ZenfoldorVGI said:
famousringo said:
Nah. I'm a real gamer, and I don't need buttons to enjoy a game. Some of my earliest and most favourite games, like Cribbage, Chess, or D&D don't use buttons at all.
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Great post, epic win. We don't need buttons to interact with physical games, why do we need them to interact with virtual games? Well, truth is, we don't NEED them, and they aren't the only tech we have that is perfectly accurate. Think of the mouse, a far more accurate and precise interactive tool, than a button. No, I think as technology progresses, we'll see less and less buttons. No need for a keyboard either, as our apps will actually record and translate our words and phrases into documents or forms, and we will interact with our devices through a touch or virual interface, instead of pressing buttons. What if our hands were mice, and the device projected an enviromnent in which to navigate with our mice hands.....so futuristic.....oh wait, that's what Natal does...
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This was an unfortunate comparison. The mouse is far more accurate at the job it was designed for (bidimensional analog input) than emulating it with buttons. Buttons are far faster and accurate at their job (predefined discrete actions input) than emulating it with mouse and - say - icons.
If you've ever played seriously Starcraft or other RTS games you have your example right there of the need for a very fast, touch-driven kind of discrete action input to go in parallel with a spacially descriptive mouse input. The design of the button is simply good for a discrete action because fingers are capable of our fastest, most precise, most coordinated gestures when manipualting physical objects. Mid-air hand gesturing will never be as fast and precise, vocal commands will never be as fast or precise. It's not about the tech: ergonomy is about how human beings are built.
Virtual buttons will be good enough in many cases, and games will be designed about such relaxed constraints for the sake of the added flexibility. But the need for physical buttons will still be a harsh reality of many use cases and design choices. Console controllers moved from sticks to directional buttons to focus on more action buttons and for ergonomic reasons when played on a couch. And still, people buys sticks when they want to get serious with fighting games.
As for Natal... since you prevously quoted Clarke, the mandatory Douglas Adams citation:
"For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive--you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same program."
;)
