Nintendo Drop D-pad

[Andy_Tanner]

Latest true innovation? Riiiiight...

So how exactly is a control system that has been around for donkey's years and shoehorned into a half-assed handheld an innovation?

so dedicated games consoles have used dual touch screens before?

now fuck off.

[CarloOos]

the cube pad is a great improvement and the analogue stick is probably the best out there. Can you imagine Monkey Ball using the sloppy PS2 analogues.

It does have a very good analogue stick. Shame it's ruined by being ironically paired the worst analogue stick, ever.

[Marzipan Travolta]

Best thing about the gamecube pad is that after a particularly wonderful win in Monkey Target 2 you can you put your middle finger through the gap between the sticks and spin the pad round like your the fucking duke.

I'd really like to see something similar to Force Feedback on the stick that makes it harder to move in certain situations. Might be too hard to do and keep the stick to a reasonable scale however.

As for the revolution pad. Two words: Clap Sensor.

[Mr Spew]

As for the revolution pad. Two words: Clap Sensor.

Hardly a revolution if Donkey Konga already did that.

[Sigourney Beaver]

Hardly a revolution if Donkey Konga already did that.

Perhaps they meant the pad for the revolution console?

[Mr Spew]

That's exactly what I thought he meant...

[SomeNaiveChump]

plenty of games - for example, all half-decent fighting games, 2D shooters, PES and Tony Hawk - are designed with 8-direction play in mind. and thus they are relatively shit when played with a stick.

negotiating menus with an analog stick is also an utter cunt which will slowly destroy the muscles in your left thumb.

in conclusion - we need the d-pad.

[Andy_Tanner]

plenty of games - for example, all half-decent fighting games, 2D shooters, PES and Tony Hawk - are designed with 8-direction play in mind. and thus they are relatively shit when played with a stick.

negotiating menus with an analog stick is also an utter cunt which will slowly destroy the muscles in your left thumb.

in conclusion - we need the d-pad.

perhaps Tony Hawk should do a generation catch-up then. just because it first came out on the Playstation doesn't mean it has to stay that way forever. fighting games really need to be played with a decent arcade stick to get the most out of them and analogue control suits Gradius V just fine.

how about negotiating menu's with a stylus, easier yes?

in conlusion, let's see what they come up.

[Codger]

IMO an official controller that comes with the console when you buy it should always be as generalised as possible. It should be suitable for any genre of game. If people want to buy specialised controllers for particular types of game, then they can. But default controllers should not be fantastic for one game and shit for a whole range of others. On that count, the GC pad is awful; it only suits a few types of games.

[kamrantaz]

It doesnt suit ANY game.

At least the N64 pad had a purpose!

[CarloOos]

I hate the GC pad, but I think it's fantastic for Viewtiful Joe. So there's at least one it suits.

[SomeNaiveChump]

perhaps Tony Hawk should do a generation catch-up then.

that would involve restricting the moveset massively.

as it is, there are a lot of double-taps and direction combos required to key in the moves. analog sticks are useless for this.

and 'generation catch-up'? d-pads are best for some games. this is not going to suddenly stop being true. try playing Tetris with an analog stick and see how you get on.

[Burai]

At this point of this utter trainwreck of a thread I find it genuinely hilarious that people are arguing about how they are going to be utterly hamstrung trying to play Tetris on the new Nintendo machine.

Y'know, as if anyone actually bought Tetris for any machine since the Game Boy.

[Fondue]

I'll eat my hat* if the Revolution controller doesn't have a tilt sensor in it after seeing Nintendo incorporating it in several of their Gameboy games.

*a cake in the shape of a hat.

[Andy_Tanner]

that would involve restricting the moveset massively.

as it is, there are a lot of double-taps and direction combos required to key in the moves. analog sticks are useless for this.

and 'generation catch-up'? d-pads are best for some games. this is not going to suddenly stop being true. try playing Tetris with an analog stick and see how you get on.

i can live without Tony Hawk, or just play it on my Playstation if i'm desperate. i can play Tetris on the numerical keypad of my phone so i'm sure it'll be ok.

[dismembo]

All this talk of not being able to play old games on new hardware baffles me.

[sentient]

I'm totally fucking serious.

I don't remember which guy at Nintendo it was, who said he wished to reach out into the screen in Zelda to pull a lever. Couple that with recent developments in motion-capture that removes the need for cameras and makes it affordable.

I reckon a Revolution can only be perephiral-based, and it may end up being a carbon-copy of Eyetoy. You only need to think about how they've changed public perception with the DS, by coming up with new input methods and playing a different game to the rest of the industry.

Actually, if you want to know what I really think - it's that Nintendo will stop making traditional console hardware and start producing perephirals for other machines (complete with third-party licsences eg. GameTrak) thus taking advantage of a larger userbase.

All about the profit baby!

[Liquid Myth]

Maybe the Revolution will have a unique controller to every game. But made of paper, you know, to keep costs low.

[Sigourney Beaver]

Maybe the Revolution will have a unique controller to every game. But made of paper, you know, to keep costs low.

Knowing Nintendo you'd probably have to assemble it yourself. That would slash their manufacturing costs!

[SomeNaiveChump]

All this talk of not being able to play old games on new hardware baffles me.

or negotiate menus without getting RSI. or play any game designed to be played with direction taps etc.

it's a fucking BAD move, seriously.

[Project 2501]

Do we actually have any proof of this or is it just more hearsay and speculation being passed off as "news"?

[213]

Nintendo invented LR buttons, D-pads and analog control (consoles)

This is bollocks.

The Atari paddles are analogue, the acetronic mpu controlers are analogue, the atari 5200 controllers are analogue.

As regards putting it on a pad, well there was an analogue controller for the megadrive, so they didn't even do that.

[dismembo]

or negotiate menus without getting RSI. or play any game designed to be played with direction taps etc.

it's a fucking BAD move, seriously.

Perhaps there are interesting NEW alternatives to the things you have listed.

How can people be so quick to decide that no d-pad equals disaster?

I always thought gamers were eager to embrace the new, not cling to the old.

[McCoy]

It doesnt suit ANY game.

At least the N64 pad had a purpose!

Fuck Off.

Seriously.

I'll give you that the GC pad may not be the best pad for some games but for a good majority of games it is the best pad out there for playing the game on. Play Burnout 2 on any of the systems and try telling me the GC pad is not brillent with that game, far better than the PS2 pad and at least even with the Xbox S pad.

There are plenty more examples but I don't have the inclination to list them all, but for many games the GC pad is a brillent pad and I personally rank it above the dual shock pad.