I still laugh when recalling nostalgic memories I have as a kid with a group of friends and family sitting around playing Mario Bros on the Nintendo. It was easy to differentiate between the experienced players and the amateurs. Everyone always had a bout of laughter when the controller pad was handed to a newcomer. Mario is a platform game involving timing and jumping with button mashing. All the veterans have a cool and calm demeanor, focused on the task at hand, their eyes intent and dilated as if in a trance. Newcomers were shaky, uncomfortable, twitching on each jump. The funniest moments always entailed someone miscalculating a jump and disappearing off the bottom of the screen.
Thinking back and analyzing the mechanics you can start to realize why it was such a phenomenon then. Mario Bros helped establish Nintendo as a pivotal entertainment source for kids throughout the country. It made a Nintendo Entertainment Console synonymous with a bike. Every kid had one. Mario Bros engaged the players beyond the casual game. Yet, it was not in-depth to the point where learning how to play the game itself is quite an accomplishment. Internally it tapped into a region of the brain that wasn’t quite logic but wasn’t emotions either; the subconscious. Externally what made Mario Bros successful were the controls. It helped combine the physical world with the mental world without really forcing the player to consciously link the two.
The Nintendo has but two simple buttons: A and B. One made Mario run faster, the other jump. What separated the veterans was really the understanding of the running speed and the timing of the jump combined with “becoming one” with the controls. It was physics but at the same time it was instinctive. The veterans did not think about jumping, they look ahead at the next platform and obstacle. Their minds always subconsciously jump, triggering their fingers to press the button, causing Mario to jump at just the right time and right speed at the right spot. As kids playing for hours on end many of us can turn the television off and by memorization and “feel” run and jump through a stage with no problems. It actually became a fun challenge to play a stage blindfolded. Many of these same instinctive characteristics can be seen in the newcomers, only without the finesse. As mentioned, what made the newcomers so funny to watch was exactly this same instinct that made the veterans. A newcomer usually was not using the running button consistently and the timing for the jump was horrible. It is a matter of synchronizing with the controls. Yet it was very obvious from the start that it’s not only a learned skill but a natural one; it was not so much learning as it was adapting. Every time a newcomer would jump over a platform his whole body and head would move as though to lift and pull Mario through the platform or obstacle. Often the newcomer ends up throwing his hands in the air, imitating each jump in the game. Newcomers always froze into a gross, exaggerated posture when they see Mario fall off the screen. It was these natural body movements triggered in the subconscious that made all of us laugh with joy.
It is precisely this link between the unconscious mind and the controls that I wish to point out because it is becoming increasingly harder to create that bond with the growing complexity of videogames and control schemes. Many games nowadays will use the top buttons e.g. L1, L2, R1, R2 for the Playstation. These often are used for switching modes from standing, sitting, to crawling for characters. Other use the top buttons for shuffling through an inventory list without the need to go into the menu. Most shooters videogame use these top buttons for reloading ammo. Although it is practical to use these top buttons for these purposes at the same time it detracts from the “feel” of the videogame. How so? Almost all videogame will pause when using these top buttons. It forces the mind to create a tangent thinking process alongside the actually gameplay. It’s like pausing a movie during a dramatic scene and going into the kitchen for more popcorn. It ruins the mood.
A simple solution to switching modes between standing, sitting, and crawling can be done by holding down and up for the desire position. It emulates what naturally goes on in the mind. Going from a standing position to a crawl usually takes an effort and time to get down.
Instead of shuffling through an inventory list with the top buttons, assign item usage to certain buttons. Think of it like pockets. A person instinctively knows which pocket has his wallet and which has his keys. Not all items will be needed on a regular basis just like the items in a bag pack. A person usually reserves a spot in the bag pack for convenient access to the items more used. Likewise, often used items should be assigned to the top buttons to create the convenient and instinctive feeling.
For shooters videogame the controls should emulate how a real gun work. The index finger is always the trigger finger. Therefore, the top buttons should actually be the triggers since they utilize the index fingers. Reloading involves ejecting a cartridge and inserting another. Instead of tapping the top buttons or so, reloading should be done by pulling back the analog stick and quick snapping it back up, emulating the real reload of a rifle. Gears of War has developed one of the better reload ideas, giving benefits and penalties for correct timing of reload.
In the end what ultimately makes good controls is not the practicality of a control scheme but its ability to connect the subconscious of the player’s mind to the controller pad and relay that into the videogame. I still remember the classic directional combination for the Shoryuken move in Street Fighter II. It’s ingrained into my mind and whenever an opponent jump kicks I instinctively do the Shoryuken as an uppercut counter. The directional combination imitates how a real uppercut might be done. Perhaps the best example to come along in a long time is the boxing videogame Fight Night. Instead of using buttons it utilized the two analog stick for moving around the ring and throwing punches. Anything from a quick left jab to a right hook becomes part of the motion a player must perform on the analog; a quick straight snap for a jab, a slow swirl around the edges for a hook. It creates a sensation as though the analog stick and the boxer’s arm are one and the same. In a way the player, the controller pad, and the boxer has become one. This is as close as controls can get in creating interactions to emulate a virtual reality. Looking at this it’s not surprising to see why the Nintendo Wii has been winning over people who have never played a videogame in their life. The innovative Wii controller pad allows for interactivity on a more personal level than any other console and its controller pad.
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