The "new" PS3 Controller
So the Nintendo Wii has gotten a lot of attention for its controller (along with a few other juicy tidbits), but a lot of people might not remember that at E3 Sony debuted their main controller for the Playstation 3 (which is an annoying name if you ask me, come up with something original! Playstation Next, PS-Q, SOMETHING to make it more interesting!). And Sony is hoping the public will really go for it, as there's a two-page spread on it in the July edition of the US Official PS Mag.
The big new innovation? A motion sensor.
Yes. That's it.
The... Dual Shock 3 (what else can we call it?) has built-in a sensor that can control the action on the screen by how you tilt it. It's wired so that you can move it like the stereotypical gamer you are (tilting it to the left because your character isn't moving fast enough, for example, as you scream at the picture on the screen) instead of the standard duel sticks for movement (though those are still ever-present). So far to my knowledge, this new feature to the PS pad has only been shown working with one demo, which is directing a fighter plane around a detailed environment. I don't know how else this feature will be utilized, to be perfectly honest; will it help your little on-screen avatar move faster if you need them to? Will you have to bounce it up and down to dribble in some future NBA title? Will you have to fake-throw the controller for a Madden game?
But for now, let's take a look at the innovations over time with the Playstation controller.
-First, the original controller. Taking a cue from the SNES pad, with a diamond-styled four-button layout, Start and Select buttons, the directional pad and two shoulder buttons, Sony added two more shoulder keys (L-2 and R-2) and gave handles to hold on to.
-Later on the pad just wasn't cutting it anymore. In comes a new feature: the directional sticks. They only needed to add one, but the fine folks at Sony KNEW that two fo them there sticks would be even better... it opened a level that many console gamers had suffered through with their solitary pad: the first-person shooter. All of a sudden, players could control strafing AND direction without problem, and could shoot and change weapons with ease. A damn-good innovation. It also came with a rumble feature, which was used mostly to make the player feel when they were hit (though also used during cut-scenes).
-The Dual Shock 2 came with the PS2, with pressure-sensitive buttons to open up a new level to the gameplay. Some games were based entirely around this new feature (the best example of which is Mad Maestro), while others seems to not bother with it at all (Kingdom Hearts) and it never affected gameplay.
So that's a brief history, but it's something to think about. Some good innovations, some seem to fall under the radar mostly, and some... well, some just don't really impress so much.
Especially when it looks like they're just ripping an idea out of the Nintendo playbook. Again.
The big new innovation? A motion sensor.
Yes. That's it.
The... Dual Shock 3 (what else can we call it?) has built-in a sensor that can control the action on the screen by how you tilt it. It's wired so that you can move it like the stereotypical gamer you are (tilting it to the left because your character isn't moving fast enough, for example, as you scream at the picture on the screen) instead of the standard duel sticks for movement (though those are still ever-present). So far to my knowledge, this new feature to the PS pad has only been shown working with one demo, which is directing a fighter plane around a detailed environment. I don't know how else this feature will be utilized, to be perfectly honest; will it help your little on-screen avatar move faster if you need them to? Will you have to bounce it up and down to dribble in some future NBA title? Will you have to fake-throw the controller for a Madden game?
But for now, let's take a look at the innovations over time with the Playstation controller.
-First, the original controller. Taking a cue from the SNES pad, with a diamond-styled four-button layout, Start and Select buttons, the directional pad and two shoulder buttons, Sony added two more shoulder keys (L-2 and R-2) and gave handles to hold on to.
-Later on the pad just wasn't cutting it anymore. In comes a new feature: the directional sticks. They only needed to add one, but the fine folks at Sony KNEW that two fo them there sticks would be even better... it opened a level that many console gamers had suffered through with their solitary pad: the first-person shooter. All of a sudden, players could control strafing AND direction without problem, and could shoot and change weapons with ease. A damn-good innovation. It also came with a rumble feature, which was used mostly to make the player feel when they were hit (though also used during cut-scenes).
-The Dual Shock 2 came with the PS2, with pressure-sensitive buttons to open up a new level to the gameplay. Some games were based entirely around this new feature (the best example of which is Mad Maestro), while others seems to not bother with it at all (Kingdom Hearts) and it never affected gameplay.
So that's a brief history, but it's something to think about. Some good innovations, some seem to fall under the radar mostly, and some... well, some just don't really impress so much.
Especially when it looks like they're just ripping an idea out of the Nintendo playbook. Again.
posted by Unknown at 9:04 PM
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