Sly Cooper and a theory about gamepads.

Last weekend, I used the Memorial Day holiday to take my two kids and a musician friend of mine on a routine shopping expedition. I was hoping to get another swing for the yard, and the one I wanted was a likely candidate at the big regional ToysRUs. Success! Swing obtained! The down side was, they also had Sly Cooper 1 and 2. I really wanted to pick up a Wii classic controller, but for the same money I could get two more games! A few minutes later, we were down the street having lunch at the local mall food court. After we ate, I figured that we should locate the Gamestop in the mall because I'm always hoping that I'll accidentally find the Gamecube version of Killer 7 or some other treasure like that. But, since my older son has that tendency towards completion, he spotted Sly 3 and was pretty much adamant that we get it. After all, the easiest way to annoy some people is to take something that there are n of and have or obtain n-1 of them.

My reasoning behind the classic controller (which I still did not get) mostly has to do with Samurai Shodown Anthology for Wii. While Tatsunoko vs Capcom allows for a Gamecube controller, and controls OK that way, SSC does not. While it's adequate for Samurai Shodown 1-5 to use a Wiimote plus Nunchuck, it's less than ideal. As a lefty who has always played fighting games with a gamepad, I've gotten quite used to character control with my left hand. My stupid right hand doesn't always get combo timing perfect, but I can usually pull off the controller motions on a regular basis, even on an unfamiliar controller. On the Wii, I am used to Wiimote in my left hand and Nunchuck in my right - perhaps I should switch but it feels creepy. (I even get mad about some of the Wii Fit games that use the Nunchuck not letting you swap the controls.) Of course, right handed people have had to put up with having the D-pad on their non-dominant had for years, but maybe this is why the fight stick is so popular. So, my theory is this. If you're a lefty that didn't play fighting games much in the arcade but a lot at home, you're more likely to prefer a gamepad. If you're a righty in the same boat, you're OK with a gamepad but you would rather have a fight stick.

Of course, the other reason I want a Classic Controller for Samurai Shodown is that Samurai Shodown 6 needs more buttons, and the easiest way to annoy me is to take a fighting game that needs 5 buttons and make it so I can only reach 4 of them - or put six games on a disc and make it so I can only play 5 of them.