Your thoughts about... the SIXAXIS

[patsu]

if every implementation had been as good as Flower's it would have been harder to keep dismissing sixaxis use as a gimmick, but even for Flower there were people going 'just gimme analog stick controls dammit' ...

I have a feeling players who are competitive and see games as a "sport" usually dislike SIXAXIS. It is inprecise/floaty compared to the sticks because we control in 3D space without support. The movement is larger too.

People who see games as casual/creative recreational activities or art appreciation may like it more because it's a curious, new experience. I have a friend who was too shy to play in front of me, picked up and played Heavenly Sword because he saw me fumbling badly initially. It kinda levelled the playing field for us.

In terms of "funness" of the control scheme, my household rate it like this:
1. Folklore
2. Flower
3. Heavenly Sword
4. MotorStorm

 

[tha_con]

I think it's useless and most of all annoying that most major releases have to use it for some kind of mechanic that would work fine without it.

You didn't think that it was kind of fresh in Uncharted to balance across beams using Sixaxis? You only do it a few times.

Or in R&C when you get to fly, or the hacking minigames, it was wonderfully implemented. Best of all it felt better than using an analog stick.

The whole point of motion control isn't to just make every day actions in videogames doable via motion input, it's to make those actions feel visceral. This is why so many games get it wrong. The action should FEEL like you're doing it via motion, not like you're just replacing a button press w/a gesture.

Though, some will like it, some will not, and every game should feature the option to turn them off, though in my opinion they should be on by default, with the option to disable it.

 

[patsu]

Whoops ! How could I forget the hacking mini-game and the mountain wall carving mini-game in R&C.
The Tornado gun is hard to control though.

EDIT: Found SIXAXIS use thread in GAF:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=345737

More obscure use inside. I lol'ed at the MGS4 Rosemary one. I didn't know KZ2 sniper rifle is affected by SIXAXIS stability.


EDIT 2: Our own SIXAXIS use and idea thread here:
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=43845

 

[eloic]

And... what... about...... Lair? :|

I've heard so different opinions about it...

 

[tha_con]

And... what... about...... Lair? :|

I've heard so different opinions about it...

Lair could have been so much better w/a different approach.

Using analog sticks to control flight direction and motion controls to "ram" enemies or for the 180 turn around would have been awesome.

 

[Arwin]

Lair could have been so much better w/a different approach.

Using analog sticks to control flight direction and motion controls to "ram" enemies or for the 180 turn around would have been awesome.

They patched that in though didn't they? From the many people I talked to, the motion controls weren't actually it's biggest problem. I've never even tried the game, sadly, but patsu has and did a fairly extensive report on it on this board.

Patsu, the motion controls aren't a curiosity for non-gamers, they are a way of controlling the game that matches their brain's sense of controlling muscles for performing certain activities much better than an analog stick does. The basic example of people using a controller and steering even for a game that doesn't actually have motion controls is an oft cited but still valid case in point. Everyone I know who's never even played a game in their life ever, could still instantly control a car in Motorstorm. Even Flower they can master in a few minutes, which is impressive if you consider that it's flying in 3D space, and the biggest problem they have to get used to is that the camera moves away from the petals if you start picking up speed, which is a bit disorienting for a short while.

The only people I've ever known to insist on driving the car with an analog stick are hardcore gamers. Now I'm not saying you can't be more precise with an analog stick, but noone has this ability innate - it's pretty much always been the result of years of training. But of course we've had this discussion before.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I think it's useless and most of all annoying that most major releases have to use it for some kind of mechanic that would work fine without it.

They don't have to use motion conttrol, as evidenced by the many games without motion whatsoever. There is no Sony mandate for bad game design. It's just the game designers misapplying motion in the wrong places and not applying it in the right places.

 

[Rolf N]

And... what... about...... Lair? :|

I've heard so different opinions about it...

Flight controls work fine in Lair. The jolting gestures don't. Mapping in-air attacks to shoulder buttons and the quick turn to whatever (clicky stick?) would have been preferable.

The game also has plenty of issues that are entirely separate from its control scheme.

 

[eloic]

Are you guys looking at the results of the poll?

It seems that the SIXAXIS is kind of 'controversial' but a result of a 43.75% (17 votes) in the last option still astonishes me a little. I think that is unfair.

 

[patsu]

Ha ha, this is an anonymous Internet poll. You won't be able to do any analysis based on it.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Are you guys looking at the results of the poll?

It seems that the SIXAXIS is kind of 'controversial' but a result of a 43.75% (17 votes) in the last option still astonishes me a little. I think that is unfair.

In most applications I think that's fair. I could vote that with a clear conscience. That's belittling the idea which, as I've said, isn't really at fault, but I virtually never use the tilt of my sixaxis when playing games. Not in VC, Fat Princess, KZ2, FIFA, Sacred 2, or anything else I've played in a good while. It was great in Warhawk. Ummm, that's it, I think, in my experiences.

 

[Phil]

I simply love the Sixaxis on how it looks and feels. As for the motion sensor stuff - I'm don't use it often and usually stick with the default controlls, but some games do include it brilliantly.

Eg.: KillZone2. Having to old the controller steady when sniping is a great way on how it should be used. Simple idea, but very neat.

 

[Rolf N]

Are you guys looking at the results of the poll?

It seems that the SIXAXIS is kind of 'controversial' but a result of a 43.75% (17 votes) in the last option still astonishes me a little. I think that is unfair.

Motion sensing has been abused a lot. If you replace a button press with a shaking gesture without need (lots of buttons on Sixaxis/Dual Shock 3), you're pretty clearly choosing the less efficient, less precise route with little room for argument. You may well argue that the reduced input fidelity may be acceptable for this and that circumstantial reason, but you can't go ahead and claim that it's more functional than a button. It never is. The backlash for that is entirely deserved.

I'd love if the poll differentiated between tilt sensing and gesture recognition at least.

 

[eloic]

Ha ha, this is an anonymous Internet poll. You won't be able to do any analysis based on it.

Yes, but... um... so what?

I'd love if the poll differentiated between tilt sensing and gesture recognition at least.

My fault. I give so little importance to gesture recognition that I hadn't that in mind when I created the poll, because I was thinking of tilt sensing, you see.

 

[patsu]

Yes, but... um... so what?

Would be hard to reason about the poll outcome e.g., Does one need to try SIXAXIS first before casting a vote ? Conversely, is it really unfair ? What if they only tried the awkward implementations but not the good ones ? What if they only tried once briefly and didn't like the "learning curve" before it became fun ?

May need to set up a proper survey if you really want to analyze the results. Otherwise, it's just a mixed sample of opinions that cannot be compared.

 

[eloic]

Would be hard to reason about the vote outcome e.g., Does one need to try SIXAXIS first before casting a vote ? Conversely, is it really unfair ? What if they only tried the awkward implementations but not the good ones ? What if they only tried once briefly and didn't like the "learning curve" before it became fun ?

May need to set up a proper survey if you really want to analyze the results. Otherwise, it's just a mixed sample of opinions that cannot be compared.

I know what you mean and of course you're right. I wasn't too serious, either.

 

[KongRudi]

I tought it were awesome in Heavenly Sword, and quacktastic in super-rub-a-dub.

And sniper-rifle-scope-stabilty in Killzone 2 were superb, turn a valve to open doors, in same game annoyance, activating explosive charges with sixaxis were a neat solution instead of timed delay.
I didn't like sixaxis-misile-controls for Warhawk, but probably came more down to I sucked when flying Warhawks.