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[The Boat]

Where do i find the start button?

Oh, I think you know!

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Dedicated Facebook button.

Awesome!

That Facebook button thing is ludicrous. What, clicking "bookmarks" then "Facebook" was too much? Hell, set a bookmark on the homepage! It's such an ugly, superfluous, and plain cheesy addition to a device some designer worked really hard on.

 

[razu]

Super high precision analog sticks please!

 

[Femmeworth]

Super high precision analog sticks please!

Analog sticks are only as precise as developers want them to be, unfortunately.

 

[+Aliken+]

A screen

 

[PjotrStroganov]

Force feedback pedals for racing wheels. Especially needed for brake pedals.

 

[Eric C]

So for years, i can't figure out why no manufacturer has incorporated a way for the controller to detect the grip applied to a its handles by the fingers. Middle finger, ring finger, and little finger are much of the time inactive interaction wise, serving just as support.

I think a gripping input method could become the main interaction button in games. It's a really natural interface method that the user can relate to, while maintaining control of movement and camera positioning. See a weapon, box or switch to interact with and just squeeze the controller with the those 3 fingers that most of the time remain idle.

So something like this custom modded controller.

But instead of actual buttons, it would have something similar to Apple's old buttonless Mighty Mouse that you could squeeze?

Though, I think both the button and buttonless versions would both be prone to too many accidental button presses from just holding the controller.

 

[volturnus]

Customizable weight:

 

[joeygreco1985]

Customizable weight:

I always thought this was a waste. I tried adjustable weight mice but always ended up taking all the weights out to have the lightest possible mouse. I want light controllers too.

 

[I Stalk Alone]

couldnt you argue that there are already TOO MANY features on a normal console controller? I dont think detecting your grip would be good at all since people grip their controllers in different ways and i can see someone breaking them after a while.

also, being able to control a thumbstick while pressing face buttons is cheating, you should be ashamed that you should want to be able to do that.

not sure if serious or have motor skills envy.

 

[Alfredo]

A de-sync button, especially for Microsoft's console. It's such a bitch to switch out controllers on the 360 for, say, fighting games where everyone has their own preferred controller.

 

[Gaogaogao]

I always thought this was a waste. I tried adjustable weight mice but always ended up taking all the weights out to have the lightest possible mouse. I want light controllers too.

More weight helps compensate for high sensitivity. That's how im set up.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

How are those options better? They both require wading through menus to select your profile. The first option also takes up a USB slot, so if you want to have wired controllers or if you have more than two people bringing their profiles, you're out of luck. Plus it makes you carry around an extra USB stick instead of just your controller. The second option makes you wait as it syncs to the internet. Even if it's less than a minute, that's still a much longer wait than syncing your controller and having it instantly ready to go.

Versus just bringing your favorite controller with you, syncing it, and being ready to go. Much quicker and simpler.

Now whether that convenience is worth the cost of built-in storage is a fair question, but I don't see how you could possibly say any of the existing solutions are simpler than that.

Just a slight correction, the 360 has 3 USB ports so you could have three extra proiles on USB along with the one already on the machine. But aside from that, I do agree it would be nice to have the profile and settings in the controller.

 

[BY2K]

There's one thing the Saitek Cyborg Rumble got right:


Sadly the d-pad and the analog "sinks" are awful.

This is genius!

 

[KevinCow]

A de-sync button, especially for Microsoft's console. It's such a bitch to switch out controllers on the 360 for, say, fighting games where everyone has their own preferred controller.

In general, I feel like wireless syncing and desyncing could use a ton of work. It's so annoying on every system. Wii does it the best, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. 360 is terrible about it, though. I was playing a fighting game with some friends, one of them used a stick while the rest of us used pads, and switching to his stick and back when his turn came was an absolute clusterfuck.

 

[Lazy vs Crazy]

I have no idea why no one else has added clickable shoulder buttons like the Gamecube had. Those are awesome.

 

[bakeray]

My friend actually owned and I used the "FPS Master" the sticks were garbage.

 

[Refreshment.01]

couldnt you argue that there are already TOO MANY features on a normal console controller? I dont think detecting your grip would be good at all since people grip their controllers in different ways and i can see someone breaking them after a while.

also, being able to control a thumbstick while pressing face buttons is cheating, you should be ashamed that you should want to be able to do that.

That's not such a big problem. Developers could filter that through software. The program could be set to detect important increases of grip from the current treshhold. The tactile preassure sensors can detect many states applied. So no, i don't think that would be a big hurdle to overcome.

In terms of durability i really don't know. Yet Nintendo is putting a 6´´ screen on a controller these days.

Honestly, I think TC made this topic for his brainchild, the grip sensor.

I just don't see it working. When I get in high-tensions moments in games, I am gripping the shit out of the controller.

But the user can and gets educated or conditioned through experience. So you could learn to control that conduct. Users got trained to use dual analog set up for shooters, when it pales in comparison to the Wii remote set up in terms of accesability.

So something like this custom modded controller.

But instead of actual buttons, it would have something similar to Apple's old buttonless Mighty Mouse that you could squeeze?

Though, I think both the button and buttonless versions would both be prone to too many accidental button presses from just holding the controller.

More or less. And there are ways for developers to distinguish between slight accidental squeezes and intended ones. There's lot of accumulated knowledge with similar issues in the space of motion controllers.

I have no idea why no one else has added clickable shoulder buttons like the Gamecube had. Those are awesome.

No jokes, that should be standard along with the click-able thumbsticks.

 

[EatinOlives]

I have no idea why no one else has added clickable shoulder buttons like the Gamecube had. Those are awesome.

Liked the idea, but the implementation was uncomfortable. You needed to push the shoulder buttons like a mile inward before getting to the "click" part. Worse yet, several games would only ever use the "click" as the form of input, meaning the rest of the analog button was completely useless save for the click. Made using those buttons a huge pain in the ass.

 

[plc268]

I'd love for some audio passthrough, so that I can just plug whatever headphones into my controller instead of resorting to a pair that plugs directly into the console or a wireless pair.

 

[Gazzawa]

Always on vibration.

motherf*****

 

[evilchicken]

More or less. And there are ways for developers to distinguish between slight accidental squeezes and intended ones. There's lot of accumulated knowledge with similar issues in the space of motion controllers.

I gotta say, I think you're way off on all the pressure sensitive grip stuff. Even pressurse sensitive buttons were for the most part frusturating (assaulting people when I meant to grab them in MGS3 comes to mind, so does having a sore thumb due to cranking down on "X" in GTA to be sure I was getting maximum acceleration), and those are easier to make accurate than grips. How do you know if the controller was just being lifted up? What if you are shifting how you are sitting? What if you squeeze the controller out of frustration or because something made you laugh? What if your palms are getting sweaty and you adjust them a bit.

You also imply that motion controllers have 'fixed' this issue and I can tell you soundly that they have not. There is not a single motion controlled video game where you can always say "Yeah, it does exactly what I want it to 100% of the time". With buttons, there's no guessing. You pressed it or you didn't.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

My controller should also be able to double as my memory card when bringing my profile to a friend's house.

I just upload my profile to my controller and bring it over, we start playing a game, and it automatically detects my name and all my customized options and we just get going.

I think the Wii-mote does that.

 

[Curufinwe]

LMAO. the "FPS MASTER" that thing was such a cheap piece of crap.

It was, and I returned it to the store after a couple of weeks, but the ideas behind it were sound.

 

[Refreshment.01]

Liked the idea, but the implementation was uncomfortable. You needed to push the shoulder buttons like a mile inward before getting to the "click" part. Worse yet, several games would only ever use the "click" as the form of input, meaning the rest of the analog button was completely useless save for the click. Made using those buttons a huge pain in the ass.

Speaking of the GC analog trigger clicks.

I understand your reasoning and in practice it was the certainly the case for most applications. However, the fault falls in developers not coming up with good implementations since the "click" concept is a sound one. I'll give you 2 quick examples for good uses:

-Take RE4 when using the sniper pressing R will let you aim with an over the shoulder view and clicking would enter first person view. The quibble here is that the analog capability is not being used, so maybe the farther is pressed the quicker it draws.

-Using the shoulder to walk. According to how much you pressed the character walks or jogs at different speeds. Pressing until it clicks starts the sprinting action.

I gotta say, I think you're way off on all the pressure sensitive grip stuff. Even pressurse sensitive buttons were for the most part frusturating (assaulting people when I meant to grab them in MGS3 comes to mind, so does having a sore thumb due to cranking down on "X" in GTA to be sure I was getting maximum acceleration), and those are easier to make accurate than grips. How do you know if the controller was just being lifted up? What if you are shifting how you are sitting? What if you squeeze the controller out of frustration or because something made you laugh? What if your palms are getting sweaty and you adjust them a bit.

Hi evilchicken let me try to adress your comments.

First the analog button example, like what we got in the Dual Shock 2, is not a similar scenario at all. The reason is that those analog buttons didn't work properly because there wasn't enough travel to take advantage of its capabilities. A grip sensor like im suggesting works in a similar fashion to analog triggers and even have more degrees of sensitivity. You don't have anything against analog triggers in say the 360 controller for example?

Also the "what ifs"? Even with todays controllers there are lots of user input errors. While shifting your weight to adjust your position you might squeeze an analog trigger. With your sweaty hands your thumb could slip from the sticks. Lifting your thumb from the stick to press a face button momentarily takes away camera control from you or throws your aim of, but we learned to live with these limitations. It could be the same here.

One could say that implementing a tactile sensor would simplify game design and reduce user error. It would replace the "M" action face button with a more human like interface to interact with objects. In some games the interact button is "X", in others "A". With this, the user just needs to know increasing the grip force in the controller is how to interact with something in the environment.

I don't expect everyone to agree with me but at least to recognize that is not some wacko idea without any sound logic behind it.

You also imply that motion controllers have 'fixed' this issue and I can tell you soundly that they have not.

Sorry no, im not implying all the problems have been fixed with motion controllers, however significant improvements have been made. Ironically, your argument gives more strength to my point. Look how motion controllers, even with some issues, have been embraced by the industry to the point that the most recent and succeful product is the least accurate one. So the moral of the story here is, that if the feature is compelling enough to have it could be applied even with some deficiencies. It's about weighting the pros and cons.

There is not a single motion controlled video game where you can always say "Yeah, it does exactly what I want it to 100% of the time". With buttons, there's no guessing. You pressed it or you didn't.

What i suggest could work as a button depending on what the developer wants. It could be programed in a way that an increase of grip force generates a digital result even if the data being collected is analog.

 

[Brimstone]

A trackball is an intriguing idea, but I think it would need to compliment dual thumbsticks and the d-pad. Put a trackball where the controller power-on button is on the 360 pad.


Thumbsticks made out of a better "feeling" material. The material used in Jim Dunlop Tortex or Gator guitar picks.

 

[Refreshment.01]

A trackball is an intriguing idea, but I think it would need to compliment dual thumbsticks and the d-pad. Put a trackball where the controller power-on button is on the 360 pad.


Thumbsticks made out of a better "feeling" material. The material used in Jim Dunlop Tortex or Gator guitar picks.

Maybe someone could incorporate thumbsticks with screw-able heads and sell different ones in a variety of materials and shapes.

 

[UrbanRats]

I have no idea why no one else has added clickable shoulder buttons like the Gamecube had. Those are awesome.

I hated those, infact, i hated most of the features of the CG controller, minus its grip, which was incredibly comfortable.

 

[CadetMahoney]

Custom button layout cos they sure as hell aren't allowing ppl to do it through the options menu.

 

[Refreshment.01]

Well at this stage we know most of the controller features of all the consoles for the next cycle and i consider myself disapointed on how little forward thinking all the main controllers turned out to be.

No efforts had been implemented to reduce the down time incurred when the thumbs travel from the face buttons to a stick or from the stick to a Dpad in the case of the left one. Which was one of the strongest reasons that compelled me to start the thread.

I think some of this companies could have played it a bit safe and at least include a directional control similar to "Trackpoint" close to the right bumper and trigger button. Would work for basic camera control in games with heavy use of the face buttons or for swapping items, instead of the dpad, in games that need the user's thumb to rest most of the time on the thumbstick.

Hopefully we'll get something interesting close to the mid cycle. Or if rumors have some weight, from Valve.

 

[Refreshment.01]

I just remembered how the Senseg tech has been around for years. It is interesting some what to see what implications for inmersion this could have in gaming, would have been a nice complementary technology for the Wii U Gamepad. I have been searching for what kind of costs these type of screen could go up to but haven't found anything.

A link for those curious about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV-oYrPreTI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oARSmw21rg

 

[Refreshment.01]

It's been really surprising how much of the suggestions made in this thread are taken in consideration into the Steam Controller, almost like it was part of the design document. Here are some examples:

The industry and it's biggest market specially (America) it's in an action game oriented phase with the dominant genre at the moment being shooters. The more or less established control method is dual analog for movement and camera control, this forces the player to invest most of the "thumb time" in the sticks, so the more time the game doesn't force the player to move from that default position the better.

In the default controller option, this amounts to thousands of times in a playthrough. Not game braking at all but not optimal either.

We have been playing like this for long and i think that's precisely the problem. So for years, i can't figure out why no manufacturer has incorporated a way for the controller to detect the grip applied to a its handles by the fingers. ring finger, and little finger are much of the time inactive interaction wise, serving just as support.

The problem with trackballs apart from durability is that it's uses are more specific. The thumb stick while not as precise cover a lot more of possible necessities and keeps things a bit more symmetrical. That's why it has cached on, is such a convenient input method.

That's a terrific Ucon shot to explain a bit more the feature. Imagine making a more curved surface for the middle, anular and small finger to hold and a cover it with tactile pressure sensor. If you were playing Halo instead of press and hold "X" to pick a weapon, the user will need only to do a slight increase of grip to do the same action. It's a more human interface method and the index and thumb fingers would remain in their more optimal position, that is, resting in the sticks and triggers.

Another feature i would love for manufacturers to implement are low profile thumb-sticks. Having the thumbs so raised feels unnatural and bothersome when pressing the stick for a click.

It suits the thread fine. I always wanted fully customizable control schemes in games also.

But i would like this to be taken a step further. Make it an OS feature and universally applied by every developer. What i mean is that say for example... Nintendo developed a simple programing language that every developer will use for mapping the controller input but at the same time made available to the user in the OS level so he could experiment with alternative mappings. For the user that don't want to get so involved the traditional presets would still be an option.

This begins to make a hell of a lot more sense since today we have controllers that support motions as an input method besides buttons, so the possible combinations have increased. Imagine if you wanted to assign crouching to a downward motion and jump to an upward motion in a shooter, creating one sweet and natural control scheme that even developers couldn't implement and sharing it with other users.

 

[ArynCrinn]

Honestly I think the Steam controller looks like shit and will "feel" like shit in comparison to a lot of my many other controllers for the games I love.

For anybody interested with the pocketbook, check out Scuff's controllers, my Pink Scuff Hybrid never gets old! Nor does my 5 Saturn Model 2 controllers on PC/PS3. Nor does the Gamecube controller for the games it was made for.

In reality I think Nintendo made a terrible decision to make the "Pro controller" a 360 ripoff with the right stick in a dumb awkward position (same for the Gamepad). What they should have done is make a true next gen Gamecube controller with a proper right stick in place of the C-Stick (could still call it the C-Stick, but make it identical to the left), make it wired+wireless+PC drivers, adopt the Scuff idea with pressure sensitive pads on the back of the controller, make all the buttons/triggers microswitch as well as the D-Pad/Analogs to make wear a lessened issue. Adopt two remappable inputs on the pressure sensitive areas and adopt the Onza idea for adjustable tension on the analog sticks. Finally buy the rights to the Saturn Model 2 D-pad and slap that on there ergonomically. This would have made the Wii U Adapter unnecessary and no worries for upcoming Smash plus support for all games that support the Pro controller, plus PC-enabled. They would have easily sold many more of these and not just to Wii U owners. Also make it easy to buy new parts ala the MLG controller and put them on, so no need to buy a whole new controller. Add the ZL button and done = best controller ever.

 

[Dictator93]

Human evoltion is increasing at a rapid rate due to hormones in the food supply and holes in the ozone layer. We must prepare for the eventuality of a third or forth arm growing out of the center of our chests.

This thing is long overdue at this point:

 

[Refreshment.01]

Honestly I think the Steam controller looks like shit and will "feel" like shit in comparison to a lot of my many other controllers for the games I love.

This is not exactly a Steam Controller oriented thread. The post was due to the fact that the Steam controller took into it's design considerations and suggestions made in this thread years ago. i think it deserves recognition for trying to come with a setup more in order with the necessities of the most popular game genres of today, something that Sony and MS have failed to do for the longest time.
r.

In reality I think Nintendo made a terrible decision to make the "Pro controller" a 360 ripoff with the right stick in a dumb awkward position (same for the Gamepad)

Why do you think the Pro is a 360 rip off? They do share a similar aesthetic possibly as a concesion for gamers to feel more conforable or familiar with the controller, since there's a good portion of the user base that is really sensitive to change. As features go, is not like the 360 controller introduced anything new. Great controller still.

What's the problem with the stick placement in the Gamepad or Pro? Is the most logical one for a symmetric stick placement, specially if you are opperating a touch screen.

What they should have done is make a true next gen Gamecube controller with a proper right stick in place of the C-Stick (could still call it the C-Stick, but make it identical to the left), make it wired+wireless+PC drivers, adopt the Scuff idea with pressure sensitive pads on the back of the controller, make all the buttons/triggers microswitch as well as the D-Pad/Analogs to make wear a lessened issue. Adopt two remappable inputs on the pressure sensitive areas and adopt the Onza idea for adjustable tension on the analog sticks. Finally buy the rights to the Saturn Model 2 D-pad and slap that on there ergonomically. This would have made the Wii U Adapter unnecessary and no worries for upcoming Smash plus support for all games that support the Pro controller, plus PC-enabled. They would have easily sold many more of these and not just to Wii U owners. Also make it easy to buy new parts ala the MLG controller and put them on, so no need to buy a whole new controller. Add the ZL button and done = best controller ever.

i think with the Scuf the idea is in the right place but the execution is not the best it could be, maybe because they are trying to adpat the functionality to existing controllers. In that sense the Steam controller has a better execution of the underside buttons i think.

It makes more sense for those buttons to be positioned on the handles an the travel inward instead of downward like with the Scuff. The scuff goes a bit overboard with having up to 4 paddles, trasppassing the finger gymnastics and upping the complexity for the middle finger. i think 2 underside buttons or a pressure sensitive grip to be activated with the middle, ring and pinky finger is more intuitive. Then you can have the thumbs resting on the sticks, the index on the bumpers, the middles on the triggers and the ring and pinky could operate the buttons in the handles (or move up the middle finger there if you want)%.

 

[Refreshment.01]

Trackpad or touchscreen as trackpads has been commonly in use since the DS standarized touch screens in main stream gaming back in 2004. After that systems like the 3DS, Wii U, Vita and PS4 had used them.

The issue here is the postioning of the trackpad in those systems. For the Nintendo ones it made sense to have the "trackpad" where they are due to them been actually touchscreens that need to be seen. But in the case of Sony's implementations i think they are not as practical as they could be. In the DS4 case it would' ve made more sense to move both thumbsticks up and accommodate the trackpad below, so the thumbs can access the surface more easily. Of course i do understand that Sony is very orthodox in terms of their Dual Shock layout. The Vita had a better idea, but yet it was not applied properly.

i was thinking it could be interesting to postion a trackpad in traditional controllers with index finger use in mind. The idea here is to move the burden of actions such as camera manipulation, item selection or aiming to the index fingers. This way the thumb is liberated from having to constantly switch from face button to thumbstick manipulation.

In this sense a clickable trackpad would also be more functional than plain old bumper buttons since the user has a wider range of actions available to them at any given time, like gestures for example.

Btw, im not proposing the remove of triggers. i think is plausible to acomodate the trackpad and 2 triggers (but more laid to the back than we are used to) while retaining more or less the same ergonomics and sizes we have these days in traditional controllers.

 

[Nerrel]

Super high precision analog sticks please!

No such thing. An IR camera, mouse, gyro or trackpad are already far more precise than any analog stick will ever be.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

The first page of this thread confused the fuck out of me. Stupid old bump.

 

[Elitist1945]

The first page of this thread confused the fuck out of me. Stupid old bump.

Same. Read half the first page and realized it was 3-years old.

 

[BumRush]

Not exactly the same Badwolf. Vita rear touch pad is kind of a spin of the DS dual screen, so the interaction works like a track pad, pushing or swiping it and not actually squeezing it. What i purpose is basically introducing a very natural gesture like grabbing as interaction method that fits perfectly an ample variety of actions in games.

What happens when you face a boss for the first time and you're sweating / gripping the controller harder though?

 

[Refreshment.01]

What happens when you face a boss for the first time and you're sweating / gripping the controller harder though?

Well this is too general of a question and withouth a proper scenario it can't be answered satisfactorily, but here are some things you should consider:

First, sweat has been a problem in most controllers for decades. The users make mistakes due to their hands slipping over the inputs. For example, when we made the transition from sticks to "thumbsticks" the amount of slipping errors increased yet the input became an standard, even for far too long for some actions such as aiming XD

It also depends in how gripping is implemented and what action it triggers. If you read the first post of the thread it was about the Deus Ex an the amount of box manipulation the game demands from the user, it is constantly forcing the thumb to move from stick to action button. So following your example, if we take say a Wii Remote and implemented a grip sensor, when you saw that boss fight and you squeezed the controller it wouldn't generate any input errors most likely due to the fact that there won't be probably any context for the grab action to activate.

Part of the sharm for the grip input is that it's a very natural interaction method that could be applied to most controllers withouth any significant ergonomic re engineering.

 

[Regginator]

You're trying rather hard to keep alive your three year old thread. IT'S DEAD, JIM.

 

[Refreshment.01]

You're trying rather hard to keep alive your three year old thread. IT'S DEAD, JIM.

What relevance does the thread age has on what's been discussed? How many cuarrent threads are treating the issue right now?

It's funny that some of the suggestions made is this thread (years ago as you mockingly point out) are making it's way to some more forward thinking controllers.

i think your view reflects a more "follow the trend" mindset that an actual analytical view of video games. And it's fine you know, but not all people think like you and this forum should welcome more indepth disscussions due to its reputation.

 

[Refreshment.01]

It is interesting to see when some ideas are brought to life. While nothing new this is one of the few stylus that have motion sensors.

In one of the Zelda threads we were discussion about some innovations for the franchise, here was an idea brought up some years ago that used the Gamepad and a peripheral to allow a new play style:

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=44704451

It comes with a peripheral. A grip sensing stylus with gyros, so basically sword combat will be an evolution of skyward Sword.

So there's a dual system. Draw with the stylus in the touch screen to perform spells and make small sword like movements with the stylus in the air to do sword swings. Apply pressure to the stylus to say, grab objects and manipulate them in 3D space using the built in gyro.

Also the grip sensing can function as a commuter, so it doubles the amount of input availables for the touch screen. There's really a lot you could do with it.

It would be interesting so see if iOS developers come with actual gaming applications for this pen. It's kind of a waste that we could potentially something like this a bit more early.

 

[LCGeek]

Bump bait no way.

 

[Harlequin]

Not sure if it's been discussed in this thread before but for a long time I've been wanting controllers with dynamic button resistance, meaning that the game can change the force it takes the player to push a button on the controller. This would be a great solution for stamina or health systems (the more exhausted/wounded the character becomes, the more button resistance there is), for levelling systems (the more experienced/trained your character becomes in a certain discipline, the easier it gets to press the respective button) for grabbing/carrying mechanics (the heavier the object you're carrying, the more button resistance there is) and so on. I doubt that no one's ever had this idea before, though, so maybe it's simply too complicated or expensive to implement? Or too few game designers are interested in utilising it (which I'd find hard to believe TBH).

 

[Refreshment.01]

Not sure if it's been discussed in this thread before but for a long time I've been wanting controllers with dynamic button resistance, meaning that the game can change the force it takes the player to push a button on the controller. This would be a great solution for stamina or health systems (the more exhausted/wounded the character becomes, the more button resistance there is), for levelling systems (the more experienced/trained your character becomes in a certain discipline, the easier it gets to press the respective button) for grabbing/carrying mechanics (the heavier the object you're carrying, the more button resistance there is) and so on. I doubt that no one's ever had this idea before, though, so maybe it's simply too complicated or expensive to implement? Or too few game designers are interested in utilising it (which I'd find hard to believe TBH).

i think there's a place for what you describe but not for every button. In that way the use would fall in the "neat" category but using this type of tech in say the 4 face buttons would be kind of wasted. i could totally see players not even noticing it much after long extended play sessions.

However, for long travel inputs such as a triggers or thumbsticks the idea has lots of potential. And some people already taught about it. This company has been pitching force feedback thumbsticks for quite some time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYZ8_exnCPQ

In a thumbstick what you brought up can be more useful.

But in the end haptics of this type would be incorporated more prominently in VR oriented controllers than console one. For consoles we' ll probably get latest generation actuators in the next round of systems.

 

[tbd]

Being a keyboard/mouse for every game that involes aiming.

 

[Ceadeus]

We have talked about this but most of the time as a tangent in other threads. But my recent experience with a game impelled me to create this thread and dissipate some what.

The industry and it's biggest market specially (America) it's in an action game oriented phase with the dominant genre at the moment being shooters. The more or less established control method is dual analog for movement and camera control, this forces the player to invest most of the "thumb time" in the sticks, so the more time the game doesn't force the player to move from that default position the better.

The specific game case that triggered this topic is in Human Revolution. The designers set in a vast amount of boxes that can be pick up and interacted by the player. In the default controller option, i had to take away the thumb from the stick to push the interaction button, this amounts to thousands of times in a playthrough. Not game braking at all but not optimal either.

We have been playing like this for long and i think that's precisely the problem. So for years, i can't figure out why no manufacturer has incorporated a way for the controller to detect the grip applied to a its handles by the fingers. Middle finger, ring finger, and little finger are much of the time inactive interaction wise, serving just as support.

I think a gripping input method could become the main interaction button in games. It's a really natural interface method that the user can relate to, while maintaining control of movement and camera positioning. See a weapon, box or switch to interact with and just squeeze the controller with the those 3 fingers that most of the time remain idle.

Nintendo had a moment of illumination when they splitted the controller in two, the other piece of the puzzle was coming up with a way to detect pressure in the handle surface. Kind of disappointing seeing them pursue other ventures with the WiiU controller and ignored the evolution path for the Wii Remote.

There are other neglected features that with might discuss in this thread but this first post is long enough already.

I only dislike your believe about the neglected wii remote. The wii u actually supports it and many wii u game uses it. I enjoyed bops 2 online using à wiimote.

 

[FloatOn]

All I care about is the return of the neo geo pocket color stick. It was too good.