---

hex11 said:
Don't these things have USB ports to hookup keyboard, gamepad, more storage, etc?

---

---

hex11 said:
Anyway, I think even the Sharp Zaurus and Pandora game console have USB ports. Even the tiniest netbooks have several. It's really a must-have for any serious portable device.

---

---

Maes said:
These inherent limits in the controls are exactly the reason why a game such as "Angry Birds" hit it big: often a platform defines what is succesful by function of its limitations.

So e.g. Facebook only gets point-and-click casual games, and touchscreen platforms get more of the same, with maybe some twists thrown in by the use of orientation/gesture sensing. And given enough market momentum, this can effectively kill traditional game genres.

E.g. a traditional 2D arcade platform game would never work with its original control scheme on a touchscreen device, and FPS are way more complex than that.

---

---

Maes said:

As for toasters...heh, can anyone explain to me why on earth a toaster would actually need computational power, like, at all? What happened to good old thermostats?

---

---

hex11 said:


So it can auto-update your facebook page about what you're making for breakfast?

---

---

axdoom1 said:
If you want to make Chocolate-Doom more confortable to play on a device like the one in the video that I posted before, you could use something like a On-Screen Keyboard (or virtual keyboard). But you can only include the important keys since it won't enter on the screen and the keys mustn't be too small. The screen on this Tablet PC is vertical, so you can put Doom running in aspect ratio correction mode at the top of the screen and a virtual keyboard at the bottom (or a virtual gamepad since only the necessary keys will be present). Their's a On-Screen Keyboard on this to write, so you could do something that looks like it. But the On-Screen control can be difficult. A d-pad could be a not good choice because if the screen is too small, you can touch another direction by accident, so instead you could give the choice to the user to use a circle-pad (like the 3DS).

---

---

Maes said:
A touchscreen can be seen as an extension of the point-and-click interface, which by itself is actually near-optimal for its intended purpose (hitting one precise target on a screen), and as long as it's used only in that role, everything is fine and dandy, nothing to argue there. Even gestures such as dragging/sliding etc. all come from traditional WIMP mouse-driven controls.

But using it as an ersatz keyboard is already pretty bad (you get none of the tactile feedback of a real one and it's like hitting thin air), and any scheme I've seen that tried to emulate a directional gamepad (or worse, TWO of them) plus keys just didn't work well in terms of sensitivity, response speed, etc., stole usable screen space, and was almost impossible to get "mentally mapped" or acquire any sort of spontaneous feel for it.

---

---

Maes said:
...although the only real solution is the connect a real keyboard or at least a real gamepad.

---

---

natt said:
I always thought the "eraser" style mouse was half decent for fpsing; it's actually not all that different than the thumbsticks that console players use. And it can easily be integrated into a small package like a handheld gaming console. Unfortunately, tablet designers don't have me pre-approve their designs.

---

---

axdoom1 said:
A gamepad is a better idea but it's not always confortable.
e.g.: you are in a bus, you have Doom on your Tablet PC and by chance, you brought your GamePad. You start the game and hold the GamePad with your two hands. Where will you put your Tablet PC?

---