A talk I delivered at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference in 2006, on how the devices we play games with affects the games we can play (amongst other things).
ICT role in 21st century education and its challenges
From Paddles To Pads: is controller design killing creativity in videogames?
1. 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
9.
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 9
10. 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
14. 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
22. “Complexity
lost the
casual
gamer...”
Nolan Bushnell
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 22
23. “...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
24. “People are
interface phobic”
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 24
29. Alex
(note happy,
smiling
demeanour,
prior to
playing Halo)
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 29
31. Is it the controllers
that are scaring
people off?
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 31
32. 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
33. Current joypads are
aesthetically
uninspiring
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 33
34. Singstar
http://flickr.com/photos/paalb/80551306/
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 34
35. Buzz
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 35
53. Is controller design
killing creativity in
videogames?
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 53
55. 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
57. “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
58. “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
62. “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
63. Are these
controllers what we
want to represent
videogames?
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 63