Topic: They should have removed buttons from the controller

What the heck? This is ridiculous. We're at the good sweet spot between accessibility and complexity. You gimp games like BotW or Doom if you limit the buttons, as those games put each button to good use. And we've had this control scheme for around two decades, you're really damn late on this.

Just because some games like Odyssey don't use all the buttons does not mean every game should adhere to those rules. Not every game is equal, not every game is created equally, and not every game should be for everyone.

I'm saying we shouldn't want games that make use of so many buttons. So if you port a game that makes use of all 14-16 buttons on a modern game controller you have to simplify some of the game play elements.

When game designers finally realize console gamers don't want complex PC games, it might be hard to port all previously made games to a new console that has fewer buttons.

But it's the PC concept of very complex games with a button for everything that is creeping into consoles, which traditionally was more about hand-eye coordination and reaction time. The next gen consoles might come standard equipped with those paddles underneath the controller. But at least they have dropped the idea of 6 action buttons that some older console controllers had.

Never once been hindered by too many buttons, quite often would rather have more as the work arounds are often imprecise and I wish I had a button to just do the action.

I have bought controllers with extra buttons to map more actions in the games that allow that, it’s amazing.

If you think controllers have too many buttons then I assume you’re 80

Sorry if that comes off as ageist but I’ve never seen such tech phobic nonsense in a post on a GAMING forum.

When does this go into trolling territory? I fear we're threading a very fine line.

The sad truth is that not every human being is ironic in their weird beliefs.

It's ridiculous to have to be pressing for stim packs in the middle of a fight. Most of these flaws are different form of resource management, or changing skills/weapons originating from PC games. It's ridiculous to play a console game and having to switch between 8 different weapons, use healing items/stat boosts and so on in the middle of combat.

Someone mentioned Doom 2016, but compare that to Halo CE. Doom had great combat, but it's full of little annoyances you have to do, such as bringing up the weapon wheel to select from too many weapons, using finishing moves, using alt-fire mode, changing alt-fire weapon mods.

This truly is the most egotistic, short-sighted and thoughtless post I've ever read on this forum. Not a single point the OP wrote makes sense, comparisons don't add up, and if I read things like someone being perfectly able to move his fingers quickly across the face buttons, but not being able to move his index finger quickly from a ZL/ZR button, which is basically the same as the other two consoles' triggers and bumpers, then it sounds WAY more like MASSIVE ineptitude on the side of the person handling the controller, than a deficiency in the controller itself...

There's only one way to respond to this:

The whole gaming industry was turned upside down by smartphones, a device with a single input. Is it really that unthinkable for you that someone might not want so many buttons on a controller?

Your thumb moves in a half circle across the top of the controller. Your index finger is partially what grips the controller, so you can't move it at the same speed.

That's it! You should just stick to mobile gaming!

@Agriculture Ehm, no, my index finger does NOT grip the controller. The other three fingers of my hand are holding the controller's prongs, and I can use my thumbs to complete the "vice grip" needed to comfortably hold/steady the controller in my hand, so my index fingers can move freely and quickly. Just tested it out to make sure, and it works perfectly fine, and fast enough for it to be useful.

And what you said about Halo also makes no sense, because ever since the original Xbox controller and the first analog PSX controller, the number of buttons has been more or less the same, only buttons underneath the sticks have been added. And a lot of people on here are right to say that it would dumb down and/or gimp console versions of bigger games that you can also play on the PC.

You NEED a comparable number of control inputs, or at least something that can account for all that the character or vehicle on screen can do, and removing buttons from controllers as they are now, will NEVER be beneficial to any but the most simple of modern games.

Development and complexity in games themselves, especially big budget games, has already come too far to turn back now, so that just isn't a realistic option. The only option is for people to accept and try to hone their skills or at the very least become accustomed to it, or just to go back to retro gaming or whatever, if they want to continue to play video games.

Or go PC only, but then you'd have an entire keyboard to contend with, and if you can handle that, you should quite easily be able to handle a modern controller with only a fraction of the number of inputs...

I'm talking about the game design of Halo, not the Xbox controller. That game wasn't perfect though, because you could carry two different kinds of grenades which you used a button to change between, and you had weapon reloading on some weapons, which just breaks the flow of combat. You could also crouch, which was a pointless feature to add.

The trend is that home and portable consoles become simplified. So far it has mainly been simplified user interfaces, and more things happening automatically. There's large drawbacks to mobile gaming, so consumers will probably want simplified console controllers.

@Agriculture No offense, but you're drifting into ridiculousness territory again...

How the heck is it a pointless feature to add a crouch button in a first person shooter? Any sane person would welcome being able to crouch in such games. And whether or not that's dedicated to a single button or have some button do a double/triple action (as the crouch button normally is), doesn't matter. It's a function that's necessary in the type of game.

There's nothing there "breaking" the flow of combat at all. From all you've posted so far, all I gather is egotism (I want this, I want that) and an inability to handle modern controllers, which apparently frustrates you to no end.

But here's the thing: billions of gamers CAN, and DO, and are good at it, and have no such (and rather unrealistic) objections, so it really is you, and unfortunately, you're not the only gamer here, so if all of us here, and almost every other gamer on every other platform out there is perfectly fine with it, then you will have to look elsewhere instead of blaming a controller or developers for making it "too difficult".

EDIT:
And the trend is that home and portable consoles become simplified? What trend, where? There is no such trend to be found anywhere. Handhelds have become more and more advanced and complex, in controls as well, and controllers have of course also become more advanced. Some games might incorporate "simpler" or more automatic mechanics, but other than that, everything has become more expansive, elaborate and inclusive.

If the conversation is going nowhere, maybe the right thing to do would be to stop replying.

"They should have removed buttons from the controller"
"No"

PS: you should try to remove the joy cons from your console and use one of them instead of a pro controller. You know, the Switch is made to be played that way too and that way you have a lot less buttons and a much smaller controller.
The only difference is that not everybody else too is forced to do so and renounce to all those games that need a standard controller this way.

@Meowpheel Well, if you're moderating this one, then that is obviously up to you, but I'm fine with replying and being addressed as long as it stays civil, which it appears to be, but if you choose to close it, I'll also understand.

Many people can't even fathom someone exist who don't agree with the status quo. I do realize that the standard "Xbox-layout" has evolved over time to suit as many types of games as possible while sitting on a couch playing on a television.

However, the disagreement I have is that the software should dictate what the hardware controller is like, since it inevitably will just get more complex, which is what happens now with paddles underneath (yes, so far they are only re-binded face buttons, but they might be separate buttons next gen). The controller and how you use it is a matter of ergonomics, and if your game requires an unnatural amount of inputs, it might be time to start re-thinking the game instead of the controller.

I did enjoy Doom 2016, but it became apparent that you were bogged down with too much that needed to be done during combat, such as switching weapons.

@ThanosReXXX It wasn't really meant just for you. It was more of a general thing.

There's really nothing about this thread that would make it worth closing. But a party ends when the guests leave.