Back paddles should be mandatory for all next gen controllers

[VIPER]

I exclusively use the Xbox One controller for PC gaming and it's great. However the lack of back paddles can really hinder you in some fast paced games such as Doom Eternal (eg to jump).

There are some third party controllers with back paddles but they seem to be either way too expensive, or, plagued with issues (such as the Microsoft Elite controller).

Controllers have largely remained the same for the past 15 years but I cannot believe none of the big 3 have implemented this on their controllers on a permanent basis.

I don't think all games need to utilise more than the current controller layout, but it would be nice to have an additional option.

 

[Dakkon]

There are some third party controllers with back paddles but they seem to be either way too expensive, or, plagued with issues (such as the Microsoft Elite controller).

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8BitDo controllers have back paddles, Hall Effect joysticks, and no issues, I'd recommend them!

 

[Maximo]

Steam Deck made me realize I never want a controller or handheld without back buttons/paddles ever again.

 

[Tailzo]

Steam Deck made me realize I never want a controller or handheld without back buttons/paddles ever again.

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On my rog ally, I only use the left back paddle to turn on / off fast forward in RetroArch. I kinda forget about it otherwise.

 

[ClassAndFear]

I worry that if you put the paddles there on every controller, developers will use them. Some games will become absolute control-scheme messes, and it'll be ruinous for accessibility options. I think the best option is that manufacturers actually give a shit about making things well and selling them at reasonable price points, so if you want to remap, absolutely you can do that and it's easily affordable. But I personally think (whisper it) we should be moving to simpler controls in general rather than adding more to the pot.

 

[Ravelle]

Better build quality should be mandatory for next gen controllers.

 

[Stibbs]

Scuf still hold the patent for console controllers no?

 

[glaurung]

As much as I agree with this idea, I don't think we're quite there yet.

The home video game console still equates to a big box under a Christmas tree for pretty small kids. They don't have the physical ability to hit the back buttons yet. So purely from a sales perspective, the back buttons on a default controller that comes with the device in the box, I don't expect them to have it. But what I would love to see is that all console producers offer a premium, professional controller alongside the console itself from day one. Those that want that, should get it as soon as possible.

And in the longer run, I really wish console manufacturers would iterate and refresh their controller designs more frequently. Why don't we have a black DualSense Edge with hall effect sticks? Or a Microsoft Elite 3 that does away with the horrid glued-on bits? I know they want to make the most money off of the cheapest crap, but come on.

 

[th1nk]

I wasn't sure I'd like them but I bought the DualSense Edge and now there is no turning back, they're essential. Keeping the right thumb on the right stick while jumping and dashing all over the place in Returnal etc. is so much fun.

Side note: why the fuck do I have to switch profiles manually for the Edge all the time? And have only 3 profiles active at a time? They could easily implement auto switching on a per-game basis…

 

[thenexus6]

I feel like I would be well better in shooters like Halo or Siege with a back paddle controller, but I don't trust the quality of the elite controller. I guess I could go third party..

 

[BoxScar]

Yeah I get quite sore wrists/fingers from certain games that use the face buttons frequently and back paddles have made it so much easier to game for longer sessions. Even games like Cocoon where you only press the A button, using that on a paddle is much more convenient than stretching my thumb off the stick and to the face buttons.

I put off buying an Elite controller for years because of the negativity, but been using one for 5 months without issue now.

 

[Bishop89]

Mandatory? No.
Optional, sure whatever.

First thing I did when I got my elites was remove them. They're so distracting and annoying

 

[iFirez]

Never used back paddles on any controller, never needed them or felt like I did anyway. At best they're an uncomfortable addition to the back of some controllers for me.

First thing I did when I got my elites was remove them. They're so distracting and annoying

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Same! If they're removable so some folks can keep them and others can take them off - then I'm all for it.

 

[Kiyamet]

Back paddles freed me from my crab claw prison

All Hail Back Paddles

 

[VirtualReach]

I worry that if you put the paddles there on every controller, developers will use them. Some games will become absolute control-scheme messes, and it'll be ruinous for accessibility options. I think the best option is that manufacturers actually give a shit about making things well and selling them at reasonable price points, so if you want to remap, absolutely you can do that and it's easily affordable. But I personally think (whisper it) we should be moving to simpler controls in general rather than adding more to the pot.

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So what though? That's on the devs and gamers to figure out over some $s. We could have said something similar about any number of controller innovations (N64 anyone?) to shutdown innovation.

I still have no idea how L3 and R3 were prioritized over back button/paddles way back when. They are objectively less precise at isolating input and (IMO) FAR less comfortable and intuitive to use.

It was obvious in the 90s and its obvious now - L3 and R3 are evil. All ma homies hate L3/R3. Kill them dead and make paddles standard. (Or just add paddles so the 8 L3/R3 people in the world are happy too)

I'd go so far as to say that back paddles are superior to all face buttons if they didn't all break for some reason.

 

[KeRaSh]

I hope that's the case but I really can't see it.
They probably make too much money with their respective elite controllers and they don't want to factor in these kinds of prices into their initial console bundles.
Best case scenario would be a simplified version of the current paddle controllers and save additional bells and whistles for the actual elites.

 

[Sec0nd]

Not only is having backpedals glorious for competitive games, it's also great to one hand laid back games. Playing P3R currently and I'm mostly just walking around and pressing A. One handing that shit with just the thumbstick and a backpaddle mapped to A is just great, lol.

 

[CanUKlehead]

Ever since the we had shoulder buttons, particularly with the PS1's dual shoulders, it always felt right to have paddles where my fingers wrapped behind the controller.

Yeah, all for this.

 

[BeI]

I'd say force sensing trackpads would be nice, but there's no way you'd get the awesome level of customisation on console, and not really as much of a need there anyway.

 

[SickNasty]

I would say for games like Armoured Core, they are almost necessary.

 

[Ouroboros]

As long as they are placed well.

Steam Deck was great but boy do I hate them on the Asus Ally.

 

[HandsomeCharles]

Scuf still hold the patent for console controllers no?

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AFAIK yes. I believe Microsoft has a licence agreement with them for the paddles on the elite controller.

 

[JackOfSomeTrades]

Back paddles are great, but adding more buttons to the controller is raising that barrier to entry another few inches, I think I'd be up for it if they removed some other buttons, even just move the L1/R1 buttons to the back paddles instead

 

[elenarie]

We have so many inputs to bind in Battlefield, would love it if these are mandatory.

 

[Rubblatus]

I worry that if you put the paddles there on every controller, developers will use them. Some games will become absolute control-scheme messes, and it'll be ruinous for accessibility options. I think the best option is that manufacturers actually give a shit about making things well and selling them at reasonable price points, so if you want to remap, absolutely you can do that and it's easily affordable. But I personally think (whisper it) we should be moving to simpler controls in general rather than adding more to the pot.

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Simultaneous 2-3 multi-button inputs, weapon wheels, touchpad swiping, 4+ modes mapped linearly to a single button, L3+R3 to accept the truth. Games are already absolute control-scheme messes. Worst case scenario, some of the already existing mess gets moved to less terrible bindings. Best case scenario, PC-style macros/hotkeys that users can opt into becomes the standard.

 

[Mivey]

Back paddles are great, but adding more buttons to the controller is raising that barrier to entry another few inches, I think I'd be up for it if they removed some other buttons, even just move the L1/R1 buttons to the back paddles instead

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At least the way I would handle is that by default the back paddles just map to the face buttons, so it's not "more buttons" it's rather a convenient way to hit face buttons without needing to take your fingers off the thumbsticks. So more ergonomic due to needing less finger movement.

Of course if a developer thinks it's a good idea to introduce new buttons, so mapping the back buttons to actually different things in-game than the face buttons, then they should be free to do so.

Maybe notable that by default, most default layouts of the Steam Deck actually don't use the back paddles. Users have to enable it. The exception is if the developers ships a default layout for their game that uses the back paddles in some way, whether as a shortcut to the face buttons for whatever else.

 

[Kida]

The amount of buttons on a controller already is a large obstacle to new people trying console games.

Making it even more complicated by default is not a good idea

 

[arrado]

Nah, it's an easy cost to cut and too complicated for the average gamer anyway.

There should be an option with paddles yes, but I fully understand that it's not available on the base model controller

 

[ClassAndFear]

Simultaneous 2-3 multi-button inputs, weapon wheels, touchpad swiping, 4+ modes mapped linearly to a single button, L3+R3 to accept the truth. Games are already absolute control-scheme messes. Worst case scenario, some of the already existing mess gets moved to less terrible bindings. Best case scenario, PC-style macros/hotkeys that users can opt into becomes the standard.

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Yeah, that's what I meant about simpler schemes. There's a lot of stuff that can be automated. I'm playing that newer Jedi game right now and sometimes interact is RB and sometimes it's Right stick, and I have no idea why they're using both. The right stick click is wholly unnecessary. Again, accessibility wise: that's a remap that requires actual thought and care. (Truthfully, it doesn't even really need to be a button, right? That could be automated upon approaching a crate etc.)

 

[Darkreaver]

It was nice to have it with the n64 controller, not sure why nintendo didn't add back those backpaddle.
However, for some reason, i really hate them with my steamdeck.

 

[Celestial Descend]

Better build quality should be mandatory for next gen controllers.

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Would be nice for current gen controllers too.

 

[VirtualReach]

Back paddles are great, but adding more buttons to the controller is raising that barrier to entry another few inches, I think I'd be up for it if they removed some other buttons, even just move the L1/R1 buttons to the back paddles instead

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L3/R3 are the obvious ones to get nixed.

 

[Red Kong XIX]

No.

Hall effect sticks should be instead.

 

[OtakuCoder]

I think we'd be better served by having them as extra buttons that players can freely map as they see fit (like we have on Steam Deck) rather than adding yet more to the default controller layouts.

 

[Ogni-XR21]

It will never be a standard out of the box. Casuals already struggle with the many buttons and sticks on a regular controller, I don't see back buttons making it any better.

 

[Garulon]

There should be an option with paddles yes, but I fully understand that it's not available on the base model controller

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I'm not sure what advantages mandatory back paddles would offer back paddle fans over them just buying controllers with back paddles if they like them

 

[Xils]

"We heard you. We'll be bringing Vita's rear touchpad to PS6's controller" - Sony, probably.

 

[mausterhunter]

I've found them to feel so much better than joystick clicks. Would be an easy trade for me.

 

[Vexii]

I will exclusively go out of my way to not click in controller sticks wherever applicable.

So my Switch Pro Controller and my Starfield XBONE Controller tend to take a backseat to anything else - Primarily my 8BitDo Ultimate controller. I also exclusively play my Switch either docked with the 8BDU or, if handheld, whilst using the Nitro Deck (which has 4 rear paddles).

Whoever decided that sticks should click is on my shitlist

 

[Neoxon]

You might be getting your wish with the Switch 2 going by various leaks.

 

[beebop]

Mandatory? No.
Optional, sure whatever.

First thing I did when I got my elites was remove them. They're so distracting and annoying

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The Elite ones are overkill with all 4. Nice for the option, but I don't enjoy them. However, I switched to using the two short paddles, one on the top left and one on the bottom right (to match the thumb stick positions) and it was so much better.

 

[ShinobiOfTheWind]

Who owns the patent for this? Scuf or Corsair?

 

[Shadow]

One thing I can say is skip the actual "paddle" and just add the same buttons they use in the Steam Deck. Tried out the Elite 2 controller and I highly dislike the paddles on there. Doesn't feel natural to me.

8Bitdo Pro 2's back buttons are good too, but a bit too easy to press which makes me accidentally press them sometimes.

You might be getting your wish with the Switch 2 going by various leaks.

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Yeah, I'm really hoping they are what we think. I feel like Nintendo would do it now, and not just on a pro controller which gimps the regular experience. They'd need a new system to add that in, which this is the perfect time.

 

[Dunfish]

I personally would rather they focus on having hall effect sticks rather than paddles. If they were to introduce back paddles I wonder whether developers would use them for specific functions or they would be used purely as a remapping option.

 

[SteveWinwood]

I used to be a one paddle boy. But once I had two back buttons on each side now I want that on everything.

 

[The Real Napsta]

L3/R3 are the obvious ones to get nixed.

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Terrible idea.

 

[Ubik]

I for one think they should stop adding useless optional bloat to standard controllers and focus on making them quality products and keeping the price well below $100.

This is exactly the use case for 3rd party and elite controllers. Maybe those should just be better too.

 

[Hasney]

I'm really not a fan, so as long as they can just replace the function of other buttons and can be removed, while not increasing the cost of the controller, go for it. Otherwise keep it an premium controller feature.

 

[Miniature Kaiju]

Nah, controllers already have an overwhelming amount of inputs. If anything, wish we'd get rid of L3/R3, hidden inputs like that are some of the worst UI ever created.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

As long as they can be removed go nuts, I find them obtrusive most of the time.