Ok
now first of all, I'm neutral as far as which console's better, the
PS4 or the XBone. I actually am more of a PS3 gamer because I don't
like —the changes to the controler— that Sony made when they
released the PS4, itself. —The changes that I find problematic—
are as follows:
The
select button has been replaced with an, "options" button,
which ruins the immersion; every time you press it, you are given an
extra reminder that you're just playing a game and that you're not
really a ninja or a pirate etc. I know that most people know and
should know —the difference between fantasy and reality, —but
when the on-screen tutorials tell you to, 'push the, Options button
to pause,' it tells your subconscious that it's just a game. In most
games, the, Start button is the pause button, and the Select button is to access in-game menus. The advantage
of this is the fact that —the words on the buttons, themselves—
have nothing to do with their functions, so it helps to add to the
illusion that you're actually a ninja or a pirate etc. With a button
that says, "Options," it doesn't seem like it has anything
to do with the gameplay at all; it seems like a replacement for the PS button on the PS3, but less cool-sounding.
Now
let's talk about the Select button or lack thereof. There's no
reason to eliminate the Select button; it's usually used to bring up
the map screen in open world games and the powers/upgrades menu in
other games. In —superpowered sandbox games,— it works to use
the Select button for —the map screen— and have —a menu in the
map screen to access the powers menu— (although in Prototype and
Prototype 2, the Start button was to access the map screen and the
Select button was to pause, but this is a minor complaint.) But this
idea works because when you access the powers menu/map, you're still
not pressing the official pause button, so you still feel like you're
in game, even if you're still pausing it. PS4 ports of —PS3 games
that require the Start and Select button to have different functions—
use a press of the touchscreen for —the Select button— and this
is problematic.
So
now let's talk about —the touch-screen on the controller— being
used as a substitute for Select, since that also seems
to be a problem. The touch screen is easy to press while you're in
the middle of fast-paced button mashing combat scenarios like in
Strider™. It's bad enough that it's easy for the combat to be
interrupted, but if you use the touchpad for Select, and you're
playing —a game where select brings up the powers menu— you
could end up spending your experience points on an upgrade that you
never intended to buy because you might not be able to stop yourself
from button mashing by the time you realize that you've accidentally
brought up —the powers menu,— itself.
Lastly,
let's talk about something that isn't annoying but, like —the Start
button being turned into an Options button,— makes the controller
seem less like a controller and more like an impractical PC
peripheral; the Share button. First of all, I think it's great that
people can stream directly from their PS4; that's not the problem.
The problem is that if you want to stream, there's no problem with
just pressing the PS button and going to a menu item. There are much
more important buttons that can be on the controller like I don't
know, a Select button perhaps? I can't wait until the PS5 is just a
big controller shaped touchscreen with no buttons at all!
