As one of the important components of the game console and interactive equipment, the controller has experienced decades of development and has found its own “optimal solution” in recent years.
If you don’t, you won’t see a very similar handle structure on the PS4 or Xbox One. This form was determined in the early PS and Xbox years ago, although it has been modified, but more Some details or functional adjustments.
Even if it is Nintendo that has not been played according to common sense, the Wii’s nunchaku handle only lasts for one generation, and it returns to the traditional button layout of the double joystick and left arrow right function keys during the Switch period. The core player introduced the Pro handle.
As a “newcomer” in the gaming industry, Google also announced a controller for the launch of the cloud gaming platform Stadia . From the point of view of the shape and button layout, Google’s designers obviously do not intend to try other tricks on the handle. It is better to say that it is old-fashioned, but humans still can’t think of a more suitable game interaction tool than the handle.
So, this handle has a lot of familiar parts, such as the slightly slender grip and the symmetrical rocker, which are very similar to the Sony DualShock 4 handle; as for the concave cross key and the XYAB key The layout is closer to the style of the Microsoft Xbox One handle.
Recently, Isabelle Olsson, Google Design Director, showed Stadia in an interview with Popular Science Prototype scheme for the handle. In addition to the housing of the 3D printer, there are also parts with only contours and no buttons, which are known to confirm the handle and orientation of the handle.
“The player sees the handle as a tool, and only a truly ergonomic design can satisfy their hours of gameplay,” Olsson said.
In order to more closely observe the player’s habit of holding the handle, Google set up multiple high-speed cameras around the tester, recorded about 6,000 hours of gameplay, and then submittedAnalyze data experts and then feed back to the design team.
Olsson said that how gamers will hold and interact with the handles is very important to product designers: “Users often don’t express their feelings directly in words, or what they want, but These emotions are conveyed through some subtle movements, such as the surface material of a fingertip with a fingertip, or the curve that constantly feels it.”
In the process of designing the handle, Google tried to use hard plasticine as a material, allowing the tester to “pinch” the specific handle shape according to his favorite feel, and then the design team will use the scanning instrument to use these “hands”. Transcription is studied for 3D computer files, but this method does not provide much information available.
There is also a position related to the joystick. Google will draw a grid line at the corresponding position of the handle model, and then let the tester nail the thumbtack with the rocker cap in the grid that he feels comfortable, so that the designer can find the best position of the rocker.
The grip size of the handle and the reserved width in the middle are also part of what Google will consider. They hope to achieve the goal of “no matter how you hold it, regardless of the size of the palm, it will make you feel comfortable.”
In fact, in the early Xbox period, Microsoft designed the handles because of the large size, which made many Asian players feel cumbersome, and the spacing between the left joystick and the arrow keys is not reasonable.
However, since the Xbox 360, the design of the Microsoft controller’s trigger button, concave rocker cap and asymmetric rocker has been recognized in the industry; by the time the Xbox One generation has basically matured, naturally It became one of the objects referenced by Google.
Of course, for the Stadia platform, the handle is not only its control tool, but also the only hardware carrier. Google still hopes to find parts that can be improved, such as the material of the handle itself, the curve of the entire structure, and even the color matching of the rocker cap. Even if it is a minor repair, but as long as the core players can be recognized, Google’s next cloud game development path should also be smoother.
Source of the title: POPSIC