Top 10 Video Game Controllers of All-Time

If there’s anything gamers usually judge about a video game console, even before its games most of the time, one can take a wild guess that it’ll be the controller. Controllers are the peripheral that we either love or hate with all our hearts, but at the end of the day has proven to be the most necessary over the past three decades. Our top 10 list of video game controllers is after the jump:

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Top 10 Video Game Controllers of All-Time

News: Microsoft patents Xbox Live upsell idea

Detects, offers, sells, installs content. Microsoft has been spotted patenting an idea to upsell Xbox Live content to Xbox 360 owners. Snappily titled “Automated Direct Bids to Purchase Entertainment Content upon a Predetermined Event”, this “automated direct transaction and delivery system for digital content provides for automated detection of missing digital content or resources required for a player or participant to participate in a multimedia application in either a single player or multiplayer environment is described,” explained the patent (spotted by Broke My Controller). In other words, if a friend invites you to play a racing game and you don’t have a certain track installed, Xbox Live detects this and asks whether you’d like the content. From there, without changing screens, the system will take the money required, install the content and start your game. You’ll be able to chat with your presumptuous friend all the while. Read more…

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News: Microsoft patents Xbox Live upsell idea

Three-Year-Old Kills Herself With Game Controller-Shaped Gun [Tragedy]

A three-year-old in Wilson County, Tennessee died Sunday evening after accidentally shooting herself in the abdomen with a weapon she may have mistaken for a plastic Wii facsimile. At least that’s how the news is being reported today in The Tennessean. Three-year-old Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan had been playing a Nintendo Wii game in her living room using a gun-shaped controller which, according to the story, “looked very similar to the real handgun” her stepfather used to scare away dogs that were hanging about the family’s home. The child had been playing a Nintendo Wii video game, Ashe said. The game’s controller was shaped like a gun that looked very similar to the real handgun, which her stepfather had put on a table in the living room. Ashe said the girl pulled the gun off the table and it went off. My question is this: why is the Wii even mentioned in this article? Someone left a loaded handgun in reach of a three-year-old girl. That’s the story here. The fact that the child was playing with a Wii controller that looked like a real gun is a non-issue. This is a three-year-old we are talking about. Three-year-olds touch everything, regardless of whether or not it looks like something they were allowed to touch previously. Not to mention the fact that most Wii gun controllers are either white and blue or Nerf-colored, neither of which are colors commonly found in handguns. This story is horrible, unfortunate, and tragic, but the way that things are worded here make me wonder if there aren’t pair of parents out there thinking that had they not let their child play that Wii game, she would still be alive today. I don’t think the majority of our readership needs clarification on this, but just in case, no – if her stepfather had not left a loaded weapon within reach of a curious three-year-old’s hands, she would still be alive today. Accidental shooting kills Wilson County child [The Tennessean]

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Three-Year-Old Kills Herself With Game Controller-Shaped Gun [Tragedy]

Unfortunately, You Only Get One [Screengrab]

Xbox 360 Controller Cupcake by Clever Cupcakes , as seen on Cupcakes Take the Cake . Thanks to reader .em. for the tip.

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Unfortunately, You Only Get One [Screengrab]

Show Us Your 10-Year-Old PlayStation 2 [Happy Birthday PS2]

The PlayStation 2 is 10-years-old today, and just saying happy birthday and talking about our PS2 experiences isn’t enough! Take a picture of your PS2 and share it with the class. You show us yours, and I’ll show you mine. Unfortunately my last bulky PlayStation 2 console, complete with clear plastic case mod, was retired a few years ago, when I lent it to my niece, who’s toddler liked to use the controller cord as a whip. I replaced that one with a black PS2 Slim, seen below, which I tricked out with a pop-up cover so I could play imports and press preview copies via swap disc. I assure you that when I say imports and press preview copies, there are no air quotes. Last year I discovered that I needed a good DVD player for my bedroom. After going through to horrible $39 discount models, I decided to go with the one DVD player that’s never let me down. The silver PS2 Slim sits atop my bedroom dresser, hooked up to a 32-inch LCD TV and oftentimes buried under stacks of graphic novels and DVD cases. I’d like to think it feels the love. So now that I’ve shown you mine, it’s your turn. Show us your PlayStation 2, be it proudly displayed in your entertainment center, or buried beneath a pile of cables in a box in your closet.

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Show Us Your 10-Year-Old PlayStation 2 [Happy Birthday PS2]

Review: Fret Nice

Don’t fret. Being a platformer controlled with a guitar peripheral, Fret Nice presented me with a unique problem: which one to use? The trusty old Guitar Hero 3 Les Paul? The sunburst World Tour Strat? The limited-edition Band Hero one with metal pegs? Or the ridiculously lifelike Logitech deluxe one made out of actual wood and metal, which I got as a somewhat extravagant present last year? I’ve got so many of these damned things lying around now that I’m desperate for new uses for them. I’m glad I didn’t pick the wooden one, now, because after three levels of Fret Nice I got so vigorously angry trying to tilt the controller to jump that I actually hit myself in the face with it, which might have resulted in losing my front teeth if I’d been using the Logitech behemoth. Fret Nice is the first game to cause me personal injury since Mario Party when I was 10, which gave me a massive blister on my right palm from furiously spinning the N64’s horrible analogue stick in a Shy-Guy-related minigame. This is indicative of how unbearably frustrating Fret Nice’s guitar-based control system is. It’s a likeable musical platformer ruined by controls that are broken enough to provoke accidental self-harm. This is particularly disappointing because Fret Nice not only attempts something new, but it does so with artistic flair. Initially, thanks to its attractive aesthetic, the game comes across really well. It has the collage look of LittleBigPlanet, as well as the distinctiveness of LocoRoco and Patapon’s blobbly, spindly-limbed, monocular enemies. Collectable musical notes colourfully adorn the cardboard cut-out landscapes, and unusual, vaguely Katamari-esque music keeps you floating along on a cheerful cloud. You guide the Vibrant Chords, a rock duo with extravagant hair, through lovely 2D platform levels either alone or in co-op, conquering strange enemies with guitar solos. Read more…

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Review: Fret Nice

Mile Marker 13: Miegakure [The Road To The Igf]

Tired of stodgy corporate games made by The Man and his minions? We’re playing the 31 best indie games for a change of pace —- and so we can judge them. Today, Miegakure. In A Sentence It’s a puzzle game in four dimensions — really, they swear it — and it’ll make your head hurt unless you are very, very smart. State Of Completion Not released, no official platforms or release date announced. Thoughts Imagine a flat plane. Let’s say that flat plane was the terrain for a 2D puzzle game. Easy. Imagine a three-dimensional object and a slice being cut through it. Imagine that that slice was the terrain of the aforementioned 2D game. Now, imagine cutting a slice elsewhere in that 3D object instead, maybe a slice that is essentially your first cut flipped on an axis. The second slice would share a single line’s worth of content with your first slice. That new flat plane is the new terrain of your 2D game, with that one line of common ground. Let’s take it up a dimension. Miegakure is a block-pushing and platforming puzzle game that lets players move a character on a 3D slice of a 4D object — and lets them flip that 4D slice as you would the 2D slice in that 3D object mentioned above. Got it? You know you want to try it and see if you can comprehend it. The game was nominated for Excellence In Design at the Independent Games Festival. It gave me a headache, but I’m blaming my brain, not the game. Answers We Demanded Kotaku: The entries of the IGF are an eclectic bunch, ranging from esoteric art titles to straight forward drop-in-and-play casual games. In creating your entry what do you hope to accomplish with your game? Marc ten Bosch: The fourth dimension might mean absolutely nothing to a player before they pick up the controller, but it turns out our brains are very good at understanding things instinctively via direct interaction and experimentation. In fact, as children we learned the rules of our world this way, by touching, interacting, and playing with everything around us. From an evolutionary standpoint that’s probably part of the reason why we find playing games so much fun. One important way in which games stand out from other medium is that they are especially well-suited for experimentation, and my goal when creating the game was to give players something to play with which they could never experience in real life. I’m also hoping it can teach something fundamental, but hard to describe verbally, about our world. Something that we previously could only try to grasp using mathematics and our imaginations. Kotaku: What was the inspiration behind your game? Bosch: As a programmer I knew that position in a game does not have to be limited to three coordinates, and collision detection often isn’t much harder to program in higher dimensions. I started prototyping game ideas but only really made progress once I read Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott. It’s a famous 1884 Novella that explains higher dimensions by analogy to the perspective of a two-dimensional character living in a two-dimensional flat plane (a piece of paper for example). A number of actions we three-dimensional beings take for granted feel like absolute magic to this two-dimensional character. For example, if there is a circular wall around an object in 2D, it is essentially closed-off, since to reach it one would have to leave the 2D plane. It is also impossible for an outsider to know what is inside. But us 3D beings can see the object from above, and also simply lift it off the ground to move it outside, essentially teleporting it. Now by analogy a four-dimensional being could perform many similar miracles to us living in only three-dimensions. My goal was then to make a game that would allow you to perform these “miracles.” Kotaku: How did you come up with the name to your game? Bosch: I was browsing the web for names that would include the notion of “Hidden” in their meaning. Because the player can only see along three out of four dimensions at a time, most of the world is always out of view. The traditional Japanese garden landscaping technique called Miegakure came up. Miegakure is a means of imparting a sense of vastness in a small space. It’s probably already familiar to you: as you walk around a garden, a tree or hill might obscure your view, letting you imagine the invisible part. This creates the illusion of depth and impression that there are hidden beauties beyond. Not only is this a particularly fitting title, it also inspired the Japanese garden setting for the game. Make sure to check out the rest of the Independent Games Festival finalists as we head toward the March awards show.

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Mile Marker 13: Miegakure [The Road To The Igf]

2K Makes It Official: No Gamepad Support in BioShock 2 PC [PC]

It didn’t sound likely that 2K Marin would go back and accommodate gamepad support for BioShock 2 on the PC, a complaint that quickly arose after release this week. But now the studio’s made it official. “I talked to the dev team about controller support for BioShock 2, and I want to let you know that we won’t be adding this into the game in a patch,” a community manager said on the offical forums this evening. “The decision not to support the controller was not made lightly, and to add it now would take a complete re-envisioning of the UI that the team worked so hard to create. “I’m sorry for those of you who are disappointed, and I want you to know that your comments and concerns have been heard and will be taken in to account when we are planning in the future.” Naturally, the reaction to this disappointment was thoughtful and proportionate. Bioshock2 PC- Does it Support 360 Gamepad Ingame?? [2K Games Forums]

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2K Makes It Official: No Gamepad Support in BioShock 2 PC [PC]

Dante’s Inferno Review: Big Ideas, Small Problems [Review]

Dante Alighieri, real world 14th-century poet and cavalryman, is re-imagined as a love-struck crusader in this retelling of the poet’s greatest work. Dante’s Inferno, one third of Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, serves as the backdrop for this video game’s story of the poet’s search for real-world love Beatrice in hell. Players arm themselves with Death’s scythe and Beatrice’s cross as they hack and slash their way through the underworld, battling sins, demons and souls of the damned. But can an epic poem that solidified humanity’s image of hell and gave birth to the modern Italian language also make for a good, and more importantly, a meaningful video game? Loved Epic Poem: Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century poem, Inferno, is mostly a field guide to hell with is plenty of allegory packed into Dante’s figurative tour through the underworld at the side of Virgil. Cautionary tales and fables abound as he works his way down the circles of hell, constantly reminded how one can end up there. What makes Inferno such a powerful work is in how it so chillingly describes the repercussions of earthly sin. It is here that developers Visceral Games stick closest to the source material and the results are spectacular. Walls seethe with souls clutching for solace. Hands reach from pools of boiling blood to drag you to your death. Each circle is minutely detailed with touches seemingly pulled from the poem, like carvings of Sisyphean torment tucked away in one area and the howling, gold-encrusted souls decapitated as you make your way through another. Often, the scenery of a video game gets lost among the pomp of gameplay and story. In Dante’s Inferno, the abhorrent landscape is as important as the characters and the story, perhaps more so. Poetic License: Initially, I was put off by the idea of overlaying a traditional story onto such an important literary work. But Visceral’s tale adds a much needed story arc, protagonists and antagonists to the game. And it’s fairly well executed. In this new work, Dante examines his life on earth, his relationships and his sins as he works through what increasingly becomes a personal hell. That’s fitting with the notion of Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and its telling, perhaps leaning a bit on Milton’s work, is a meaningful addition to the game. Holy Unholy: There was a lot borrowed in the creation of this game. But there’s also quite a bit that feels fresh. The most striking is the game’s forking upgrade paths. As you make your way through hell there are damned souls that you can choose to punish or absolve. You can also snap up the lower minions of hell in battle and quickly pass judgment. Your decision grants you holy or unholy experience. This experience opens up the path to new unique abilities. While you can work on both the holy and unholy path, concentrating on one or the other means more powers. Facing Your Sins: The landscape of hell is a powerful character in its own right, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other manifestations of sin and evil. Each of the circles has their own take on the denizens of hell. These sinful souls have been warped by their misdeeds. Visceral’s creations sometimes lean on the work of Alighieri’s poem (such as Cerberus), but more often take a notion and turn it into something horrific and memorable. An Infinite Tumult: Anyone who has played Visceral Games’ Dead Space shouldn’t be surprised at what an important role sound plays in the developer’s version of hell. While sound is key to Alighieri’s descriptions, the developers managed to dig much deeper than I expected into the source material and come away with something equal parts unnatural and unnerving. Blessed Are the Gamers: Likely the most significant thing about this adaptation of a medieval cautionary tale about hell is how it manages to, on purpose or not, essentially evangelize. I’m not saying that I want my video games to tell me that sodomy, failing to be baptized or gluttony are all paths to eternal damnation. But the fact that a mainstream game does that, and does it so blatantly leaves me conflicted. For many, gaming is a lighthearted, thought-free diversion and there are plenty of titles designed to tap into that market. But there are so few that deal with important issues in a consequential way. So the overt inclusion of a Christian Hell guided by Christan morality in a video game meant for a wide audience is a big deal. Not because of what it is saying about the afterlife, but because of what it says about the willingness of a publicly held, widely known game publisher to create something so steeped in controversy and not—beyond horrid marketing—allow that controversy to become the game. It manages to entertain and preach equally. Hated Hell Is Other Developers’ Gameplay: There is a fine line between derivation and iteration, and Dante’s Inferno spends the first half of the game dancing back and forth across it. It is impossible for those familiar with God of War to not see it peeking out from Dante’s Inferno. Glimpses of the PlayStation series can be found in the button-tapping mechanic for healing and gaining mana, cinematic quick time events and the mix of puzzles and action. It’s unfortunate, because Dante’s Inferno is a deep and entertaining game. One that could have and should have found new, more fitting ways to deal with age-old issue of in-game replenishment, boss battles and movement. The Rhythm Is Gonna Save Ya: One of the most unappealing aspects of this game for me is found in how you absolve the big-named damned of Dante’s hell. It’s a rhythm game. No, there’s no music, but you may find yourself humming as you tap the face buttons of the controller to match timing of “sins” floating across a D-pad shaped cross. You could (and EA did) argue that this is meant to make the path of the holy more challenging. But challenging doesn’t need to mean derivative and poorly designed. Before The Shadowed Forest: Dante’s Inferno starts out weak, very weak. You play through a fragment of what is sure to be future downloadable content, tearing through waves of generic enemies in a generic earth-side setting with a generic weapon. Fortunately, this odd prequel to the plot is very short lived. A Swing and a Miss: If you absolutely must force people to jump and double jump and swing and climb, please make the mechanic work. Make sure the camera angle allows you to see where you are coming from or going to. Better still, just don’t include it, it detracts from the experience. I’ve come to understand that creating a game based on something revered doesn’t mean it has to be a copy or endlessly quoted. To work, the byproduct has to just stay true to the intentions of that work. That’s what Dante’s Inferno does. You could fill a book about how hell doesn’t have switches or big flashing symbols or life and mana, but those are just the trappings of gameplay and mechanic. Certainly, the developers could have done a better job of weaving those basics of play into the tapestry of their take on hell. But that shouldn’t lessen the impact of all of the things they did right. Dante’s Inferno the video game is a metaphysical journey though and an animated illumination of medieval hell. It deals with morality and existentialism as aptly as it delivers an engrossing experience. It is not without its issues, it most certainly won’t be for everyone, but it does something that very few video games do: It opens the door for moral introspection. Dante’s Inferno was developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on Feb. 9. Retails for $59.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through the entire game on the default setting on the Playstation 3. Played through nearly the entire game on the easy and hard settings on the Xbox 360. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

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Dante’s Inferno Review: Big Ideas, Small Problems [Review]

Will You Be My Player 2? [Valentine's Gift Guide]

Gamers need Valentine’s Day gifts. If you plan to buy a February 14th present for a gamer – or are a gamer and need to drop some hints — please consult this, our Valentine’s Day Gift Guide for Gamers For most people, the best Valentine’s Day gifts say, “Thou art my Main Squeeze, and I shall squeeze no others before you.” For a gamer, the perfect gift conveys the precious message of, “Will you be my Player 2?” Step One Completed: You’ve nabbed yourself a sexy gamer. This means you have partnered yourself up with an elite species of human being who can save entire planets from evil lords using only a shotgun, while surviving for weeks on nothing but Fritos and Top Ramen. For them, no ordinary gift of flowers, heart-shaped chocolates, or those reeking aroma-therapy candles will suffice on this sacred day o’ love. So, instead of picking up something from the gas station’s Quickie Mart on the way over to your lover’s house on February 14th, plan ahead and buy your gamer something unique. These video game-inspired gifts, ranging from flavor-of-the-week cheap to committed-relationship pricey, are perfect ways to say, “I

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Will You Be My Player 2? [Valentine's Gift Guide]

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