MikeB said: @ Bodhesia I just wanted to point out where Nintendo got their inspiration from and for that the quote IMO was more than sufficient. I really don't understand what is so special about the Snes Gamepad, I rather played most my A500 and A1200 games using an arcade stick rather than using Amiga gamepads. Amiga Gamepads: But currently most favourite controlller to best play Amiga 2D classics (or NES, Snes, c64, Lynx, etc games through emulation on Amigas) amongst Amiga users:

Please read the Wikipedia article we have both quoted from: the Nintendo D-pad was perfected in Game and Watch games, which were released in 1982, well before the Amiga systems.  Rolstoppable is referring to the button layout, not the D-pad. His point is distinct.  

@ Bodhesatva

I was pointing out that Amiga users unlike Snes users had a choice between sticks and gamepads with a D-Pad. User preferred arcade like sticks. Currently sticks are back on all major consoles, analog like for instance the Vectrex I pointed to earlier had.

Personally I only use the D-Pad to position the camera in some games, analog sticks have luckily become far more important. Personally I prefer the position of these sticks on the Playstation controller, for example while rowing a boat in Ape Escape the position of the sticks seem ackward for this on the other consoles.

MikeB said: @ Bodhesatva Please read the Wikipedia article we have both quoted from: the Nintendo D-pad was perfected in Game and Watch games, which were released in 1982, well before the Amiga systems. Rolstoppable is referring to the button layout, not the D-pad. His point is distinct. I was pointing out that Amiga users unlike Snes users had a choice between sticks and gamepads with a D-Pad. User preferred arcade like sticks. Currently sticks are back on all major consoles, analog like for instance the Vectrex I pointed to earlier had.

This isn't really about what Amiga users "preferred," which is a totally nebulous statement that I can neither prove or disprove. If we can agree that:

1) The Directional Pad plays a highly influential role in the evolution of game control

2) Nintendo was extremely important in the development of the modern D-Pad

Then we agree on the topic at hand. Whether you personally prefer the D-pad for classic games is both anecdotal and irrelevant to the topic. 

Mike B the Amiga CD 32 was announced 3 years after the SNES was released in Japan. And NES players could also get an analog stick. As mentioned before though the first cross prad was invented by nintendo as four seperate buttons. the real important stuff is standardizing the format and that is what Nintendo did with the cross pad and the analag stick and even rumble and shoulder buttons.

Now this is not to say I don't thin this will not be god for Sony if they do this I have already stated why I think so but don't let your imagination take this as a Wii killer in fact I can only see this as helping the Wii in the long term and helping Sony next gen.

@ Bodhesatva

BTW, this was one of the first Amiga products released in 1982. The board was used for games like skiing and surfing.

You could connect the board with Amiga's Powerstick:

@ redspear

AFAIK the NES came with a gamepad by default, so not much of a choice there. Amigas however did not come with a joystick or gamepad by default.

Would you rather have seen games in the arcades be played with a NES or Snes style format controller, instead of a stick? IMO D-Pads have lost in value over the years, at least other than for handhelds where it still makes sense due to form factor limitations.

MikeB said: @ redspear Mike B the Amiga CD 32 was announced 3 years after the SNES was released in Japan. And NES players could also get an analog stick. AFAIK the NES came with a gamepad by default, so not much of a choice there. Amigas however did not come with a joystick or gamepad by default. Would you rather have seen games in the arcades be played with a NES or Snes style format controller, instead of a stick? IMO D-Pads have lost in value over the years, at least other than for handhelds where it still makes sense due to form factor limitations.

Consoles need to come with a standard controller of some sort so developers could program for them. The D-pad has been replaced by the analog stick for the most part and the difference between those amiga analogs and the 64 and vectrex and Phillips CD-I ones has more to do with form factor allowing for more buttons on the controller. It is the move from 3-D to analog that made the D-pad less significant not the D-pad itself.

 When Nintendo first announced the analog stick for a few years people were complaining how would they able to play their games some said it would ruin gaming and here we are 10 years later and people are talking the same smack about the Wii mote.

 

Mike Controllers change I think the bigger issue is nintendo putting less horsepower in its machine.

RolStoppable said: redspear said: When Nintendo first announced the analog stick for a few years people were complaining how would they able to play their games some said it would ruin gaming and here we are 10 years later and people are talking the same smack about the Wii mote. As far as I know people also said the same thing about the d-pad.

You know I have no idea about the D-pad I wasn't really old enough to remember it that clearly or even argue about it. At that time I wsa more like wow River raid!

@ redspear

All I am saying is that Nintendo did not invent the D-Pad and got their inspiration from other controllers, just like any modern controller. IMO the NES controller wasn't that good and while the Snes controller was a good improvement it doesn't show anything extra-ordinary revolutionary.

And yes, the Wii horsepower is a concern if you want to play the most impressive games. But if not, it can still do a lot just like the PS2 can.