It actually exists! An Xbox 360 controller with symmetrical analog sticks

[UberNoodle]

This doesn't make a lick of sense. It's not any more intuitive being lower because it's used for camera control. The left stick I could vaguely see an argument because it's where the D-Pad used to be for controllers and people used the D-Pad for movement.

I would love to see you work on your communicative ability. "Doesn't make a lick of sense" says a lot about how you view the world.

Anyway, what I said does in fact make sense. The left stick is usually linked to the movement of your character in 3D space. The position of the stick so that it corresponds to "FWD, BK, L, and R" ties to the gamer's physical space to this virtual, 3D space. Semantically, it makes sense because pushing forward moves the character forward in this space. It is therefore like the joystick on a remote control.

The Right stick is lower, in order to accommodate the face buttons. However, it is usually used for camera controls, so corresponds to "Up Dwn L and R". This does not clash semantically with the thumb's movement when operating it, particularly because it doesn't also have to go against tradition (ie, the placement of the Left stick).

Now, you can disregard this all you want, but it doesn't make it nonsensical or wrong. I would also pray that my words are not misconstrued to fit any console preferences. I hope that this is not the case.

 

[TOGSolid]

I like the 360 controller as it is, fits much better than that awful PS3 one. Of course, there's the dpad issue, but I don't play much fighting or other games where the dpad is a must.

Which is why a gamepad where you can reverse them is neat. People are arguing about "important parts higher up" and now here's a gamepad where depending on what game you're playing, you can adjust it to your needs and yet some people still think it's a dumb product. "Oh muh gawd, I so pr0, I dun need d-pad."

This thread in general just got dumb fast. You have a few people who think that everyone has the same requirements out of a controller as they do arguing till they're blue in the face. I really wish it was legal to force feed people cyanide .

 

[SalamanderJoe]

I have a model simular to one in the link, (mine doesn't interchange though) mainly because the d-pad is better for fighting games. But I prefer the 360 controller for everything else.

 

[Pyode]

-snip-

Actually, the D-pad on the Onza is still the same "bowl" design that the current controller has but it is slightly modified to be a bit better.

The Onza has made a fine attempt to improve upon Microsoft's design with a very different design from the 360's D-pad. The pad itself is still a "bowl", but each button fits through a discrete opening. Unfortunately, it's not significantly better as it still has poor tactile feedback-the best way to describe it is to call it "muddy" or "mushy", as it's hard to discern by touch alone when you've pushed it enough to trigger a response. Fortunately, the Razer employee I spoke with that is on the Onza's production team admitted he feels the same way, and the D-pad is still being worked on. I have high hopes that they will make do on their promises.

Source: http://gaming.icrontic.com/article/e3-impressions-razers-onza-xbox-360-controller/

Even if they don't fix it tough, the controller is still awesome.

 

[Eliam_Dar]

To be honest I really like the current XBOX 360 controller layout, since due to a problem in my hand is the only controller I can really use for hours with no problem at all.

 

[ArchAngelKira]

Why would I use something that looks like a playstation controller

 

[Woodsey]

I'm happy though, my left wrist is starting to really hurt from dealing with the 360 pads, and it's nice to finally find a controller that solves the issue.

How small are your hands?

The left analogue stick on the 360 pad sits where my thumb rests, whereas I'm actively moving it back on the PS3 pad.

 

[Pyode]

Which is why a gamepad where you can reverse them is neat. People are arguing about "important parts higher up" and now here's a gamepad where depending on what game you're playing, you can adjust it to your needs and yet some people still think it's a dumb product. "Oh muh gawd, I so pr0, I dun need d-pad."

This thread in general just got dumb fast. You have a few people who think that everyone has the same requirements out of a controller as they do arguing till they're blue in the face. I really wish it was legal to force feed people cyanide .

Actually, I blame the OP for this. He started out acting as though the current design is objectively bad and making it seem like the majority want the controller like he does. He even made it clear that he himself didn't like the fact that it was switchable.

So, naturally, a lot of people who like the current design came and explained why they think the current controller is fine and that this new one isn't the messiah of controllers the OP is making it out to be.

 

[migo]

Amen. That D-Pad is just horrible and actually ended me getting killed in Gears of War 2 because I switched to some pistol instead of a shotgun. Changing back was taking too much time and WAM, I died.

Oh wow you died one time big deal.
The controller's fine

No, it's a definite problem with the controller, crops up in lots of games, if you try to press right it often registers as down.

Is that a symptom of the d-pad or a symptom of switching from analog to d-pad in mid-fight? I write XBL messages with the d-pad exclusively all the time, and don't have any noticeable problems with the cursor going the wrong way. Whereas in Wolfenstein sometimes I mess up activating the "veil powers" with the d-pad. So seems to me the problem is simply hitting the wrong direction.

Happens even if there's no fight. It'll crop up in Dead Rising and Tomb Raider, in fact, in Tomb Raider legend one of the items is mapped to right and in Underworld it's mapped to down and I didn't notice it was different the first few times in Underworld. This was doing item switching while just stainding around rather than in the middle of heated action.

http://cyborggaming.com/prod/cyborgpad.htm

It shows how sad the state of Xbox 360 controllers is when the only pad with symmetrical analog sticks is one where the left stick and d-pad are reversible.

I'm happy though, my left wrist is starting to really hurt from dealing with the 360 pads, and it's nice to finally find a controller that solves the issue.

You see, I'm the opposite; I play my PS3 for too long, and my left wrist (right beneath my thumb) starts to ache, because the stick on the button makes my hands sits funny. The stick up top is more natural for me. Of course, I also play most games using "The Claw" position for my right hand, which is where I have my right thumb on the right stick, and my pointer finger is pushing the buttons (I use the side of the finger to press several at once), while either my middle and/or ring fingers are pressing the right shoulder buttons so... yeah.

Edit: Should probably mentione that the PS2 controller didn't cause me any problems beacue it was both larger and heavier, and my hands sat in a more natural position.

That's an interesting solution. I remember trying something similar with the GameCube controller in MarioKart. Could you post a picture of how you hold it?

 

[shadow skill]

I just love how properly holding the 360 will cause either of my thumbs to rest too high so the tip of my thumb is basically floating. Incidentally on the Dualshocks my thumbs rest naturally.

 

[migo]

Everyone who talks about how the 360 controller fits perfectly is ignoring that you do more than just hold the controller, and that ergonomics have to be taken into account. The left analog stick placement is very poor ergonomically.

As for a PS3 controller for people with bigger hands - there's every sort of 3rd party controller that will accomodate the specific needs of everyone. With the 360 all the 3rd party controllers are almost exactly the same as the default one, except they're wired or require a dongle for wireless most of the time. I understand everyone has their preferences, but apparently Microsoft doesn't, and Saitek/Mad Catz are the only 3rd party peripheral maker to understand this as well.

"Ergonomics is the science of designing the job, equipment, and workplace to fit the worker. Proper ergonomic design is necessary to prevent repetitive strain injuries, which can develop over time and can lead to long-term disability."

I think your looking for a different word because holding and working the controller would be the ONLY ergonomics taken into account. What else would you do with it? Write a book? I can see how your hand would become strained after a little while of using it as a pen or typing with it. You obviously have a PS3 the way you beat microsoft and the xbox up, but if most people don't have a problem with the controller, and a quick scan of this forum post reveals that they do not, then i would say the ergonomics of the controller are be a success. I would leave your prejudices against microsoft out of this next time and focus only on the controller. Makes you seem like a fanboy ***** in that entire second paragraph. Your point would have been just fine if you only said,
"...there's every sort of 3rd party controller that will accomodate the specific needs of everyone. With the 360 all the 3rd party controllers are almost exactly the same as the default one"

Your post is full of fail, I have an Xbox and an Xbox 360 and only a PS2. I have no biases, I call it as I see it.

Looks terrible. I like the way it is.

The whole point is to be different and the analog sticks looks to be more slippy.

Besides, it's wired!

Blame MS for that. They charge too much to have wireless support without a dongle.

What else would you do with it? Write a book? I can see how your hand would become strained after a little while of using it as a pen or typing with it.

I lol'd at this.
OT Excellent point!

It's a horrible point because it stems from not reading properly.

Jeez, how big is everyone's hands here that they think the Playstation controller is apparently made exclusively for small people (I'm Japanese, so let's not get racist here) and also, why aren't you playing sports? I used to play baseball, and I would have killed for longer fingers to impart more spin on the ball.

They're probably trying to grip around it tightly instead of resting it on their pinky and ring fingers and using R2/L2 with middle finger and R1/L1 with index finger. Try doing that with the 360 controller and the triggers and bumpers and it doesn't work at all, it starts slipping out of your hand, so you might as well only have triggers and forget the bumpers.

I'm a PC/Playstation person, so... no.
What was so bad about the N64 controller, huh? It was completely fucking awesome.

Completely off centre. It takes asymmetry to a ridiculous extreme.

 

[migo]

The 360 does not cause strain on most people's joints, because it is actually more aligned with the resting position of your thumb, the lower section of the controller you have to extend your thumbs down to reach.

You don't want it at the resting position as the resting position is at the extremes of the thumb joint's range of motion.

This is why with the PS1 controller [http://www.axess.com/twilight/console/detail/psx.jpg], the D-pad and buttons were at that 'higher up' position.
People (and Sony) liked this controller scheme, so when they made the PS2 controller [http://home.comcast.net/~ben999000/ps2/controller.jpg], they simply stuck those thumbsticks onto the lower section of the controller. Due to the PS2's success, not much changed [http://images3.souq.com/uploaded/240610/f54ebd3bd6814f3be985424a3e43d341_99455525691277383720.jpg] with the PS3.

No, they experimented with several alternate controllers for the PS3 and went back to the DS design because that's what worked best.

When designing the 360 controller, Microsoft took into consideration the flaws and successes of the original xbox controller, along with the 'important parts higher up' aspect that Sony have recently come to overlook, meaning that the main analogue stick is raised, along with the buttons. This means that quickly and repeated moving your thumbs over the buttons and left stick should in fact use less effort than the right stick and D-pad, hopefully minimizing any irritation.

Important parts higher up only looks good on paper, it isn't actually valid in practice, and they didn't spend much time putting thought into the bumpers nor the d-pad so I don't buy that they put any time into research for anything else to do with the design.

 

[migo]

I'm happy though, my left wrist is starting to really hurt from dealing with the 360 pads, and it's nice to finally find a controller that solves the issue.

How small are your hands?

The left analogue stick on the 360 pad sits where my thumb rests, whereas I'm actively moving it back on the PS3 pad.

Medium. I can use the Duke and actually prefer it to the S because it puts my thumb out at the same angle as on a dualshock, although the right analog stick is then useless on the Duke.

 

[WilliamRLBaker]

So we have no way to prove or believe you have just an xbox, 360 and ps2...and when did owning something mean you had no bias?

I own a 360, wii, ps3, psp, and ds, and I am completely biased against the ps3 and wii.
Owning something means nothing.

You are being disagreed with by nearly 80% of the thread with your claims of the 360 controller being bad, having bad ergonomics...ect the 360 controller is one of the most comfy and usable controllers out there right now.

 

[noble cookie]

There's nothing wrong with the regular Xbox 360 controller.
You get used to it after about...um, 5 seconds.

Edit: No need to get used to it, comfy as a bed of marshmallows.

And your not even sitting on the controller.

 

[Corkydog]

I love the Xbox 360 controller, fits perfectly into my hand.

It's all a matter of getting used to it tough. Doesn't matter what console.

Wise man.

I wonder though, is anyone used to both PS3 and Xbox controllers? For me I have to admit the Xbox controller sort of bugs me, though that's simply as you said, because I play PS3.

I'm pretty well adjusted to both of them, as I play both regularly, but I will say that after long sessions on one controller, switching to the other feels a little weird.

On balance, I prefer the PS3's format of symmetry or whatever, but I like the feel of a 360 controller just fine.

Gamecube makes my brain hurt.