Controller concept

this is dumb

>>386333325
Looks like a gimmick thought up solely to make us spend more money on products

>>386333412

The modules aren't free obviously but let you have the correct physical controls for many genres that play much better with them, at a lower cost than full blown traditional peripherals.

>>386333325
I like it

>>386333325
Xbox 360 controllers kinda sorta have that in so much that there's a keyboard attachment that slots in where your concept does, but that's the only attachment as far as I'm aware.

>>386333478

Oh yeah, I kinda...forgot that existed. Like that insane keyboard controller for Gamecube PSO

>>386333325
Looks good

>>386333325
Modular controller have been tried and have failed time and again. The reason is that the modules cost money, and no one wants to foot the bill for them.

Console makers don't want to include them for free because it eats into already thin margins. Publishers don't want to cut into their profits by subsidizing them, nor do they want to charge extra for their game because it will harm sales and PR. Consumers mostly don't want to pay for gimmicks they don't want. And developers would prefer to just work within the constraints of a regular controller than take a risk with some new scheme.

No sector of the market wants controllers like this. Except a slim amount of concept artists like yourself. Every few years they convince someone to try again with modular controllers and it fails every time.

>RTS on touchscreen/trackball
Imagine the hilarity of some retard attempting SC2 like this

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>>386333325
literally already exists

>>386333325
Maybe a good design for some sort of NES-mini-esque console that comes with one or two dozen arcade games. Otherwise it's a bit too gimmicky.

>>386333738

Only a keyboard though.

>>386333624

Could you show me some past examples of this idea being tried?

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>>386333325
You now realize that a simple mouse and keyboard has more functionality than all of those pieces combined.
>Mouse has superior precision pointing compared to TouchPad, with the bonuses of tactile buttons and less chance of accidental input
>Mouse is far more precise and intuitive than a trackball and can perform more complex motions, e.g. moving the pointer in one direction while scrolling a page in the other
>Rotary function is admittedly hard to replicate but KB/M comes close enough in terms of usability, racing games are the only real application anyway
>Keyboard has way more buttons than you'll ever need, all situated within easy reach of one OR two hands if you so choose
>keyboard triples its control capacity with modifiers like ctrl and shift
>sorting through menus is always miles easier with a mouse, especially in games with inventory management
>far easier to enter text and type messages
>mouse selection makes it easier for games to have lists of choices unlike pic related
>mouse can have additional buttons added to allow the use of all five fingers, while a controller has to be held and thus some fingers cannot be used
>despite all of these advantages, mouses and keyboards are also cheaper and come in a wider variety of styles, and have universal compatibility
>KB/M also has practical uses outside of vidya and they are employed widely in everyday life

How can controllers even compete? There's not a single advantage to any controller over a KB/M except in VR or racing games.

>>386334152

Tube shooters

>>386333325
>RTS
>On a touchscreen

ha. ha. ha.

>trackball
it's 2017, my dude

Its a neat idea but it works horribly with the controller. Instead of comfortably holding the controller you're holding it now with one hand while you operate this new attachment. It could work with something like the Nintendo Joycon Shell thing, where you slot in the pieces you wanna control the game with.

>>386334152
Platforming, its relaxing to sit back on a couch with just a controller as well. Plus you can't two player KB/M splitscreen

>>386334235

Not for main gameplay. It would be the mini map. You could touch parts of it to zoom to that section of the battlefield

>>386334271

Ok Tumblr

>>386334279

If it's a dial controller and it sits on your lap/knee it's not as uncomfortable as you make it sound.

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>>386334092
The most basic form of the modular controller was the overlays included with many games on the Atari 5200 and Jaguar. Their strange, bulky controllers allowed you to slip in a piece of paper that would designate which of the "extra" buttons did what for the specific game. Atari went the way of the dinosaur though and so did this whole overlay thing. This is an extremely cheap "mod" for a controller so cost likely wasn't even a factor in its disappearance.

There were many obscure peripherals that came bundled with older games, and though most didn't plug into the basic controller, the point stands that no one wants to pay for extra hardware when buying a single game. The Wiimote was truly innovative because it solved this problem by being usable in many ways - for example, the Wii "zapper" is just a plastic shell you stick the controller in, and you can play light-gun games like Link's Crossbow Training or Ghost Squad without buying the zapper at all.

An example of an actually modular controller was the Sega Dreamcast controller. It had two "expansion slots" where things could be inserted, such as a Visual Memory Unit (VMU). A VMU was a memory card that also had many capabilities including a small screen, but these features were usually superfluous. It also needed batteries to work outside of a controller. And it was intiially sold separately from the Dreamcast. It was one of many reasons the Dreamcast, and ultimately Sega, left the console market.

Another example of controller modularity is the Rumble Pak. Remember those? Those things everyone hated buying and now ship standard with every controller.

The most recent example of a modular controller is the Xbox One Elite controller, a massively overpriced beast that nobody owns. I have never actually seen one in use, not even in MS's own E3 conferences. Even for a controller as well-made and marketed as a "premium product", it's still niche at best. Modular controllers generally don't sell.

>>386333738
How much is it? Does it work natively on PC, or is it fucked like the headphone jack on the wireless gamepads?

>>386334279
There were used to be lots of PC split screen games utilising numpad and wasd.
Raiden and that tower defence game (I forget the name. It was on DOS, and the gameplay is defending your forts against pirates) are some splitscreen PC games

>>386335029

Not the same. The Xbox One S chatpad, Dreamcast and N64 rumble pak comparisons are valid though.

>It was one of many reasons the Dreamcast, and ultimately Sega, left the console market.

I don't think that's why. Otherwise how did N64 survive? How does Xbox One survive?

>Remember those? Those things everyone hated buying and now ship standard with every controller.

How is that a failure?

>>386333325
VR compatibility with onahole add-on and we talk

>>386333325
You're better off just doing it like Nintendo did and using a versatile, pointer-capable/motion-sensing "base" controller like the Wii remote, then simply putting different plastic shells on it for different control schemes. A wiimote can point like a touchpad/trackball, sense rotation like a wheel, has buttons like a controller, etc. Honestly I'm surprised other companies didn't outright steal the idea as hard, I guess either patents stopped them or maybe they figured a traditional controller is simpler to make games for. Or maybe they missed the point and thought motion sensitivity and waggling was the "innovation" the Wiimote made.

>>386335135

It has native support in Windows 10. But then, you're on PC so probably there is a full size keyboard right in front of you anyway.

>>386335225

Part of the fun is the physical gamefeel of the different control methods. It's not about pure practicality.

>>386333325
>that Touchscreen
is this how EOVI gets made?

>>386335195
>I don't think that's why. Otherwise how did N64 survive? How does Xbox One survive?
Because the Rumble Pak and Elite controller aren't necessary to play most games, unlike a VMU. Plus the Dreamcast and Sega had a whole host of other problems, but regardless the expensive modular controller with Tamogachi capability did not help.

>>How is that a failure?
The modular approach failed to please consumers, and so they're now built-in. The concept of rumble is fine, it's the modularity and the attempt to sell an extra piece of hardware that failed. The latter part is what's applicable to your design, and unlike rumble you can't just "build in" all those extra pieces without making the controller cumbersome - and at that point you begin to wonder whether it's worth including them at all. Which it generally isn't, for the cost related reasons I've already mentioned.

Motion controls can be seen as a way of building in extra control schemes but again, my point is that the idea of modular controllers are just a temporary workaround at best until a better design appears, and at worst they're a console-killing mistake. Instead of just trying to plug other control methods into the controller, you should be trying to incorporate them in simpler, more intuitive, more cost-effective ways (which has already been done in some ways)

>>386334279
Dude what? It was one of my favorite things to do on parties.

>>386335252
Not on the couch there isn't. I just wanted somethings I can use with my laptop comfortably.

>>386335530

Oh, fair. Maybe the idea in the OP pic should just be extra chatpad style xbox controller addons

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>>386333325
I approve analog rotary dial so someone can develop game about nipple pinching.

>>386334152
and fighting games?

>>386334287
>RTS without mouse

ha. ha. ha.

>>386333325
Why not