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).

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

2. Tom Armitage, aged 2.5
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3. Is controller design
killing creativity in
videogames?
Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 3

4. Current-gen joypads
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5. Next-generation joypad
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6. New-look shoulder buttons!
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7. Revolution Remote
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8. Thanks very much!
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9.
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10. The games industry is big
‣Halo 2:
first day on sale:
2.38 million copies
$125m
‣Spider-man:
opening weekend:
$114m
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11. The power of sequels
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12. Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 12

13. Things which are the same:
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14. What’s wrong with this?
It assumes you’ve used a
joypad before
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15. NES pad
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16. SNES pad
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17. Playstation pad
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18. Playstation2 pad
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19. Modern handhelds
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20. Xbox pad
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21. Xbox pad being held
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22. “Complexity
lost the
casual
gamer...”
Nolan Bushnell
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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
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24. “People are
interface phobic”
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25. Snake - gaming on a phone
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26. Bricks - gaming on a PDA
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27. Solitaire - gaming on an iPod
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28. Current-gen joypads
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29. Alex
(note happy,
smiling
demeanour,
prior to
playing Halo)
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30. Alex playing Halo
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31. Is it the controllers
that are scaring
people off?
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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
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33. Current joypads are
aesthetically
uninspiring
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34. Singstar
http://flickr.com/photos/paalb/80551306/
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35. Buzz
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36. Donkey Konga
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37. Guitar Hero
http://flickr.com/photos/mayoff/71389886/
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38. Steel Battalion
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39. Halo
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40. Metroid Prime
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41. Killer7
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42. Micro Machines 2
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43. Micro Machines 2 cart
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44. Emerging Tech 2006 - Tom Armitage - Is Controller Design Killing Creativity in Videogames? 44

45. Same idiom in next-gen
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46. Handedness
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47. Asymmetric pads
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48. Donkey Kong cabinet
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49. Even this pad has a bias
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50. Entirely symmetrical
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51. Revolution “nunchuck”
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52. No incentive to use these well
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53. Is controller design
killing creativity in
videogames?
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54. The “Uncanny Valley”
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55. PS3 controller
Controller specifics are
“nothing we need to be
concerned about as
developers”
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56. Is this the best we can do?
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57. “If we cannot
expand the market,
all we can do is
wait for the
industry to slowly
die”
Satoru Iwata
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58. “It is our
responsibility to
make games for all
skill levels...
including people
who are not playing
games now”
Satoru Iwata
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59. Revolution
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60. Controllers in comic books
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61. Controllers in films
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62. “A videogame is
something you play
with controls,
usually but not
always using your
thumbs.”
Tom Langston
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63. Are these
controllers what we
want to represent
videogames?
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64. Games are more than this
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65. This is not the end of evolution
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66. Thanks very much!
Tom Armitage - tom@infovore.org
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