Actually, I didn't mind D-pads myself. I still remember playing the old tank games on there... wait, that was my uncle's old Atari. I didn't mind those controls. MS DOS wasn't too bad, either. What I mean is, I don't change my technology quickly. My CD player is five years old, can't play MP3s, can barely play burned CDs (most of the time not) but hey, whatever. It works usually. But I'm like that. If it works just fine, I'll stick with it. Heck, even non-technologically... I've had my glasses for what... eight years? They're bloody scratched up, a little outdated prescription-wise, but I can see alright through them, and it seems like too much of a bother to get new ones, so I make do... or here's another example. Graphing calculators. I have one - not the best, but it can do a lot. My friends all bought TI-93s. Me... you know, I got through the last 3 years of Mechanical Engineering using a $10 non-graphing one? I made do with it. I knew it, and it was easy to use... and I didn't need those extra functions! Sure, some of my friends had it easier when doing integrals on tests, but it didn't matter. So sometimes I actually prefer lower-tech things, and simpler, things, by their very nature. Or here's another thing... when I installed Windows XP, I at once changed the screen settings so that it looked like '98. I hate that flashy XP look. Or here's another: my loathing for cell-phones. I'll only drag one along unless I need one. A common refrain of mine is: 'what did people do before these blased things?' ... and I do remember that time. I only take one along if the roads are bad in case of emergency. Otherwise... well, if I must make so pressing a phone call, I'll use a pay phone. Yes, I do have a bit of an anitpathy to new technology and people's reliance on it.
But back to your question, it didn't really make much of a difference to play those different ways. Different sort of game, different sort of controls. Actually, when playing FFVII on PS2 I had to go back to using the D-pad, rather than analog, and it didn't bother me one bit. It all came down to the game, not the technology. And part of my thoughts on the matter really come down to not having as much of an interest in games as I used to.
I'm just wary of things that are 'revolutionary' in design like this. What problem does it solve? Or is it just trying to be fancy? Or, in other words, will games be designed around it, or is it around games? If it's the former, then that's a problem. They'll be designing around a technology they created for... what? What need was there for it? It becomes self-perpetuating: being more high-tech for the purpose of being high-tech. And when that happens, it's often that the art and enjoyment is left behind. Of course, it's not always the case. Take CDs and DVDs. Those were innovative, and almost overnight overtook - and bettered - the old (except for the few holdouts that say LP sounds better.) But I'm not going along with some technological marvel until I see that the games which go along with it benefit equally, and are equally as revolutionary. Because that's what it comes down to: the games. You can have all the power, all the technology, but if you've got horrid games, NES victors over you.
So... will this achieve its purpose, or will it be emperor's new clothes? I'm not judging it either way, of course - it could be terrible or it could be wonderful. Even an exposition like E3 can't prove something to be excellent or not. When it goes into production it will be judged. And that's what I'll be interested in. Though I still won't get it, in all likelihood, because my interest in games has truly waned. There's a lot more to be found in literature, I've discovered, and games have a way of hijacking the imagination - or at least hijacking mine. I might be an anomoly in that. I think far clearest when I've had sleep, and stayed away from video games. Plus, they really don't accomplish anything than time-wasting entertainment - Seneca would probably rank it beside those who carefully bake themselves in the sun and those who spend their time trying to figure out how many oarsmen Odysseus had.
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