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[RoboFu]

Op would have loved this POS as well.

 

[Kabelly]

I played Cuphead and Mario 2D games with the control stick. DPAD is only useful for item selection.

 

[xion4360]

Absolutely not! Especially for fighters.

 

[Shakka43]

 

[Chastten]

I guess OP doesn't play a lot of games? I don't mean that as an insult, just an observation.

A lot of games I play use the d-pad in a way that is not that easy to replace in an intuitive way. And no, the touch-based pad stuff is, at least to me personally, not intuitive. Just feels awkward.

 

[fart town usa]

Sorry op.

 

[fart town usa]

If you exclusively play games like Sony's 30fps third person walking simulators it might actually be a good idea. But for everything else the traditional d-pad is the optimal design when you need the fastest possible on/off state (WASD is faster, but I'm willing to sacrifice for comfy). Sliding your finger would be hopelessly inefficient just like trying to control a traditional 2D game with an analogue stick makes you play like a handicapped child.

You'll have to pry the d-pad from my cold dead hands.
Because of rigor mortis.

 

[Naked Lunch]

People who dont use Dpads are both terrible at games and never played a console before the PS4 gen.

DPads are how all 2d games are played especially shmups and fighting games.
That said - ive always hated Playstations segmented Dpad - I use dpads from the center out and there is no center on their shit dpad. Saturn/snes pad 4 life.

 

[Thebonehead]

The only redeeming feature of your post was your Avatar OP

 

[kunonabi]

D-pads cannot be made obsolete, they can only become buttons.

considering how shitty playing games on the Switch is without a Dpad I'll have to disagree with the latter.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

considering how shitty playing games is on the Switch is without a Dpad I'll have to disagree with the latter.

It's more of an escalator/stairs thing. Even if your game doesn't need a dpad, you will use it for 4 buttons, meaning it is still better to have on the controller.

Being a dpad, it balances the sublime movement in 4 cardinal directions with the ability to be 4 buttons. Analogue cannot match either need, so Dpad is in fact the most important input of our time.

Nintendo's choice to make it buttons to support a rare use case (2 player with mini controllers) was dumb.

 

[Akuza89]

I mean it's a hot take.
The D-pad still gets plenty of use in games and some people prefer it for 2D games or fighting games.
In most sports games it gets used for tactics or other things.
The D-pad has definitely become less useful, but not obsolete.

 

[ChoosableOne]

Using touchpad with thumbs does not feel natural. They need to design a touchpad that I can use with my right hand index finger (behind the controller?). Therefore, I didn't like this design. It's been a while since I used the d-pad for direction, they are useful as 4 extra keys though.

 

[Belthazar]

Not once did I say "fighters don't need dpad" Im saying the genre is niche enough now where it doesn't warrant traditional controller to have one, especially sin e a large majority in the fighting game community have moved on.

Yeah, completely niche

https://venturebeat.com/games/mortal-kombat-11-sells-over-12-million-copies/

I bet all of those 12 million players have a fighting stick or something, right?

 

[ANDS]

Not even close. Even from muscle memory my hand knows there are games that utilize the D-Pad heavily, particularly action adventure games like Elden Ring or Horizon series; especially in Horizon where you are swapping gadgets on the fly.

To the point of a "touchbased pad" being better. . .sure, if it didn't lose the tackiness that a D-Pad has. The reason I like a D-Pad is because I "know" where the directional buttons are and I'm not going to accidentally hit NE when I just wanted to hit East, or something similar. This is especially true if the D-Pad is straight up a touchpad and I'm just really moving a mouse around the screen.

 

[Solidus_T]

The D-pad is necessary for games that require precise motion inputs. You're basically telling me you've never played any fighting games or any actual arcade game for the matter.
The lever on an arcade stick isn't even analog. It contains four micro switches for up, down, left, and right, much like what a D-pad is trying to emulate.

 

[PJX]

This topic is horrible. It's on my top 5 of dumb take topics.

 

[WhamBamThankYouMaam]

Any controls even remotely similar to touch controls are worthless.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Maybe it's a personal tactile thing, but I support keeping them around forever because operating an RPG menu with an analog stick is tantamount to landscaping with terrestrial objects. Waaaay too sensitive, in an awkward position for repeated up/down movement as you may see scrolling through a 367 item inventory list.

 

[fart town usa]

considering how shitty playing games is on the Switch is without a Dpad I'll have to disagree with the latter.

 

[gaming_again]

Sticks are dreadful for platformers. The OP is 100% objectively wrong.

 

[Rippa]

So long as there are 2-D MetroidVania’s, there will be D-Pad!

 

[Lumpyoatmeal]

Devil's Advocate

The steam controller was ahead of its time.

A while the shoulder buttons have evolved for relevancy alongside driving and shooting games (analog and 3d rumble) , the D pad and its keyboard like membrane has all been abandon by its most implemented genre, fighting games.

Because most fighting games have become more technical, the main bulk of fighting game players have set aside d pad In favor of hit boxes and gone back to arcade sticks.

This isn't to say all fighting games players have left dpads, but fighters have become so niche, that the players that do use them do not warrant traditional controllers to have them every generation.

This also isn't to say fighting game is the only genre where a dpad is useful. However, genres like 2D platformer and a vast majority of indie or pixel games, as simple as the D pad is, do not need a traditional d pad whereas as..... Touch based pad could be used instead.

I'm not playing a 2D platformer with a touch based pad my man.

 

[ReBurn]

I can't play fighting games or 2D games with analog sticks. It's not natural. I prefer a d-pad for those.

 

[64bitmodels]

nah lol this ain't it chief

theres a lot wrong with the modern video game controller but the dpad is not it, it's a decent input device that's stood the test of time. it's infinitely better for precise inputs than the joystick and it's also better for muscle memory as it's far easier to quickly tap a dpad than to awkwardly smack a thumbstick. the touch pad idea you suggested is actually fucking terrible and offers genuinely 0 benefits. Steam controller was great but that was not one of its strong points, not even close

 

[fart town usa]

Op would have loved this POS as well.

Spoiler: spoiler

 

[Griffon]

Who the fuck plays 2d games with the analog stick?!

And touch pads aren't happening, the Steam Deck has both a pretty good Dpad and a touch pad, and I never ever used the left touchpad in games (it only gets uses for desktop mode navigation).

OP, I think you've been stuck with awful Xbox dpads (or Joycons) for too long. A good quality dpad is very useful and much better than a touch pad could ever be.

 

[jaysius]

Op would have loved this POS as well.

You bastard, I had one of those for SNES, the fucking thing was a nightmare.

Thanks for bringing back my PTSD(Post touch shitty d-pad) disorder.

 

[darrylgorn]

OP:

 

[newtypepilot]

this thread is obsolete

 

[Bruno_Arrais85]

Cringe OP .... Cringe.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Tell me you are Gen Z without telling me you are Gen Z.

 

[DavidGzz]

It feels better for side scrollers still. Blasphemous for example. Now if only MS could tone down how loud the d-pad is on the next Xbox controller, that would be nice.

 

[Unknown?]

What is obsolete is non-modifiable controllers

Ya. All controllers should allow for switching the buttons to wherever you want.

 

[93xfan]

(was anticipating the reaction) Majority, minority, and the extreme,.

No. Not everyone who plays fighting aims to be pro. Only an extreme amount of gamers play fighter at pro level, the minority play casually. But the majority don't play fighter at all.

I'm saying the minority of casual players that do play fighters (which is probably a minority within itself given that most fighters are not designed for casual in mind, there's are exceptions) do not warrant for the majority of players who don't play for dpad to be implemented into mass manufactured controllers when something like a touch could be implemented.

These people need it all the more

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Yeah that insanely effective ping system from Apex Legends is totally overrated on th3 d-pad

 

[lachesis]

Ah... now I'm with many of Gen Xers on this OT thread.

D pad for life. Fighters especially - I can't imagine playing it with analog stick at all to be honest.
I still use D pad for the menu scrolling. I like the tactile feel. Analog just feels very mushy. Moving around in 3d environment, sure I use it - but for most 2d stuff (except perhaps shoot'em up - that I can go either way) - I go with D pad. A Good D pad is a must for me when I choose any controllers.

 

[Hendrick's]

Depends on what game. Would be nice to just have 4 additional buttons in many games.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Depends on what game. Would be nice to just have 4 additional buttons in many games.

Paddles exist.

 

[dave_d]

Op would have loved this POS as well.

I got one of those for free without even asking.(I have no idea why they sent it to me.) Yeah, it wasn't worth it even at that price.

 

[BossLackey]

People who dont use Dpads are both terrible at games and never played a console before the PS4 gen.

DPads are how all 2d games are played especially shmups and fighting games.
That said - ive always hated Playstations segmented Dpad - I use dpads from the center out and there is no center on their shit dpad. Saturn/snes pad 4 life.

 

[GenericUser]

Because most fighting games have become more technical, the main bulk of fighting game players have set aside d pad In favor of hit boxes and gone back to arcade sticks.

I kinda disagree. Many players in the fgc play on arcade sticks because that is what they grew up with. They started playing these games in the arcade on arcade sticks and fighting games are a very muscle memory heavy genre (in lack of a better term). So it makes sense to stick with the input device you are used to. But a lot of newcomers in the last 5 years or so grew up with the console ports and they use pads with huge success. There is a reason why pads, specifically designed for fighting games, exist. Like the hori fighting commander octa

Hitboxes though are a completely different topic. They are borderline cheating devices.

 

[existensmaximum]

I mean, almost every D-pad sucks since the mid 90's in my opinion, especially if its crammed on to a controller with two analogue sticks.

But that being said, touchpads (and touchscreens) are fucking 100% useless for this purpose. I'd rather have today's awkward and mediocre D-pads than nothing, they're essential in many games as people have already pointed out. Even arcade games are much more fun to me with a D-pad than analogue sticks.

Now mouse and keyboard.. They were obsolete from the very beginning as gaming controllers

 

[anothertech]

Silly talk

 

[jonnyXx]

Devil's Advocate

The steam controller was ahead of its time.

A while the shoulder buttons have evolved for relevancy alongside driving and shooting games (analog and 3d rumble) , the D pad and its keyboard like membrane has all been abandon by its most implemented genre, fighting games.

Because most fighting games have become more technical, the main bulk of fighting game players have set aside d pad In favor of hit boxes and gone back to arcade sticks.

This isn't to say all fighting games players have left dpads, but fighters have become so niche, that the players that do use them do not warrant traditional controllers to have them every generation.

This also isn't to say fighting game is the only genre where a dpad is useful. However, genres like 2D platformer and a vast majority of indie or pixel games, as simple as the D pad is, do not need a traditional d pad whereas as..... Touch based pad could be used instead.

Did you watch the video you linked? Because it does not agree with you.

 

[DragoonWalker]

I love how in OP's own video they linked the dude talks about why it's not a good idea to abandon the d-pad for a touchpad, mainly, the lack of precision.
Even disregarding its use for moving a character, it's fantastic when you're in a tight spot and need an item you got mapped because your finger can feel immediately which directional it is, even better than a button in that regard.

 

[Hero_Select]

I've never seen a more wrong opinion

 

[Crayon]

Nah it's still a really good input option. It's better for a lot of simpler games.

 

[01011001]

What a dumb thread.

Every bit off offence OP.

Dpad is wonderful for fighters and platformers, touch base sounds horrific.

I second this
what an awful take.

imagine being forced to play Mega Man or THPS by using an analog stick or a fucking touch thingy...

 

[RaduN]

One word: shmups