So just because the buttons are there, you HAVE to use them? Sounds like they want a Wii controller with their Xbox 360.

gencid

@StagnatedLives: Would you really want a game that plays itself?

Pi-face

Some developers do tend to overcomplicate control schemes just because they can map functions to any spare buttons. There should be better implementation in a minimalist fashion if possible. We've had games with one button being pressed just for a character to kneel down. Take Metal Gear Solid for instance. You had to press forward just to get Snake going from a kneeling position to a prone position. Instead that could've simply been done by holding down a button to go prone or tapping a button to kneel down or stand up. We've got two buttons to access equipment menus and weapons in that game where one button could've done the same and have both menu sets opened and navigate the left or right.

questworld

Do people have to exaggerate every little detail? Fewer buttons doesn't mean going back to two buttons and a Dpad.

Cheeky.

questworld

Why would we want less buttons? Less buttons = less control and less control = less power to the player which = EPIC FAIL

omfg_its_dally

I need more keys on my freaking keyboard for the Valve games I play. What do you mean, "fewer"?

Pi-face

Or you could just map controls so that fewer buttons are used, or more are used for the same purpose (think Kirby Air Ride)

Pi-face

Every gamer started out as a non-gamer. Every gamer had to learn to deal with complex button layouts at some point. If you want a simpler control scheme, pick up a NES or a game boy.

greatslack

I so want a "Press (A) to AWESOME." shirt.

gblock

Seems a rather strange thing to say. I think the amount of buttons on the 360/PS3 pads are about perfect. Don't think we need any more. Wouldn't want to lose any of them though. If a game comes out and doesn't need half of them, thats fine.

steve86uk

I want fewer buttons.

Torokun

Young guys out there-

NEVER wear one of those white coral necklaces, NEVER get highlights or dye your hair in any way, or try to cultivate some sort of messy styled look using specialized hair products.

Stay away from silly, too complicated sunglasses.

Don't purse of puff out your lips, or suck your cheeks in.

Do not pose for a photograph making any sort of hand gestures, or using a cell phone.

Sorry, no goatees. Either be uniformly scruffy, or clean shaven. Sideburns should not extend lower than the middle of the ear.

While I am at it, do not buy "energy" drinks. Have a cup of coffee and a banana or orange if you must.

As well, if you insist on wearing cologne, remember that it should be able to be smelled only by a person who is physically right on you.

Thanks,
an oldschool man

Mega-Driven

Or you know, you could just make a game without a confusing control scheme and just not gimp the system for every other game out there?

fuchikoma

What a stupid douche.

lumpi

God, I hate seeing Cliffy B. He's got to be the most awkward looking dude with an ego that large. CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B CLIFFY B

Brocklesocks

Come on Blezinski just because there on there doesn't mean you have to use em all. Now get your head down a get on with gears 2 lad...

Major0celot

I love cliff, he seems to be a pretty cool guy. His appearance just keeps changing though.

Luffay

Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, is he? Here's a Pro Tip: You don't have to use all the buttons available.

ara

@supershavin: YES! first thing i thought of.

dacresni

It's my basic opinion that if the controller has like.. 12 buttons? Then your game has 12 user inputs, period. If you need more, you have a design problem.

GTA4 is a prime example. Open the controls screen on that game and watch that diagram flip around. Try to find a specific control on it.

How about one button is an action button, but another is used to get into cars, and another shoots, and another gets into cover. Argh. When in aim mode, the action button shoots. When next to a car, the action button gets in. When next to a ladder, the action button climbs. Why do so many developers struggle with the concept of CONTEXT?

I don't think the 360 controller has too many buttons. I think developers need to get fucking real with how they use them.

Sunjammer

Come on Cliffy my boy, don't say such stupid things. You should actually ask MS for one more button to add to the 360. Here are some options.

1. Launch an ultra cool destructo-ray down on the whole level and blow it up to kingdom come.

2. After chainsawing your opponent marcus spits on their carcass, kicks their balls and chicken dance around them.

3. A button to mute out cussing a-holes.

4. Make the world a better place.....hhmmm if it was only that easy.

functioningbadly

@MistaJeff: LEAVE CLIFFY ALONE!!!
/running mascara

Crawl to China

How would one play Gears of War without that many buttons? I mean, the only one they don't (by don't I mean rarely) use is Y.

Crawl to China

I want fewer rock stars making my games.

Jas49

Make a Wii game CliffyB or stop complaining.

Para

@sarcasmOD:
There are two versions of using the cover system in the game.Classic gears and a Uncharted type(that the Cliffster doesn't prefer)

enewtabie

he's just jealous of N+. controls: left button, right button, jump button.

Ahmunnaeetchoo

Where do you guys get these ridiculous Cliffy B pics from?

Bootleg Zani

I iz thinking that some peoples iz having misconceptions up in here. When Kotaku said "We'd like to think it's one with two buttons.", they said "We'd like to think it's one with two buttons."

Key words: "We'd like to think..."

The Cliffster doesn't want a Wiimote. Don't be hating on the Cliffster. The Cliffster iz what the Cliffster iz. Peace.

J.Bourne

he looks like he's fallen asleep...

eskimo-bob

MORE buttons, not less. Play Monster Hunter then tell me you want fewer buttons, jackass.

WarlordPayne

Umm...

The 360/PS3 controller button to surface area ratio is in my opinion perfect.

Suck it Clifford.

JMDavis07

needs a third button to "kick ass"

little_dragon

Developers have been making this comment for a few years now, since the PS1/3DO/Saturn came out. What I don't understand is why they feel this way since video game consoles and games sell more now than they ever have. That means 2 things:
1. The market is still growing by leaps and bounds.
2. The general public is not afraid of the (assumed)overly-complicated controllers.

Also, the developers can decide how many of those buttons they want to use. If you want to use the left analog stick and the a button to control your entire game, you can. But, if you want to add three actions to every button, you can do that as well. WoW is the most popular game in the world right now, and it has an extremely complex control set up, using almost every button on the keyboard to do something. Then again, Myst was an incredibly successful game and used one mouse button. More buttons just equal more options. I don't see the problem.

masterdingo

@The Fatass of Kickassness: Yeah, I forgot about the R3 and L3 on the 360 pad. Still, it's not exactly a huge difference.

mind in rewind

I think less button is always better within reason. Ideally you should be aiming to have a game working in as few controls as possible, as easily as possible but without cutting functionality. It's a balancing act but that rewards well if you do it right.

As for people talking about the wii being the death of gaming or a casual games machine or whatever I think you're missing the point of it. The idea behind the wii is to appeal to non-gamers, ex-gamers and bored gamers who want something different. They now have that market... the next step is moving upwards! As their market grows games developers who make 'hardcore' games will move over to the wii's larger install base therefore making hardcore games for the hardcore gamers, more and more of which will fine tune using the wii-mote to improve the gameplay.
Net result will be that most of the games will be on the wii while PS3 and 360 will be niche.

That's only if nintendo pulls this off right though... there's plenty of room for them to fall on their face =3

To be honest the whole 'hardcore'/'casual' thing is a fallacy anyhoo... back when all there was was things like bubble bobble and pong did that mean there was no hardcore? Is someone who learns every trick and gets every item in Sims to an obsessive level really casual?

Geminosity

@PrivateJ0ker:
I think it's funny too, because the kind of machismo he projects is the same kind that you'd laugh at on TV = /

Whatever, he can talk as much crap as he wants as long as his games are okay.

Providence

Fewer buttons? Get rid of the darn non-renewable petrol and we won't be worrying about pressing ANY buttons in the future. And no, I'm not talking about the next iteration of the Nintendo Wii.

garytek

I still think its hilarious that "Cliffy B" is the first "cool" video game developer. He has fancy hair dos, designer clothes, cool shades, hot babes, awesome cars. So yea, hes probably a fluke. XD

PrivateJ0ker

As a main PC gamer this makes me laugh.
What?!? Are even easy console controls to hard for someone that view them self as a gamer?

Maybe its time to "retire" the "old" man from gaming? I mean, when even 40+ people can still, from time to time, give me a beating in Unreal tournament 2004, or Quake III I think CliffyB is surely a sub standard game player if he needs less buttons at hes age to "understand" the controls...

JojoTheSlayer

@Yonderboy:
Of course, if you ask the average Diablo player how many buttons they actually use (and want), I'm sure it'll be more ;)

Providence

What the hell??!?

Less buttons? I want more buttons! Game makers wouldn't have to use all of them if it doesn't feel right or doesn't fit the style of the game, and don't go crazy like the Jaguar controller but come on. I dunno, Cliffy B must be spending his GOW money on some serious drugs to make that statement.

Sam_Lowry

Diablo III only requires the one button marked, "Click!"

You click it.

Yonderboy

Shut your gob Cliff.

(puts on crotchety old man hat on)

I've been a pc gamer since i was 8, and if there's one thing i enjoyed was when games had a learning curve and had options. There was something there to master, to learn. Hell, you actually had to read manuals.

Also, freaking mechwarrior, tie fighter, interstate 76, buttons galore. it was awesome.

Now come all this pandering to casuals, leaving all of us that still remember fondly mapping targeting buttons, firemode toggles, weapon linkages, powerdown, etc out to pasture.

All this streamlining down the buttons crap, to me, is like trying to convince a man who loves his big noisy complicated manual transmission muscle car of badassness, that'd it'd somehow be more fun to drive around in a tarted up shiny little golf cart, because its easier to drive.

Screw that, screw you. I'll keep my mouse,keyboard, and ocassional joystick, till the neural linkups become easily avaialble, thanks

Flyingdebris

LOL Press A to awesome!
Press B to Bigger, Badder and (more) Badass! :P

Rammy

This is why we need to stop caring about what Cliffy B says. Stop asking him, because we do not care. He should make his game and shut up.

DwindleFlip

@Detre:

My bad.

What if I just say CliffyB-tarded?

It's the special kind of special that gives pompous game designers delusions of grandeur?

Tietsu

Yeah, current controllers are scary. One bit the other day.

Thorax

Maaaaaybe they should take a second look at the Wii for less buttons.

Talleh

No surprise, these adrenaline jockeys get confused easily.

Kukuk

@JokesJokes: that's um..."working at a game to get good" not "whoring at a game"...ahem!

JokesJokes

@LittleBigPlaneteer: I think the point was the intimidation factor, not claiming that they can't learn. That would be stupid. Some people don't want to work at learning how to play a game, and it's doubly frustrating if you're trying to learn while everyone's busy kicking your butt in competative games. I used to hate halo because I always got rocked when I played. Then we got an xbox and I played through the campaign and absolutely loved it. Suddenly multiplayer wa fun too, because I finally had a clue what I was doing. It was more gradual and fun for sommeone who had never really played shooters much. To be successful you have to make people want to play your game. If you want them to play a more complex game you have to make the learning process enjoyable as well. If someone gets intimidated fromm the second you hand them the controller, mission failed. It's not the same for eople who have played before and know the rewards of woring at a game to get good. To most people, it should be readily apparant how to play a game or it's not worth playing...thus the success of the wii. Hopefully the wii will change some of their minds.

JokesJokes

The B Button on the new controller will simply summon a mini-Bleszinski to do your bidding. For example: it will play the game for you.

Rob Phelps

@Weirdwolf:
No you can, but it's just done automatically if you're close enough to an enemy.

gamadaya

@gamadaya:

Are you sure you can't backflip off Epona in the wii version? I could have sworn I did something like that but it's been ages since I played it. My mother has borrowed my version so I can't get to it at the mo.

Weirdwolf

Really, this is just more confirmation of MS's Wiimote. There's no reason he'd be doing a 180º on waggle in particular if MS wasn't likely forcing them to put motion controller support in Gears 2.

Mr. Fap☆Fap!

@Detre:
Touched? Since when did that become a euphemism for retarded?

gamadaya

@Weirdwolf:
Wii should still have 1 more button. I couldn't jump off my horse. I had to ride into battle all cool, and then just slowly climb off. Sometimes it would make me jump off automatically, but it just wasn't the same.

gamadaya

@Tietsu: I think the term you are looking for is "touched" or "special" we dont use the R word.

Detre

There are so many reasons why that is a bad idea. Creating a more centralized button layout like the Gamecube controller would be better. Of course than one runs the risk of said controller being better for some games while inferior for others. Like the Gamecube controller, actually. Because you know if they created a controller that doesn't work for the majority of games you'll find yourself with a shelf full of peripherals. Oh wait, money time!

Replica23

See...this is why I think Cliff Miester B is an ass. This is coming from the guy who helped make pc games....that uses a keyboard...and a mouse...not only that but you have 100+ buttons to configure and bind.

Fermbiz

@gamadaya:

Even if the controller had say 112 buttons the control scheme would spread to fill them, just as when a new road is built it soon becomes choked with traffic.
A lot of those combinations were not required, sure they might look flash but in game they are completely pointless. Fewer buttons might help to pare out some of the chaff and get a little control back into our control schemes.
The wii pointer is wonderful,button for a menu and point away, in game the waggling might get a lot of stick but reloading in RE4 was a blast and the high low guard position in NMH eliminated the c stick function for light/heavy/medium sabre styles in Jedi Knight in a comparable situation.
Of course I have to admit to my own foibles and motives here, I am arthritic, multiple button pushing hurts like a bugger and the simpler controls allow me to concentrate on actually enjoying playing the game and not trying to fathom some weird ninja kuji-in.

Weirdwolf

Gears of War 2 manual leaked:

Controls:

Press A to chainsaw the locust.

Press B to become Cliffy B and win.

Solertia

In not-so-shocking news, CiffyB is retarded.

Tietsu

@TheGreySpectre: Oh yes, because technology that has barely changed in decades is the bleeding edge of design.

sarcasmOD

Cliffy B just has bad memories of being massacred at fighting games on the Saturn as a child. I can't blame him.

In actuality I can sort of see his point, but fewer buttons, while simpler, means fewer potential actions and thus less control. Sure, you can have circumstantial actions but that too gets confusing. Personally I think it's simpler to have a dedicated button or button combination for an action than to have every action tied to only a few buttons, but the actions occurring based on complex circumstances.

We're just now starting to get a control standard wherein every game isn't vastly different. 2 shoulder bumpers, two triggers/more shoulder bumpers, 4 main buttons, two control sticks, a d-pad- they're all the same, and that's a good thing. Play a shooter and you at least know it'll be left to move, right to look, triggers for aiming and shooting, etc.

Then again, PC games have had the same controller for a LONG time and that still isn't universal. Beyond WASD to move and usually mouse for camera everything is up for grabs.

mhlaxp

I think the current button count of controllers has hit the sweet spot. Plus how can someone who has made games mostly for the PC ask for less buttons? I mean have you SEEN the average amount of buttons that are configurable in a Unreal Tournament game?

Otacon85

@Weirdwolf:
Again, that's just the control scheme. It's not the fault of the controller. I can point to another entry in the same franchise that had relatively simple controls: Ultimate Spiderman.

gamadaya

controllers should have just 1 button that brings up a message that says go play PC games, the mouse and keyboard is the best setup to date

TheGreySpectre

He suggests fewer buttons replaced with "waggle" and cameras. UGH I would HATE that. The amount of buttons is fine, it takes a developer to simplify controls if they need to, and it's been done very well so far.

mfwahwah

@sarcasmOD: er...scenario

sarcasmOD

@kagai: just an aside, they're supposedly working super hard to fix that dilemma with the crouch/cover scenarie.

sarcasmOD

A lot of companies are getting into contextual gaming and having fewer buttons do more things. This can be good when done correctly, but when playing GOW I HATED that the run button was also the cover button. I can't tell you how many times I stuck to walls when I didn't want to and it was FRUSTRATING!

I really don't want one or two buttons doing everything, I like having more buttons, but I also like being able to map buttons to my liking. So, if companies want to go the route of "stacking" many actions onto a couple of buttons I think they should give players the ability to "unstack" and re-map certain actions to other buttons.

kagai

@jollydwarf: The wii already did that enhance garbage. There's that little controller you can pick at any Best Buy, Gamestop, and whatever stores they have in other countries that I am not familiar with.

sarcasmOD

I agree with Diesel_Power, if you want to game, read the instructions, familiarize yourself with the controller, learn to play the game.

To use the mechanic analogy, the auto industry doesn't try to entice people to become mechanics by making cars less complicated, they have to learn how to work on the cars through instruction and training. If you want to do something, then learn it.

kagai

@LittleBigPlaneteer:
Here we go this page is a link for the combat controls for the Spider-man 2 games.
[uk.guides.ign.com]

That is JUST for combat there are more button combinations for the general tooling about in the city/map/camera.
Sure a first time gamer might be able to learn them all eventually,but why would they?
I could teach you the basics of bowling a cricket ball, but if I started teaching you leg spin you would never want to pick up a ball again. It's just not worth you putting in the investment of something that time consuming and difficult if you are not sure that you even enjoy playing the game.

Weirdwolf

@Diesel_Power:

Actually, as the Wii has proven, no they won't take the time to even touch a 'standard', button-infested controller. Or at least they need to be tricked into thinking that they're playing something simpler than what they reflexively associate with antisocial adolescent males and "that 'Halo' game".

Man, if Cliff is making these statements, and Microsoft is getting ready to unveil a Wiimote ripoff...I don't like where this is going. That said, I foresee the next-gen consoles shipping with a 'default' motion controller, and the (gag) "hardcore" crowd being given the 'opportunity' to 'enhance' their gaming experience with more of a 'classic' controller, which not all games will offer well-implemented alternate control schemes for.

How long before the next DS makes you shake and zoom the whole thing around like a spaz, while wiggling your motion sensor-capped fingers at the screen from 6-12 inches away like Liberace doing his version of a Jedi mind trick gesture?

jollydwarf

@gamadaya: I think the four face button setup would work nicely where the A button on the Wii remote is, provided the controller were just a bit thicker.

The Fatass of Kickassness

@The Fatass of Kickassness: Well in that case, my bad. I have a terrible case of misinterpretation-itis. :)

sarcasmOD

@The Fatass of Kickassness:
I want just 1 more button on the Wiimote. I was really sad when I learned I couldn't do that badass flip off my horse on the Wii version of Zelda like I could on the Cube version. But widescreen and walking while aiming my bow kind of made up for it.

gamadaya

@sarcasmOD: Also, please please please teach me to my bad English. I am immigrant from far lands, I do not know English ways. I beg like a thousand masturbating camels, please teach me the knowledge!

sarcasmOD

@gamadaya: Dpads are typically 4 buttons, and if you hold in a diagonal direction, the system reads that both buttons are being pressed down and assumes diagonal movement.

I see your point about using less buttons, though.

I want a Wii Remote-style pointer thing (the IR truly is the best part of the Wii remote) but with more buttons so that commands can be mapped without ridiculous shift shit.

The Fatass of Kickassness

@thejakeman: visit my site!: aw did I hurt your feelings by...wait what is your problem? I'm too full of shit to understand :/ sorry.

sarcasmOD

@thejakeman: visit my site!:
You're forgetting the sticks, and compared to the PS2's analog... everything, it was really lacking.

gamadaya

They develop games not consoles, they could make their games use less buttons. Just because microsoft has made 12 (or how ever many there are) doesn't mean their games need to use them all. His argument is stupid.

sendmail

Nobody is forcing him to use all of the buttons.

And it's strange how he would say that when Gears was in desperate need of USING more buttons.

Jorw

@thejakeman: visit my site!: You're forgetting about analog buttons and the start/select buttons.

The Fatass of Kickassness

@The Fatass of Kickassness:
I don't know if I would count the dpad as 4 buttons. It's actually kind of 8 when you think about it. But that's beside the point. In any case, why can't developers just use less buttons? I've yet to encounter a game I thought was too complicated to learn how to control in less than an hour (except MGS3, but I didn't know about the analog face buttons at first). I don't think the solution is to limit the hardware though.

gamadaya

@thejakeman: visit my site!: You're certainly one to talk.

The Fatass of Kickassness

@wild homes is being recast!: Post of the week. I lol'd IRL.

cable83

@sarcasmOD: i simply don't believe you since you didn't seem to teach yourself how to use the english language properly. and you're full of shit.

thejakeman: visit my site!

If some people are put off gaming by the controllers, then FUCK EM! Why are we wasting time trying to bend over for them?

If someone wants to get into gaming then they'll take the time to master the controller.

Diesel_Power

@gamadaya: the cube had seven next to the ps2's eight. (counting triggers here)

the xbox (might i remind you, originally a fat controller) also had eight.

really, one less button wasn't that big a deal.

thejakeman: visit my site!

@sarcasmOD: They both play relatively similarly. What I'm trying to get at is the fact that, whereas Sunshine was too complicated for her at first, after beating Galaxy, she was able to ease into the control for Sunshine quite a bit easier.

The Fatass of Kickassness

@gamadaya: Two sticks, four shoulder buttons, two middle face buttons, four main face buttons. Didn't count the Dpad (which counts as four buttons in my book) and the middle X button.

And I agree with you, but I'd like to push the idea that part of the reason many non-gamers don't give a shit about gaming is because of the fact that they don't want to have to memorize a bunch of crap to sit down and enjoy themselves a bit. Enter the simplified control scheme.

The Fatass of Kickassness

@The Fatass of Kickassness: You tried to teach your mom with the purple monstrosity that is the GC controller? No wonder it didn't work. And comparing Sunshine to Galaxy is just a case of apples and oranges.

sarcasmOD

For some reason I'm reminded of this:
[www.bobandgeorge.com]

Cogito

I hope he enjoys the big red "Do" button we have on the next controller. It's perfect for idiots like him.

Demonbird

Also, I'm not one to hate on the casual crowd for having different tastes than me, but if companies started cutting back on buttons to lure them in, I would start to hate the casual crowd. What we have now is what I consider bare minimum. The Cube controller had too few buttons, and it showed. Also, the Wiimote is really lacking buttons. I would kill for one just below the A button.

gamadaya

Cliff knows that if the controller's simple enough, you can play your games with one hand. Which leaves one hand free to do other things. Which is good, because that hair's not going to tease itself.

wild homes is being recast!

Gotta make things simple for simple people.

Diesel_Power

As a die-hard PC gamer to you can suck eggs Cliff!!! More buttons = more choices(hopefully).

Didn't some french dev say something along the lines to this as well?

I love a good controller learning curve on a new game. Its part of the mystique. I always thought that when developers said this it was a flower from the root of laziness. Whats better about fewer actions? Isn't that what less buttons really give you?

invictus

@LittleBigPlaneteer: "To asssume that a non-gamer can't LEARN the controls of today's controllers is just ignorance."

Never said that a non-gamer can't learn the controls, just meant that it's a hell of a lot easier to learn to game if they ease in, you know, with easy control schemes. Such as the Wii's dongle system they have going.

I tried to get my mother to play Super Mario Sunshine a few weeks before Galaxy came out; she didn't know what the hell she was doing. Galaxy comes out, I have her try that, she's hooked. Since then she's beaten Galaxy and has put a few hours into Sunshine (but for some reason would rather play Glover on the 64...)

The Fatass of Kickassness

@The Fatass of Kickassness: Too bad I could take your car apart and build it back up again and I taught that all to myself. You shouldn't believe me because this is the internet and you can't verify that, but the fact is that the majority of things I have learned in this life were self-taught.

sarcasmOD

@The Fatass of Kickassness:
Where do you get 12? 1 Dpad, 2 triggers, 2 bumpers, 4 face, and 2 stick makes 11. Then 15 if you count the pause, select, and home.

@The Fatass of Kickassness:
I think what causes non gamers to be "intimidated" by controllers is they just don't give enough of a shit about games to learn them. My mom doesn't usually play games, but there have been a few that she has been interested in over the years, and she is always able to pick up the control scheme just as fast as I can if she cares to put the effort in. Also, I would like to see how many non gamers who bought the Wii got other systems later.

gamadaya

I love his games, but damn he looks like a d-bag in that picture...

cable83

I WANT MOAR BUTTONS!

Ahsayuni

gears didn't use enough buttons imo.

ManjiKengo

@sarcasmOD: /begin sarcasm

Okay, why don't you come with me tomorrow, and we'll fix up my car, I love fixing up my car.

Whats that? You don't know how? Never done it before? Not interested?

Then you're completely retarded.

/end sarcasm

^^ That's the kind of logic you're exhibiting right now. Non-gamers don't immediately get a grip on how games work because they're not used to playing games, they're not used to manipulating an onscreen avatar. It's as easy as that, and calling them names for something I'm sure you went through when you started gaming (unless, of course, you started with arcade machines that had one or two buttons... which would only validate my argument that 'easing in' is necessary for most non-gamers).

The Fatass of Kickassness

@The Fatass of Kickassness:

My gf was a non-gamer. She played, didn't learn the controls at first. She played some more and became better than me. To asssume that a non-gamer can't LEARN the controls of today's controllers is just ignorance.

How did people get through high schoo without learning? Is learning to play a game really that hard? Obviously non-gamers are less likely to get something right away, but to say they'll have a hard time remembering a control scheme after an hour? I call fucking bullshit to taht.

LittleBigPlaneteer

well then, if he wants fewer buttons then make a game for the wii

warlock_255

@kagai:

I so want to play that right now hahaha That was excellent.

But to the point - why even use buttons at all, right? Hell, let's get rid of the d-pad and the controller altogether? Let's skip everything and just make pretty trailers.

dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased

@Twoflower: He has no point. The controller isn't the problem, the game is. My sister won't play games because she doesn't feel like memorizing buttons, sure, but if there was a game that only used A and B, look at that, problem solved.

@Kyattsuai: Yeah, true. But I bet if you put a Gamecube Controller and a 360 Controller side by side and asked someone which looks more "spaceship like" or intimidating, most would pick the confusion that is the Gamecube controller.

karasu is my homeboy

@Twoflower:
No, PA summed up shitty control layout. Has nothing to do with the buttons.

I can't for the life of me figure out why the hell Cliffy B(if he didn't want to be called that he shouldn't have picked the name) would complain about this. It's not like he's forced to use all the buttons anyway.

gamadaya

@Twoflower: Do your non-gamer friends have muscular dystrophy? Or perhaps Cerebral Palsy? Because then what you said would be totally believable. Otherwise, not so much.

sarcasmOD

@mind in rewind: The Xbox 360 has 12 buttons; the Wii Remote with the Nunchuk has 8.

The Fatass of Kickassness

Good thing we don't have a Atari Jaguar Controller around now.

Stevetrop

Hehehe. A for awesome. Hehehe.

sir_carrot

Good thing we don't have a Atari Jaguar around now. That thing was atrocious it was like some deformed mutated offspring of a Atari 5200 and Genesis controller. That thing had way to many buttons.

Stevetrop

@LittleBigPlaneteer: I call bullshit; sounds like you've never sat down with a non-gamer and had 'em try a game. You'd be surprised how intimidated non-gamers are by controllers with too many buttons.

Also, I think you're missing the point of the Wii, or at least the point Nintendo's been trying to make - the Wii is a bridge system, designed with non-gamers in mind and with the idea that a non-gamer can become a gamer through playing Wii games and getting grips on controls.

The Fatass of Kickassness

I think the current game pads have the right amount of buttons on them right now. if they do have more, I'm sure it wont be hard to understand, but when you think about it, the amount of buttons the 360 and ps3 are the same as the original dual shock 13 or so years ago(if you include the analog button).

madbassman39

Haven't we been used to roughly the same amount of buttons for 10 years now?

mind in rewind

@Twoflower:

Unless you're retarded, you should be able to figure out any game's controls. Even if you've never played a game before. I think it's easy to assume consumers need everything dum