Of Mice And Gamepads: The Future Of Controllers

Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2023
B.U.T.T.O.N. (Brutally Unfair Tactics Totally OK Now) Game Banner
Genre: Indie
Developer: Copenhagen Game Collective
Release Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2011


If I m going to be dull and reductive about it, playing videogames works like this: we tell a game something through an input device say, a gamepad, motion contoller, touch screen or keyboard and get a response back in the form of images or sound. It s like a conversation, but it s shaped by the devices we use to talk. Without the Wiimote, there is no Wii Sports. Without the touch screen, there is no Bloop.


If I don t own the relevant controller, then I can t play these games. But what if the controller doesn t even exist? Many games are impossible to conceive of because we don t have the hardware to act as muse. Are we living on a junk diet of gamepads and mice or a rich land of controller plenty?


Let s have a chat with a few developers and see wot what they think.


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