How do you deal with aching hands when gaming with a pad?

[Alfonse]

After a few rounds of fighting game action, my left hand (usually used for the D-Pad or the analog) will begin to ache like hell. I can still play, but my performance becomes drastically reduced with the aching. How do you deal with it in such a situation? Does being seasoned with a pad increase your stamina?

[Sp00ky]

By playing with stick.

Seriously pad is just not a natural way to play these sorts of games. I can't imagine the arthritis or carpal tunnel one could develop as a result.

[Light]

I never really thought of Melty killing my hands while playing. Sure if I play like a hour straight....Maybe I'm not playing the right characters. I guess I should ask what Fui thinks. 

I find games that require fast inputs worst, like GG or ST. Charge characters in ST are especially brutal on my hands. With those characters, my hands are done in like 5-10 minutes.

[Alfonse]

F/UC Saber kills my hand way faster than someone like uhm, Dark Sakura. 

[Kelong]

By playing with stick.

This. You can go for hours on stick.

To answer your question, try messaging your hands and flexing the fingers after every 10 mins or so.

[Sh1k1]

Strange. For me playing with a stick gets uncomfortable after the first half hour. I can go on and on and on for hours and hours with a pad.

[mewofforcena]

Ah, the tragic curse that afflicts us keyboard crushers...

[AkiraTheMastodon]

Stick is the way to go.

If your hands hurt, just take a break.

[ಠ_ಠ Dizzynecro]

Play Marvel on pad and everything else will not hurt your hands anymore.

[Atiba]

Where do you guys buy your sticks (for ps2 and pc) from???

[Sh1k1]

Mine is a generic Logitech Dual Action gamepad, physical button distribution is cloning that of a PS2 gamepad.

[Atiba]

OK..I have a generic game pad as well...but i've never used a HORI Stick and would love ot get one....it's just i dont know where I can get one for a reasonable price. And lots of time they seme to be sold out.

[DarkSaint]

How can anyone that grew up playing video games get pains from using a pad?

[Atiba]

lol...

I dunno enuff to really say.... my thing is I've heard ppl say moves come out easier with a stick...so i'd love to give it a try.

[Magedark]

Addressing the question at hand here, I'm not sure what to say. I play the pad also, and I usually don't have problems with stamina. How long have you been using a pad?

[Alfonse]

Addressing the question at hand here, I'm not sure what to say. I play the pad also, and I usually don't have problems with stamina. How long have you been using a pad?

Less than a year frankly, as far as fighting games are concerned. I am a keyboard crusher on MBAC PC. For older PS1 games, I used a HORI joystick, but it's no longer functional.

The pad in context is a Dualshock 2.

[Sh1k1]

Addressing the question at hand here, I'm not sure what to say. I play the pad also, and I usually don't have problems with stamina. How long have you been using a pad?

Less than a year frankly, as far as fighting games are concerned. I am a keyboard crusher on MBAC PC. For older PS1 games, I used a HORI joystick, but it's no longer functional.

The pad in context is a Dualshock 2.

Strange. I can play for hours upon hours on a Dualshock 2 stuff like MBAC, SFA3 and several other fast-paced games, and never get stamina issues.

[Alfonse]

Do you use the D-Pad or the analog?

[Sh1k1]

D-Pad all the way, babeh.

[Abstract Nonsense]

Argarg what is wrong with you people? How do you get sore using PAD? Back when I was playing like a crazy man, I was capable of going pretty much as long as I wanted on pad with NO DIFFICULTY AT ALL.

[motoh]

1632143.  Geese and Kohaku players know, pain is fleeting, glory is forever.

~M

[Escobar]

I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of becoming accustomed to whatever it is you're using. I've been playing all sorts of fighting games (or any other type of games, for that matter) on a pad for years, and I pretty much have no problem going for hours on end with no aches.

I recently took a visit to my grandparents over in the Dominican Republic, I brought over a PS2 and a bunch of fighting games. Seeing how they never play games, within a few minutes my cousins and the guys over there were complaining about how they couldn't play anymore due to their hands hurting.

Lately I've been trying to get more accustomed to arcade sticks, but I always have that lingering feeling that my input and reactions are not as fast as they would be if I were using a controller. That, and I swear it starts to feel like my hands cramp up after a while. I think with time I'll get used to the stick, I've already seen glimpses of how it can clean up sloppy controller input and just be much better overall for playing these games, but I've got a long way to go..

  TL;DR: Should be because you're not used to it, though whether you're just better off skipping pads altogether and jumping right to sticks or not is up for debate XD

[Sh1k1]

I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of becoming accustomed to whatever it is you're using. I've been playing all sorts of fighting games (or any other type of games, for that matter) on a pad for years, and I pretty much have no problem going for hours on end with no aches.

I recently took a visit to my grandparents over in the Dominican Republic, I brought over a PS2 and a bunch of fighting games. Seeing how they never play games, within a few minutes my cousins and the guys over there were complaining about how they couldn't play anymore due to their hands hurting.

Lately I've been trying to get more accustomed to arcade sticks, but I always have that lingering feeling that my input and reactions are not as fast as they would be if I were using a controller. That, and I swear it starts to feel like my hands cramp up after a while. I think with time I'll get used to the stick, I've already seen glimpses of how it can clean up sloppy controller input and just be much better overall for playing these games, but I've got a long way to go..

  TL;DR: Should be because you're not used to it, though whether you're just better off skipping pads altogether and jumping right to sticks or not is up for debate XD

You goddamn bastard, you come to the country and not let me know to hook up and hit ourselves some Melty?

[Escobar]

You goddamn bastard, you come to the country and not let me know to hook up and hit ourselves some Melty?

lmao, the more you know...there's always next time

[Sh1k1]

lmao, the more you know...there's always next time

You damn better. My guys are getting less and less interested in Melty because of distinct lack of competition, and I tend to have this bad habit of crushing them all to bits, so it ends up not being fun for both ends, the winning one (me) and the receiving one (them, usually).