often used in 3rd person shooters too, although generally auto-aiming is substituted and the right-analogue stick is then used to manoevre the camera view around.
The FPS standards were originally set by PC games, however, Medal of Honor on the PS2 epitomises perfect use of the controller. There is some debate over whether X or R1 should be used to fire weapons, because more often than not R1 is used to select a target, but where there's debate, there's usually a controller configuration menu hidden away on the Options section of the Main menu.
Metal Gear Solid, on the other hand, opted for the Square button for aiming and shooting. This took a lot of getting used to, but at least they kept the same control layout for the sequel.
In driving games, X is used to accelerate, Square is used to break/reverse, Circle is for the handbrake. This standard was set many years ago on the PSX in Gran Turismo, and most, but not all games since have followed the same pattern, making most games intuitive, easy to pick up and play from the first moment they get their packaging removed. Grand Theft Auto took this series one step further by adding the Triangle button to the control setup, used exclusively for getting in and out of vehicles. Because the GTA franchise is so successful, it seemed logical that any game trying to imitate this greatness would be likely to follow in the same footsteps.
So we arrive at The Getaway. The Getaway makes no attempt to commit to a USLAG. It has no camera control, it uses the handbrake button to steal cars, it uses GTA's jump button to shoot, it uses GTA's sprint button to crouch, it uses the steal vehicle button to holster a weapon. Trying to play one of these games after another forces players to make a great leap in acclimatisation and mental dexterity.
In point of fact, it's the least intuitive control system I've ever had the displeasure to have to learn. And after 20 years of gaming you'd think developers would have sorted this out by now.
The only short-term measure until they come to some kind of agreement over what buttons should always be used for what is to force every single games developer to include a controller configuration option somewhere in the opening menus. Until that happens, gamers are forced to set aside essential gaming enjoyment time for the task of re-learning what buttons do what and reprogramming their fingers' automatic memories, a time consuming and arduous task that is better spent fragging Nazis Medal of Honor and setting fire to monkeys in Timesplitters 2.
They should discuss USLAG in depth at an E3 symposium or ECTS talk. It's something that needs addressing more urgently with each passing year because of the changing demographics of the gaming community. We're not getting any younger, and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.