Buttons-Free Gaming: iPhone Success or Failure?

Do video games need buttons? The issue is split among the console and handheld manufacturers, with Sony and Nintendo favoring buttons, and Apple and Microsoft doing everything they can to get away from them.

But while we still don’t know how successful Kinect will or won’t be as a controller-free device, the iPhone facts are in and they are not good.

Right now, the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch are without a single interactive button. Thus, when developers get their SDKs and begin to work on new projects, they look to the touch screen for a solution. This leads to one of three kinds of games:

1. Those that feature buttons and a mock D-pad (or thumbstick) that are mapped onto the screen, mimicking the format of a real game controller. This control style is used in original iPhone games like N.O.V.A. and Pandorum, as well as iPhone ports like Resident Evil 4 and Sonic the Hedgehog.

2. Those that simply ask the player to touch a specific part of the screen without having to pretend that a D-pad is actually there. This control setup is most commonly used in puzzle and novelty games like Star*Burst, but it has also appeared in Guitar Hero, AirAttack (a 2D flight shooter like 1942), and ports of the old Final Fantasy games.

3. Those that use the gyroscope to produce a small degree of motion control. The gyroscope is utilized in almost every iPhone racing game, whether old (Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2) or new (Days of Thunder). There are a few first-person shooters that use the gyroscope as well, but only as an alternative to the standard crosshair controls.

Each control format has led to a hit game or two – I’m not going to dispute that. But when you sit down and explore the many iPhone games that are out there, and when you weed out all of the crappy offerings, you come to the same problem time and time again: the good games could always be better.

No Sensitivity

Theoretically, these control options should be great. Real buttons and D-pads are digital (that is, not pressure-sensitive), so why should the touch screen version be any different?

When you push the D-pad in The Legend of Zelda for the NES, there is a tangible difference between the four primary directions: up, down, left and right. If you lift your thumb to change directions, or slide it across the D-pad, the game responds flawlessly. As a result, it is easy for the player to become completely immersed in the experience.

However, that level of control is just not possible on Apple’s device. Across Age is, by all accounts, a top-tier Zelda clone. The graphics are great, the levels are cool, and the characters are generally likable. But the mock D-pad ruins the experience. It’s too imprecise for an action-RPG, which requires fast response times and expert gameplay tactics, both of which are hampered by the touch screen.

Every Game Suffers

After playing a game like Princess Fury (a fun action/brawler) or Sonic 2, you might think that this is an isolated incident. But the reality is that every iPhone game suffers from this problem – even the good ones.

The list is staggering: Metal Slug Touch, Wolfenstein 3D, Streets of Rage, Dark Void Zero, Street Fighter IV, Ghosts ‘N’ Goblins Gold Knights, Pac-Man Championship Edition, and Call of Duty: World at War – Zombies all suffer without buttons. And these are just the ports that came to mind. Let’s not forget about all of the original iPhone games – such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Hybrid: Eternal Whisper, Ravensword: The Fallen King, Zenonia, and Dawn of the Dead, to name a few – that have fallen into the faux D-pad trap. Some of them use a fake thumbstick, which is even worse.

The gyroscope racing games aren’t much better. Though I enjoyed the motion steering in Mario Kart Wii, there has yet to be a single iPhone racing game that can hold my attention for more than a day.

What about the puzzle and novelty category? This is the one area where the iPhone has been pretty successful. Basically, when developers use the entire screen as a controller (as in Ancient Frog), or use it to circumvent the need for buttons (instead of pressing a D-pad left or right, AirAttack allows players to touch their aircrafts and move them to any point on the screen), the iPhone works well, really well in some occasions.

Take Advantage of this Advantage

Unless Apple realizes that no game machine is complete without buttons, PSP and Nintendo DS will always have the advantage. However, developers can level the playing field by utilizing the touch screen in a way that no other handheld can.

Imagine a deep flight simulator that uses the iPad’s large surface as the cockpit. Every knob, switch and button could be applied to the screen in a cool and realistic manner. If done properly, the gyroscope could be used to enhance the flight mechanics.

Obviously the iPhone is too small to accommodate a game this involved. But it could definitely handle something like Glory Days 2, a brilliant war game for Nintendo DS. Rather than replace the standard D-pad controls with touch screen functionality (as so many games do), Glory Days 2 created an entirely new gameplay experience by allowing players to command several military aircrafts with their fingertips.

On the iPad, developers could create a fighting game (something similar to the Fight Night or Def Jam series) and include an endless amount of buttons and button configurations. Players could be given the chance to move the buttons to any point on the screen, allowing them to create any kind of “controller” they desire.

On the iPhone, a new version of Street Fighter IV is in order. Since the current format doesn’t work properly with a touch screen, Capcom should consider developing a version with specific attack points – the face, chest, arms, legs, knees, elbows, etc. – that the player can touch instead of an on-screen button.

These are just a few ideas I’ve conjured up; I’m sure professional game developers could get far more creative. If either of Apple’s devices have any chance of becoming a prominent game machine, the industry must be creative. Contrary to what many developers believe, the iPhone is not merely another version of the PSP. It is its own unique platform with its own set of strengths and weaknesses.

We already know what happens when developers exploit the latter. Isn’t it about time for them to exploits its strengths?