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Another IGN Top Ten List - Controller Innovations

W

WindyMan

Junior Member
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/647/647580p1.html

10. The VMU
9. The Turbo Button
8. Triggers
7. Breakaway Cord
6. Multiple Face Buttons
5. Shoulder Buttons
4. Rumble/Force Feedback
3. Wireless
2. The D-Pad
1. Analog Control


The only problem I have with this list is #7. While breakaway cords on the Xbox are somewhat innovative, no one is going to be using them ever again because of #3. Everything else on the list #6 and higher (and #8 too) will be used for a long time. It seems to me since the Xbox IGN channel put this list together, they needed to stretch something to get some kind of Xbox-exclusive 'innovation' on it.

Oh, it goes without saying that, with the exceptions of #7 and #10, Nintendo was the first to offer all of the features on the list, and all are still used today, and most will be used for a while. That's not to say that Sony or Microsoft improved on the formulae, of course...
 
uh I think that vmu should be a little better then 10. I think every controller should incorparate some kind of little screen on it like the VMU.
 
Mama Smurf said:
Nintendo were the first to offer triggers?
Click to expand...

I assume they mean the N64's Z Trigger, but I wouldn't count that. Even though it was technically a 'trigger' you squeezed rather than pressed, it was only a button. The DC pad and Xbox pad are triggers.
 
Mama Smurf said:
Nintendo were the first to offer triggers?
Click to expand...

All signs point ot yes.

snespad.gif


Eidt: I consider shoulder buttons triggers, but that might just be me, and the Satun 3d pad had "real" triggers.
 
i thought the saturn nights pad was the first to offer analog control?

EDIT: ^ those are shoulder buttons, not triggers.
 
Straightballin said:
uh I think that vmu should be a little better then 10. I think every controller should incorparate some kind of little screen on it like the VMU.
Click to expand...

I would agree with you if the VMU really had rocked like I thought it was going to. For me, it really ended up being a memory card with a screen pretty much, and none of the little games or info it provided were very useful or fun. It certainly wasn't bad, but had a ton of potential.

But I think other companies could perhaps make better use of a small screen on the controller and/or memory card, so we'll see.. ;)
 
The N64 had a Z-Trigger, so technically Nintendo did it first. The DC perfected it into the dual analog triggers that we all know and love today.

Well, except for Sony.
 
WindyMan said:
The N64 had a Z-Trigger, so technically Nintendo did it first. The DC perfected it into the dual analog triggers that we all know and love today.

Well, except for Sony.
Click to expand...

The list says Triggers not Trigger, therefor DC wins! :D
 
mdm said:
Rumble should be on the worst list
Click to expand...

No, it shouldn't. There's absolutely no reason to think it is a bad thing. It's only good, and if you, for some dumb reason, don't like it, most games let you turn it off.

I pretty much agree with the top 10, but breakaway cords shouldn't even be on it, while VMU should take its place. Not an innovation at all.
 
Zeo said:
No, it shouldn't. There's absolutely no reason to think it is a bad thing. It's only good, and if you, for some dumb reason, don't like it, most games let you turn it off.

I pretty much agree with the top 10, but breakaway cords shouldn't even be on it, while VMU should take its place. Not an innovation at all.
Click to expand...

I like rumble on most games and most systems. However, there's been certain games where the rumble just has gone crazy on my PS2 controller and my wife's brother's Xbox controllers and drives me insane. Gauntlet Dark Legacy messes up on his system and it'll just rumble for like 10 minutes straight, then stop for a while.. then start up again..
 
the Z-trigger on the N64 controller was a "button" the marketing geniuses decided to call it a trigger because it sounded cooler.
 
How has no-one else noticed the mentioning of the turbo button on that list? Seriously, how the hell is that an innovation? Third parties might as well just make a controller with a big button marked "Cheat!", because that's all the function is, and it does absolutely nothing to benefit the games being played with it.

Edit:- btw, the Z-button was modelled after the trigger of a gun, making it a trigger button, not an analog one, but a trigger none the less.

Edit 2:- A technicality, but I think you'll also find that actual triggers on guns nowadays rarely pivot on an axis like the Dreamcast/XBox shoulder buttons do, but rather slide back and forth in a frame, like Gamecube controllers' shoulder buttons. Just wanted to point that out to piss off the trigger-nazis. :D
 
The XBOX's breakaway-age is completely useless. The xbox is too heavy. The actual connected unplugs quite easily once tugged at by the wire.


It's innovative, but would have served better use on lighter systems like the PS2 (which i did knock off a tv by stepping on a cord).





still a neat innovation.

The VMU didnt really take off.
 
WindyMan said:
The only problem I have with this list is #7. While breakaway cords on the Xbox are somewhat innovative, no one is going to be using them ever again because of #3. .
Click to expand...


not all xbox360s will come with wireless controllers.
 
robot said:
i thought the saturn nights pad was the first to offer analog control?
Click to expand...

Atari 5200 joystick, released 1982

con_Atari5200Joystick_a.jpg


If you're just talking analog control (not specifically joysticks/joypads), then most early video game consoles with their Pong-like games offered some sort of analog control. Just as an example, here are the Atari 2600 paddles from 1977:

con_AtariPaddles.jpg


This was not the first of its type, and not even close to it, as even most of the dedicated systems had either rotating knobs like these or sliding levers.
 
Agent X said:
Atari 5200 joystick, released 1982

con_Atari5200Joystick_a.jpg


If you're just talking analog control (not specifically joysticks/joypads), then most early video game consoles with their Pong-like games offered some sort of analog control. Just as an example, here are the Atari 2600 paddles from 1977:

con_AtariPaddles.jpg


This was not the first of its type, and not even close to it, as even most of the dedicated systems had either rotating knobs like these or sliding levers.
Click to expand...


the list should have said analog sticks.. cause thats what was innovative..
 
quadriplegicjon said:
not all xbox360s will come with wireless controllers.
Click to expand...

Yes, and as the GAF majority has pointed out, anyone who buys an Xbox 360 with a wired controller is a retard.
 
VMU, breakaway cord, and turbo aren't worthy IMHO. The VMU might be good but the
DC's was way too low resolution for anything useful.

The gamepad shape itself was a huge innovation over joysticks, and should be listed..
as well as controller slots.
 
Wasnt the PS2 the first to introduce dual analogue sticks? MS obviously perfected it with the positioning of the sticks and resistence.
 
10. The VMU
9. The Turbo Button
8. Triggers
7. Breakaway Cord
6. Multiple Face Buttons
5. Shoulder Buttons
4. Rumble/Force Feedback
3. Wireless
2. The D-Pad
1. Analog Control

Oh, it goes without saying that, with the exceptions of #7 and #10, Nintendo was the first to offer all of the features on the list, and all are still used today, and most will be used for a while.
Click to expand...

Turbo (autofire), multiple face buttons, wireless, and analog control all existed before Nintendo first used them. Even the standard gamepad shape predates Nintendo.
 
mr_sockochris said:
I assume they mean the N64's Z Trigger, but I wouldn't count that. Even though it was technically a 'trigger' you squeezed rather than pressed, it was only a button. The DC pad and Xbox pad are triggers.
Click to expand...

You can do both to a trigger and neither is more right than the other
 
monchi-kun said:
the Z-trigger on the N64 controller was a "button" the marketing geniuses decided to call it a trigger because it sounded cooler.
Click to expand...
The Z-trigger is a Z-trigger, because it acts like a trigger on a gun when you play FPS like Goldeneye 007. :)
 
Speaking of controller innovations....

I want one where you can manage the contents of your hard drive/memory card/stick via the controller and not through the the console's GUI or in game save/load menus.
 
PC Gaijin said:
Turbo (autofire), multiple face buttons, wireless, and analog control all existed before Nintendo first used them. Even the standard gamepad shape predates Nintendo.
Click to expand...

You're wasting your time. Still, if you want to take over from me on the futile posting of prior art for Nintendovations, you're welcome to the thankless task. :)

The list is very heavy on innovations that are in common use today. I'd at least be considering per-controller headphone sockets and daisy-chaining controllers. I'd be considering the possibility of dual analogue as well, simply because of the vast improvement it made in the controllability of certain types of game (FPS, obviously). There are probably more interesting innovations out there at the end of the day, though.

Wireless wouldn't even come close to the chart for me, because it doesn't change the way I interact with the game like most of the others (breakaway cords being the other exception) except in that occasionally it makes me swear at the console and start hunting for batteries. Hopefully the X360 implementation of wireless (with a charging cable that allows the same controller to be used in wired mode while charging itself from the console) will become standard. That would make me happy with wireless.
 
iapetus said:
You're wasting your time. Still, if you want to take over from me on the futile posting of prior art for Nintendovations, you're welcome to the thankless task. :)

The list is very heavy on innovations that are in common use today. I'd at least be considering per-controller headphone sockets and daisy-chaining controllers. I'd be considering the possibility of dual analogue as well, simply because of the vast improvement it made in the controllability of certain types of game (FPS, obviously). There are probably more interesting innovations out there at the end of the day, though.

Wireless wouldn't even come close to the chart for me, because it doesn't change the way I interact with the game like most of the others (breakaway cords being the other exception) except in that occasionally it makes me swear at the console and start hunting for batteries. Hopefully the X360 implementation of wireless (with a charging cable that allows the same controller to be used in wired mode while charging itself from the console) will become standard. That would make me happy with wireless.
Click to expand...


the thing is, nintendo may not have been the first to do these things.. but they were the ones that made it popular in modern day consoles. and while they did not create analog control.. they certainly did create the analog stick.. and that, imo, was pretty innovative.. it gave you analog control and freed up the rest of your fingers for other buttons.
 
monchi-kun said:
the Z-trigger on the N64 controller was a "button" the marketing geniuses decided to call it a trigger because it sounded cooler.
Click to expand...
Why do triggers have to be analog? Actual triggers aren't.
 
quadriplegicjon said:
they certainly did create the analog stick.. and that, imo, was pretty innovative.. it gave you analog control and freed up the rest of your fingers for other buttons.
Click to expand...

Image06.jpg


"Sorry, Nintendo created the what now?"
 
wobedraggled said:
vectrex2.jpg
Click to expand...


look at the size of the controller. i was talking about a thumb stick . is that controller actually analog though?

anyway, that wasnt even my main point. which was::

"the thing is, nintendo may not have been the first to do these things.. but they were the ones that made it popular in modern day consoles."


EDIT

oh, and i just want to add that the dreamcast triggers were horrid. xbox, imo, has the best ones.
 
quadriplegicjon said:
look at the size of the controller. i was talking about a thumb stick . is that controller actually analog though?
Click to expand...

Yes. And pretty playable with the thumb, which is what the first picture shows.

quadriplegicjon said:
anyway, that wasnt even my main point. which was::

"the thing is, nintendo may not have been the first to do these things.. but they were the ones that made it popular in modern day consoles."
Click to expand...

Which is reasonable to a point, but if that's the be all and end all then I want a stop to Nintendo fans bitching about people 'copying' Nintendovations - particularly when they improve on them. I also want some more respect for innovation by non-Nintendo companies, such as the Panasonic ones mentioned earlier.
 
iapetus said:
Yes. And pretty playable with the thumb, which is what the first picture shows.
Click to expand...


oh. well. i retract my previous statment then.

iapetus said:
Which is reasonable to a point, but if that's the be all and end all then I want a stop to Nintendo fans bitching about people 'copying' Nintendovations - particularly when they improve on them. I also want some more respect for innovation by non-Nintendo companies, such as the Panasonic ones mentioned earlier.
Click to expand...


screw the people that complain about that.. the only thing i find reasonable is nintendo's unwillingness to reveal these things till the last minute.. since they usually are pretty easy to copy.
 
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