I'm still not convinced that the layout of the controller and how it is used is an issue compared to that of a keyboard and mouse. Where it may fall down is that the controller has no control over the fire repeat rate, for instance that the PC user has. This may be limited in game any way. I know that, SONY at least, spend a lot of time making sure the packets from the controller hit the PS3 as quickly as possible.
So what about move?
Move doesnt exist yet so its completely invalid, as well as 90% of your arguments, some done even make sense... Have you ever even seen/used high end PC gaming gear? I'm not biased either, i'm an avid console player as well as PC, and i've studied the control advantages of both. I cant say never, but rarely has a controller ever been superior to a mouse/keyboard setup in an FPS. Every last point i made you somehow made a construed argument, such as having to move your fingers, and somehow the joystick, rotating on a tilt axis, doesnt have to center before changing directions... I'm not talking from moving left to up, i'm talking up to down, and left to right... I wasnt gana but i think to make a valid response i'll put in the extra work and do some quotes...
What's your key rate set to?
The fact that you have to move/change your finger to change direction is a disadvantage compared to a controller and a joy stick, single thumb all directions
Key RATE doesnt matter. Also, the response time post activation is negligible, even with the console controllers being wireless... I'm talking miliseconds of difference, so no problem there.
And no, unless your a moron and chicken peck the wsad keys, you dont move your fingers. Atleast no more then one would on a controller. A 1mm depression is far superior to a 90 degree, 1 CM (at top... you know where your thumb is since unless your thumb is built into the stick its not at center) rotation/movement. The only compairable lag is moving your middle finger from W to S... your ring and index RARELY leave the A and D keys... Also, your pinkey and thumb can activate the shift, ctrl, alt and space keys, of which usually only 2 are used (shift and space, sometimes alt) so theres 2 more dedicated controls you never have to leave. Crouching is usually eaiser too, since with most FPS, your jumping with space and crouching with alt, basically you RARELY do both at the same time so its no problem. most games make you either leave your right stick to press a button, or depress one of the two sticks (which adds unnecessary force to the stick in question, frequently moving it, and again is generally more difficult, though probably more intuitive for some)
I dont have my original research docs, but the average TESTED response time for the movement stick vs wsad was about 150ms left and right... Going from W to S was, true, a bit slower, but only around 30-50ms...
I also found that depressing the sticks, if not done JUST right could jitter the joystick up to 10%, due to the amount of pressure needed to activate it. Of course this will vary controller to controller, but never enough to make it negligible. Not much can really be done about this, or it would make it prone to "accidental" presses...
Obviously, hhmm, moving the mouse over the pad is what 5cmX5cm min, moving the top of the joy stick is a circumference of 3cm
No clue wtf your talking about. My pad is upwards of 10x10 (never measured it) inches, about the same aspect ratio as a screen... If your doing a FPS with a touch pad then you need to die... I dont know what aspect of movement your talking about... If you mean to compare the amount of movement needed on a controller to that of a mouse to move an equal distance, thats 100% dependent on the mouse DPI and your sensitivity settings... If thats it, then this point is again 100% invalid. You do need to lift the mouse from time to time, but high end gaming mice (razers) make this a negligible action. YEAH it can create some inaccuracies if you need to lift it at a bad time... Though again, its not a question of sensitivity, but a question of responsiveness and accuracy, which the mouse excels in.
However, accuracy is something that couldnt be measured properly... though on all fronts most people will agree that the mouse is far more intuitive, which is a major factor. Getting used to an exponential sensitivity factor on controllers takes abit of time, and is frequently done poorly as to even make the exponential marks obvious... Forgot what it was, but the worst case scenario i saw, the movement at 50% stick would jump super obviously by about 20%... Like, there was a dead clear line that you would just start turning faster, which you couldnt do anything about and it threw everything off...
Unfortunatly i ran out of time, i'll bbl...Hang on a minute, is that why my aim is off, the controller continues to move the graticule when i've stopped? surely not. Its the user that provides the over shoot and the mouse user will over shoot as well, admittedly there is less of a one to one feel to the joystick, but is compensated for by most good players.
What's this all about, the joy stick has a central attraction but you don't have to pass through it anymore than the mouse has to pass over it
actually it is why alot of peoples aiming is off... The fact is, its unintuitive. You dont pickup a controller for the first time and expect to handle the exponential sensitivity with much grace... With a mouse, accuracy is a reaction time issue, less so a sensitivity issue. But true, as you said, most GOOD players will naturally correct for this, though point is more factors are involved in a controller, pressure, sensitivity, exponential, then are on a mouse...
And again, yeah sure the stick autosnaps to zero, but it doesnt mean you dont have to cross it. It still takes more time, usually around 20-30 or so ms, for a controller to reverse direction then a mouse.
Cant believe i forgot to mention this, but... I'd promise anybody 1000$ that if you were to rotate your character 360degree one way, then 360 degree the other way, a mouse will ALWAYS be faster... It takes a controller SIGNIFICANTLY more time to aim, period. Upwards of a second more in extreme circumstances... This is where all those variables, all those 10, 20, 50 100 ms differences maybe be negligible on their own, but trust me, they add up fast...
Dont take it that i'm just spewing BS either. As i said i'm an avid PC and console player, and ive done actual research on the topic.
This 110%. I need to clarify ONE thing however.
This does not 100% mean PC makes for a better EXPERIENCE. The experience is relative, and therefore will vary person to person, and some people, myself among them, prefer the controller for an immersion over precision kinda thing. I used to game on PC non-stop... pretty damn good too I think (never the best, but good) and honestly, I got tired of how easy it became for everyone, not just myself, to point crosshairs at an enemies head. Remember Rail guns in quake? Effin jeebus....
Anyways, point is that there is a personal preference on control mechanism. M/K is more accurate w/o question, and thus, the 2 methods CANNOT properly compete, but both methods are perfectly valid in their own right, and should exist exclusively to each other... I don't see either medium going anywhere.
And both would be right TBH..... A fairly average PC player could be me in an FPS if I were stuck with a gamepad and were I to go back to M/K... id be a bit rusty tbh lol Though even rusty... I'm probably twice as good on PC as I am on console. The difference is that significant. How can consoles possibly be expected to compete with PC in FPS? the only thing gamepads actually perform better in are things like racing, fighting, and action. RTS, RPG, and FPS a PC controls are technically better
Agree here. Ive always, and always will unless something dramatic comes about, feel more immersed on the PC. Its about whatever you make your home on. If youve always played and loved consoles, of course you'll generally have a better experience, and if your a PC at heart, you'll enjoy games on pc more. Generally... Some cross overs just dont work, of course. Some things are just fact, but enjoyment isnt one of them.
EDITS