[geeks] Videogame controls

[Nadine Miller]

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:

> It's more a case of what YOU know. People learn to play games
> on the device they have, as opposed to the device they don't.
> I know that seems self evidendt or silly, but what happens, is
> you get used to a particular UI or set of hardware and stick with
> it. 

I tend to agree.  Watch the kids texting on their phones...no thanks. 
;-)  Even the crackberry from the last work was too much.  At least with 
the Palm OS phone I had, you could install the Graffiti plug-in to get 
stylus control back.

> Nadine said in a previous message, and so did others that they can 
> not conceive of playing a particular game with a different set of
> hardware than the one they are used to. 

Not quite.  I tried playing a RTS game (Command and Conquer) on the PS1 
with the controller, after having played various RTS games with keyboard 
and mouse.  I just found the whole thing masochistic.  Consoles fill one 
niche, computers fill another.  Similarly I don't use a screwdriver to 
drive nails unless all I have is a screwdriver and there are no rocks or 
anything similar around.

> If you asked around, you would find that people who "grew up" using
> console controllers, won't play games without them. I recently saw
> an X-BOX controller for the PC at a local store. My speculation
> is that they are bought not by people who buy X-BOX games ported
> to the PC, but by X-BOX owners who want the same interface on
> their PC. 

der Mouse wrote:
>> I shudder at the idea of playing Tribes or Half-life with a console
>> controller - but I equally shudder at the idea of playing Ratchet &
>> Clank or DragonQuest VIII with a keyboard and mouse.  They probably
>> could be done well, but it would take a complete ground-up interface
>> redesign, which is rarely done in such cases.  (Good UI design is hard
>> enough to do at all....)

As an extension of what I said above, I agree. I can't imagine a 
platformer like Super Mario Sunshine on keyboard and mouse--which is not 
to say that I find the controller "natural" yet, but as I play more 
games with them, I get better at using them.  And the next game gets 
easier to get out of the gate.

My issues with FPS games have little to do with the controllers and far 
more to do with my spacial awareness.  There's not enough detail in 
computer games that run at this fast pace for me to stay oriented on the 
map, so I just can't get into them.  I also tend to over compensate on 
my reactions (lack of practice, I know).  So between the two points 
there's not enough attraction for me to be interested in spending the 
time to get better at FPS games.

I'm more interested in puzzles, strategic resource management, and 
humor, so I stick to RPGs, strategy games, and occasionally platformers. 
  What can I say, I'm a munchkin... just like in F2F RPGs. :-D  The 
bonus of video games is that I don't have to throw the GM a dead obvious 
plot hook bone to get him to not beat me up over my min/maxxer 
tendencies.  I guess I'm just a bit OCD about optimization in this area.

=Nadine=