I've thought this, but there doesn't seem to be anywhere else to put them. The section that's making me particularly twitchy is the 80s alternating-button sports games; historically they've always been referred to as either "button mashers" or "joystick wagglers", both of which have been co-opted for different things and mostly as a means to take a potshot at either game mechanics or consoles.
Probably best expanding this trope to include, but... grr.
I personally would be more comfortable spinning them off into another trope, because the modern usage of "button mashing" seems more focused on the don't-know-what-I'm-doing wildness in my opinion... Maybe we could spin that off into another page, named Spam A Gameplay or something.
I'm open to expanding this page's definition, though. We just need to separate the two kinds of buttonmashing somehow.
I think the issue is a question of what is more important to this trope: the fact that the controls/buttons are being used REALLY FAST, or is it more important that the Noob is inputing commands RANDOMLY?
Edited by EeveeLord
I like alliteration, which is why I call this thing Button Bashing. The word mashing just feels weird to me, anybody else have the same feeling?
Is it a subversion if a game has a secret hidden move that requires a ridiculously long and complex button combo that nobody would've figured out, and wasn't in any instructions (while other moves were, and the game itself was not known for complex button presses)? Because.. Flying Dragon.. Yuka's insane special..
So... This is interesting.
A couple of the page examples seem to be using the term "Button Mashing" to refer not to wild, don't-know-what-I'm-doing button presses that still allow one to do well at the game, but rather to refer to any intentional repetitive motion puzzles. Basically, any of the examples that say something requires button mashing, or the ones that think the devteam intending you to hit one button over and over again for a particular puzzle is this trope.
... Is that this trope? Should they be removed? Should the summary be expanded to include them?
Hide / Show Replies