5 ms·

The future does not look like more buttons for increasingly specific functions.

• lowboy 14y ago
  Agreed. User-assignable buttons or touchpad gestures however...
  • owenfi 14y ago
    Yes, or just shouting "Save that!"
• deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
• DigitalJack 14y ago
  Sure it does. So many things happen in cycles. Contiuums are really the trace of a penduluum. We may still be swinging toward "programmable" buttons, but trust me, things will start swinging back at some point, though perhaps not for the reasons we might think.
• jamesaguilar 14y ago
  The evidence suggests it does. How much of this belief do you base on your ideals and how much is based on reality? There used to be just game buttons (joystick + one button on Atari, for ex). There there were start and select. Then there was a console-specific power button (the "XBox" button and the "PS3" button on the Xbox controller and DS3 respectively). Now there's a share button. I dunno dude, it looks like the arrow of history is actually pointing the opposite direction from what you said in this comment.
  • sliverstorm 14y ago
    Power buttons are somewhat special just from a hardware point of view; I don't think they are especially useful for this question. You can't navigate a menu to reach a power-on function. A competing power button service will never come out to replace the currently popular power button service. Every single Xbox or PS3 owner will use the power button(s) with regularity.
    • sukuriant 14y ago
      He's referring to the center button on PS3 and XBOX controllers that goes to the xbox dashboard or PS3 dashboard, or the home button on the Wiimote, etc... at least, that's what I assumed. That button does count.
      • sliverstorm 14y ago
        But that button also powers up the Xbox from a cold boot. The dashboard part is just adding some extra functionality to a button you already have.
        • sukuriant 14y ago
          Are you sure it's not the other way around? Or, perhaps an intended dual functionality? Pressing the power button on the physical machine, as far as I remember, does not load the dashboard.
  • ekianjo 14y ago
    The Xbox button and PS buttons are not "specific" since they have several functions - they pop up a menu where you can access a long list of functions. Having a single button for sharing to your network is borderline stupid, since it will flood the social networks with useless crap nobody cares about.
    • jamesaguilar 14y ago
      twitch.tv and Machinima claim that more than nobody cares about sharing of video game clips.
      • TillE 14y ago
        Game streaming is popular because of the personalities and explanations. Without narration, the vast majority of videogame clips are just cold and sterile, and not at all 'social'. "Look at this cool thing I did" is the go-to example in this kind of demo, but in reality nobody cares. We want a human voice.
        • jamesaguilar 14y ago
          You don't think they'll capture the mic in multiplayer? That would surprise me.
          • ekianjo 14y ago
            Mic capture and narration is different.
            • jamesaguilar 14y ago
              ?? Mic capture is all that's needed for the narration like what happens on twitch.tv.