Video game controllers, Are they that complicated??

[Captain_Fantastic]

now i consider myself a gamer and a bit of a tech nerd, but just yesterday i was hanging with some of my friends. and a small debate came over on why one of us chose the xbox over the ps3, and not the ones to argue over hardware or things like that, I soon found out that the one playing the xbox could not physically use a ps3 controller to play the exact same game and most of my friends had similiar problems. yet i could easily pick up any one of the three major console controllers and most of the older ones including a keyboard and have no difference on the way i play the game

tl'dr i can use any console controller just as easily as the others but my friends cannot


and my question to the escapist

do you have any trouble switching console controller types?
Are you one of the few people you know that can/cannot?
Is it really that hard to switch?

 

[Scrustle]

Maybe if someone is inexperienced with a wide range of controllers they will have trouble adapting. But I can't remember any time that it's happened to me. I've never had a problem getting used to a controller as far as I can remember.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

The two main problems I have when switching between the Xbox 360 and PS3 are the thumbsticks and the shoulder 'button's. I much prefer the 360's controller because it actually has triggers whereas the PS3 controller just has buttons and (if you are used to the 360 controller) the functions are flipped, so what would normally be underside trigger functions are not topside button presses and it just feel awkward to make the switch. As for the thumbsticks, it just feels more natural with the 360's controller layout, but that may be just because I'm used to using a 360 controller.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well if you never learn to ride a bike then it's really difficult to ride a bike...

 

[Gulleko]

I grew up with the NES controller, so anything more complicated than that is hard for me...
I can handle the standard xbox game, but only if I don't have to use all the buttons.
The shoulder bouttons LB/RB LT/RT makes me confused...
I haven't used a PS controller in years, so I don't know how I'd handle it nowadays. Probably badly.

 

[Gah234]

The hardest change for me (coming from PS3) is the resistance of the 360's thumbsticks. And I have to admit, triggers are better than "2"s tho I prefer L1 and R1 over bumpers ¬¬

 

[Captain_Fantastic]

Well if you never learn to ride a bike then it's really difficult to ride a bike...

true enough but im also that guy that never reads the manual
its pissed my parents off on occasion when i toss the manual to ikea furniture to the side and they have to basically deconstruct and put it back together in order to understand how i did it

i also have trouble explaining the controlls of a game because of this i could be rocking a game but if somebody asked what buttons i pressed while doing it i wouldnt be able to tell them..... if only i could do this with musical instruments

 

[Tanis]

My only issue is that on a standard (READ: the one that comes w/the system) Xbox360 controller the D-Pad is crap.

I had to buy a 3rd Party controller so I could play games like MK without sucking.

 

[Evill_Bob]

It takes me a few minutes to get used to a new controller but I rapidly adapt. My first gaming platform featured two bottons and a joystick, from there everything was a simple until my first shooter that movement and camera controls were controlled sperately. After that no control system has ever stumped me.

 

[Creator002]

I can use all 3 major systems (as well as a mouse and keyboard) absolutely fine. I've had, in my lifetime, a SNES, N64, GameCube, PS2, PS3, Xbox and Xbox 360, not to mention numerous PCs. If your friends haven't grown up with a lot of gaming experience (or, more importantly, varied experience) they're going to have some trouble adapting.
Most of my friends are about my age as well, so they've had the same experience and can use all consoles equally, though we all prefer the 360 controller overall.

 

[NLS]

I like the 360s button layout better, the left analog is better positioned plus the analogs are concave, so your thumb tips sit nicely in them. The triggers are also better formed, I feel like my fingers are slipping off every 5 minutes when using the PS3 controller. In addition to this, the shape is much more ergonomic and "just fits" into your hand, unlike dualshock that hasn't changed in the past 15 years.

 

[philzibit]

I can see where there coming from I guess. For example, when playing an FPS, it's strange to go from 360 to PS3 because the trigger on the 360 is flopped on PS3.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

They arnt complicated. But i grew up on 1 button joysticks so its not an issue. Giving someone new a 8 plus3 directional pad joypad can seem unnerving.

 

[VyseRogueKing]

I've never had that problem. Maybe it's because I've grown up with a playstation controller for a good part of my life as well as every form of nintendo controller and learned the ins and outs of an xbox box controller when that came out. Also I love using a keyboard as a controller being a primarily PC gamer now.

That being said when I would play one of my friends at any PS3 game he would have the excuse that he can never get into the groove with a PS3 controller. I only have the Xbox 360 as the current gen console right now (R.I.P. Wii T.T) and I don't have that problem but when I play him on the Xbox he is considerably better (still kick his ass though) but I don't know what this could mean. Maybe some people after considerable exposure to different controllers adapt quicker or maybe others simply cannot adapt as quickly.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

It honestly depends on the type of game that I play whether I can use a specific controller or not.

I can't use a PS3 controller for shooters, because my hands are too big, and my thumbs bump each other when I use both joysticks at the same time.

In the same vein though, I can't play action games on a keyboard (the controls are too awkward), or play fighting games on an xbox 360 controller (d-pad sucks).

I'm sure that if I HAD to play those games with those controllers I could do it, but some controllers are just better suited for certain types of gameplay as opposed to others.

 

[GonzoGamer]

No I don't have a problem switching. I find the 360 controller to be a bit oddly shaped but I don't have a problem switching between them: ps3 on my ps3 and 360 on my PC.
I suspect that most who claims there being such a huge difference is a fanboy. Then again, I might not see any issues because I've been fiddling with gamepads since they only had one stick and one button and they gradually grew into the monstrosities we play with now.

 

[Elsarild]

Some people are slower to adapt.

A funny story: A few years ago (2-3) I was competing in the semi finals in DBA (danmarks bedste Gamer -Translated- The best gamer in Denmark) and during the semi Finals and the competition before that, we had to play on both PS3 and Xbox 360 and 2 games on PC, the games where: Fifa, some boxing game, Modern Warfare 2, Peggle and a few others.

But me and 6 or so friends was competing, me being a hardcore PC gamer never really played alot on xbox or PC and I had never played any of the mentioned games on any console did best in my group, in many of them and beat all but 1 of my friends there and I ended in the Semi Finals. I was beaten there.

I had no problem picking up a controller and playing, playing quite well even, but my girlfriend still has to look if I say "press R2" or the like, and she's played atleast 7 hours on our PS3.

 

[IamQ]

I prefer the PS3 controller, but I can use the Xbox controller, Gamecube controller etc. with ease.