| mutantsushi said: For me, I always felt the symmetric layout was ergonomically superior, although I think the reason why some don't think so is it doesn't seem as simple/clear an arrangement conceptually... But it isn't actually a strain to have slightly assymetrical grip with different wrist angles. And the human thumb just naturally wants to move in diagonal relative to palm (away/index-finger vs close/pinky-finger) so having the controls closest to you be more elevated from surface of contoller is most natural and needs the least ongoing stress, while having to simulateously raise your thumb from the surface (buttons) while pushing it forward (stick) requires more ongoing stress. |
It is (slightly) more comfortable to have an symmetrical grip than an asymmetrical grip... but that doesn't automatically mean that a symmetric layout is ergonomically superior to an asymmetric layout.
It is heavily dependant on the games:
- for some of them the left stick is more in use than the directional buttons, for other games the directional buttons are more in use
- for some of them the right stick is more in use than the face buttons (since most important actions are mapped on the trigger buttons), for other games the face buttons are more in use
There has been an evolution in games, since analogue sticks were introduced:
- for most 5th gen games the directional buttons were still dominant over the left analogue stick (middle analogue stick of the N64 controller)... of course depending of the genre
- for most 5th gen games the face buttons were still dominant over the right analogue stick / C-stick (camera controls were rare) and dominant over the trigger buttons (main actions were mapped to face buttons, supporting actions were mapped to the trigger buttons)... of course depending of the genre and if it was a 2D or a 3D game
- for most 6th gen games the left analogue stick got dominant over the directional buttons... of course depending of the genre
- for most 6th gen games the face buttons were still dominant over the right analogue stick / C-stick (but camera controls became more common) and dominant over the trigger buttons (main actions were mapped to face buttons, supporting actions were mapped to the trigger buttons)... of course depending of the genre and if it was a 2D or a 3D game
- for most 7th/8th gen games the left analogue stick was dominant over the directional buttons... of course depending of the genre (the Wii was an exception, since the Nunchuk controller was an accessory)
- for most 7th/8th gen games the right analogue stick got dominant over the face buttons (controlling the camera got essential in most 3D games), the trigger buttons got dominant over the face buttons (main actions were mapped to trigger buttons, supporting actions were mapped to the face buttons, due to the importance of camera control)
- many popular 7th and 8th gen indie games focus on classic gameplay and 2d-scrolling, so directional buttons and/or face buttons are dominant for them
So there is no "superior" layout that works best for all games... in a perfect world the position of sticks and buttons could be swapped for each game.
How comfortable sticks or buttons are to reach also depends if the palms can give support with ergonomic grips... handhelds and Switch joy-cons are lacking those, but that can be fixed with accessory grips in some cases.
