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Ever since video games were invented, there's been one thing that has hardly changed: the controller. Don't you think it's odd that we use the same device used to interact with Space Invaders as we do to play on the latest 3-dimensional gaming masterpiece (albeit with a few developments)? So, if there's one thing that will have to change somewhere in the Future of Gaming, it'll be the controller.
Since gaming began, controller design has improved in almost every way. The direction pad has made way for analogue sticks, and digital buttons have been replace by analogue pressure-sensitive updates. Along the way we've had the invention of the shoulder button and improved controller ergenomics too.
However, is this really enough? After all, we're still controlling the movements of characters of near-realistic 3D environments using a few coloured buttons- it hardly equates to realistic interactivity!
There have been some attempts of solve this problem. Specialised peripherals allow interaction with games to be optimised to the point where you are almost in place of the computer character you're controlling. Prime examples is the fishing rod controller that was sold with Get Bass Fishing, or the Sniper Rifle on the Silent Scope arcade board. We've even seen Maracas, Dance Mats and Namco are working on a sword weilding game.
But it's still not practical for the home gamer- a game and peripheral will set you back up to £100 (even more for Tekki!). So, how about making a perpiheral that is versitile enough to be use by any game? But then that would surely just be a controller...
How about reinventing controller gloves- that allow your hand movements to be used by a game. You could do everything from swashing swords, smaking maracas and landing punches with one of these- the games could even include a plastic version of the weapon for you to hold while you play the game. So, why didn't this catch on?
It's a classic example of the "Chicken and Egg" situation- people won't buy a glove controller unless lots of games support it, and games won't support it unless lots of people own one. The only solution is to provide a glove controller as standard with the console...
But this would prove either too costly, or too risky for manufacturers. They'd rather just provide a cheap, versitile device that could be used by all games...
Which would bring us back to the controller...
Will there be any way out?
Sonic
Since gaming began, controller design has improved in almost every way. The direction pad has made way for analogue sticks, and digital buttons have been replace by analogue pressure-sensitive updates. Along the way we've had the invention of the shoulder button and improved controller ergenomics too.
However, is this really enough? After all, we're still controlling the movements of characters of near-realistic 3D environments using a few coloured buttons- it hardly equates to realistic interactivity!
There have been some attempts of solve this problem. Specialised peripherals allow interaction with games to be optimised to the point where you are almost in place of the computer character you're controlling. Prime examples is the fishing rod controller that was sold with Get Bass Fishing, or the Sniper Rifle on the Silent Scope arcade board. We've even seen Maracas, Dance Mats and Namco are working on a sword weilding game.
But it's still not practical for the home gamer- a game and peripheral will set you back up to £100 (even more for Tekki!). So, how about making a perpiheral that is versitile enough to be use by any game? But then that would surely just be a controller...
How about reinventing controller gloves- that allow your hand movements to be used by a game. You could do everything from swashing swords, smaking maracas and landing punches with one of these- the games could even include a plastic version of the weapon for you to hold while you play the game. So, why didn't this catch on?
It's a classic example of the "Chicken and Egg" situation- people won't buy a glove controller unless lots of games support it, and games won't support it unless lots of people own one. The only solution is to provide a glove controller as standard with the console...
But this would prove either too costly, or too risky for manufacturers. They'd rather just provide a cheap, versitile device that could be used by all games...
Which would bring us back to the controller...
Will there be any way out?
Sonic
===SONICRAV---> wrote:
> Strafex, surely you meant plugging ourselves into games like in
> eXistenZ- a David Cronnenburg film in which people plug themselves
> into consoles by spinal taps.
>
> Worth seeing!
>
> Sonic
Yeah I saw that... pretty odd. You never actually know when they're out of the game and in the real world... freaky
*cue X-files music*
> Strafex, surely you meant plugging ourselves into games like in
> eXistenZ- a David Cronnenburg film in which people plug themselves
> into consoles by spinal taps.
>
> Worth seeing!
>
> Sonic
Yeah I saw that... pretty odd. You never actually know when they're out of the game and in the real world... freaky
*cue X-files music*
Strafex, surely you meant plugging ourselves into games like in eXistenZ- a David Cronnenburg film in which people plug themselves into consoles by spinal taps.
Worth seeing!
Sonic
Worth seeing!
Sonic
Kenichiro Ashida, the guy in charge of development of the Gamecube pad, said that "the ideal controller is the one that you forget you are holding". Quite frankly, that is never going to happen, simply because of the receptiveness (is that a word?) of the brain. Like Strafex says, the only way to do that would be to plug a controller into the brain, but that is years off, if it ever even happens. I think that we can only wildly speculate about the future of interaction. Until someone does come up with something new all we will se is improvements in the ergonomics and comfort of controllers.
Nice concept with the gloves, though.
Nice concept with the gloves, though.
I'll be happy the standard, yet comfortable, controller for now, as they are easy and simple to use for all types of games.
I like how Yuji Naka came up with the Maracas idea, and how he's developed the GameCube pad into a Keyboard for Phantasy Star On-line on the GC.
The thing is though, that you don't neccesarily need something linked with the theme of the game to have excellent control over the game itself.
Look at First Person Shooters for example.
The Keyboard and Mouse system works brilliantly for that - and I think it's something that all Console Manufacturers should take into account for the future. They only work this well because you HAVE to look around.
With games like Die Hard you don't have to look around, it's just an Arcade-style blaster - hence why you have a gun.
The only alternative to the Arcade Stick and Controller for beat-'em-ups that I can think of is one of those PlayStation mats.
But all they really are are giant PS controllers that you can walk on - they don't copy your exact leg/arm movements or do anything that special.
I find that an arcade stick works best for beat-'em-ups, and i'm glad to see these are still around in this new-generation.
I think that we're fine the way we are, and we won't be ready for new control systems untill we see more realism in gaming - like VR.
Good post though.
I like how Yuji Naka came up with the Maracas idea, and how he's developed the GameCube pad into a Keyboard for Phantasy Star On-line on the GC.
The thing is though, that you don't neccesarily need something linked with the theme of the game to have excellent control over the game itself.
Look at First Person Shooters for example.
The Keyboard and Mouse system works brilliantly for that - and I think it's something that all Console Manufacturers should take into account for the future. They only work this well because you HAVE to look around.
With games like Die Hard you don't have to look around, it's just an Arcade-style blaster - hence why you have a gun.
The only alternative to the Arcade Stick and Controller for beat-'em-ups that I can think of is one of those PlayStation mats.
But all they really are are giant PS controllers that you can walk on - they don't copy your exact leg/arm movements or do anything that special.
I find that an arcade stick works best for beat-'em-ups, and i'm glad to see these are still around in this new-generation.
I think that we're fine the way we are, and we won't be ready for new control systems untill we see more realism in gaming - like VR.
Good post though.
I think that the only thing that will replace controllers is when consoles get plugged into our brains Matrix style.
Pads are generally the most versatile way on controlling things (we use our fingers/thumbs to press buttons to direct the computer) and apart from the odd "specialised" controller (like the light gun or steering wheel) I don't think there's going to be any real advancements or evolutions in the near future.
Pads are generally the most versatile way on controlling things (we use our fingers/thumbs to press buttons to direct the computer) and apart from the odd "specialised" controller (like the light gun or steering wheel) I don't think there's going to be any real advancements or evolutions in the near future.
Interesting post.
The way I see it, the problem is one of existing user bases and market stagnation. While you or I may well be happy to shell out on novelty peripherals (I loved my fishing rod controller and the dance mat), Johnny Massmarket isn't. And he's certainly not going to fork out for a console that comes bundled with some new-fangled gadget - he'll stick to what he knows. The success of the PS2 among PS1 owners is testament to that. There's already so much market penetration by existing consoles that the introduction of something new and radically different is doomed to fail.
There's also the problem of technology. The current generation of controllers are (and need to be) extremely hardwearing and resiliant to user-abuse, and cheap to manufacture. These two requirements rule out the use of cutting edge technology - it's too expensive, and tends to be more delicate than existing tech.
The PC market is perhaps a little ahead of the console market, mainly due to the standard control interface for the PC (keyboard and mouse) being woefully inadequate for many gaming styles. As a result, there's the analgoue flightsticks for the flight sims, variety of (usually poor) pads for more arcadey games, wheels and pedals for racers etc. Perhaps the fact that PCs are more expensive to buy and that the average PC owner tends to be older than the average console owner means that the PC posse will have more disposable income to blow on toys.
Here's hoping for the future.
The way I see it, the problem is one of existing user bases and market stagnation. While you or I may well be happy to shell out on novelty peripherals (I loved my fishing rod controller and the dance mat), Johnny Massmarket isn't. And he's certainly not going to fork out for a console that comes bundled with some new-fangled gadget - he'll stick to what he knows. The success of the PS2 among PS1 owners is testament to that. There's already so much market penetration by existing consoles that the introduction of something new and radically different is doomed to fail.
There's also the problem of technology. The current generation of controllers are (and need to be) extremely hardwearing and resiliant to user-abuse, and cheap to manufacture. These two requirements rule out the use of cutting edge technology - it's too expensive, and tends to be more delicate than existing tech.
The PC market is perhaps a little ahead of the console market, mainly due to the standard control interface for the PC (keyboard and mouse) being woefully inadequate for many gaming styles. As a result, there's the analgoue flightsticks for the flight sims, variety of (usually poor) pads for more arcadey games, wheels and pedals for racers etc. Perhaps the fact that PCs are more expensive to buy and that the average PC owner tends to be older than the average console owner means that the PC posse will have more disposable income to blow on toys.
Here's hoping for the future.
Ever since video games were invented, there's been one thing that has hardly changed: the controller. Don't you think it's odd that we use the same device used to interact with Space Invaders as we do to play on the latest 3-dimensional gaming masterpiece (albeit with a few developments)? So, if there's one thing that will have to change somewhere in the Future of Gaming, it'll be the controller.
Since gaming began, controller design has improved in almost every way. The direction pad has made way for analogue sticks, and digital buttons have been replace by analogue pressure-sensitive updates. Along the way we've had the invention of the shoulder button and improved controller ergenomics too.
However, is this really enough? After all, we're still controlling the movements of characters of near-realistic 3D environments using a few coloured buttons- it hardly equates to realistic interactivity!
There have been some attempts of solve this problem. Specialised peripherals allow interaction with games to be optimised to the point where you are almost in place of the computer character you're controlling. Prime examples is the fishing rod controller that was sold with Get Bass Fishing, or the Sniper Rifle on the Silent Scope arcade board. We've even seen Maracas, Dance Mats and Namco are working on a sword weilding game.
But it's still not practical for the home gamer- a game and peripheral will set you back up to £100 (even more for Tekki!). So, how about making a perpiheral that is versitile enough to be use by any game? But then that would surely just be a controller...
How about reinventing controller gloves- that allow your hand movements to be used by a game. You could do everything from swashing swords, smaking maracas and landing punches with one of these- the games could even include a plastic version of the weapon for you to hold while you play the game. So, why didn't this catch on?
It's a classic example of the "Chicken and Egg" situation- people won't buy a glove controller unless lots of games support it, and games won't support it unless lots of people own one. The only solution is to provide a glove controller as standard with the console...
But this would prove either too costly, or too risky for manufacturers. They'd rather just provide a cheap, versitile device that could be used by all games...
Which would bring us back to the controller...
Will there be any way out?
Sonic
Since gaming began, controller design has improved in almost every way. The direction pad has made way for analogue sticks, and digital buttons have been replace by analogue pressure-sensitive updates. Along the way we've had the invention of the shoulder button and improved controller ergenomics too.
However, is this really enough? After all, we're still controlling the movements of characters of near-realistic 3D environments using a few coloured buttons- it hardly equates to realistic interactivity!
There have been some attempts of solve this problem. Specialised peripherals allow interaction with games to be optimised to the point where you are almost in place of the computer character you're controlling. Prime examples is the fishing rod controller that was sold with Get Bass Fishing, or the Sniper Rifle on the Silent Scope arcade board. We've even seen Maracas, Dance Mats and Namco are working on a sword weilding game.
But it's still not practical for the home gamer- a game and peripheral will set you back up to £100 (even more for Tekki!). So, how about making a perpiheral that is versitile enough to be use by any game? But then that would surely just be a controller...
How about reinventing controller gloves- that allow your hand movements to be used by a game. You could do everything from swashing swords, smaking maracas and landing punches with one of these- the games could even include a plastic version of the weapon for you to hold while you play the game. So, why didn't this catch on?
It's a classic example of the "Chicken and Egg" situation- people won't buy a glove controller unless lots of games support it, and games won't support it unless lots of people own one. The only solution is to provide a glove controller as standard with the console...
But this would prove either too costly, or too risky for manufacturers. They'd rather just provide a cheap, versitile device that could be used by all games...
Which would bring us back to the controller...
Will there be any way out?
Sonic