Pandora A,b,x,y Button Placement Not Emu Friendly?

[jbr]

And yet, we continue to discuss it. I think the point has been made that the layout is not like a nintendo or Sony console, that it doesn't matter anyway because we can make the buttons do whatever the hell we want, and that this thread is silly. I don't think anything more can be said, yet somehow, it will be.

 

[chad78]

Fuck nintendo and sony both. They deserve nothing from open gaming, especially a declaration they are some sort of defacto standard.

If it were not for Nintendo - video games would have died completely in the 1980s. The Arcade was already dying, if not dead, by 1985, home computers were just starting to be a reality - and gaming sucked on them. If the NES had not come along, the home console business would have died with Atari (the *real* Atari - not whatever company bought the name from whatever company bought the name from whatever company bought the name....). If there were no home consoles during the NES / Sega era - video game development would have *CEASED*. Software companies for home computers would have seen video games as a dead fad, and we'd all be stuck with our EGA 32 color (not 32 bit - 32 actual colors) 9 inch monitors to type our reports on. If it were not for Nintendo - there'd be no "open gaming" (whatever that is - you mean SuperTux? Yeah, SuperTux owes nothing to Mario. And TuxKart has nothing to thank Mario Kart for. :rolleyes: )

 

[chad78]

I am sure that the people who say "this is silly LAWL!" are far more intelligent and have far more common sense than I am perceiving they do. Because, if they were not many times more intelligent than I am perceiving - they'd have forgotten to BREATHE since their last post.

Please - read this damn thread. Read it. Don't just say "This is fucking stupid!" READ it. Let the letters form words in your mind. Then let the words form trains of thought.

This is *NOT* about stickers. This is *NOT* about me, the little SNES fanboi, wanting everyone to conform to the great god NINTENDO. This is *NOT* about leaving the buttons blank. Believe it or not, my intelligent and wise friends, ***THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE BUTTONS!***

This is about the SOFTWARE.

If the buttons on the Pandora - the shipping Pandora - not my uberkuhl sexy stickerified edition Pandora - but the factory-direct Pandora that will be coming to us all from Craig himself. If THOSE buttons say ABXY - then the *SOFTWARE* - everything from the custom Linux operating system - to any and all software that is written for the Pandora - will say things like "Press A to Jump" "Press B to skip to the next page" "Press X to open your newest email." or whatever. The software - ALL software - that is written for the Pandora will reflect whatever button layout the Pandora actually has. Crazy thought, huh?

By me sticking labels on the buttons - the software does not change.

By me re-arranging the buttons themselves - the software does not change.

By me fabricating my own C H A D buttons - the software does not change.

If one is told you, over and over again, in the OS GUI, in the Pandora version of MPlayer - in the Pandora web browser, in the Pandora word processor, in the Pandora Widgets, in the Pandora Feed Reader, et. al., in the Pandora GAMES.. If all of these things say "PRESS X" and they mean "PRESS X" - how do you NOT see how when a sane, logical, intelligent, educated human being, sees, on the SAME DAMN SCREEN, on the SAME DAMN DEVICE - just a few seconds later - a SNES ROM saying "PRESS X" that they wouldn't naturally, logically, intelligently - PRESS THE DAMN X BUTTON!!!!

BUT...

Stay with me...

BUT...

If the GUI, Word processor, blah blah blah - all say "PRESS E" - there'd be NO CONFLICT when the game said "Press X". The person would know, that there is no X button - I should press where the X would be on a SNES.

Case Closed.

If you actually read this. If you actually thought about this *AT ALL* and you still don't get it... Not that you have to agree - but you at least see why this is *NOT* about putting stickers on it to make me happy If you STILL don't get it......

I seriously don't want to finish that sentence. It's too sad for humanity, seriously.

 

[Prophet]

If it were not for Nintendo - video games would have died completely in the 1980s. The Arcade was already dying, if not dead, by 1985, home computers were just starting to be a reality - and gaming sucked on them.

Oh hell no.

That's simply not true. I know cuz (once again) I was around at the time. And home computers were around since the late 70's. And gaming was freaking amazing on them. Long before anyone ever heard of Nintendo.

And the arcades were not dying nor dead yet, either. They were not what they once were in the early 80's perhaps, but they still had a good deal of life in them, and the fighting game phenomenon had not yet even come yet.

QUOTE
If the NES had not come along, the home console business would have died with Atari (the *real* Atari - not whatever company bought the name from whatever company bought the name from whatever company bought the name....). If there were no home consoles during the NES / Sega era - video game development would have *CEASED*. Software companies for home computers would have seen video games as a dead fad, and we'd all be stuck with our EGA 32 color (not 32 bit - 32 actual colors) 9 inch monitors to type our reports on. If it were not for Nintendo - there'd be no...


There's no way to know what would've happened if Nintendo hadn't come along. The fact is they did, and we all know how well that went. Thankfully.

However - where there's a void, something WILL fill it. And my generation (the first gamers) were IN LOVE with our Ataris and Apples and Colecos etc., and we sure as hell wanted more. Eventually videogames would've come back. By another company perhaps, or by a revitalized Atari (assuming they could stop taking drugs and screwing secretaties long enough to do something good again), who knows? But videogames would not have truly died away.

Nintendo just happened to come along at the perfect moment, and ran with it.

If you actually read this. If you actually thought about this *AT ALL* and you still don't get it... Not that you have to agree - but you at least see why this is *NOT* about putting stickers on it to make me happy If you STILL don't get it......

I think most everyone here "got it" from the start. In fact I referenced the connection to Pandora specific software and emulators in my first post to this thread some pages ago.

We simply don't agree there's a problem.

I will simply say I respect and appreciate how enthusiastic you are (and I do mean that), and I know you mean well for the Pandora.

 

[Chip]

If it were not for Nintendo - video games would have died completely in the 1980s.

Chad, I appreciate that you want to keep fighting the good fight for logical button labels (even though the smart thing is probably to just let it go), but you're just plain wrong about this.

If the Nintendo hadn't come along, then the Sega Master System would have filled the NES's role as the 8-bit system that brought people back to video games. If not Sega, then Atari would have made a comeback with the 7800. Computer technology would have progressed no matter what, and as long as there are more powerful computer systems, there will be people making more demanding games for them.

I understand you feel very strongly about the button layout. I do too. But you need to remember that not only do most of the other people here feel differently, but that the final decision has probably already been made. We've had two polls, Nintendo won both of them, and the latest renderings still have the GP2X layout. That probably means that the Pandora will have the GP2X layout because that's the way Craig wants it.

So take it easy. It's not that big a deal.

 

[trooper]

Just look at the games catalogue of the ZX Spectrum and commodore 64, Both computers of the early eighties. That does not give me the impression that home computer games sucked, Especially considering what else was on offer around that time.

Anyway, Thats beside the point, This thread does appear to be pointless, As it only seems to be the people with either have too much time on their hands or those that just like to discuss their own opinions on the button labeling and their`s being the best. When we al know that this could go on for days, Nay weeks, Nay months, Without ever coming to a conclusion. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

I`d say, Just leave it up to the developers. Don`t like the final outcome, Don`t buy it, Simple, We Move on, Lifes too short.

Trooper

 

[MWeston]

The first design drawing I sent to Craig had the SNES layout. He was concerned about legal problems based on that button layout and I couldn't prove without a doubt that it's not a trademarked, licensed, or patented pattern. It does seem a bit odd that you could and it's possible companies like Gizmondo and Sony went with different designs, not for protection, but just to be different.

I too dislike the GP2X button layout and I would like something different but I do like the ABXY buttons, of course that will only suit emulators from the particular company they match. I also like the idea of something unique, but I dislike some funky difficult symbols because when I'm playing a game and have to hit the right buttons, I don't want to have to remember "squiggle, squiggle, slash, yellow moon, green clover".

The NSEW setup is interesting but I wonder if it is too specific? (ie. directions instead of actions)

P&|A is funny, but more of an inside joke than a good button choice!

 

[Prophet]

Well, there's always numbers. 1, 2, 3, 4...

P&|A would be wonderful, but would take more balls (and admittedly less sense) than anyone should have!

 

[plopperz]

Press | to continue.

 

[Gilrad]

All I'm saying is, I would be satisfied so long as the labels don't use the letters ABXY (unless they're organized in a SNES fasion).

Another layout that I really liked from one of the previous polls was the 1234 button layout, where the numbers were notated in dots.

Also, I think that color could really help with this too, especially when using a more abstract labeling method.

If, for instance, we went with NSEW, I think that having E green, S red, W and N two different colors, the red and green would do a pretty good job of defining which is go, and which is back. Not to mention, on screen instructions can use the colors as well, aiding in the process of adapting to a new controller layout.

 

[gaterooze]

Greek alphabet then -- seriously, it fits in so well with the Pandora name and it's not too foreign to English users (alpha, beta, lambda, omega are all very well known), but is certainly unique.

 

[chad78]

I was happy to see that Prophet understood my side. And with that...

(for those with AdBlock - there's a smiley waving a white flag there - you just can't see it.)

I don't get the the P&|A thing. Does | somehow mean "Door"?

 

[Prophet]

I don't get the the P&|A thing. Does | somehow mean "Door"?

Logical operator symbols in many programming languages...

& = and
| = or

So... P&|A = P AND OR A = Pandora!

Cool eh?

 

[gruso]

Greek alphabet then -- seriously, it fits in so well with the Pandora name and it's not too foreign to English users (alpha, beta, lambda, omega are all very well known), but is certainly unique.
I think I'm in love with this. "Press Alpha to select, Beta to cancel."

Woot!

 

[chad78]

So... P&|A = P AND OR A

Cool eh?

Yes. I like it.

 

[Chip]

I don't get the the P&|A thing. Does | somehow mean "Door"?

In some programming languages, a pipe "|" is used as a logical "or" operator.


EDIT: Damn. 3 replies in the time it took me to type that.

 

[Prophet]

Greek alphabet then -- seriously, it fits in so well with the Pandora name and it's not too foreign to English users (alpha, beta, lambda, omega are all very well known), but is certainly unique.
I think I'm in love with this. "Press Alpha to select, Beta to cancel."

Woot!

Heh...

"Press OMEGA to quit." It sounds so very... final.

And lamda... hmm...

"Press LAMDA 3 times to enable debugging console."

 

[gaterooze]

And lamda... hmm... "Press LAMDA 3 times to enable debugging console."

Nerd mode! :lol:

 

[Tom`]

I don't get the the P&|A thing. Does | somehow mean "Door"?

& and | represent logical AND and OR operations in many programming languages.

If Greek letters were to be used, I think they should go with something sensible, like α β γ δ or α β ψ ω instead of mixing small and capital letters or throwing together 4 random letters.

edit: this thread is moving too fast for me...

 

[Prophet]

And lamda... hmm... "Press LAMDA 3 times to enable debugging console."

Nerd mode! :lol: