Topic: Classic Controls Vs Pointer/Motion Controls for FPS's - let battle commence!

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

No, not really. I want quick, responsive controls regardless of what I'm doing within my game.

Exactly, Morari. I think that's the primary factor in how people decide what sort of control set-up to use. Which feels quicker and more responsive to them personally? As for me, I like the tactile sensitivity and instantaneous readjustments that I pull off with the pointer (which also applies to a mouse), but I know others, after years of convention, feel more comfortable with a twin stick controller.

[KDR_11k]

The Wii ain't exactly abundant with the great first person shooters.  So realistically Metroid Prime 3 is my sole experience with pointer controls.  What I don't like is that I have to keep my hand still.  It's very easy to start bouncing all over the place.  At least with dual-analog if I "rest" I just do nothing.  It's like I can't rest with pointer controls for I have to keep that pointer facing forward.

Is it more accurate?  Yeah, but it's more work on my part.  Maybe it's something I could get used to if more games used it.  But right now if I want a good FPS I'm going with my PS3 where I'll be using dual-analog.  That's just how it is.

With Metroid Prime 3 there was also the problem that I was used to the original Metroid Prime controls and unlike a lot of people I was content with them.  The new controls were fixing a problem I never really felt was there.

The sample size has just been too small.  We'll see how I feel as FPS games with these style controls become more common.

Maybe you're holding it wrong, I can rest my hand on my leg and still aim fine without fatigue. It just makes waggle gestures hard to do.

[Jonnyboy117]

I find that with most pointer FPS controls on Wii, there is a trade-off between increased aiming accuracy within the given view and decreased turn speed/fidelity. What I mean by the latter is that you can jack up the turn speed and make it more responsive by shrinking the bounding box, but my personal experience shows that doing so also makes it hard to turn exactly when and how much you want to.

Therefore, the usefulness of pointer controls is a combination of control interface design (how much can you customize settings to your personal preference) and the actual game design (how much accurate aiming and quick turning is required during gameplay). Corruption works very well in this scheme, partly because enemies rarely stray outside of your view. In Goldeneye multiplayer, opponents may run circles around you, making it hard (for me) to keep up and aim "on the run" when using pointer controls.

I generally prefer dual joystick for comfort and familiarity reasons, although there is also quite a bit of variability in how well that scheme is implemented, depending on the game. The classic controls feel excellent in Goldeneye without any setup.