it seems that today, every game released is user-friendly to all the new generation gamers, and is all based on the anaolg control sticks. this pisses me off, i'm old school, and pretty much need the D-Pad to live. for example, the Ace Combat games. i could anhilate all in the first 3 games, where the directional pad was the only available steering option. then they changed it in Distant Thunder, and made it so you had to use the Sticks, and i fly into things, and over shoot all the time. i hate it.
so many games just assume that if you own a playstation that you MUST be good with the analog sticks, and don't even give you the option to use the D-Pad.
so, i wanna know.
who out there is a D-Pad dependant person, like myself, and who can use the Analog system like they were born to do it?
I've been a hardcore gamer since I got an NES nearly 15 years ago, yet I prefer the analog stick over the d-pad. That's one of the reasons (aside from the larger screen) that I play GBA games on an emulator rather than a real GBA (and yes, I do still buy GBA games, I just don't play them.) I find the analog stick far easier to use than the d-pad for most games.
(Incidentally, I've never owned a PS1/PS2 and I absolutely abhor the Playstation controller. Dreamcast, N64 and X-Box, on the other hand, I'm quite fond of.)
The Dual Shock controller's analog sticks are just horrendous. The Dual Shock is designed so that you grip the D-Pad the easiest, and you have to work to use the analog. I'm fine with a stick on any other controller, but when playing a PS2 game, their controller design always brings my abilities down a few levels.
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It depends on the game. If I have a choice, I usually prefer to use the d-pad, since it's what I'm used to. I got the GTA Double pack for Xbox about a month ago, and it's one of those that forces you to use the analog stick. It took me about a day to get used to it, but now I'm doing just as well (or better) then I did on the Playstation version.
Generally, I have no trouble with the Dual Shock, strangely enough. I dunno, maybe I've just adjusted to it better since I've been primarily playing PS1/2. I do find myself missing the N64 controller for some games... anything that only requires 1 analog stick, really. It was perfectly set up for that.
I still wind up using the d-pad for a lot of things (most RPGs, fighting games, the like) but I don't have much trouble switching back and forth.
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I went back and played the original Crash Bandicoot the other day and found that I was awful at using the d-pad for fine movements. I've become unaccustomed to the tapping needed to use the d-pad, as opposed to learning to carefully tilt analog sticks. I especially appreciate analog control when playing simulation racing style games that require delicate movements to control.
I still do fine using the d-pad with 2d games, IE. a PC gamepad for snes roms, the pad on the DC controller, or the GBA, but I just got a GBA player and I find Metroid Fusion a lot easier to play with an analog stick.
I cannot get used to the analogs on the Dualshock. I've played SSX3 for both the 'Cube and the PS2, and I just can't get used to steering while crouching on the PS2. In the 'Cube it's no problem, but my friends laugh at me because I use my chin to steer with the Dualshock.
I do like the option of having both, though. The D-Pad is more exact when you want to make deliberate moves. I also have the GBA player, and I love having the option to use either. I've been playing Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, and I almost alwasys use the Analog stick. However, when I have to slect an enemy to attack in battle, using the analog stick never gets me to the right target. I use the D-Pad for selection there and in some of the mini games (like Barrellingm which is addictive).
Basically, if the game wants me to use deliberate directional control, I want the D-Pad. However, when you're working flowing combos together in a fighting game, you need an analog stick or else you're going to blister (I couldn't use Sub-Zero in the original Mortal Kombat without injuring my thumb).
I do prefer the texture of the Dualshock analog, but the placement on the controller seems all wrong to me. If only the 'Cube controller had that texture for the stick and a better Z-button, it would be perfect.
I don't mind the analog(ue) sticks on the X-Box or PSX2 - in fact I find them better for driving games because in most games I can use the right stick to modulate the gas pedal instead of using a button for an "on/off" feature. However the Gamecube setup irritates the hell out of me. Both analog(ue) sticks are different in shape and even worse, the d-pad is about 33% smaller than the d-pads on the other consoles' controllers, making games like the Tony Hawk series and any fighting game that require complex control movements damned difficult to play.
It totally depends on the type of game for me. If the game is something like Ace Combat, where the stick is used for little more than pointing you in a direction to move, I prefer that.
However, for games like Tony Hawk and fighting games, the D-Pad is a must. If I have to point a specific direction to execute a move, I can do so much more accurately with the D-Pad than I ever could with the stick.
Personally, it does piss me off when games don't allow you to use both... why bother having both available on the control pad?
And the Dualshock controller is HORRIBLE! The majority of the PS games I have played require the stick nowadays, yet the pad is positioned for easiest use. And that bizzare angle the stick is at hurts my thumbs. No one, in my eyes, has ever topped the N64 controller- that thing has to be the easiest controller to use ever.
I also am totally dependent on the D-pad. So of course I get NHL 2004 for Xmas and it only works with the analog. I wouldn't mind so much if this was the default and there was some option to switch it, but there isn't. Now I can't even play for long periods of time like I did with 2003. It just causes my hand to be sore.
Originally posted by ScarI also am totally dependent on the D-pad. So of course I get NHL 2004 for Xmas and it only works with the analog. I wouldn't mind so much if this was the default and there was some option to switch it, but there isn't. Now I can't even play for long periods of time like I did with 2003. It just causes my hand to be sore.
I got NHL2004 on the pc and used an usb-adaptor to plug my PS2 controllers to it. It took a time to get used to, but the skating is smoother with the analog sticks.
For most other games I prefer the D-pad though. I was born and raised with it.
I don't mind using the analog stick for trivial things during a game, but it is a serious pain in my ass to have to use it as the main controller. Here's a vote for the DPad.
I'm working through Final Fantasy VIII right now, and I'm actually using the Analog pad for moving in confined spaces, like the Gardens areas. Can't use them for sports games, either. However, I love them for shooting games.
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On a someone related note, they aired a piece on CNN-International where they said that the current generation (and the future ones) are developing stronger and maybe even bigger thumbs because of using them on gamepads and cell phones. In Japan they are already dubbing the current youth Generation Thumb. They showed some "professional gamer" (wtf??) who swore his right thumb was bigger and stronger.
Originally posted by WhitebaconAll the talk about the position of the analog stick is moot to me, I can't use it unless I'm forced. D-pad all the way.
That about sums it up for me as well. I play 90% sports games (including racing) and I just couldn't get out of the D-pad history (Nintendo, Genesis) and embrace the analog stick. As has been noted, a lot of the 2004 games use the analog stick only, but I am unable to use both the left and right sticks at the same time (except in NBA Live where they are easy move controls like steal or crossover). Heck, I barely have the ability to use the L and R buttons at the top of the controller.
I CANNOT use the sticks for driving games, to the detriment of my performance on said games. Hopefully I won't have to go analog for GT4.
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Depends on the game for me. Wrestling titles almost always are D-pad, since If I'm trying to hop out of the ring to catch a breather I tend to move at an angle on the stick and can't do it immediately. Capcom fighters are the same way, because without a full-sized stick, I can't throw a F,D,DF to save my life. For everything else, it's pretty much analog.
My wife refused to use the stick up until Prince of Persia came out when she *had* to learn it. After that and Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, she's wanting to go bak to Castlevania: LoI since she's more comfortable with it.
i don't have a x-box, but lip synch issues can be either the player or the disc. as you found out, the player isn't decoding everything in synch (IIRC, sound is more complicated to decode, and if the player isn't up to par, you get out of synch)