There was the classic up, down, left, right, 'A' and 'B' that later developed an 'L' and an 'R'.
There was also an 'X', 'Y', 'C' (in four directions and as a stick), and the additional 'L2', 'L3', 'R2' and 'R3'. Some consoles even have buttons without letter associations, simply of a certain color, black or white. In almost every case there are certain buttons we're accustomed to seeing "Start" and "Select".
What these buttons do, however, is generally not what they are called. Not often are "Start" buttons used to actually start a game, nor "Select" used to choose something –although there are still exceptions. A new button has been introduced recently, though. In a way befitting an internet browser, Nintendo has added a "home" button to their latest console's controller and to their next planned hand-held system.
This home button operates in a fashion similar to a browser's user interface. In an internet browser, there is typically a "home" button which is assigned a specific website that the user designates the website they visit most often or would like to be viewable upon open. Likewise, Nintendo now has more menu screens than in previous systems. The new "home" button that was created looks quite similar to the button by the same name on a browser. The difference is where it takes you.
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| (Left) - Internet Explorer 7's home button. (Right) The Wii remote's home button. |
Where an internet browser's home button takes the user to the website that you see when you open the browser, Nintendo's home button takes the user to a menu allowing access to the menu that shows up when the system is started. The advent of this button is useful, but more importantly, it allows users to interact with a graphical user interface (GUI) providing ease-of-access.
While this may not seem tantamount to anything else important, let me assure you that without GUIs the way we operate– not only games– technology in general, would be much harder. A GUI (pronounced gooey) is a way for users to interact with the scripting and programming of a technological system, without having to do the typing that would normally be involved in these interactions.
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| Wii's Home Menu |
Many things people use today have some sort of GUI, and when it comes to computers it's more prevalent that one may realize. Computers and their operating systems generally operate with a GUI based on a "WIMP" system. (WIMP is short for 'window, icon, menu, pointing device'.) This is the typical setup where windows, icons, and menus are on the screen, and the usage of a cursor– usually with external input via either a mouse, mouse-pad, or joystick– provides the user with access to various context sensitive commands. The context of the commands typically are determined by which application is running, or what file type is being edited.
Recently, the popularity of 'smart-phones' has led to a "Post-WIMP interface" development. Not all technology has the capability– or need of– external pointer inputs. One example of how a modern post-wimp interface works is the design of the Apple iPhone.
"The iPhone illustrates how commercial designers are evolving interfaces by incorporating insights and techniques gleaned from HCI research. RBI Themes One of the iPhone’s features is a multitouch display. A technology that has been around for decades in research circles [12], multitouch sensing is used to create applications that are based on naïve physics (NP). In the photograph viewing application, zoom functions that would traditionally be accessed through combo boxes, button presses, or other widgets are instead activated by pinching and stretching the iPhone’s display with two fingers using
the illusion of a pliable rubber surface. While viewing a photo in full screen mode, the user flicks
the screen to the left or right to see the next image in the list rather than pressing a directional pad or using a jog wheel. This uses environmental awareness and skills (EAS) via a spatial metaphor—all objects in the real world have spatial relationships between them. Similar use of EAS is also found in iPhone applications such as Weather, iPod, and Safari. The iPhone applications of iPod, Safari, Phone and Photos also use body awareness and skills (BAS) in their interaction design. When the user puts the phone close to his or her face, it shuts off the screen to prevent accidental button presses. The other three applications use inertial sensing to orient displayed content so that when the iPhone is placed in landscape or portrait view, the image is always right side up (NP). NP in the form of inertia and springiness is found across almost all of the iPhone’s applications. When scrolling to the bottom of an email, the window appears connected to the bottom of the screen as if by springs. When flicking through the contact list, a fast flick will keep the contacts scrolling after the user’s finger has been removed, as if the list itself had mass." (Reality Based Interaction, Case Study 2)
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| Apple's iPhone |
Nintendo's home button is still a WIMP interface, but the GUI it opens uses non-traditional pointer inputs, the Wii remotes, or touch screen controls– as is the case with the 3DS–which are more similar to the post-wimp evolution our society has been actively endorsing. Will other systems attempt to provide the same type of options? With the entry of Microsoft and Sony into motion controls, perhaps we shall. One thing is for sure: "Home is where the [st]art is."
Reference:
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. CHI 2008, April 5–10, 2008, Florence, Italy. Copyright 2008 ACM 978-1-60558-011-1/08/04…$5.00.
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