Developers themselves were often in the dark as to what the best control schemes were back then. For example, the default controls in Quake games were not originally wasd plus mouse, that innovation actually came from prominent Quake players which eventually became implemented as default in games after.
Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
People mock the N64 controller, but it was designed to allow developers three different configurations to design their game around and let them decide what was best. It’s really not a bad shape overall.
hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 hours ago
It shows how smart nintendo’s designers were in that era. They knew the transition to 3D would be paradigm shift. The future of games was unpredictable, so they made flexible controller that would suit many possibilities.
They figured out that analog sticks would be important for 3D games from day 1. Unlike sony, nintendo’s foresight meant they didn’t have to hastily retrofit their controllers partway through the console’s life.
AnimalsDream@slrpnk.net 16 hours ago
I don’t think I agree. It was a worthwhile design historically, because it was the first controller from a major console maker that said, “hey, 3d gaming is here, and it’s here to stay.” But I never found that controller to be very good. That joystick was so poorly designed every n64 controller we would get would turn to junk within a year. It also wasn’t very long before Sony took the hint and released the Dualshock, which basically defined modern controllers right there.
Especially now, I can’t think of a single game that wouldn’t be better to play on a modern controller.
Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
I honestly hate the dualshock design. It’s more about aesthetics then it is ergonomics. The controller was always too small for me and the thumb placement never felt right. I really liked the original Xbox controller and was pissed they never released a large version of their controllers afterwards. It was the only one that never gave me hand cramps after long sessions.
The N64 controller wasn’t a good controller in hindsight, but it was an experimental controller, because like I already said, Nintendo didn’t know how game devs would want to use an analog stick. The center was ambidextrous, so there were three different holding configurations. I have more issue with the Game Cube controller with it’s analog nub. It wasn’t comfortable to use ever and they should have realized that by then.