Shoot Many Robots developer Demiurge will host a "Control Scheme Throwdown" at the upcoming PAX East. The throwdown is in response to feedback the studio received, which CEO Al Reed detailed in a blog post, arguing the merits of a twin-stick control scheme for the game over the single-stick method found in the game. In a couple of weeks, the studio will have a special build of the game rigged with both control schemes at the show, with head-to-head competitions of Shoot Many Robots featuring both styles of play.

Reed wrote, "To show that we're willing to put our money where our mouth is -- if we end up patching Shoot Many Robots (which is not a certainty in the console world), we will include controller configuration in the patch and we'll set the default to whatever wins at PAX!"

"Our user-testing failed to capture that some of the people who preferred the twin stick controls loathed the single-stick ones. It's also worth noting that you can't judge twin stick to be better until you've tried it yourself," Reed told Joystiq in a follow-up conversation. "It's one thing to say 'I don't like the controls,' it's another to go so far as to say 'the developer was foolish, this scheme I thought of would be better.'"

Well, in a couple weeks, real-world consumer testing will deliver an answer (or simply add more gasoline to the debate). Either way, we hope the game gets patched so both sides can live in harmony and shoot many robots.Gallery: Shoot Many Robots (3/14/12)

Shoot Many Robots dev holding 'Control Scheme Throwdown' at PAX East originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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