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bouzane on 20 March 2012
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DanneSandin said:
bouzane said:
DanneSandin said:
How come it is that hardcore gamers seem to be so god damn anti change?! Remember that the analog stick once were new! And even the D-pad were new stuff! These two things changed, no - revolutionized gaming in almost every aspect! Don't be hating untill you've atleast tried the stuff!


Hardcore gamers are often anti-change because the current input options (controllers with two joysticks and the keyboard and mouse combo, not that bizarre motion control nonsense) work just fine. You can not fix what isn't broken. Also, these new control methods typically coincide with two worrying trends. Firstly, in place of genuine gameplay innovation game developers can simply repackage old games for the new controls. Secondly, they always seem to coincide with a great rush of shovelware. As unlikely as these trends are caused by the advent of motion or touch controls instead of the popularity of the platforms that utilize them, there is a stigma attached to them as a result. To speak frankly for a change, I think that these new control schemes suck hard and I hope they disappear from the market altogether and real gameplay innovation returns in full force. Everybody is allowed to have a ridiculous fantasy, even me.

That's probably what they said way back in early to mid 80's when the joystick ruled supreme. Then came Nintendo and the D-pad. It took the joystick 10 years to make a come back - in the form of analog sticks. Point is, it doesn't have to be broken; there could still be a better alternative out there, and you wouldn't know it untill someone made it a reality.

And about your wish that "real gameplay innovation returns in full force": what would Super Mario Bros. be without the D-pad back in it's day? And in the long run, where would gaming be today without Mario and the D-pad?! The D-pad made Mario possible and change the course of gaming history. Who's to say that there isn't a better way to play games than what we have today?!


Alright, propose at least one significant form of gameplay that would be impossible with the aforementioned control schemes. With the Atari joystick it was easy to spot games that would benefit from more sophisticated controls, Spy Hunter for example. The standard controller doesn't work well for RTS games and the keyboard and mouse can not handle platformers very well; however the two control methods in conjunction have allowed just about any activity imaginable to be turned into a video game.