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[Coen]

What I love, above all, about the Gamepad, is its ginormous D-pad. I'm amazed at how Nintendo keeps changing that thing for every controller and portable system they build, but somehow, they still manage to improve on it.

Do you guys use the same finger for L and zL (and R and zR)? I keep switiching between one finger and two fingers for those.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I think it's way better than I assumed based on photos of the thing but the fact that I get a slight cramp in my hand everytime I play with it like its a portable means it can never crack the top ranks. That's just bad design

 

[NinjaBoiX]

That's one thing. GamePad adds the best motion sensors ever seen on a controller (using the bow in Zelda is a revelation), great stereo speakers, an independent big screen, touch controls, almost perfect analog sticks and dpad, upcoming NFC features, etc.

But you're SmokyDave, and I probably shouldn't bother.

You probably shouldn't bother what? I don't understand.

He's right anyway, releasing a pad without analog triggers in 2012 is just bone headed. How do they expect you to play racers? Seriously? It's a joke.

I love all the people shouting, "you don't need analog triggers for racers!" I'm guessing these people don't play a lot of them. They are all but essential. Sure, you could probably just about make do with digital, but it would be fucking awful. I'd just rather not bother.

Or play racers on my PS360.

 

[lenovox1]

Capacitive screens are more precise and responsive than resistive screens is what I'm talking about.

Capacitive screens aren't more precise. Resistive tech is pixel accurate due to the nature of the tech. Doing a little digging, they tend to have better linearity, but Nintendo's using a controller (little chip that processes the data from the touch screen) for the GamePad's screen, so that should not be an issue.

As far as responsiveness goes, even the cheapest screens have an under 10ms response time.

If you mean the way it responds to your finger, that's another little benefit of having a controller chip pared with a resistive screen. It can improve the way the touch screen works with your fingers. But completely granted, resistive tech is never going to get 100% of your finger's touches like capacitive tech can.

And I still think that pressure sensitive stylus is more important.

 

[madmackem]

You probably shouldn't bother what? I don't understand.

He's right anyway, releasing a pad without analog triggers in 2012 is just bone headed. How do they expect you to play racers? Seriously? It's a joke.

If your really hardcore into your racers you arnt going to be buying wii u on its own surely. Its never been home to sim racers.

 

[Vagabundo]

Did they use a finger to make that? No. There are such things as capacitive styluses. Look at the art people make on iPads.

Expensive or shite they are the options. I've been looking for a good stylus for the iPad for ages.

Resistive was definitely the best tech to use in the Gamepad.

 

[madmackem]

Capacitive screens aren't more precise. Resistive tech is pixel accurate due to the nature of the tech. Doing a little digging, they tend to have better linearity, but Nintendo's using a controller (little chip that processes the data from the touch screen) for the GamePad's screen, so that should not be an issue.

As far as responsiveness goes, even the cheapest screens have an under 10ms response time.

If you mean the way it responds to your finger, that's another little benefit of having a controller chip pared with a resistive screen. It can improve the way the touch screen works with your fingers. But completely granted, resistive tech is never going to get 100% of your finger's touches like capacitive tech can.

And I still think that pressure sensitive stylus is more important.

Yeah at first i was like fuck did they go this route for, but the more i play with it the more i see why. Its the best for what they are wanting out of the screen, would you get the amazing miiverse art from a ipad like screen im not so sure. It hasnt failed to record a input ive made with my finger either on zombi u etc.

 

[farnham]

still think wiimote is the best esp. if you include its addons... still gamepad comes very near.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

If your really hardcore into your racers you arnt going to be buying wii u on its own surely. Its never been home to sim racers.

What do your mean, "it's never been"? It's only been out for month or so.

Anyway, ninty are still clowns for not spending the extra 50c or whatever to have analog triggers. It's all this ridiculous penny pinching, resistive screen, digital triggers, woefully underpowered CPU, it's like cost per unit takes precedence over the console actually impressing people. And that's this gen. In a year, the Wii U will look like a complete joke, technically speaking. That's not to say ninty's first party stuff won't still be amazing, because it always is. But third party support will all but disappear next year IMO.

 

[lenovox1]

He's right anyway, releasing a pad without analog triggers in 2012 is just bone headed. How do they expect you to play racers? Seriously? It's a joke.

Nintendo was thinking about Nintendo (as always), but you could do gyro-steering or gyro-throttle. Or maybe some other intelligent form of gyro-control, because that's all the analogue control you've got besides the sticks and the stylus. Not a great solution by any means.

Anyway, ninty are still clowns for not spending the extra 50c or whatever to have analog triggers.

I very much doubt that there's any extra expense that comes along with using analogue triggers (though I don't know. I didn't engineer this thing.) You'd have to ask Iwata for why they really kept them out. My guess is that his response would be some fancy way of saying, “Racers who? F-Zero what? Y'all play something other than Mario Kart?”

 

[Vagabundo]

Nintendo was thinking about Nintendo (as always), but you could do gyro-steering or gyro-throttle. Or maybe some other intelligent form of gyro-control, because that's all the analogue control you've got besides the sticks and the stylus. Not a great solution by any means.

Although I'm hoping they bring out a true sequel to Excite Truck using the gyros - one of my favourite racing/stunt games ever.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Nintendo was thinking about Nintendo (as always), but you could do gyro-steering or gyro-throttle. Or maybe some other intelligent form of gyro-control, because that's all the analogue control you've got besides the sticks and the stylus. Not a great solution by any means.

I see what you are saying, but gyro is always awful. As are sticks for acceleration. The main problem with these two methods, is you can only either accelerate or brake, not both. Granted, you don't often press both triggers at the same time, but you get my point, it's incredibly awkward.

 

[MarkMclovin]

Anyway, ninty are still clowns for not spending the extra 50c or whatever to have analog triggers.

So what does that make Codemasters, Criterion and Slightly Mad studios then? They don't feel that there is an issue, with them soon releasing racing games.

 

[madmackem]

Which finger do people use to rest the pad on the middle or the third finger. I normally have it on the middle finger but then its a bit of a reach to tap the top triggers.

 

[BrettHD]

What do you mean about changing the battery?

When the Wii U pad gets low on power you have to plug in the ac adapter essentially turning a wireless controller into a wired controller.
You can also use the charging station in between play sessions but that doesnt work as well if you tend to game more than an hour or two at a time.
If you have the 360, you can get the little charging tower that holds 2 batteries at once.
When the 360 pads battery runs low just replace it with one from the charging tower - it
literally takes seconds and the controller remains wireless and you always have charged batteries ready to go.
Yes the charging tower for 360 is an extra expense but its worth it for the convenience factor imo.

 

[DDayton]

Does it? Where to?

(I actually meant a control like a volume slider, but if I can adjust it elsewhere then that's just as fine)

Hit HOME and enter the controller submenu (left,middle of screen).

 

[NinjaBoiX]

So what does that make Codemasters, Criterion and Slightly Mad studios then? They don't feel that there is an issue, with them soon releasing racing games.

That makes them studios willing to sell their products to anyone who'll buy it. Do you think they care if the hardware let's their software down? As long as their software is technically sound, (which, bearing in mind that woeful CPU, is far from a given) it's another sale, happy one or not. They're a business, they sell things to people who want to but things. It's up to the consumer to decide which avenue to go down.

 

[SmokyDave]

So what does that make Codemasters, Criterion and Slightly Mad studios then? They don't feel that there is an issue, with them soon releasing racing games.

I guarantee which side they'd come down on if you asked them to weigh in on analogue vs. digital triggers. It really isn't debatable.

 

[madmackem]

I guarantee which side they'd come down on if you asked them to weigh in on analogue vs. digital triggers. It really isn't debatable.

It isnt but no doubt the people making a fuss about it wont be buying those games on wii u anyway. And people who do buy on wii u more than likely dont even care, i wouldnt buy a sim on wii u with those triggers.

 

[SmokyDave]

It isnt but no doubt the people making a fuss about it wont be buying those games on wii u anyway. And people who do buy on wii u more than likely dont even care, i wouldnt buy a sim on wii u with those triggers.

None of which is relevant in a 'best controller ever' topic.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

It isnt but no doubt the people making a fuss about it wont be buying those games on wii u anyway. And people who do buy on wii u more than likely dont even care, i wouldnt buy a sim on wii u with those triggers.

I don't understand why anyone is trying to justify this decision. It's simply a bad decision. The cost of adding them is negligible, and they don't detract from games that don't make use of them.

It's a bad call, pure and simple. The fact that you point out that racing fans probably won't bother with Wii U says it all.

 

[Duallusion]

I wouldn't mind analogue trigger for racing games but the capacitive screen and no multitouch? Not an issue. At all.

 

[BGBW]

Not defending, but apparently it wasn't just a cost issue but also a weight issue. They had a set upper limit and perhaps adding analogue triggers went over that.

 

[megashock5]

GC triggers man. Dat two stage pull.

Seriously. How did this NOT become a standard? It makes so much sense.

 

[kinggroin]

I guarantee which side they'd come down on if you asked them to weigh in on analogue vs. digital triggers. It really isn't debatable.

They'd say, "buy a racing wheel, chump"

 

[Haunted]

As others have said, triggers and battery life are the big ones. I was really surprised how well it fit in my hand and how light it is compared to what I expected. Very comfortable to hold for its size (though no match for the Wiimote+Nunchuck split controller combo).

That was 22 years ago. The standard configuration has changed. Also, L and R versus ZL and ZR isn't exactly a descriptive naming scheme for the bumpers/triggers. And Start and Select are also known as + and - for no good reason.

Nailed it.

I don't have a problem with Start and Select being changed, but ZL and ZR are strange.

The right stick being above buttons creates a new non-uniform scheme as well, some games confirm with A (the right button, ugh), some with X (the top button, ugh) because it's closest to your finger when moving off the stick.

 

[SmokyDave]

They'd say, "buy a racing wheel, chump"

Which ones are compatible with the Wii-U?

What about when I want a quick blast and there isn't room to set the wheel up?

What about driving sections in open world games?

I'd like to think they'd simply say 'analogue, obviously. Increased fidelity with absolutely no drawbacks whatsoever'.

 

[zroid]

ZL and ZR are strange.

It's consistent with the naming scheme of the Classic Controller/Pro. The "Z" thing is obviously an evolution of the Z buttons found in all their earlier controllers -- just split it into 2 buttons, L and R, to conform with standards.

 

[Haunted]

Defending the lack of triggers is ludicrous. Of course analogue triggers would be better. There's no reason not to have them. They should be standard by now. Feels better for shooting, actually makes a tangible difference for driving, and all games with driving in it.

I will say that I was extremely worried about the resistive touch screen (given that my only prior experience with that tech is the DS screen), but it's much much better than that. That said, multitouch would've been nice. Coming from daily smartphone usage, I keep trying to pinch zoom in the plaza instead of using the zoom buttons

It's consistent with the naming scheme of the Classic Controller/Pro. The "Z" thing is obviously an evolution of the Z buttons found in all their earlier controllers -- just split it into 2 buttons, L and R, to conform with standards.

I know where it comes from, I guess it makes sense, but I'm not used to it. It's not a big deal. Those switched face buttons compared to the standard controller on PC and 360 though...


edit: "buy a wheel" holy shit you guys. Stop it. Dave, don't bother arguing, they're too far gone. Seriously.

 

[:Motorbass]

We get it. Analog triggers are better for racing games (still worse than a Steering wheel).

But can it be that digital triggers are better for most of the other genres?

 

[Haunted]

We get it. Analog triggers are better for racing games (still worse than a Steering wheel).

But can it be that digital triggers are better for most of the other genres?

Having four digital buttons doesn't make them better for anything, no.

The Gamepad already has two clicky shoulder buttons, two analogue triggers would've complemented them nicely.

 

[Vagabundo]

I see what you are saying, but gyro is always awful. .

You just lost all credibility.

Excite truck is the best damn racer of this gen.

 

[BGBW]

Standard PC controller? What?

Some controllers didn't even have labels. And sometimes they were labeled 1, 2, 3 and 4.

 

[nikatapi]

Defending the lack of triggers is ludicrous. Of course analogue triggers would be better. There's no reason not to have them. They should be standard by now. Feels better for shooting, actually makes a tangible difference for driving, and all games with driving in it.


I know where it comes from, I guess it makes sense, but I'm not used to it. It's not a big deal. Those switched face buttons compared to the standard controller on PC and 360 though...


edit: "buy a wheel" holy shit you guys. Stop it. Dave, don't bother arguing, they're too far gone. Seriously.

Agreed about the analog triggers. They should have included them, the GC triggers were the best i think.

About the "switched" face buttons, this has been the default (and first iirc) button positioning since the snes.

 

[:Motorbass]

Having four digital buttons doesn't make them better for anything, no.

The Gamepad already has two clicky shoulder buttons, two analogue triggers would've complemented them nicely.

I guess you are right. It's a placement thing I think. The lower L&R Triggers are the "comfortable" triggers of the sets. The standard for main functions. For racing games great, but for Shooters etc? Most other games only need a click for the L&R functions. Making the top ones analog would kind of solve the problem since you rarely need such a function.

Also, why do you call the XBOX Controller face buttons the "Standard" when they copied the naming from the SNES controller but switched them around?

 

[Septimius]

How is the color-calibration on your screens? Mine is rather yellow. It gives a bit of mellow picture, but white certainly isn't white as much as it is a pale yellow.

And the lumps on the back of the controller isn't big enough. It's a fascinating controller, but it's the first handheld controller that isn't comfortable to use for hours on end. I'm currently looking into somehow making the lumps bigger.

 

[Backfoggen]

We get it. Analog triggers are better for racing games (still worse than a Steering wheel).

But can it be that digital triggers are better for most of the other genres?

Analog triggers kind of include digital triggers. If you press the trigger just a little bit (about as far as you'd press a digital button), it'll already trigger the action. If you need the analog input, it'll use the whole range of the trigger.
There is really no downside to analog triggers.

 

[bede-x]

Anyone complaining about lack of multitouch has almost certainly never held one. You'd struggle to use both hands on the screen without putting it down. Also, most advantagest that a capacitive screen has are nullified by having buttons. And i'd much rather have the accuracy that a stylus provides too.

So you're against putting it down to use multitouch, but a stylus which would require the exact same thing is preferable?

Ideally, they should have gone with a capacitive screen with a higher resolution. Multitouch would be advantageous in a lot of situations - if only because it allows designers to port ideas easily from other touch devices using the same technology - and you wouldn't have to wield a stylus, in addition to a large controller to ensure that your touches register.

 

[Haunted]

About the "switched" face buttons, this has been the default (and first iirc) button positioning since the snes.

Also, why do you call the XBOX Controller face buttons the "Standard" when they copied the naming from the SNES controller but switched them around?

I know.

As someone who primarily plays on PC, I've used the 360 controller across two platforms for years now. I guess it's become the de facto standard controller for gaming in my mind.

Also, Dreamcast had the same button configuration as the 360 controller, so there's that. I know Nintendo had the ABXY first, but the Sega/MS configuration just feels right now. If it's not patented and they're all using the same letters anyway, I'd rather everyone agreed on one configuration.

 

[kinggroin]

Defending the lack of triggers is ludicrous. Of course analogue triggers would be better. There's no reason not to have them. They should be standard by now. Feels better for shooting, actually makes a tangible difference for driving, and all games with driving in it.

I will say that I was extremely worried about the resistive touch screen (given that my only prior experience with that tech is the DS screen), but it's much much better than that. That said, multitouch would've been nice. Coming from daily smartphone usage, I keep trying to pinch zoom in the plaza instead of using the zoom buttons


I know where it comes from, I guess it makes sense, but I'm not used to it. It's not a big deal. Those switched face buttons compared to the standard controller on PC and 360 though...


edit: "buy a wheel" holy shit you guys. Stop it. Dave, don't bother arguing, they're too far gone. Seriously.

It was a fucking joke Haunted. Don't get your pants in a twist.

 

[BGBW]

Drawing with a stylus is easier and half the fun of Miiverse is the drawings. Stylus forever.

 

[Haunted]

It was a fucking joke Haunted. Don't get your pants in a twist.

My bad, it's hard to differentiate the good people from the crazies sometimes. Especially with your avatar that reminds me of dorfdad.

My apologies.

Drawing with a stylus is easier and half the fun of Miiverse is the drawings. Stylus forever.

Some of the art I've seen is mindblowing. radioheadrule has had some really good shit on NSMBU that popped up on my world map. Didn't think I would like the feature, but when you have an artist like that providing his work, it's cool stuff.

 

[kinggroin]

Which ones are compatible with the Wii-U?

What about when I want a quick blast and there isn't room to set the wheel up?

What about driving sections in open world games?

I'd like to think they'd simply say 'analogue, obviously. Increased fidelity with absolutely no drawbacks whatsoever'.

You used to be fun :-(


Edit: On a serious note, this subjective matter is obviously going to come down to weighted benefits depending on the user in question, no?

There are obviously people in here who may feel that the added functionality of a touch screen out weighs the negative of zero analog triggers. The other controllers don't have the touch display, so those may automatically be out of the running for them.

On the other hand, we have guys like you and Haunted that feel analog triggers are an invaluable part of the ideal controller, and as such, the lack of them is an automatic disqualifier.

- Sincerely,

Captain Obvious

 

[2+2=5]

I don't have a wiiu so i will not judge, but i want to talk about the "hud-less" part.
What is wrong with an hud is that it covers part of the image and makes everything less realistic.
A hud-less game is good when it is designed to play it without the need to have a hud always present, this is not the case. A normal ui covers part of the image, with wiiu you have to look at the hud on the gamepad "covering" the entire tv screen. It's like using a pause menù, but without the pause(=you look elsewhere while the game continues)!

 

[ghst]

lack of analog sticks on the wii u controller really isn't a big deal, anyone who takes mech simulators that seriously should really get a proper steel battalion setup.

 

[SmokyDave]

You used to be fun :-(

I honestly didn't think you were joking. I've read some crazy shit when it comes to Ninty hardware. I blame your Dorfdadesque avatar!

lack of analog sticks on the wii u controller really isn't a big deal, anyone who takes mech simulators that seriously should really get a proper steel battalion setup.

Did you miss the whole '3DS is better off without a second analogue because it encourages devs to make better cameras'?

 

[Haunted]

Standard PC controller? What?

Some controllers didn't even have labels. And sometimes they were labeled 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Disgusting. Hated that with Logitech controllers. wtf is button 13 even supposed to be (right stick click I think it was). Yuck.

I think there's a good argument to be made that the 360 controller has become the de facto standard PC controller, sure there's options, but just look into any of the PC controller recommendation threads on GAF.

 

[10k]

The battery life, bumpers and Y button are an issue for my hands.

For some reason, during madden when I wanted to press Y to a receiver I always pressed X (stupid 360 controller lol). I feel like its farther away from the edge of the controller than the square button of the Dualshock 3 or X button of the 360. But I'm starting to get used to stretching out the hand another 1/4 inch.

Overall, a great controller as usual and expected from Nintendo

 

[ghst]

Did you miss the whole '3DS is better off without a second analogue because it encourages devs to make better cameras'?

i did, sadly. sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[Haunted]

lack of analog sticks on the wii u controller really isn't a big deal, anyone who takes mech simulators that seriously should really get a proper steel battalion setup.

Third person Mech game on WiiU with the gamepad display showing the cockpit with manipulable switches and levers and monitors and shit.

Do it, Capcom.