A discussion of different controllers *spinoff

[Shifty Geezer]

How much are diagonals needed though? In those Good Old Days directions were limited to 8 ways, so you needed to be able to use them. Almost all control these days in on analogue sticks, with D-pad consigned to menu controls and function buttons. The only genre I know it to affect is fighters, and for them you're better off with a stick. For discrete buttons where left, right, up, down are used like the tri, square, circle, cross buttons, the current implementation is the best.

As for triggers, technically XB360's are the better implementation, but again how many games does it affect? For racers a smooth progressive accelerator is good, but in most games it's there as an activate button, for which I prefer the bumper design. The DS layout effectively allows for four shoulder buttons to be used in games, whereas IMO the XB360 is more a design of either you're using the triggers with your index finger, or the bumper above it.

Bear in mind of course my viewpoint is seriously skewed by years and years of PS controller use and fairly minimal XB controller use, mostly on a few shooters and lots of FIFA!

 

[PARANOiA]

That's the main headache I have with the 360's dpad before I modded it. Diagonals suck since you're trying to hit the "gap" between the horizontal and vertical axes.

Some games use the dpad for selection of items/spells - eg, COD4, Oblivion and a few others. I understand it's not as big a deal as it was on the SNES to PS1 transition, but that's not really an excuse for moving backwards in terms of what works and what does not work.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

But a full pad would be a step backwards in regards providing an extra four function buttons. You can't have both! These days I think discrete buttons are way more important.

 

[PARANOiA]

Heh, I politely disagree. Many SNES games worked flawlessly needing only four directional inputs.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

You have a point there. I was more a Sega guy, with their full pads. Nintendo had a full cross. Although I didn't find diagonals nice on those pads. But on the flipside, we named the Master System Control pad the 'no control pad' as you were hitting diagonals all the time until you trained yourself up!

 

[betan]

How much are diagonals needed though? In those Good Old Days directions were limited to 8 ways, so you needed to be able to use them. Almost all control these days in on analogue sticks, with D-pad consigned to menu controls and function buttons. The only genre I know it to affect is fighters, and for them you're better off with a stick. For discrete buttons where left, right, up, down are used like the tri, square, circle, cross buttons, the current implementation is the best.

Based on my little experience with GT5 demo, d-pad works better than stick. (edit: Of course why would you need diagonals )
And from what I hear many people prefer d-pad for football (soccer) games too.

I guess for games like Oblivion or Warhawk where you need all 8 directions in real time, d-pad still matters.

 

[Arwin]

I love the triggers on the 360's controller. The analog sticks make more sense in a symmetrical layout to me, because I often use them both. In terms of general useability, they are equal to me and are much more influenced by good programming than anything else. For instance, in Resistance they are flawless on the DS3. Same for the 360's controller with Bioshock, which I also find flawless, maybe even slightly better but that's partly because the game's pace allows it.
The buttons all being analog are better to me on the DS3. I still know a lot of people who use the x and [] buttons for analog accelleration and braking and can be incredibly precise just using one thumb. That's not how I drive, but it's an option, and I wish more games would use it (for instance a fighting game that can punch soft and quick or slower and harder depending on how hard or quick you press that button).
The d-pad on the 360 controller is so incredibly bad, that if you play any games that need it, you are absolutely required to fix it. There are some fixes online. It's a lot worse than even the original PSP's d-pad, as just a simple down-press isn't even reliable and will often end up as a diagonal input, which is horrible for me in games like Lumines Live for instance.
In terms of rumble I don't find either of them terribly exciting, but at least it's there and sometimes it's put to good use.
I really do love the motion controls on the sixaxis though. Can't begin to explain how happy I am with them and look forward to them being used more and more.
Both controllers are comfortable to hold. I have huge hands, so the 360 controller may be slightly more comfortable, but in the end they both give me RSI after just about the same amount of playing too long, and I like the light-weight sixaxis as a controller which is least 'present' and allows me to play the longest without tiring (perfect for Warhawk for instance, which I can play forever without any complaints).
The Guitar Hero 3 controller is the worst for me in terms of RSI. The thing is too small and very RSI inducing. Especially playing fast notes is terrible. I know exactly how it's supposed to be done on a real guitar, but I can't replicate that yet on this. Maybe I'll have more luck with the Rock Band guitar, because it apparently lacks the clicks, which might actually be better, who knows.