After putting quite a bit of time into NSMBU and AC3, I have come to this conclusion. To be honest, I'm a little surprised. I usually expect good things from Nintendo controllers, but they still managed to surprise me with how good this one is.
I mean even ignoring the touch screen and whatever other gimmickry and looking at only the standardized controller features, it's pretty damn great:
Ergonomics
Super comfortable. Shockingly so, considering how big and unwieldy it might look. You pick it up and it just melts into your hands. All your fingers go exactly where they need to be.
More importantly, I think, is that neither the sticks nor the d-pad/buttons feel like they're in a secondary position. They both feel equally comfortable to reach and use. This is pretty different from the standard controller setup, by which I mean the PS3 or 360 controllers. Trying to use the 360 d-pad extensively feels awkward, and it's not entirely because of how bad it is. And using the left stick on the PS3 is something I've gotten used to because I've had to to play like any game ever released today, but I've never felt it was optimal.
Whereas with the Wii U, I felt perfectly comfortable playing through NSMBU with the d-pad and buttons the entire time. And I feel completely comfortable wandering around in AC3 with my thumbs on both sticks most of the time. Then when I need to switch to combat or something, I feel perfectly comfortable switching to the buttons. The fact that the right stick is now above the buttons - something that seemed to bother many people when it was first revealed - barely even registers.
Buttons
They are perfect. By that, I don't mean "really good". I mean perfect. Just the right size, just the right distance apart, just the right amount of give. Comparably, I've always felt that the Playstation buttons were a bit too big, flat, and far apart, and the 360 buttons were too rounded and stiff. Even comparing to the Wii Classic Controller, I kinda actively disliked those buttons. The clear ones felt slightly different and harder and had sharp edges, and they were too flat and far apart...
...But this? This is like the best button diamond ever.
Sticks
Really good. Nintendo finally added stick clicks and got rid of the octagonal gate at the behest of third-party publishers. I was actually kind of a fan of the octagonal gate - it was fun to rotate the sticks and make that CLACKETY-CLACK sound during load times or whatever - but I'm not too sad to see it go.
I'd probably have liked concave heads, but it's not too big a deal. Between the material used and the subtle circular extrusion, there's enough grip to not be a big problem. Aside from that, everything else is wonderful: just the right amount of height, resistance, and travel distance. The stick click is also sturdy enough that you won't accidentally click it, but not so much that you'll have trouble clicking when you want it.
D-pad
Only the best console d-pad since, like... ever? No annoying missing center section like the PS controllers. No abject unusable shittiness like the 360 or Gamecube pads. It's a lot like the Wii Classic Controller d-pad, but a bit smaller and a lot better.
Triggers
The first real knock I can give the controller is that these aren't analog. Why? I don't know. Seems like an odd omission when they seemed to go to every other length to match and exceed feature parity with the competition.
Other than that, they feel excellent in a similar way to the Gamecube triggers. They're just the perfect shape for your fingers, and they're extremely satisfying to press. Their width makes them less gun-trigger than the 360 triggers, which I like, but that's really just personal preference. The real important thing is that they're not convex so your fingers slide off of them like the PS3 triggers.
Bumpers
Another little knock against the controller: the bumpers require a bit more of a stretch to reach than I'd like. It would be nice if they were a bit closer to the triggers, but I'm honestly not really sure how that could've been accomplished.
Still, it's something you can get used to, and when you do press them, you get an actually satisfying button press feeling unlike the 360's dinky little clickers. Maybe not quite as satisfying as the PS3's L1 and R1, though.
Battery life
Okay. Here's the big knock against the controller, and really the one thing keeping me from declaring it UNDENIABLY the bestest controller of all time ever. It's awful. Like really awful. Like 3-4 hours awful. Fortunately you can plug it in to an outlet (not the console, its charger plugs into a wall outlet separately; this could be better or worse than being wired to the console depending on your setup) and keep playing while it charges. But this is the wireless age! We're not supposed to be tethered to anything! Hopefully they or a third-party release a better battery some time in the future.
In summary, looking at just the core functions, I have only three issues:
- No analog triggers
- Bumpers aren't perfectly comfortable like everything else on the controller
- Crap battery life
Whereas I could probably come up with plenty more than three complaints for any other controller ever. Other than those three issues, everything else is excellent.
So before even touching on the gimmickry, it's already easily in the running for one of the best controllers ever. Adding the gimmickry, it gets even better.
Now, I'll admit, the touch screen hasn't done anything ABSOLUTELY AMAZINGLY REVOLUTIONARY. I mean, maybe some of the Nintendo Land stuff is neat, but I'm not sure if I expect that kind of stuff in a lot of games.
What I do expect in a lot of games, however, are nice little conveniences like the following:
Touch-based menus
Because just tapping something is way quicker than scrolling to it with the d-pad or stick and pressing A. The thing's been out for, what, two weeks now? And I already get a little annoyed when I encounter a menu I can't navigate by touch. Youtube and Hulu+ apps, I'm looking at you. Need to step your shit up.
This also applies to things that aren't menus in the traditional sense, like AC3's weapon wheel. You can press up and down on the sticks to cycle through your weapons and choose the one you want. Or you can just tap it on the touch screen. I pretty much always use the touch screen because it's way faster.
Maps
Yeah, I know the joke goes all the way back to the DS. "They just used the second screen for a map!" But you know what? That shit's convenient, especially with the Gamepad's much larger screen. Comparing the Gamepad map to the on-screen mini-map in AC3, the Gamepad map lets you see over twice as far by default. Then you can also double tap it to zoom out a bit, which lets you see nearly three times as far as the on-screen mini-map.
It seems like a dumb little thing but it's really useful for getting your bearings. You're not relying on a dinky little mini-map, and you're not constantly pausing and unpausing. You just look down, then look up, and say, "Okay, so this block on the map is that building, which means this line is that road, which means that's the way I need to go." That's pretty much how I use maps in real life, so it's neat to be able to transfer that skill directly to the game.
And no, taking your eyes away from the screen for a second doesn't make you instantly die horribly.
HUD-less gameplay
Speaking on AC3 in particular, this has always been an issue with the series. It looks great if you turn off the HUD, but the information the HUD displays is pretty handy.
With the Gamepad, you can have your cake and eat it, too. If you turn on the Optimize for Gamepad option (which I think should just be on by default), you get the nice, uncluttered gameplay screen, but you can still access all that HUD info real quick and easy by just glancing down. Perhaps the most important part of this: You don't have an annoying and distracting mini-map in the corner of your vision constantly throughout the game.
And again: taking your eyes away from the screen for a second doesn't make you instantly die horribly. I can say so from practice because I have done it.
Typing
Because text entry on console games has always been a pain in the ass. But now you can just bring up a keyboard on the touch screen. No fumbling with on-screen keyboards, no need to buy some keyboard add-on for the controller. Just, boom, keyboard. Type. And the keys are big enough to press with your fingers, no need to pull out the stylus.
Drawing
Because I don't care that I'm awful at drawing, making doodles for Miiverse is hella fun.
Off-TV play
I suppose I haven't gotten as much use out of this as some people, but it's still pretty neat. I do like how I can turn it on and check Miiverse without having to turn on my TV.
Customizable inputs
In AC3, you can call your horse by opening up the weapon wheel and selecting the horse icon then pressing the secondary weapon button, or you can set it to one of your four d-pad quick-select spots so you can skip the weapon wheel step and have slightly quicker access to it.
Or you can just tap the big honkin' horse button to instantly call your horse without needing to swap weapons or use up one of your four quick-select spots on it.
It seems like a little thing, not even worth mentioning. But it's convenient. It's one of those functions that you use frequently enough to want quick access to, but not frequently enough to dedicate an entire button to. It's like in OoT3D, when they gave the Ocarina a dedicated spot on the touch screen instead of making you swap it into your items every time you wanted to use it like in the N64 version. I think anyone who's played both versions can tell you how nice and convenient that was.
And that's the point. These functions may not be revolutionary, but they sure are convenient. Is that convenience worth the $300-350 for the Wii U? I dunno. Maybe not. But I have the system now, so between the excellent controller and the touch screen conveniences, I'd probably go with the Wii U version of a game if I was given the choice. Provided it wasn't a shoddy port like most of the launch titles apparently are, anyway.
I'm honestly looking forward to more Wii U games coming out just so I have an excuse to use this controller more.
I mean even ignoring the touch screen and whatever other gimmickry and looking at only the standardized controller features, it's pretty damn great:
Ergonomics
Super comfortable. Shockingly so, considering how big and unwieldy it might look. You pick it up and it just melts into your hands. All your fingers go exactly where they need to be.
More importantly, I think, is that neither the sticks nor the d-pad/buttons feel like they're in a secondary position. They both feel equally comfortable to reach and use. This is pretty different from the standard controller setup, by which I mean the PS3 or 360 controllers. Trying to use the 360 d-pad extensively feels awkward, and it's not entirely because of how bad it is. And using the left stick on the PS3 is something I've gotten used to because I've had to to play like any game ever released today, but I've never felt it was optimal.
Whereas with the Wii U, I felt perfectly comfortable playing through NSMBU with the d-pad and buttons the entire time. And I feel completely comfortable wandering around in AC3 with my thumbs on both sticks most of the time. Then when I need to switch to combat or something, I feel perfectly comfortable switching to the buttons. The fact that the right stick is now above the buttons - something that seemed to bother many people when it was first revealed - barely even registers.
Buttons
They are perfect. By that, I don't mean "really good". I mean perfect. Just the right size, just the right distance apart, just the right amount of give. Comparably, I've always felt that the Playstation buttons were a bit too big, flat, and far apart, and the 360 buttons were too rounded and stiff. Even comparing to the Wii Classic Controller, I kinda actively disliked those buttons. The clear ones felt slightly different and harder and had sharp edges, and they were too flat and far apart...
...But this? This is like the best button diamond ever.
Sticks
Really good. Nintendo finally added stick clicks and got rid of the octagonal gate at the behest of third-party publishers. I was actually kind of a fan of the octagonal gate - it was fun to rotate the sticks and make that CLACKETY-CLACK sound during load times or whatever - but I'm not too sad to see it go.
I'd probably have liked concave heads, but it's not too big a deal. Between the material used and the subtle circular extrusion, there's enough grip to not be a big problem. Aside from that, everything else is wonderful: just the right amount of height, resistance, and travel distance. The stick click is also sturdy enough that you won't accidentally click it, but not so much that you'll have trouble clicking when you want it.
D-pad
Only the best console d-pad since, like... ever? No annoying missing center section like the PS controllers. No abject unusable shittiness like the 360 or Gamecube pads. It's a lot like the Wii Classic Controller d-pad, but a bit smaller and a lot better.
Triggers
The first real knock I can give the controller is that these aren't analog. Why? I don't know. Seems like an odd omission when they seemed to go to every other length to match and exceed feature parity with the competition.
Other than that, they feel excellent in a similar way to the Gamecube triggers. They're just the perfect shape for your fingers, and they're extremely satisfying to press. Their width makes them less gun-trigger than the 360 triggers, which I like, but that's really just personal preference. The real important thing is that they're not convex so your fingers slide off of them like the PS3 triggers.
Bumpers
Another little knock against the controller: the bumpers require a bit more of a stretch to reach than I'd like. It would be nice if they were a bit closer to the triggers, but I'm honestly not really sure how that could've been accomplished.
Still, it's something you can get used to, and when you do press them, you get an actually satisfying button press feeling unlike the 360's dinky little clickers. Maybe not quite as satisfying as the PS3's L1 and R1, though.
Battery life
Okay. Here's the big knock against the controller, and really the one thing keeping me from declaring it UNDENIABLY the bestest controller of all time ever. It's awful. Like really awful. Like 3-4 hours awful. Fortunately you can plug it in to an outlet (not the console, its charger plugs into a wall outlet separately; this could be better or worse than being wired to the console depending on your setup) and keep playing while it charges. But this is the wireless age! We're not supposed to be tethered to anything! Hopefully they or a third-party release a better battery some time in the future.
In summary, looking at just the core functions, I have only three issues:
- No analog triggers
- Bumpers aren't perfectly comfortable like everything else on the controller
- Crap battery life
Whereas I could probably come up with plenty more than three complaints for any other controller ever. Other than those three issues, everything else is excellent.
So before even touching on the gimmickry, it's already easily in the running for one of the best controllers ever. Adding the gimmickry, it gets even better.
Now, I'll admit, the touch screen hasn't done anything ABSOLUTELY AMAZINGLY REVOLUTIONARY. I mean, maybe some of the Nintendo Land stuff is neat, but I'm not sure if I expect that kind of stuff in a lot of games.
What I do expect in a lot of games, however, are nice little conveniences like the following:
Touch-based menus
Because just tapping something is way quicker than scrolling to it with the d-pad or stick and pressing A. The thing's been out for, what, two weeks now? And I already get a little annoyed when I encounter a menu I can't navigate by touch. Youtube and Hulu+ apps, I'm looking at you. Need to step your shit up.
This also applies to things that aren't menus in the traditional sense, like AC3's weapon wheel. You can press up and down on the sticks to cycle through your weapons and choose the one you want. Or you can just tap it on the touch screen. I pretty much always use the touch screen because it's way faster.
Maps
Yeah, I know the joke goes all the way back to the DS. "They just used the second screen for a map!" But you know what? That shit's convenient, especially with the Gamepad's much larger screen. Comparing the Gamepad map to the on-screen mini-map in AC3, the Gamepad map lets you see over twice as far by default. Then you can also double tap it to zoom out a bit, which lets you see nearly three times as far as the on-screen mini-map.
It seems like a dumb little thing but it's really useful for getting your bearings. You're not relying on a dinky little mini-map, and you're not constantly pausing and unpausing. You just look down, then look up, and say, "Okay, so this block on the map is that building, which means this line is that road, which means that's the way I need to go." That's pretty much how I use maps in real life, so it's neat to be able to transfer that skill directly to the game.
And no, taking your eyes away from the screen for a second doesn't make you instantly die horribly.
HUD-less gameplay
Speaking on AC3 in particular, this has always been an issue with the series. It looks great if you turn off the HUD, but the information the HUD displays is pretty handy.
With the Gamepad, you can have your cake and eat it, too. If you turn on the Optimize for Gamepad option (which I think should just be on by default), you get the nice, uncluttered gameplay screen, but you can still access all that HUD info real quick and easy by just glancing down. Perhaps the most important part of this: You don't have an annoying and distracting mini-map in the corner of your vision constantly throughout the game.
And again: taking your eyes away from the screen for a second doesn't make you instantly die horribly. I can say so from practice because I have done it.
Typing
Because text entry on console games has always been a pain in the ass. But now you can just bring up a keyboard on the touch screen. No fumbling with on-screen keyboards, no need to buy some keyboard add-on for the controller. Just, boom, keyboard. Type. And the keys are big enough to press with your fingers, no need to pull out the stylus.
Drawing
Because I don't care that I'm awful at drawing, making doodles for Miiverse is hella fun.
Off-TV play
I suppose I haven't gotten as much use out of this as some people, but it's still pretty neat. I do like how I can turn it on and check Miiverse without having to turn on my TV.
Customizable inputs
In AC3, you can call your horse by opening up the weapon wheel and selecting the horse icon then pressing the secondary weapon button, or you can set it to one of your four d-pad quick-select spots so you can skip the weapon wheel step and have slightly quicker access to it.
Or you can just tap the big honkin' horse button to instantly call your horse without needing to swap weapons or use up one of your four quick-select spots on it.
It seems like a little thing, not even worth mentioning. But it's convenient. It's one of those functions that you use frequently enough to want quick access to, but not frequently enough to dedicate an entire button to. It's like in OoT3D, when they gave the Ocarina a dedicated spot on the touch screen instead of making you swap it into your items every time you wanted to use it like in the N64 version. I think anyone who's played both versions can tell you how nice and convenient that was.
And that's the point. These functions may not be revolutionary, but they sure are convenient. Is that convenience worth the $300-350 for the Wii U? I dunno. Maybe not. But I have the system now, so between the excellent controller and the touch screen conveniences, I'd probably go with the Wii U version of a game if I was given the choice. Provided it wasn't a shoddy port like most of the launch titles apparently are, anyway.
I'm honestly looking forward to more Wii U games coming out just so I have an excuse to use this controller more.
