SeeNoWeevil
Member
Volume +/- rocker that sends HDMI-CEC volume commands.
Didn't realise the DS4 existed in 2012Interesting that some months ago I started a thread lamenting how consoles have so poor control over camera and controller mapping and so many responded that the DS4 is perfect etc.
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.
The actuators can give the user sensations of resistance and directions. However, that was the first thing i managed to find since i was in a hurry. As a matter of fact the prototype i was thinking was more in line with something like this:Isn't what they talk about just to make the sticks/trigggers vibrate in specific ways, rather than to actually make it harder to push them *confused*?
The actuators can give the user sensations of resistance and directions. However, that was the first thing i managed to find since i was in a hurry. As a matter of fact the prototype i was thinking was more in line with something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfUxpOJXdYk
Luckily i manage to find a good showcase video. Let me know if this ilustrates the point better to you.
Implemented in the way you suggest it runs the risk of failing totally. Maybe you, i and a very small niche would be attracted but the rest...Ah, gotcha . That's certainly closer to what I had in mind, though it doesn't seem to actually be strong enough to resist the user's input. What I mean is that it should be possible to (theoretically speaking) turn the resistance up so much that the stick/trigger/... would be completely rigid and the user wouldn't be able move/push it at all. That way you could create scenarios where the user would actually have to work up some effort to perform certain actions which could lead to greater immersion if it corresponds to the tasks the character is performing on-screen.
Implemented in the way you suggest it runs the risk of failing totally. Maybe you, i and a very small niche would be attracted but the rest...
The gaming community has proven to be very resistive to change. If the change involves a bit of extra investment (even for the better) whatever the innovation might bring, it's met with an stronger resistance and even reactions of irrational hatred. Take for example the enhanced aiming of the Wii Remote or Move controllers, a considerable part of the user base gave the cold shoulder due to having to move something more than the finger to aim. Hence it's 2015 and we are controlling aiming, pointing and cursor controls with a thumbstick XD
i think subtle directional feedback would be useful and experience enhancing enough to find it's place withouth potentially alienating a part of the user base.
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 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.
Are you talking about something like this:
But as default?
The irony gets a boost to stratospheric levels when we consider that the most relevant CEO and founder of the company totally dismissed the stylus importance as an input method not even a decade ago.It's amusing to me how much the stylus has been around forever and with the same functionalities in many devices, from tablets to hybrids like the MS Surface series, to phablets like the Galaxy Note series - yet it is Apple that triggers the response of the stylus (PENCIL) being something ground breaking, with all the same features others have offered before.
The way it's implemented in the Xbox Elite controller is not as useful as it can be. But i guess that's the price we pay since it's not an standard feature of the console.The only problem with this is that it doesn't really add functionality, it just moves it around to a position that makes it far more useful for many games. What I love with the Steam controller is giving them all kinds of great functionality, from rebindability and combinations of keys, to mode switching to allow for an entirely different mapping configuration for the whole controller when they are held.
For what exactly?Dedicated Facebook button.
Interesting that some months ago I started a thread lamenting how consoles have so poor control over camera and controller mapping and so many responded that the DS4 is perfect etc.
A modifier key.
Controllers lack buttons and a modifier on the back for your middle finger is such a no brainer. Instantly double the amount of hotkeys you can have...
Extra buttons in general.
6 face buttons on xbox controller was a start, then they removed them again...
As others have sad there's room on the back of the controller and you have your middle and ringfinger on each hand to operate more buttons.
A lack of hotkeys is really crippling game design atm, it's especially glaringly obvious when you see previously pc exclusive games/series go multiplatform and you see the cuts and concessions they have to make to fit the controls on a controller.
the whole 4 weaps in shooters thing instead of 10, 2 syringes in far cry 3, no walk key in most shooters , no lean unless they leave out other things and the rise of contextual buttons and animations to replace player input.
So ignoring the obvious (camera control) problem with controllers, a modifier button and extra buttons would be the first obvious step to making them better.
It's amusing to me how much the stylus has been around forever and with the same functionalities in many devices, from tablets to hybrids like the MS Surface series, to phablets like the Galaxy Note series - yet it is Apple that triggers the response of the stylus (PENCIL) being something ground breaking, with all the same features others have offered before.
The only problem with this is that it doesn't really add functionality, it just moves it around to a position that makes it far more useful for many games. What I love with the Steam controller is giving them all kinds of great functionality, from rebindability and combinations of keys, to mode switching to allow for an entirely different mapping configuration for the whole controller when they are held.
Controllers have a lot of problems, but it's when these problems effect game design that it's more than just an inconvenience.
The principal example being analogue sticks, relative to a mouse they're simply too imprecise and slow, thus leading to aim assist, intentionally slowing down gameplay, poor user-interfaces, etc. The solution is something that is a lot closer to mouse in terms of precision and speed, and can act as a mouse cursor for the interface. Analogue sticks have their uses though in flight simulation, racing simulation, and a few other select games that use analogue.
Another problem is having to lift your right thumb off of your analogue stick (or replacement). You should never have to do this, especially in first-person games. The solution is to add more buttons that you can press without having to lift your thumb, such as buttons on the back of the controller.
A few other things such as dual-stage triggers, enough buttons so you can spare one for push-to-talk, and a functional d-pad that isn't designed just for menus.
One issue on consoles is the lack of ability to fully customize bindings, macros, create game profiles, etc. I believe the Xbox One Elite Controller is supposed to do most of this, but it's rather sad that such an important feature, which is just software, is exclusively tied to a $150 controller, and not part of the system base software.
I might be forgetting something, but I think that sums it up. Funny enough, the controller that encompasses solutions to all of these problems is the Steam Controller.
A lack of hotkeys is really crippling game design atm, it's especially glaringly obvious when you see previously pc exclusive games/series go multiplatform and you see the cuts and concessions they have to make to fit the controls on a controller.
the whole 4 weaps in shooters thing instead of 10, 2 syringes in far cry 3, no walk key in most shooters , no lean unless they leave out other things and the rise of contextual buttons and animations to replace player input.
Push-to-talk and a mic mute button, somehow.
Long battery life.
Also Sneaky, leaning in shooters was solved in a very intuitive way with the Wii Remote and the advent of motion gaming. For example, when aiming down the sights you could rotate the nunchuck to lean with varying degrees of precision even, something that is harder to achieve with a button. Any controller with IMUs like the Wii U Gamepad or the Steam Controller can use this functionality. It is a very natural implementation and it allows extra control options since the user doesn't need to switch fingers, like would be the case if we map that action to a button.
The thing with ergonomics is not how it "sounds" but how it performs in practice or real world use. Doing an slight twist of the nunchuck acording to how much you want to lean is easy and natural to do.That sounds really uncomfortable and intuitive doesn't always mean it works well. Motion controls always seemed to have high latency and just never felt right to me. The motion never matched what I wanted to do.
I'd like a trackball in place of the right analog stick and a scroll wheel in place of the right bumper or R1. A trackball is a logical choice for shooters and the scroll wheel could be used to zoom in or quickly switch between inventories.
This was talked about previously in the thread. A controller that can be Split or Connected depending of the use. This is a spin of that with some influence from the latest Nintendo concept.
Basically the controller can work as a Wii Remote. But it can be joined with another one to form a more traditional form factor.
Instead of face buttons there's a Touchpad/Trackpad that is trasspased by a flushed analog stick (think like the 3DS Circle Pad). It works as a point of reference to depress the trackpad in the diferent cardinal directions.
On the underside there's a wide Trigger that can be depressed and also detects swipes in different directions.
This way the controller ends up been symmetrical and simplifies fabrication since jost one form factor in needed to manufacture, yet another form factor is obtained.
Excuse the rough concept, but i thought it could be an interesting excersize to imagine how something like this could work.
I want a controller where the grips feels like guns with kick-back, triggers and handles.
Something like this:
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.
A big innovation would be something to stop my hands from sweating. I always have to clean my controllers because of this.
The Wii U Gamepad has an integrated microphone, pretty handy for the few multiplayer games that support it. But you are probbly suggesting for voice input to be inegrated more generally, like at OS level.You know what else is really long overdue. A voice command remote. I think the X1 remote registers my voice much better than a clunky far away kinect. Controllers should all have this built in.
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.
The Wii Remote did this. In Smash Brawl you could save profile data in the Wii Remote for use in another console. Related to the built in memory in controllers, the Wii U Gamepad was one of the first controllers with upgradable firmware also.I was JUST thinking about this yesterday as I was packing my xcontrolle before heading out for a Halo 5 gathering.
The Wii Remote did this. In Smash Brawl you could save profile data in the Wii Remote for use in another console. Related to the built in memory in controllers, the Wii U Gamepad was one of the first controllers with upgradable firmware also.