Let it die. (Courtesy of Gizmodo.com)

Kotaku has posted what has got to be the most asinine, bottom feeding article I have read since Nintendo introduced the Wii and signaled that the unwashed rabble were about to come crashing into the pristine dork fortress that has encased the video gaming market.

Writer Leigh Alexander starts his “In defense of the classic controller” article with the statement: “Gamers may suffer some kind of identity crisis as the familiar markers of their beloved niche evolve – or disappear entirely. The solution to that one’s easy: Get over it. Like it or not, it’s clear that gaming’s not a ‘niche’ anymore, and its shape will change.”

Amen.

And then he launches into a ill-advised bout of wishful thinking, trying to cast doubt on the inevitable decline of the controller, writing, “Making something ‘more accessible’ doesn’t necessarily make it better.”

LOL wut?

This is an interface we’re talking about, right? It’s the ideal goal of an interface to make it as accessible as possible and therefore more widely marketable. Right? Not if you listen to the geniuses interviewed for this piece.

“Sorry to sound elitist, but I like that not everybody understands how to play games, and I doubt that I’m alone,” sniffs Frank Lantz, a java game developer and director of New York University’s Game Center.

I’m not going to call you elitist. Assuming that you were quoted correctly, I’m going to call you a fucking idiot. Let’s apply that logic to other entertainment experiences. “I like that not everybody understands how to watch movies or listen to music.” That’s not elitism, that’s self-defeating pompousness. Yes, there are writers who still talk like this, and NOBODY KNOWS WHO THEY ARE. That’s fine if you want to burn down your own life and waste public money in a fit of haughty exclusivity, but AAA game development investments are too large for this retardation.

The “classic controller” is not something to be mourned or retained as a hurdle for the unworthy. It very much still has its place, but that place is shrinking rapidly. There is nothing intrinsic about the old button array that makes it more ideal for developing shooters, sandboxes and MMOs – today’s popular genres. The Wii’s separated, motion-controlled remote ‘n’ nunchuck setup is demonstrably superior to either Sony or Microsoft’s pads, which is why both companies are dashing to replace them. But we’re not supposed to say that out loud, because the Wii is for kiddies and old people, or something.

There is something else going on here that Kotaku dares not mention for fear of alienating its readership. Videogames are becoming more of a physical thing and less of a cerebral or twitch thing. The non-transferable, highly specialized skills once needed to play button-mashing video games are being rendered useless. The jocks are taking over.

Notwithstanding the cherry-picked examples that Kotaku chose, I see nothing but upsides to making games more intuitive. It might actually attract some real artistic talent to the industry, dragging it out of the B-level comic book/sci-fi/fantasy ghetto in which it now largely resides.

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