Boomerang controller -- bust or discarded treasure?

by Nick Doerr { Aug 28th 2006 at 10:00AM }

The good and knowledgeable SuicideNinja upped a very clever post and has given us the opportunity to write about it. Basically, the boomerang concept controller may have been a smarter angle to go for the PS3 than everyone gave it credit for. At the time of its unveiling, we weren't aware of the motion-sensor going into it and thought the rumble feature would still be intact. Things change with time. Now, waving the boomerang controller around would definitely make a more comfortable tilt-motion feature than the Dual Shock 2 design. As SuicideNinja says, for steering cars in the appropriate games, it would be a pretty good fit.

Sadly, this revelation can't save the dropped design now. Or can it? Petitioning for it to be released as a separate accessory may be within the realm of possibility. Aside from racing or driving games, would the boomerang design be worthwhile? The "steering wheel" likeness doesn't really make a big splash against any other type of game. It's most appropriate for racing games and quite possibly flight sims. Still, that was a fantastic epiphany on SuicideNinja's part and now, what do you all think? Did we bury the boomerang prematurely or did we save ourselves from a junky controller?

[A very big thanks to SuicideNinja for this link!]

Tags: Playstation 3, Playstation3, PS3, Sony, SuicideNinja

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

alienclay @ Aug 28th 2006 12:41PM

Deja Vu
i had this exact same thought about a week ago.

TheGuyNextDoor @ Aug 28th 2006 1:26PM

I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw certain virues in the ol' boomerang design. I've mentioned on a couple of forums over the past few months how I would like the boomerang to at least be available as an option.

I've always thought it was more coherant and in-keeping with the style of the PS3 main unit.

Sure, I wouldn't want it forced on me, but as an official accessory, it would score points with me.

Tondog @ Aug 28th 2006 3:49PM

The boomerang gets an absolute yea from me. They really should have stuck with it. Too bad fanboys complained about it, because that led them to go back to the original Dual Shock design, and it led to even more whining.

SuicideNinja @ Aug 28th 2006 6:19PM

Unfortunately, we didn't get any other "examples" on the old boomerang controller.

I really think the longer grips would have been superior for a motion-sensing controller. I'm already afraid of the tiny Dualshock-style grips slipping out of my hand if I'll be having to jerk the controller up and down (for whatever reason/game).

I'm sure it could be good for more than driving just based on the grips alone.

Right now, I use a Pelican Predator Wireless controller for my PS2, and it has slightly longer and more ergodynamic grips. It's feel gives small insight to the boomerang design that we may never see.

Ciaran Gallagher @ Aug 28th 2006 6:51PM

The controller does look a bit wacky yes, but I imagine gaming would be brilliant and quite confortable, compared to the old Dualshock. I'd rather my Xbox 360 controller than the one which will be released in November.
Nobody got a chance to try it out yet so they should give it some sort of a chance, or just re-design the controller so it's like the Xbox 360 controller.
The current PS3 controller is too small and the D-pad at the top-left is a bad place for playing games.
And the L2,R2 etc. buttons are far too small and restrictive.

MarkW @ Aug 28th 2006 7:47PM

WOW. Just wow. I know this is PS3 fanboy and all, but the backlash against the controller was insurmountable upon it's unveiling, and now only positive responses.

The masses are so fickle.

Fony sucks @ Aug 29th 2006 1:28AM

Fony wants all your money. They even said 600 was too cheap for their system...they are insane! No one wants blu-ray!!

rhork. @ Aug 29th 2006 4:38AM

I believe this is Still under the assumption that Sony even had planned to throw motion sensing into the mix. Call me silly, but I think that's assuming too much- Though I do agree with the general consensus- This seems to be a better fit for a motion sensing controller than the dualshake. ... Though, is this motion sensing ever going to be more than just a gimmick?

Faar @ Aug 29th 2006 5:48AM

There's plenty evidence to suggest motion sensing was a very late addition to the PS3 controller, and nothing that suggests it was even considered at last year's E3 unveiling. Suggesting otherwise seems more like blind historical revisionism than anything else.

Personally, I think the banana controller looks dumb, and making it silver colored is the mother of all mistakes - imagine what it'll look like after a couple months of heavy gaming. Not a pretty sight! Every silvery mouse I've ever owned turned dull and scuffed within not too long, I really don't want my $600 console's controller to turn out the same way.

If Sony wanted to change the controller, at least they should have done the right thing and considered ergonomics, and put the left stick in the primary position, where the D-pad now sits on a dual-shock.

Elongated prongs wouldn't really make the controller better suited to motion sensing. Instead, you'd have desigined the controller with that in mind from the ground up, instead of tacking it on as an afterthought. Kind of like what Nintendo did. I wouldn't want to swordfight with either a bananarang or a dual shock, that just plain doesn't work. Driving would be more or less a wash using either. Yeah, the banana looks more like a steering wheel - slightly - but we're not looking at the controller while driving now are we? ;)

bub @ Aug 29th 2006 3:58PM

This is for all those idiots who wailed about how 'ugly' the controller was, when it obviously is ergonomically more sound than the current ps2 controller. Unfortunately, those whiners were very many and very loud. Helping of Crow, anyone?

Pedro @ Aug 29th 2006 8:46PM

Okay, but let's be reasonable.

I find it highly UNlikely that Sony changed the design soley because of the "public outcry". If this is the case, then Sony is more foolish than I had thought.

Nintendo has set the tone that the controller is a 'cause celebre'. This is, in large part, because it represents more than any other single aspect of the system, the true point of contact between system and user. We recall that the N64 controller was essentially dictated by Miyamoto-san expressly *for* Mario 64. Thus, one would hope and pray that many hours of work and thought were put into this decision.

I'd like to think that the boomerang was more of an 'artist's conception' that didn't pan out in testing. Perhaps we'll never know...

I love Sony and want them to succeed, but I am truly worried about them right now. The price, the whole marketing it as "not a game system", the controller shenanigans (boomerang, motion-sensing, and the loss of rumble nonsense), and what is shaping up to be a real lack of exclusive titles makes me think that this could truly be a Wii60 generation.

I'm in for all 3 (I've been saving for 2 years) but we'll see which one(s) flourish.

Out.