Outrider
Apr 22, 2010, 10:45 AM
I guess this is as good a place to ask as any:
Why do you hate the Dualshock so much Outrider?
Is it the wings?
Sorry, this turned into a bit of a rant:
[spoiler-box]It's simply not designed with gameplay in mind. It's a completely middle-of-the-road accessory that works fine for any game you could want, but it never works perfectly.
The analog sticks are centered, despite the fact that the d-pad is far less relevant in this day and age. The primary analog stick should be prioritized into the top position, as it is on the Xbox and Gamecube controllers.
The secondary shoulder buttons on the PS1/PS2 controllers were uncomfortably placed and out of place, though the new triggers on the PS3 controller have solved that problem admirably.
The segmented d-pad and distant, flat face buttons don't really help either. These areas of the controller should make it easy for you to roll your thumb from one button to the next, but there are no concessions to this fact.
Honestly, it's an entirely adequate controller, but it was outdated by the time the PS2 rolled around and it embarrasses me that people claim it's some amazing controller. And yeah, it's not as ergonomic as some of its competitors, but I spent enough years with the original boxy NES controller to not really care too much about that.
Take a look at the Gamecube controller. It has it's problems (lack of buttons, tiny d-pad and c-stick), but it's surprisingly ahead of its time. You have the prioritized analog stick and large molded analog shoulder buttons. Even better, you have the enlarged A button with the B/X/Y buttons wrapped around it, built specifically to address two points: First, most games have you using (or at least focusing on) one button for the majority of the time; and second, that action-oriented games require you to quickly move your thumb off of one button onto the next. The face buttons were designed specifically so that you have a home position (A button) and then you just have to shift your thumb slightly to hit any of the surrounding buttons. I'd wager that it helped newcomers more than old-school gamers (as we're used to hitting similar buttons that are spaced away from each other without looking), but it's really an impressive design decision. My two biggest recommendations are either Soul Calibur 2 or one of the Tony Hawk games. Both feel as if they were built for the Gamecube's controller.
(It's because of my love the GCN controller that it bothers me how poor the Classic Controller is. Yeah, I get that it's basically an SNES controller, which works fine for most Virtual Console games, but it doesn't do a great job for Wii games that use it. Then you see the Classic Controller Pro, which is specifically designed for modern Wii games and as a result doesn't really need to conform to classic controller design, and they decide to just make it an ugly PS2 controller.)
My personal favorite is the Xbox 360 controller, though. Yeah, it's got a god-awful d-pad, but everything else is just about perfect. It's got a prioritized primary analog stick and both sticks have concave tips, allowing you to actually have a place to put your thumb. The triggers are both comfortably placed and allow you to use the front shoulder buttons as secondary controls (which makes more sense to my giant hands.) Unfortunately, they don't have the prioritized face buttons, but the buttons are large and rounded off, giving you more of a tactile safety net when switching from button to button. In addition to this, they're all color-coded to make things easier for newcomers. (When my friend asks how to jump in Halo, I can just say "green." It's much easier than asking them to read the label on the button.)
Heck, give me enough time, I could go on about the excellence (three prongs aside) of the N64 controller and how important it was to controller design.[/spoiler-box]
tl;dr version: I'm perfectly happy using the Dualshock for most games, but it shouldn't be the industry standard. It does nothing more than retard the evolution of controller design.
It's basically the console gaming equivalent of a standard keyboard. It's designed for basic utility instead of gameplay sensibilities.
Why do you hate the Dualshock so much Outrider?
Is it the wings?
Sorry, this turned into a bit of a rant:
[spoiler-box]It's simply not designed with gameplay in mind. It's a completely middle-of-the-road accessory that works fine for any game you could want, but it never works perfectly.
The analog sticks are centered, despite the fact that the d-pad is far less relevant in this day and age. The primary analog stick should be prioritized into the top position, as it is on the Xbox and Gamecube controllers.
The secondary shoulder buttons on the PS1/PS2 controllers were uncomfortably placed and out of place, though the new triggers on the PS3 controller have solved that problem admirably.
The segmented d-pad and distant, flat face buttons don't really help either. These areas of the controller should make it easy for you to roll your thumb from one button to the next, but there are no concessions to this fact.
Honestly, it's an entirely adequate controller, but it was outdated by the time the PS2 rolled around and it embarrasses me that people claim it's some amazing controller. And yeah, it's not as ergonomic as some of its competitors, but I spent enough years with the original boxy NES controller to not really care too much about that.
Take a look at the Gamecube controller. It has it's problems (lack of buttons, tiny d-pad and c-stick), but it's surprisingly ahead of its time. You have the prioritized analog stick and large molded analog shoulder buttons. Even better, you have the enlarged A button with the B/X/Y buttons wrapped around it, built specifically to address two points: First, most games have you using (or at least focusing on) one button for the majority of the time; and second, that action-oriented games require you to quickly move your thumb off of one button onto the next. The face buttons were designed specifically so that you have a home position (A button) and then you just have to shift your thumb slightly to hit any of the surrounding buttons. I'd wager that it helped newcomers more than old-school gamers (as we're used to hitting similar buttons that are spaced away from each other without looking), but it's really an impressive design decision. My two biggest recommendations are either Soul Calibur 2 or one of the Tony Hawk games. Both feel as if they were built for the Gamecube's controller.
(It's because of my love the GCN controller that it bothers me how poor the Classic Controller is. Yeah, I get that it's basically an SNES controller, which works fine for most Virtual Console games, but it doesn't do a great job for Wii games that use it. Then you see the Classic Controller Pro, which is specifically designed for modern Wii games and as a result doesn't really need to conform to classic controller design, and they decide to just make it an ugly PS2 controller.)
My personal favorite is the Xbox 360 controller, though. Yeah, it's got a god-awful d-pad, but everything else is just about perfect. It's got a prioritized primary analog stick and both sticks have concave tips, allowing you to actually have a place to put your thumb. The triggers are both comfortably placed and allow you to use the front shoulder buttons as secondary controls (which makes more sense to my giant hands.) Unfortunately, they don't have the prioritized face buttons, but the buttons are large and rounded off, giving you more of a tactile safety net when switching from button to button. In addition to this, they're all color-coded to make things easier for newcomers. (When my friend asks how to jump in Halo, I can just say "green." It's much easier than asking them to read the label on the button.)
Heck, give me enough time, I could go on about the excellence (three prongs aside) of the N64 controller and how important it was to controller design.[/spoiler-box]
tl;dr version: I'm perfectly happy using the Dualshock for most games, but it shouldn't be the industry standard. It does nothing more than retard the evolution of controller design.
It's basically the console gaming equivalent of a standard keyboard. It's designed for basic utility instead of gameplay sensibilities.