“Nearly perfect” and “pretty much perfect” were two of your comments about Halo 3. “I absolutely loved the Halo 3 campaign” and “Halo 3 is the best FPS I have played” were two more.*
Like fellow Xbox 360 title Forza 3 it was not a great success from a Tweak It point of view. Nevertheless, you did come up with a handful of tweaks that could be applied to Halo 3:
- Genetically-enhanced super-soldiers shouldn’t need to rely on an armour ability to be able to sprint. ~ Kennykazey, hazelam
- A compass on the H.U.D. so that “when they tell you to go east or west” you know which way to go. ~ hazelam
- Smarter allied A.I. when using vehicles. ~ Kennykazey
- Co-op matchmaking. ~ Armonster9000
*Glowing comments from Armonster9000, Sad Panda, a inferior race and Sad Panda (again) respectively.
The PlayStation’s controllers have remained remarkably unchanged considering that we are not that far away from the twentieth anniversary of the brand’s launch; the addition of the two analogue sticks being the only really significant difference that is immediately apparent.
Contrast this with how Nintendo’s controllers have changed over a similar timescale, starting with the N64’s ‘tri-hulled’ design; then onto the Gamecube’s controller, which is still one of my all-time favourites; and then from the wireless Wavebird to the Wiimote, and finally next year we’ll have the Wii U’s ‘tablet’ controller.
Clearly there must be something about the design of Sony’s PlayStation controller that just works. Either that or whenever they show something different, like the infamous PS3 ‘boomerang’ controller concept, the negative reaction is so venomous that it frightens them off from making any changes.
It is not surprising that we tend to have strong feelings about a controller. A console’s controller is arguably its most important feature. It is the part of the system that you continually interact with throughout your time with the console. Whether wireless or not it is your physical connection to the console being thrust triumphantly skywards in victory or hurled floor-wards in anger and frustration.
All that means that controllers are a very personal preference and we will all have likes and dislikes about them. Personally, this is how I would tweak the Sony’s DualShock 3:
- Produce a version which is essentially a PS3 Dual Analog controller. The “arms” of the original PlayStation Dual Analog were longer than those of other PlayStation controllers and were pitched at slightly less of an angle in relation to the controller’s ‘face’. The Dual Analog’s analogue sticks themselves also had concave tops rather than being the mushroom-like appendages we are now left with.
- While on the subject of concave-y-ness, I would also prefer concave triggers. I have tried some of the various third party add-ons to make the triggers but there is something not quite right about the feel, the pivot point feels wrong. I suspect integrated concave triggers would not have that problem.
With what must collectively be hundreds of thousands of hours of holding PlayStation controllers in your sweaty little hands, you must have some great ideas for how you would tweak it to perfection…
The Lone Steven
Fix the gap under the triggers. It is annoying if you are watching a film and then it suddenly fast forwards if you slighty move which causes R2 to be press. More grip to avoid it getting thrown at the wall when using the sixaxis function. I suspect that is one of the reasons why mine died randomly.
Darth Newdar
I warmly recommend the Blu-ray remote. I got it for £8 from eBay, and it’s so much easier to use for watching films than the DS3. Also, non-gaming people can then also use the PS3 to watch films.
bacon_nuts
It’s rechargeable (which xbox and N managed to miss to start), compact, suitable for big and small hands, ergonomic, responsive and sturdy. I love the analogue sticks and the triggers, I have /very/ sweaty hands, and never slip off L2 or R2 or the sticks. I’m glad the sticks remain where they are instead of the 360 arrangement, with the left higher, it’s far more comfortable in the DS3. Sixaxis is fun too, but not really used sadly.. It’s by far my favourite controller
CrawFail
Having grown up with Platstations, the DS feels so natural to me. The only thing I don’t like is the triggers, which should be inverted to stop sweaty fingers slipping off then..
And the fact that when the controller gets knocked when watching a DVD it fast forwards it far too easily.
It’d also be nice to see a sixaxisless controller, knocking the price down a tad.
ron_mcphatty
I think the DS3 is amazing, the only problem I have is the availability of genuine controllers!! Sony need to push hard to get the fakes off the net. Thanks to some helpful comments in the forum I think I’ll go shopping for my new DS3 in the real highstreet shops.
GTRsannin
Maybe the price is a bit too high but other than that i think it’s perfect the buttons are at the right places and it fits my hands perfectly
hazelam
to be honest, there’s not really much i’d change about the dual shock design, the triggers could do with being a little less sensitive when playing videos, it’s annoying when a video you’re watching suddenly starts fast forwarding just because you put the pad down.
i’ve never had any real problems with the shape when playing, but a concave design would be better, the same for the analog sticks.
this one’s not strictly related to the dual shock but i’d like to see a return of that twin flight stick controller sony released in the ps1 days.
or something like it.
i’ve only ever seen it in real life once, i wish i’d bought it.
i found a picture.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Scph-1110.jpg/300px-Scph-1110.jpg
that, or something like it would be great.
oh yeah, just thought of something, how about creating drivers so you we can use the pad on a pc.
you can get bluetooth adaptors for pc for a few quid these days, i’ve got one, all we need is sony to create a set of drivers.
hazelam
just though of another one, replaceable batteries.
by replaceable i mean in a way that doesn’t require disassembling the pad.
nemesisND1derboy
You can use it on a PC via a workaround. Use the MotionInJoy thing and set it up as a 360 pad. Instantly recognised by most games.
As for the battery replacement, didn’t really work out well for the 360 controller. The battery pack is horrible.
OllyBobs
It’s a little bit greedy I admit, but a nice little addition to the pad would be; when it’s charging, the ps button glows a warm red haha! :D
MrJimmy
actually you have something there, I hate lifting em up to see if they are charged yet, yay glow OllyBobs!
Dan Lee
Concave sticks and triggers, please.
Awayze
Hell no, I hope Concave NEVER comes to the PS controller, its soo annoying on the 360 and PS3 controller joysticks are superior to the 360 joysticks.
Dan Lee
In your opinion.
JesseDeya
Let me start by saying if you’ve ever thrown your controller at a wall in rage, you’re either too young, stupid, unstable or bias to comment on this discussion.
Moving on…
There is a good reason the dual analogue stick concept (by Sony) hasn’t been changed in years…. it just works. Very telling is the Xbox 360 design which basically just modified to design slightly to differentiate and added some nice features but at the same time worsened others. The DS3 could use concave thumbsticks at triggers, but as others ave pointed out it’s not critical and you an already “tweak it” for a few bucks with after market products.
If I could tweak the controller more I’d add proximity charging, so you only need to place it close to a charging pad to recharge. Apart from the concave issues mentioned before that’s honestly about it.
colmshan1990
I love my Dualshocks, they’ve always been the same to me (I got my Playstation after the first Dualshocks came out) aside from the addition of sixaxis.
I would firm up the Sixaxis- I think it could be more accurate in relaying the motions you make. Other than that, there is no improvement I can think of beyond a lower price and I suppose a longer lasting battery (although it lasts ages anyway.)
Oh wait, I do have a proper suggestion.
Make the face buttons (X,O,etc.) more durable- I’ve noticed that they can get ‘sticky’ sometimes after I have non-gamers in the house. I think they push the buttons harder than they need to or something.