Holding Down vs Rapid Pressing.

[Suwako Moriya]

Sometimes in a game we're required to hold down a button quite a bit. Other times we need to press rapidly usually to win at a mini game. Thus the question is this. Which is easier to deal with?

On one hand holding down simply means just press and hold. However it starts to hurt one's finger after a bit and sometimes I accidentally release. Plus if the button is an awkward area well it becomes harder to hold down. The longer one has to hold the worse it is. Plus if you screw up when it comes to release, it's like all that for nothing.

Pressing allows one to take short pauses between holding, but the more often you must press the harder and more annoying it can be. Plus sometimes it feels like you're breaking the button just to press it rapidly. Then there's the problem of deciding the method for pressing quickly you want to use.

To be honest I'm not sure which I find more annoying or easier to deal with, but I figured for the heck of it I'd bring this up and see what others think. Oh and let's avoid stuff like "I use special fancy controllers that allow me to...." if possible. I mean of course you don't have to worry about rapid pressing if the controller does it for you.

[Andrew Cunningham]

Never really felt like I was in danger of breaking a button.

After playing the demo for Stranglehold my trigger finger hurt. After playing Burnout a lot it did not. Advantage: holding down.

[Ty]

Agreed. A long run of Dynasty Warriors results in awfully sore thumbs.

[NickFalzarano]

After playing the broken Sonic '06 game, where one of Shadows missions involved driving in a car ( :roll: ) and having to accelerate by mashing a button, I'll go with simply holding it every time. I mashed the damn thing so hard my hands actually hurt for a good deal afterwards and I still couldn't beat the damn thing. :grr:

[malazar]

Agreed. A long run of Dynasty Warriors results in awfully sore thumbs.

Goodness, you aren't kidding there. I guess I should be somewhat relieved that DW6 hasn't captured my attention as much as every other incarnation of the game, so my thumbs are not fatigued yet.

[ADC]

I had a friend who was really hard on controllers, even in press games. He'd come out of a Super Mario Kart session with his thumbs all bright red from pressing too hard. On a related note, he wasn't very good at SMK. I, with my perfectly normal zen thumbs, could beat him over 90 percent of the time on Battle Mode. So I cast my lot in with press-and-hold rather than tap-furiously.

[Glorian]

I definitely prefer holding the button down to rapid pressing.

[HitokiriShadow]

Holding down beats rapid pressing, definitely. I've never been fond of having to press a button rapidly for more than about two seconds.

[Mateo_home]

I'd rather hold the button than mash it. But it can break either way. In DK: Jungle Climber, I think nearly wore out the R button because I held it for so long and after doing so, it eventually wears out. So as long as I don't hold it too hard. But sometimes the tension in the game can make you do so. :P

[Lego]

Anyone remember the original Mario Party game where you had to rotate the control stick with the palm of your hand? Man that hurt.

I've played so many games where you've had to do a "rapid press" the most recent would be Twilight Princess where you're fighting Ganondorf at the end and you can lock swords in an epic duel only to tire your fingers out mashing A over and over.

[Junker Woland]

Using gamepads, I’d go with holding down buttons over rapid pressing.

I can’t remember ever having an issue holding-in a button for an extended period of time.

On the other hand, most gamepad button-spring mechanisms are kinda weak, so mashing sucks. Getting a decent rhythm going can be a pain, plus pressing for a good length regularly sees me holding the controller on the ground and jamming the crap out of the button, which tends to hurt after a while.

As for an arcade cabinet, I really don't mind either way.

[gnikdrazil]

Holding or get a controller that has rapid fire. Man, thinking about button mashing makes my thumb hurt from having to open doors in God of War and attack techniques from Okami.

[Merr]

Anyone remember the original Mario Party game where you had to rotate the control stick with the palm of your hand? Man that hurt.

Yeah, Nintendo almost got hit with a lawsuit for that one. I think they were forced to send out rubber gloves or something so you could rotate the control stick without destroying your palms.