Skate Controls
This isn’t a good article on the merits of its comparison between controllers, but it did something to remind me of the fact that we can choose to design games for traditional controllers in the same manner that Wii developers approach their controller.
Of course, the only games I’ve ever had to really design new control schemes for was a dance pad fight game, which turned out just sort of funny.
Anyway, link.
I played skate recently, and I really liked what they did with the controls. It was really hard at the beginning to play the game, but as I got the hang of it, it got much better. But I do see the same problem that plagued Tony Hawk will plague skate, the hardcorization of the game. Its hard to attract new gamers, when you are trying to keep your hardcore fans happy without making major changes. skates controls are presently great controls if you are a gamer, but if you dont play games hardcore, you will be lost. Tony Hawk can still work for novice gamers, as the controls require “less control.” Yes, you have to memorize sequences if you want to become a master, but you also do that in many fighting games. the reason the wii controller is so great is the intuitiveness. the skate tutorial takes 10 minutes. the wii tutorial takes 1 minute at most. its a pick up and play system. its the reason most hardcore gamers will have it as a second system. its not for hardcore gaming yet, its for getting your girlfriend into gaming. and on creating use of new control schemes, apparently one of the IGF games uses the guitar hero controller for a platformer. i love the idea, but i am waiting for the guitar hero controlled fighter!!