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What is the next evolution for controllers?(talking ergonomics)

Slayven

Member
I don't have a switch, but the split joycon style looks hella appealing and comfortable. I have noticed that i have to cut gaming sessions short because the old hunching over a controller is hell on one of my wrists.

But I imagine with a split controller you can hold your hands and wrists in a position that best for you for longer periods
 

HotHamBoy

Member
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putting buttons on the backs of controllers (scuf, elite) should have happened last gen. face buttons and d-pad feel so antiquated now.
 

Wollan

Member
The Vive knuckles controller but with thumbsticks. Guards should be detachable (for more immediate pick-up-and-play on a 2D screen).

For those who don't know:
- It's coming for Vive tracking tech 2.0 devices which is rolling out in the coming months.
- It has full tracking for all your fingers.
- You can totally let loose your grip and stays attached (great for VR simulations).
- Obviously full 3D positional tracking.


With a thumbstick one could have played more traditional genres in addition like driving, platformers, fps etc. straight from your couch.
 

Blam

Member
Xbox One has hit pinnacle controller feel. It's probably the best controller ever made so far.

VR tho needs a glove or something that'll be able to make it more realistic to hold something.
 

AgeEighty

Member
I don't think a good chunk of gamers are actually open to the idea of controllers evolving.
Or much else about the hobby evolving, quite frankly.
 

Arulan

Member
The Vive knuckles controller but with thumbsticks. Guards should be detachable (for more immediate pick-up-and-play on a 2D screen).

If you're talking about VR, it seems that a lot of developers and hardware manufactures have come to the conclusion that the touchpad is the way to go, and I think for good reason. It's a lot more versatile for VR.

As for non-VR, I think there is still a lot of good reasons to use the left analog stick for things like movement, but the right analog stick is simply outdated. The Steam controller's touchpads show just how much better it is than an analog stick for most functions.
 

Mr-Joker

Banned
I don't think a good chunk of gamers are actually open to the idea of controllers evolving.
Or much else about the hobby evolving, quite frankly.

This pretty much, gamers prefer that gaming stagnate by sticking to the same old because tradition which is ironic as controllers did change over the years.
 

I freaking love the Wii Remote + Nunchuck combo. The Wii Remote just feels so damn good in my hands. Perfectly sculpted.

All it needs is a second analog stick somewhere...IR is great for first person games but sometimes you need another way to control the camera.
 
Bigger/heftier joycons with a dpad and better analog sticks (like XB1 pad) would be pretty perfect imo.

I've got the Steam controller but it doesn't get used much. Don't really like the trackpad for camera control and if the game requires aiming guns I'll just use m/kb and be much more accurate than a trackpad. More games just need to implement the gyro from BotW where it only activates while aiming in. Big movements and camera control with sticks and fine tuning with gyro is more comfy than a trackpad for me.
 
For traditional controllers: Paddles. They should follow the elite controller and improve from that.


VR controllers should have sticks and a touch surface
 

Hydrus

Member
When all the NX rumors were floating around, wasn't there one that said something about pressure sensitive buttons, haptic feedback buttons or something crazy like that? That would be pretty cool.
 

Mike M

Nick N
Split controllers are pretty comfy, I gotta say.

As far as traditional controllers, I'd echo that paddles would probably be the next big upgrade. Though didn't Nintendo have a patent on clicky mouse wheel shoulder buttons? That could have been huge, I think.
 

Hopeford

Member
If you're talking about VR, it seems that a lot of developers and hardware manufactures have come to the conclusion that the touchpad is the way to go, and I think for good reason. It's a lot more versatile for VR.

As for non-VR, I think there is still a lot of good reasons to use the left analog stick for things like movement, but the right analog stick is simply outdated. The Steam controller's touchpads show just how much better it is than an analog stick for most functions.

I don't know about that. I got a steam controller and I still can't really get the hang of it for most games. Like, for say Hitman I feel way more comfortable with my Xbox controller than my Steam one. The steam controller feels more accurate when I have the time to slowly aim, but stuff like aiming in a panic just feels way too difficult.

Wonder if I just need practice with it or if I'm using the wrong settings.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Head tracking glasses like the ones in that Wii experiment and that were going tonbe made for Star Wars Rogue Squadron 3
 

Paragon

Member
The Steam Controller is already years ahead of everything else right now, with the elimination of the right analog stick and the integration of gyro aiming.
Moving on from that, I'd like to see some sort of split controller that's a hybrid between the 'Knuckles' controller and a Steam Controller, built for playing traditional games rather than VR games.
I like the idea of a split controller, but the Knuckles controller seems like it would be a bit limited for playing traditional games, unlike the Steam Controller.

The Vive knuckles controller but with thumbsticks. Guards should be detachable (for more immediate pick-up-and-play on a 2D screen).
[...]
With a thumbstick one could have played more traditional genres in addition like driving, platformers, fps etc. straight from your couch.
I rarely touch the analog stick on my Steam Controller these days. I avoid mapping it to anything whenever possible.
It's really only in games which do a bad job of input handling where I end up reverting back to using the analog stick - though for those games I often end up using a DS4 instead.

I love the idea of a split controller future
But.... How can I claw grip on a split controller?
A well designed controller and good button mappings should not require a 'claw' grip.

I don't think a good chunk of gamers are actually open to the idea of controllers evolving. Or much else about the hobby evolving, quite frankly.
That's very true. Any time there's been innovations in control, a large segment of gamers seem to push back against it.
I don't really understand it, but then again I grew up mostly playing PC games rather than console games, where there's never been a single "PC Controller" and companies actually experimented and innovated with their designs.

I don't know about that. I got a steam controller and I still can't really get the hang of it for most games. Like, for say Hitman I feel way more comfortable with my Xbox controller than my Steam one. The steam controller feels more accurate when I have the time to slowly aim, but stuff like aiming in a panic just feels way too difficult.
Wonder if I just need practice with it or if I'm using the wrong settings.
It's probably a combination of both. There's definitely a learning curve.
Once you have more experience with it, you'll have a better idea of how you prefer to map the controls. The thing with the Steam Controller is that there will never be one 'best' layout.
 
Xbox 360 pretty much perfected the controller and every company is going to ape it except for Sony who'll stick to their half-ass designed. What we really need is the Gamecube's button layout.
 
Xbox 360 pretty much perfected the controller and every company is going to ape it except for Sony who'll stick to their half-ass designed. What we really need is the Gamecube's button layout.

How can they have perfected the controller when the dpad is literally fucking trash? In 2017 there's quite a few 2D games and that controller flat out blows for almost all of them.

Xbone Elite shits on the 360 pad in every way possible.
 
I like the way the Wii U controllers put movement input symmetrical, and on top of the controller. The range of movement is a lot better that way, since your thumbs are pointing forward. I also like the Steam Controller's inward curve, in contrast to the traditional outward curve in modern controllers. There's definitely a bit more room to reach into the controller. While on the subject of the Steam Controller, I do feel controllers can evolve beyond ergonomics. The right trackpad on that thing is leagues beyond an analog stick, when it comes to camera control and aiming. I wish more people would give it a chance.
 

ElFly

Member
nothing

everyone either wants more thumbsticks or more keyboards and mouses, but what we need are huge controllers that are controlled with the full arm but since there's no market we are fucked
 
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Split controllers, ergonomic design, traditional buttons with additional grip buttons, hand and gesture recognition, 6-DoF positional tracking.
 

JordanN

Banned
In a way, I think the Kinect was actually a ahead of its time.

In the future, the only controller should be our hands. Especially as when we enter virtual reality, we should be able to interact with any object, including a virtual game controller.

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We just need perfect tracking/sensors and it's done.
 

Dinjoralo

Member
Xbox 360 pretty much perfected the controller and every company is going to ape it except for Sony who'll stick to their half-ass designed. What we really need is the Gamecube's button layout.

Why do people on here absolutely despise symmetrical gamepads? I prefer having the D-Pad on top on my Dualshock 4, because I play games that have digital movement instead of analog. It's a matter of preference, and what you play.
 
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