y'know, nintendo genuinely nailed the idea of a split controller

they knocked it out of the park with the concept and implementation of the joycons

the actual design of the joycon notwithstanding, because they don't feel good to use at all and have bad joysticks whatever, just the idea, concept, and implementation.

i could not imagine sony or microsoft pulling this off even a quarter as good their first try if they attempted it, but nintendo just nailed it

didnt they do that already with the Wii?

Wiimotes can't combine into one controller.

keyblader1985 posted...

Wiimotes can't combine into one controller.

Oh I see I see

MICHALECOLE posted...

didnt they do that already with the Wii?

Kind of. Wiichucks offer a lot of similar benefits to Joycons (namely that you can hold your hands wherever you want), but functionality-wise they're missing out on a lot of things that keep them from being fully functional as a modern controller (even by 2006 standards, which aren't overly different from what we see today). With Joycons, you've got everything a regular controller would have, but they're completely split.

That came in really handy when I broke my elbow a couple years ago and had my right arm stuck in a sling for two weeks. Instead of trying to hold a regular controller awkwardly off to the side, I was able to use split Joycons in whatever position I wanted and experience only a minor downgrade in the experience. I hadn't previously considered the accessibility angle of it, but it's actually kind of a huge deal. In the same vein, there are 1-handed Joycon grips out there that are literally just an L-shaped piece of plastic, allowing both Joycons to be held and used by players that only have one hand available. One-handed grips for traditional controllers also exist, but they're vastly more complicated to assemble and use, so kudos to the Joycons for being so simple to adapt.

I actually love how the joycons feel

MICHALECOLE posted...

didnt they do that already with the Wii?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/81c4632e.jpg

I had elbow bursitis last month and I was a little less comfortable using a Pro Controller or my 8BitDo Pro. It was nice to grab the Joy-Cons and use them separated for better individual arm comfort. Used the sliders and everything, since that makes them a bit more comfortable in my adult hands. Worked really well for DQIII HD-2D.

Really brought me back to playing MP3/Twlight Princess on the Wii - I always loved having the control scheme of a "full controller" but split apart between my hands. It made couch lounging while playing a lot easier. The cord was a little more "in the way" since the wii-mote and nunchuck were connected, but I often put the cord behind my neck so then the Wii-mote and nunchuck could dangle there when I wasn't playing.

adjl posted...

Kind of. Wiichucks offer a lot of similar benefits to Joycons (namely that you can hold your hands wherever you want), but functionality-wise they're missing out on a lot of things that keep them from being fully functional as a modern controller (even by 2006 standards, which aren't overly different from what we see today). With Joycons, you've got everything a regular controller would have, but they're completely split.

That came in really handy when I broke my elbow a couple years ago and had my right arm stuck in a sling for two weeks. Instead of trying to hold a regular controller awkwardly off to the side, I was able to use split Joycons in whatever position I wanted and experience only a minor downgrade in the experience. I hadn't previously considered the accessibility angle of it, but it's actually kind of a huge deal. In the same vein, there are 1-handed Joycon grips out there that are literally just an L-shaped piece of plastic, allowing both Joycons to be held and used by players that only have one hand available. One-handed grips for traditional controllers also exist, but they're vastly more complicated to assemble and use, so kudos to the Joycons for being so simple to adapt.

ok, confirmed that Joy-Cons are good for elbow injuries, lol

Or anything that limits arm position, really. Until it becomes difficult to move one of your arms, you don't really realize just how restrictive typical controllers are. I'm not about to suggest that Joycons are perfect controllers, but that design is really the only reason I was able to finish replaying Xenoblade 2 before 3 came out. Heck, it was the only reason I could play much of anything those two weeks, since I couldn't use a standard controller or use a mouse and keyboard at the same time. I could probably have found something to play with just a mouse or with one-handed keyboard controls (I normally use my mouse left-handed when I'm not playing a M+KB game, so thankfully that wasn't affected), but nothing like that was on my radar at the time, so it was good that I could keep going with Xenoblade.

Nah. I don't think so. Not everything they do is great

I think they're too small and uncomfortable even when they work right (and they don't). They slip out of my hands and my fingers bump into each other.

Also my hands are pretty much as big as they get.

The Wii was peak Nintendium tbh. Also a way better time in my life, that might have something to do with it.

Yellow posted...

Also my hands are pretty much as big as they get.

How did you feel about THE DUKE?

https://dev.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gbDaJ9dhcJsb3dpVeSwbpF.jpg

ParanoidObsessive posted...

How did you feel about THE DUKE?

https://dev.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gbDaJ9dhcJsb3dpVeSwbpF.jpg

I actually loved that controller. XBox makes controllers for my hands.

Maybe companies should literally just scale up the size of their controllers to big medium small.

Yellow posted...

I actually loved that controller. XBox makes controllers for my hands.

Maybe companies should literally just scale up the size of their controllers to big medium small.

My friend really loved it. But he was coming from the Sega Genesis so it felt more like a natural evolution to him.

I never liked the button placement on it (I was always more of an SNES/PS1/PS2 man). Though the S-controller/360 controller might be my favorite ever. It always felt like the best balance between layout and size for my giant man hands. And as much as some people whine about them, I was fine with the asymmetric thumbsticks.

The PS5 controller is actually pretty nice though. It feels like a cross between the 360 and the older Dual Shocks. The only downside is that I hate the touchpad, but that's a battle I'm never going to win because everyone under the age of 40 sucks.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

How did you feel about THE DUKE?

https://dev.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gbDaJ9dhcJsb3dpVeSwbpF.jpg

man, as someone with no left hand, and 3 fingers on my right, that controller was a nightmare lol The only controller worse for me was the Wiimote+Nunchuck. I didn't play Skyward Sword until the Switch release because it was physically impossible for me.