I really like how a lot of the modern remakes try to incorporate things to make you feel like you're making some kind of progression, such as achievements and statistics and such. I guess if Pac-Man were being made today, it'd be some sort of complicated Facebook social networking game..."Hey, your friend's maze has not been harvested in four days! Would you be a pal and go clear the level for him?" Hehehe.
Well, I don't think Pac-Man would have been designed from scratch today to be sure, but certainly we can look to the two Pac-Man modern re-imaginings for Pac-Man in the 21st century, Pac-Man CE and Pac-Man CE DX, the latter of which is a personal favorite of mine. Though it's hard to argue that the original Pac-Man is not best with a 4-way joystick, both Pac-Man CE games are wonderfully tuned for play with the Xbox 360's analog stick, even being incorporated into the play mechanic for quicker corner turns. Again, original intention for control is almost always key with this stuff. That's probably a big part of the reason why I was so dissapointed playing the PS3's Heavy Rain with the Move controls - the game was clearly designed with a gamepad in mind and the latter day DLC-style Move controls were just a tack-on.
Matt Barton wrote:
I also use an Xbox 360 wired controller for my PC stuff. I wish I had a few extra units just to make it easier. I hate the wireless controllers, which drain batteries and always seem to take forever syncing up on my 360. The Wiimotes are actually quite superior in that regard (at least in my experience).
Wii controllers are battery hogs. I find that the wireless Xbox 360 controllers are best with regular AA batteries, and you should always disconnect the battery pack when not playing. That prolongs the battery life significantly. It's more of a pain on the Wii controller, so I don't bother. I use the wireless Xbox 360 controller on my PCs and love it. Just the one wireless dongle supports up to four controllers, just like on the Xbox. It works out well for me considering all the Xbox controllers in my house due to the three consoles and their associated controllers and add-ons.
Matt Barton wrote:
Now that I'm sitting here thinking about it, I can't really think of many games that would be "ruined" by playing with a gamepad instead of a joystick. Sure, it's not "authentic," but I can't think of one that'd be reduced to an unplayable state by having to play it with a pad.
Well, again, it also depends on the type of gamepad, plus, playability is relative. Unless you only have the one controller, it's still undeniably best to use what the game was designed around whenever possible. Certainly to use my earlier example, depending on the type of digital d-pad, diagonals can be more of a chore than with a joystick.
I really like how a lot of the modern remakes try to incorporate things to make you feel like you're making some kind of progression, such as achievements and statistics and such. I guess if Pac-Man were being made today, it'd be some sort of complicated Facebook social networking game..."Hey, your friend's maze has not been harvested in four days! Would you be a pal and go clear the level for him?" Hehehe.
Well, I don't think Pac-Man would have been designed from scratch today to be sure, but certainly we can look to the two Pac-Man modern re-imaginings for Pac-Man in the 21st century, Pac-Man CE and Pac-Man CE DX, the latter of which is a personal favorite of mine. Though it's hard to argue that the original Pac-Man is not best with a 4-way joystick, both Pac-Man CE games are wonderfully tuned for play with the Xbox 360's analog stick, even being incorporated into the play mechanic for quicker corner turns. Again, original intention for control is almost always key with this stuff. That's probably a big part of the reason why I was so dissapointed playing the PS3's Heavy Rain with the Move controls - the game was clearly designed with a gamepad in mind and the latter day DLC-style Move controls were just a tack-on.
I also use an Xbox 360 wired controller for my PC stuff. I wish I had a few extra units just to make it easier. I hate the wireless controllers, which drain batteries and always seem to take forever syncing up on my 360. The Wiimotes are actually quite superior in that regard (at least in my experience).
Wii controllers are battery hogs. I find that the wireless Xbox 360 controllers are best with regular AA batteries, and you should always disconnect the battery pack when not playing. That prolongs the battery life significantly. It's more of a pain on the Wii controller, so I don't bother. I use the wireless Xbox 360 controller on my PCs and love it. Just the one wireless dongle supports up to four controllers, just like on the Xbox. It works out well for me considering all the Xbox controllers in my house due to the three consoles and their associated controllers and add-ons.
Now that I'm sitting here thinking about it, I can't really think of many games that would be "ruined" by playing with a gamepad instead of a joystick. Sure, it's not "authentic," but I can't think of one that'd be reduced to an unplayable state by having to play it with a pad.
Well, again, it also depends on the type of gamepad, plus, playability is relative. Unless you only have the one controller, it's still undeniably best to use what the game was designed around whenever possible. Certainly to use my earlier example, depending on the type of digital d-pad, diagonals can be more of a chore than with a joystick.