18th September 2005, 12:02 AM
Quote:Can't think of anyone who did it sooner. And in some games, it works very well (MGS2, for example).
The common problem with analog buttons is that when games make you press them down all the way often, it gets tiring and irritating... this is certainly true with the GC's shoulder buttons, and I've heard that it's just as true on the PS2.
Quote:I grew up playing the Intellivision, and while I'd hardly call the keypad intuitive, it wasn't awful, and I mastered it by the age of two. Some of my favorite games would have been unplayable without it.
And just because a control looks 'cool' doesn't make it innovative, or even superior. As I stated, the D-pad of the Intellivision is more advanced than the NES's. There isn't one single aspect about the NES's D-Pad, besides it's look, that was any different in any way from what came before it.
You can't possibly call a numpad intuitive, easy to use, etc, etc, etc... there's a reason they went away, and it wasn't just the NES. They are clumsy and not well suited for a gamepad, where you want the players to be able to easily access the buttons at any time... that's always been Nintendo's philosophy, and it's the right one for consoles.
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And as a Nintendo person I guess I have to say it, "are more buttons better?" :D (sometimes yes, sometimes no)
Quote: How is it really change? It doesn't function any better. The only change is cosmetic.
My point was that cosmetic changes are changes too... things that look differently but act the same are not always called the same thing. Maybe 'crosspad' would have been better there, but whatever... it's a decent point. The dpad is the crosspad... the variations you see on everything else are just imitations. :)
Quote:The PSX's D-Pad isn't a four-button deal, either. It's just designed to look that way.
Yes it is four buttons... what's the difference between a dpad and four buttons, after all? Yeah, the shape of the piece of plastic on top of them. And since it is seperated, the psx has four buttons as its dpad, with a hole in the middle... not the greatest design (I prefer circle ones, if you are trying to avoid crosspads because of Nintendo lawyers) either, by the way. :)
Quote:And the entire point of my post wasn't how great the advancement was, but that Nintendo did not innovate in the slightest by placing one on the NES controller.
Yes, but it sounded like you were implying that Intellivision did to a much greater degree...