The best comedy is undercut with tragedy. The apocalyptic satire of Dr Strangelove, the claustrophobic awkwardness of The Office, Basil Fawlty wailing impotently on his car with a tree branch in Fawlty Towers. It helps to laugh at our own shortcomings.

Video games are more than lasers and explosions, rules and design, music and graphics. They require input, and so they require controls. But human interface can be a dicy thing—so tough to get right, so easy to screw up.

Just because we've conditioned ourselves to play PC games a certain way doesn't mean everybody else has to follow suit. In today's charming Speak Up on Kotaku commenter Confirm4Crit tells the inspiring story of what happened when he handed his non-gamer girlfriend his laptop running a copy of the original Mass Effect.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 has an optional control scheme that might horrify hardcore fighting fans. But please, the company recently pleaded, give "simple" mode a chance.

The idea of controlling your console with gestures in a neat concept, but it also comes with a slew of technical challenges.

In our March podcast we play and talk with Guerrilla Games about their Playstation 3 master piece Killzone 2.