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Desroko on 01 August 2007
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your mother said:
Desroko said:
I'd like to see touch pads icontinued; I like how the iPhone is used without a stylus, for example. There wouldn't be a need for d-pads anymore, which seem clunkier as time goes by.

I dunno. Touch pads can be nice, but there are two major inconveniences that I can think of off the top of my head:

  • Ever used a touchscreen-only remote control? They look slick and all, but you need to look at the screen to see which button you are pressing. With hard buttons (traditional remotes) you can feel the unique shapes and sizes of buttons which means you don't have to keep an eye on the remote in order to switch channels (which implies you take your eyes off the TV). Now put that into a gaming context and the problem is rather apparent.
  • Just imagine trying to pull off a "shoryuken" with a touchscreen!

I'm not sure either of this is really a problem. I've yet to see a game controller that has as many inputs as your average TV control, so it's not realy a valid comparison. The standard diamond-shaped pad can easily be recreated, as its four inputs in a rather large area, while a number pad has nine over a relatively smaller one. No one really looks down at the similarly-shaped face buttons on an Xbox or PS controller, because with a bit of practice your thumb knows where to go. 

 

As for the second - just touch your thumb to the bottom of the pad and sweep it counter-clockwise for a quarter, and then press whatever corresponds to "Punch." To my mind this is quite a bit smoother than even the Xbox d-pad, which makes an effort to facilitate continuous motions.