Imprinted/Crippled.

[Silver Scribbler]

Let's be honest, sometimes the controls in a game get to the point where we wonder what we are being punished for.

Be it the need to hold down a button for long periods of time, branding yourself with its shape, or tap a button for long periods of time, resulting in an acute case of claw hand, sometimes games seem to decide that if they are going to be beaten, they are at least going to cause us pain in return.

So, my fellow escapists, I ask you, what games have abused your hands, and in what way? My example would be from FFVIII, the boosting system would have you hold down select for long periods of time while furiously mashing square, resulting in both a rectangular imprint and hand cramp.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Second! But in all seriousness, I hate how must fighting have such wonderfully intuitive combos such as hold all face buttons and all triggers, click L3 and wave the controller, to JUMP.

 

[Starnerf]

MarioParty on N64. I would rotate the analog stick with my palm, which resulted in blisters on several occasions.

And then there's the regular game playing where my hands hurt after a long session, but I keep going anyway...

They actually released a glove for those who bought the game because it had been such a widespread problem.

As for me, I've always hated how playing fighting games with a sharp D-Pad leaves the tip of my thumb feeling really sore.

 

[Gebi10000]

ght for DS. after half an hour it fucking hurts

 

[johnzaku]

I hate some of the new combos in street fighter IV >_<

baaaaaaaaaaaack forwardbackforwardstrongkick or others like that. and guile's and vega(balrog)'s ultras are just a tad frustrating to do against live opponents.

 

[A Weary Exile]

There was this button-mashing portion in Star Fox Adventures where you have to tap A repeatedly to win a contest of strength against an anthropomorphic dinosaur (Creative writing huh?) and I was MASHING that button as fast as I could and still losing. After about the tenth loss I said "Well screw it, I'll just do it slow and see if fate let's me win." And I WON!! Apparently I had been mashing the A button TOO FAST!!! That really resulted in some cramped fingers.

 

[Graves]

I'm a 360 kinda guy and when I had to use a PS3 for my job (I've been an editor for a Dutch games mag), my hands were completely messed up. I got cramps and imprints. I must say the 360 controller is the most pleasant to use.

 

[Silver Scribbler]

Cannot believe GH hasn't been mentioned yet, I've gotten some legendary cramps from playing that for too long! I think my left hand is actually permanently damaged from it.

There was this button-mashing portion in Star Fox Adventures where you have to tap A repeatedly to win a contest of strength against an anthropomorphic dinosaur (Creative writing huh?) and I was MASHING that button as fast as I could and still losing. After about the tenth loss I said "Well screw it, I'll just do it slow and see if fate let's me win." And I WON!! Apparently I had been mashing the A button TOO FAST!!! That really resulted in some cramped fingers.

And thrown controllers, from the sound of how annoying that must have been to find out.

 

[Quaidis]

Two games spring to mind:

Guilty Gear XX - My thumb amassed this monster-sized blister from trying to fight with any reliable combo in that game, especially with those impossible finishing techniques I had to somehow memorize.

God of War - Hit X. Hit X, dammit! KEEP RAMMING X! You're going to DIE!!!!!! Okay, that was the first enemy. Now you need to lick X while tapping square in just the right sequence and don't forget to hit Q while obtaining L and R. OH! You did it wrong! Do it over again. Come off it, you can't beat the game without doing this. Faster, Oh, too fast! He grabbed you and slammed you into the ground! OH! You're dead! You suck!

 

[Earthbound]

There was this button-mashing portion in Star Fox Adventures where you have to tap A repeatedly to win a contest of strength against an anthropomorphic dinosaur (Creative writing huh?) and I was MASHING that button as fast as I could and still losing. After about the tenth loss I said "Well screw it, I'll just do it slow and see if fate let's me win." And I WON!! Apparently I had been mashing the A button TOO FAST!!! That really resulted in some cramped fingers.

Wait, you're supposed to go slow when doing that section? Seven years and I've never known how to do that part.
*Goes to dig up his Gamecube*

Anyway, the best example I can come up with is Guitar Hero II, for the Xbox 360. Now, keep in mind that the GH:II controller didn't have rounded fret buttons. The buttons were square and a bit sharp. After playing the game for a few (five) hours in a row, my thumb had swelled so much that I couldn't fit it in my bowling ball the next day. This was a regular occurrence for me. Guitar Hero III's rounded buttons made it soooooo much easier.

 

[A Weary Exile]

Cannot believe GH hasn't been mentioned yet, I've gotten some legendary cramps from playing that for too long! I think my left hand is actually permanently damaged from it.

There was this button-mashing portion in Star Fox Adventures where you have to tap A repeatedly to win a contest of strength against an anthropomorphic dinosaur (Creative writing huh?) and I was MASHING that button as fast as I could and still losing. After about the tenth loss I said "Well screw it, I'll just do it slow and see if fate let's me win." And I WON!! Apparently I had been mashing the A button TOO FAST!!! That really resulted in some cramped fingers.

And thrown controllers, from the sound of how annoying that must have been to find out.

Man you have no idea, I almost sold that game when I got to that point. That game was extremley easy (But fun) up until that point and I was bewildered at how such a huge annoyance got past the design team.

 

[Armored Prayer]

Reminds me in Banjo-Twooie that final bird lady race in the last level. You have to spin the analog stick in order to go fast. But she was damn near impossible to catch up. Spinning the stick caused my entire wrist to go numb with pain.

 

[hamster mk 4]

Ever chopped wood or broken up concrete? Complaining about repetitive actions while gaming is a little weak.

 

[minoes]

SNK fighters, damn their "QFC+HCB" super moves.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

all of my games for a period of about six months. i only had a 64, one controller was lost, and the only one i had to use was a shitty 3rdparty that had the pad off the analog stick missing. I was playng on and unfinished metal spike for, as i said, about six months.

It didnt change how LONG i played either. at least six hours a day


my left thumb could repel bullets, gentlemen

 

[Silver Scribbler]

Ever chopped wood or broken up concrete? Complaining about repetitive actions while gaming is a little weak.

No, but then I posted on a gaming forum, not on a lumberjack forum. And the tone was not complaining, more mock-serious, as this was intended as a light-hearted thread.

 

[omega 616]

MGS 5, bash the holy hell out of triangle till you lose the will to live then bash it another 100,000 times (at the end, while your crawling down that corridor with the microwaves).

Anybody who has played UFC will know trying to get up from the ground with a BJJ guy on top of you (in any position) or trying either way to get out of a submission while your guys ground skills are weak, will know the torture of messing round with that stick.

Isn't "track and field" the all time ruler of crippling hands?

 

[King CoN]

Pretty much any racing game one the PSX/PS2 that used X as the accelerator used to destory my thumb.

 

[SimuLord]

Ever chopped wood or broken up concrete? Complaining about repetitive actions while gaming is a little weak.

No, but then I posted on a gaming forum, not on a lumberjack forum. And the tone was not complaining, more mock-serious, as this was intended as a light-hearted thread.

Hey, he's a lumberjack and he's OK. He puts on women's clothing and hangs around in bars.

Anyway, I still get sore just thinking about the driving levels in The Adventures of Bayou Billy on the NES. That was murder on the hands.

 

[Azraellod]

i somehow managed to get a lasting scar on my right hand from the final incarnation of bowser on super mario 64.

but i was small at the time, and held the controller differently to how i do today.

very differently.