Oh I see what you did there...what with the X and... oh nevermind =)
One of the cooler sessions from last weekend's Playing to Win conference was delivered by Wayne Rasanen of IN10DID, Inc. about a style of keyboard that his company is working on. What kind of keyboard, you might ask? The kind that gets Stub all jacked up of course - the game kind!
But before the big reveal, I should probably give those of you not familiar with the Xbox, a bit of background. For starters,what do you want to be typing on an Xbox for?
Out of the (X)box, the standard method of typing looks a little something like this:
The virtual keyboard might not look so bad. But I'll be honest with you - using it is about as much fun as getting punched in the head. The notion of the keyboard just doesnt quite work if you can't actually use your hands to interface with it.
And so because Microsoft is listening to my thoughts, they rolled out the next logical step. A keyboard for the Xbox that actually lets you press the keys. Crazy, I know. This mini-qwerty keyboard sells for about $30, plugs right into the existing Xbox controller, and looks a little something like this:
Though it is better, there is most certainly still room for improvement. For starters, this keyboard suffers from the same problem that most mini-qwertys have - its pretty obnoxious to use if you don't have little tiny hands. On a more fundamental level however, it just doenst feel natural. For what it is, it works well, but it is very obviously a separate piece of the controller. If you are playing a game, your hands are in one position. If you want to send a message, your move your hands to the keyboard. There is a fluidity that is missing in the design - often an inevitability from bolting an extra piece on.
Which returns us to the presentation from Mr. Rasanen, and his vision for how one should type on a controller:
(if the video doesnt load, you can check it out here)
Now we're getting somewhere!
So why is this awesome? Well for starters, because its always cool when people just totally rethink convention (especially when convention is cumbersome and clunky). But it also raises an interesting possibility: what if you could send messages from your Xbox to external services (and vice versa). Interoperability you want to break out the SAT words.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. For the moment, the In10Did controller is a potential opportunity to add a new dimension to console games. Will gamers gravitate towards the new style of control? That will have to be seen...perhaps the EGC can help find out =)
Images from www.dummies.com, gamepro.com, and in10did.com (video)
One of the cooler sessions from last weekend's Playing to Win conference was delivered by Wayne Rasanen of IN10DID, Inc. about a style of keyboard that his company is working on. What kind of keyboard, you might ask? The kind that gets Stub all jacked up of course - the game kind!
But before the big reveal, I should probably give those of you not familiar with the Xbox, a bit of background. For starters,what do you want to be typing on an Xbox for?
- You need to register (which involves a lot of typing) to take advantage of most of the Xbox's online features
- The Xbox allows you to send messages to other Xbox playing friends. This too, obviously, requires a way to type out messages.
- There are nuances within certain games that requires data entry, like typing out your character name
- An entire genre of games (MMOGs) are rendered useless on consoles because they require lots of text based communication that is difficult for consoles to accommodate
Out of the (X)box, the standard method of typing looks a little something like this:
The virtual keyboard might not look so bad. But I'll be honest with you - using it is about as much fun as getting punched in the head. The notion of the keyboard just doesnt quite work if you can't actually use your hands to interface with it.
And so because Microsoft is listening to my thoughts, they rolled out the next logical step. A keyboard for the Xbox that actually lets you press the keys. Crazy, I know. This mini-qwerty keyboard sells for about $30, plugs right into the existing Xbox controller, and looks a little something like this:
Though it is better, there is most certainly still room for improvement. For starters, this keyboard suffers from the same problem that most mini-qwertys have - its pretty obnoxious to use if you don't have little tiny hands. On a more fundamental level however, it just doenst feel natural. For what it is, it works well, but it is very obviously a separate piece of the controller. If you are playing a game, your hands are in one position. If you want to send a message, your move your hands to the keyboard. There is a fluidity that is missing in the design - often an inevitability from bolting an extra piece on.
Which returns us to the presentation from Mr. Rasanen, and his vision for how one should type on a controller:
(if the video doesnt load, you can check it out here)
Now we're getting somewhere!
So why is this awesome? Well for starters, because its always cool when people just totally rethink convention (especially when convention is cumbersome and clunky). But it also raises an interesting possibility: what if you could send messages from your Xbox to external services (and vice versa). Interoperability you want to break out the SAT words.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. For the moment, the In10Did controller is a potential opportunity to add a new dimension to console games. Will gamers gravitate towards the new style of control? That will have to be seen...perhaps the EGC can help find out =)
Images from www.dummies.com, gamepro.com, and in10did.com (video)
Not a bad idea. I see a giant hurdle in the time it would probably take to train oneself to use this input method. The upfront costs of learning will be a huge barrier to this ever catching on. Then again, typing with telephone number pads caught on with the younger among us. But perhaps that was out of necessity. People may prefer the more clunky qwerty keyboard because it is "good enough" without having to retrain one's brain.