For those who have called me a liar and said we fabricated the story we do not now nor have we ever fabricated a story. There was no recording of any kind allowed, we were able to get one picture but that was it. The following is a thread of e mails from our p.r. rep, I have removed the email address from the thread but that is it.
Here is the e mail thread from the pr rep. This is not for posting nor sharing of the e mails. You will see it comes from a pr firm, I clearly show that I had a meeting and that I asked which one had issues with the Xbox, she just spelled his name wrong.
Must be Tymon Smetkala!
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 1, 2013, at 10:01 AM, “gareth@> wrote:
> Had a beard heavy accent did not like xbox one controller design>
>
> —–Original message—–
> From: Chrissy Kelleher fortyseven.com> To: “gareth” <>
> Sent: Sun, Sep 1, 2013 09:46:09 PDT
> Subject: Re: Pax>
> Hey Gareth,
>
> It could have been one of five! I’m not sure which one you met with. Do you
remember what he looked like?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Sep 1, 2013, at 9:32 AM, “gareth@wrote:
>
>> What as the name and title of the developer we met with
This shows p.r. firm, meeting, my asking which one did not like the Xbox One Controller and getting a reply, she had his name spelled incorrectly but this should confirm the meeting, the quote, and that we had the meeting arranged via a p.r. firm.
During my first hands on time with the pending open world zombie game Dying Light, I got some extended time with the new Xbox One controller.
Unlike the booth builds at PAX Prime, the first build I played was done in a private meeting room and utilized a PC and an Xbox One Control.
Although lighter than the Xbox 360 control and easier to wrap my hands around, the controller had some annoying bumpers. Many times during my testing I went to hot the top right or left bumper and found my hands slipping off them to the lower triggers.
Worse than that, the thumbsticks were very awkward at times and were not always responsive, especially when I pressed the left stick down to while trying to sprint.
In a game such as Dying Light where speed and split second timing is so vital, it was annoying to have to deal with unresponsive joysticks and slippery bumpers.
I had put this down to my preference for a mouse and keyboard as many times I tend to overcompensate or react much slower with a console controller than I do with a mouse and keyboard.
I also wondered if it was simply due to a new game still in development and as such was not a good example of what the final game would be like.
Interestingly enough, one of the developers, Tymon Smektala of Techland shared with me how much he does not like the Xbox One controller and said that he hopes they make some real changes to it before the final units ship.
He stated how much he hates the bumpers on the control and said they really do not work for the game and that they are difficult to use.
A second play of the game’s other build with an Xbox 360 controller made for a much better performance and experience, although I still think that a mouse and keyboard are ideal for the game.
I did like the new buttons on the Xbox One control as the X button was a bit easier to press. I did not like the upper control placement of the Xbox One Guide button. I am sure in time I can get used to it but I did find it annoying and hopefully some design changes may yet come to enhance the control as with awesome games like Dying Light coming, players need and deserve a top flight control to play them on the next generation systems.
You can check out our June and pending September magazine and our coverage of the E3 Expo and a report on the Xbox one below. Sep. Issue will cover PAX PrIME, Gamescom, D23 Expo, and a look at the new consoles.
