Video Game HCI/Ergonomics
[ Posted by Dan on November 26, 2003 | 2 Comments ]

Video game nerds who are also into human/computer interaction issues and ergonomics might find this article about video game controllers interesting (and they might be nerdier than they think)...

First-party controllers are almost always reliable in the way of comfort and accuracy, but they do vary from one product to another. It's often a very personal and preferential thing; I happen to prefer to play racers on GameCube. I don't think any gamer can avoid this partiality. To that same end, however, there are many games, often first-party published, that I couldn't imagine playing on another console's controller.

In my experience, this is true, except for the horrible first version of the Xbox controller. That thing was huge and felt like you were holding a watermelon in your hands. Even worse were the triggers under the controller (which you pull with your index fingers) that had very strong springs in them, so holding the trigger all the way down for more than a few seconds would cause muscle fatigue.

At the other end of the spectrum is the Nintendo Gamecube controller, which was made with kids in mind and is smaller than the original Xbox controller. There is a smaller Xbox controller available now, but its trigger springs are still too strong, and a racing game that uses the trigger (such as PGR2) turn into a carpal tunnel accelerators.

 

		The part about first party controllers being superior is something I strongly agree with. Maybe it's just that they spend alot more money on design and research than the various third party companies do? I personally found the initial XBox controller to be very comfortable with the exception of the right-side buttons, which were too hard. GameCube is almost too small for me, but not bad especially since we have all Wavebirds and the wireless convenience is excellent for multiplayer games like Monkey Ball. I find that the PS2 has the best buttons and sticks, but it doesn't "fill" my hand like the others do. I miss the analog triggers from the Dreamcast, which was unmatched for racing games. -Posted by Eric on November 26, 2003 04:12 PM

		Foiled by the subscriber registration :( I like the huge x-box controllers too, but then again my hands are freakishly large. -Posted by josh on November 26, 2003 10:27 PM

Comment posting has been turned off because I don't have enough time and will to deal with the constant comment spamming. I'm very sorry and will fix this sometime soon (soon = before 2004 ends).