From Paddles
to Pads:
Is controller design killing
creativity in videogames?
Tom Armitage - tom@infovore.org
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 1

Tom Armitage, aged 2.5
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 2

Is controller design
killing creativity in
videogames?
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 3

Current-gen joypads
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 4

Next-generation joypad
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 5

New-look shoulder buttons!
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 6

Revolution Remote
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 7

Thanks very much!
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 8

Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 9

The games industry is big
‣Halo 2:
first day on sale:
2.38 million copies
$125m
‣Spider-man:
opening weekend:
$114m
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 10

The power of sequels
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 11

Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 12

Things which are the same:
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 13

What’s wrong with this?
It assumes you’ve used a
joypad before
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 14

NES pad
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 15

SNES pad
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 16

Playstation pad
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 17

Playstation2 pad
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 18

Modern handhelds
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 19

Xbox pad
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 20

Xbox pad being held
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 21

“Complexity
lost the
casual
gamer...”
Nolan Bushnell
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 22

“...If you look at
today’s controller
with triangles, Xs,
squares and circles,
it’s scary. It’s like a
keyboard. People
are interface
phobic.”
Nolan Bushnell
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 23

“People are
interface phobic”
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 24

Snake - gaming on a phone
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 25

Bricks - gaming on a PDA
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 26

Solitaire - gaming on an iPod
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 27

Current-gen joypads
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 28

Alex
(note happy,
smiling
demeanour,
prior to
playing Halo)
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 29

Alex playing Halo
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 30

Is it the controllers
that are scaring
people off?
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 31

Console take-up in the US
60m
52m
48m
48m
42m
36m
Consistently: about 31-32% of
31m
households have a console
24m
12m
0m
8-bit 16-bit 32-bit now
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 32

Current joypads are
aesthetically
uninspiring
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 33

Singstar
http://flickr.com/photos/paalb/80551306/
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 34

Buzz
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 35

Donkey Konga
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 36

Guitar Hero
http://flickr.com/photos/mayoff/71389886/
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 37

Steel Battalion
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 38

Halo
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 39

Metroid Prime
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 40

Killer7
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 41

Micro Machines 2
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 42

Micro Machines 2 cart
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 43

Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 44

Same idiom in next-gen
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 45

Handedness
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 46

Asymmetric pads
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 47

Donkey Kong cabinet
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 48

Even this pad has a bias
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 49

Entirely symmetrical
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 50

Revolution “nunchuck”
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 51

No incentive to use these well
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 52

Is controller design
killing creativity in
videogames?
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 53

The “Uncanny Valley”
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 54

PS3 controller
Controller specifics are
“nothing we need to be
concerned about as
developers”
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 55

Is this the best we can do?
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 56

“If we cannot
expand the market,
all we can do is
wait for the
industry to slowly
die”
Satoru Iwata
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 57

“It is our
responsibility to
make games for all
skill levels...
including people
who are not playing
games now”
Satoru Iwata
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 58

Revolution
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 59

Controllers in comic books
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 60

Controllers in films
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 61

“A videogame is
something you play
with controls,
usually but not
always using your
thumbs.”
Tom Langston
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 62

Are these
controllers what we
want to represent
videogames?
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 63

Games are more than this
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 64

This is not the end of evolution
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 65

Thanks very much!
Tom Armitage - tom@infovore.org
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 66