Metroid Prime Hunters anyone?

[Rolf N]

Anyone else playing that?
I'm halfway through or so, and somehow feel the urge to talk about it :smile:

I must say I'm impressed with the graphics tech. It's totally amazing to see stuff like that on the DS. The sound is a little weak in comparison IMO, but of course I would say that.

I could over-analyze the game mechanics now, but what I really wanted to get at was the control scheme, the one involving the stylus of course. It functions very well, and I didn't expect that. It's very easy to learn and yet powerful.
But ... wrt ergonomics it's a total nightmare, to me at least. Both of my hands hurt. I constantly change my mind on how I should position my right (stylus) hand, it never really feels comfortable. The DS (the old one) is too heavy for me to comfortably hold in my left hand alone, so I rest the right edge on my leg. But even with just the weight of half a DS my left hand gets crampy quickly.

So I have very mixed feelings about this style of play. It's very intuitive and smooth, while allowing practically the same movements as you could perform with a mouse+keyboard setup. OTOH my hands try to convince me that it's awkward, and they don't want to do it anymore.

What now? Am I just strange?

 

[darkblu]

not MP:H related, but i too have experienced lack of ergonomics with the ds - the buttons locations on the lower half-body put quite some stress on my thumbs, which i never experienced with the sp. my thumbs seem to be longer than the ds' target audience's. basically my first month with the ds was an exercise in thumb-strain endurance. funny that now i don't notice it that much. but now and then when i can't get ahold of the single ds in my house i have to revert back to the sp and i still feel the difference in ergonomics.

 

[Rolf N]

not MP:H related, but i too have experienced lack of ergonomics with the ds - the buttons locations on the lower half-body put quite some stress on my thumbs, which i never experienced with the sp. my thumbs seem to be longer than the ds' target audience's. basically my first month with the ds was an exercise in thumb-strain endurance. funny that now i don't notice it that much. but now and then when i can't get ahold of the single ds in my house i have to revert back to the sp and i still feel the difference in ergonomics.

FWIW I agree that the DS ergonomics aren't perfect to begin with but this is definitely not the "usual" DS problem (too heavy) here.

When I first got my DS it took some getting used to. I think it works like that for everyone. But after two weeks everything was fine. I've played many hours of Advance Wars: DS, I've beaten Mario&Luigi: Superstar Saga on my DS, without any real problems. I also "finished" Mario Kart DS (first place in every championship). You can tell that I didn't just play briefly ...

The ergonomics problems I have with MPH are a whole new level of awkardishness, never seen before

 

[Corwin_B]

Shouldn't that be in the handhelds forum ?

Regarding DS ergonomics, I didn't have any problems with the "fat" DS, but now that I moved to a DS Lite, I'm not looking back. I imported my Lite, so I never played MPH (except the demo) on the DS Fat.

 

[StefanS]

So I have very mixed feelings about this style of play. It's very intuitive and smooth, while allowing practically the same movements as you could perform with a mouse+keyboard setup. OTOH my hands try to convince me that it's awkward, and they don't want to do it anymore.

What now? Am I just strange?

Well, you're not playing it right Metroid Prime: Hunters is a lot more comfortable when using the thumb strap instead of the stylus. Moreover, your "reaction" time reduces a lot. So try using the thumb strap, it is definitely a different experience.

 

[OtakingGX]

Well, you're not playing it right Metroid Prime: Hunters is a lot more comfortable when using the thumb strap instead of the stylus. Moreover, your "reaction" time reduces a lot. So try using the thumb strap, it is definitely a different experience.

What thumb strap?

Playing MPH is not so unnatural for me, but I'm kind of weird. Writing with my left hand, I'm used to resting it on things to do so. So I put my DS on my thigh and use the stylus like I would a pen. I do most other things right-handed though, like shooting, so it works out well with the trigger on my right.

 

[TurnDragoZeroV2G]

The thumbstrap works fairly well.... so long as it's tight. When it gets loose, even when it's not slipping it still bothers me, and when it is slipping, it's really bothering me. I wish I had some kind of solution that worked better. Like the thumb of a glove cut off and that little pad glued to it or something. But, I might be one of the few that likes to use the end of my thumb instead of the pad.

Edit: Oh, right, there was a game too. I really enjoyed the game. But, one thing I really didn't like were the bosses. All _ of them.... sure, in some ways it made alot of sense within the context of the story, but gameplay-wise it was quite annoying.

 

[Acert93]

I have only played a little of it, but I had thought of starting a thread on the touch screen. I was surprised how intuitive and effective it was. Best thing for an FPS short of a KB & MS/Trackball I have tried yet. I would dig it if something like this (with the thumb strap stylus of course ) was brought to the big boys consoles.

 

[Rolf N]

Well, you're not playing it right Metroid Prime: Hunters is a lot more comfortable when using the thumb strap instead of the stylus. Moreover, your "reaction" time reduces a lot. So try using the thumb strap, it is definitely a different experience.

I didn't think of that
I gave it a serious try and it is much easier on my hands ... but I disagree on the "reaction time". I can play better/faster/more precisely with the stylus. Moreover the thumb strap tends to slip off my thumb eventually which is annoying. It's also confusing when I want to open the map, or just pause, because I would naturally do that with my right thumb, but not while the strap is on. I found it best so far, while trying to keep the (rather short) strap on, to rotate the right hand inward (ccw) and use the pinky finger. That still feels kind of weird.

When I use the stylus all of the fingers on my right hand are above the DS anyway and can move freely, so I just drop my middle finger on the start button while still holding the stylus with thumb and index. Hmmm ...

Overall I get along much better with the stylus, I just find myself to need many breaks to relax my hands.

 

[Corwin_B]

On the DS Fat, the thumbstrap works better, but you can use the stylus on the Lite without problem, since it's so much lighter...

 

[StefanS]

I didn't think of that
I gave it a serious try and it is much easier on my hands ... but I disagree on the "reaction time". I can play better/faster/more precisely with the stylus. Moreover the thumb strap tends to slip off my thumb eventually which is annoying. It's also confusing when I want to open the map, or just pause, because I would naturally do that with my right thumb, but not while the strap is on. I found it best so far, while trying to keep the (rather short) strap on, to rotate the right hand inward (ccw) and use the pinky finger. That still feels kind of weird.

Well, to me playing with the thumb strap felt a lot more natural. Maneouvering, e.g. running+jumping+turning, was a lot easier for me with the thumb strap than using the the stylus. BTW, don't forget to adjust sensitivity when using the thumb strap.

Anyway, a friend of mine who also dislikes the thumb strap swears by the Comfort Stylus http://www.comfortstylus.com/ (review here: http://www.planetgamecube.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=11319 ), which is a compromise between the thumb strap and the stylus. I haven't tried it yet, but he claims it is perfect for MP:H.

 

[Fox5]

Well, to me playing with the thumb strap felt a lot more natural. Maneouvering, e.g. running+jumping+turning, was a lot easier for me with the thumb strap than using the the stylus. BTW, don't forget to adjust sensitivity when using the thumb strap.

Anyway, a friend of mine who also dislikes the thumb strap swears by the Comfort Stylus http://www.comfortstylus.com/ (review here: http://www.planetgamecube.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=11319 ), which is a compromise between the thumb strap and the stylus. I haven't tried it yet, but he claims it is perfect for MP:H.

Hey, I have something like one of those. The guy I bought my DS from gave me a lot of crap with it, including some PDA styluses and thumb cradle things. I took one look at it and decided that such a contraption could not be very usable.

I like the thumb-strap, it replicates a joystick very well, even if it lacks precision.

 

[see colon]

since this thread is already derailed pretty far off it's original topic, i'll use it to point out my total disapointment that the DSlite doesn't come with a thumbstrap. i'm torn between the older and newer units, because while the lite is slicker looking, and i do like the brighter screen, i can't carry a GBA game around in the slot like i used to, so it actualy takes up more room in a carrying case. and it makes the rumble pack look all silly hanging out and all black.

 

[Fox5]

since this thread is already derailed pretty far off it's original topic, i'll use it to point out my total disapointment that the DSlite doesn't come with a thumbstrap. i'm torn between the older and newer units, because while the lite is slicker looking, and i do like the brighter screen, i can't carry a GBA game around in the slot like i used to, so it actualy takes up more room in a carrying case. and it makes the rumble pack look all silly hanging out and all black.

Wait for the redesign when the rumble pack is included in the system. Ok, it probably won't be, more likely it will just die out.

 

[StefanS]

I like the thumb-strap, it replicates a joystick very well, even if it lacks precision.

I've been thinking about the problem with the thumb strap getting more loose after playing for a while and I might have a good idea. I'll get myself a Velcro fastener and use that to fix it more tightly. That's bound to work a lot better.