
In an attempt to address these questions, the current study examined the impact of controller type (native VR controller vs. With the incessant popularity of VR gaming, the question then arises as to which input method affords the most intuitive interactive experience and provides the most enjoyable gaming user experience (UX). The recent resurgence of interest in and widespread availability of virtual reality (VR) technology have paved the way for the use of VR systems as a gaming console.

This research supports and extends prior findings which suggest that NUIs might not be as natural and intuitive as they are designed to be. Additionally, game genre differences were found suggesting shooting games (first- and third-person shooters) to be more frequently played with gamepads and sports games to be more frequently played with NUIs, and gamepad session were as much as 50 per cent longer on average. No differences in controller simplicity or the overall enjoyment were found. Likewise, participants discussing NUIs were more likely to comment on the controller’s lack of precision, feeling unnatural, having less success during the game session, and seeing the controller as more novel. While the same eleven discussion themes emerged when players described either gamepad or NUI experiences, participants discussing gamepads were more likely to comment on the controller’s precision, comfort, success using the controller, and their past experience with the controller. A secondary qualitative analysis of N=238 open-ended comments to a larger game controller experience survey were analysed for emergent themes, with χ2 tests used to compare the frequency of their mention between the two controller types.


This research report sought to understand how gamers experienced recent gaming sessions using traditional game controllers (gamepads) or natural user interfaces (NUIs, such as the Nintendo Wiimote).
