39,327
edits
m (categories and general cleanup) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 4:
{{quote|''"Wow! Just what I needed! In fact, it would seem to me that these give me just what I need at that moment in time! Oh, I see! Context sensitive! Clever!"''|'''[[
{{quote|''"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."''|'''Albert Einstein.'''}}
Line 17:
== Advertising ==
* The Staples chain of office supply stores ran a series of TV commercials in which someone is out of a certain office supply, then presses a big red button labeled "EASY" which caused a large quantity of the missing office supply to appear. A later commercial parodied earlier ones by having an EASY button accidentally held down, causing massive quantities of various office supplies to materialize around an office building.<br /><br />In another ad, office supplies randomly fall from the air -- until a family discovers their one-year-old happily playing with a new toy. Current commercials have people [[Magic
== Anime ==
Line 23:
* In ''[[Code Geass]]'' Lelouch has a switch shaped vaguely like a chess piece that serves multiple functions, ranging from remote controlling guns of a freshly hijacked mecha, detonating planted explosives, causing his [[Humongous Mecha]] to eject a container full of mini-mirrors which let him reflect his [[Evil Eye]] at improbable angles, and causing Mount Fuji to erupt. As one might expect from this example, [[Memetic Mutation]] has turned the switch into the anime equivalent of [[Batman]]'s utility belt.
* In ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', the Ganmen's controls don't have a clear connection to the operation. When asked how to operate one, Simon says you just move the levers back and forth and it does what you want.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' - Any time Kaiba uses his hax skills. Summed up quite nicely in [[Yu-Gi-Oh!:
{{quote| '''Computer''': [[Rapid-Fire Typing|It looks like you're just pressing the same buttons over and over again]].<br />
'''Kaiba''': That's because I learned how to hack by watching old episodes of ''[[Star Trek]]''. }}
Line 36:
'''Mike''': (as Padmé) By pressing the ''only'' button on the ship that works! }}
* ''[[Star Trek]]''
** In ''[[Star Trek: Insurrection]]'', Captain Picard pushes a button on his control console labeled "Calibrate", which is enough to call up the lyrics of [[
** More generally, 24th century Starfleet control panels are reconfigurable, thus allowing actors to push the same spot and achieve different effects. So says series graphic designer Mike Okuda in the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual.'' In other words, everything works like [[Everything Is an iPod In The Future|big iPhones]].
** ''[[Star Trek VI:
*** To be fair to the movie, they had just finished jerry-rigging the torpedo, so maybe they just wired it into a handy nearby button.
* ''[[
* ''[[The Incredibles]]'' - Try to figure out which button on Syndrome's remote does what.
* In ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'', the [[Taken for Granite|Medusa]] device is operated by a single large switch which, when flipped, without any direction, turns to stone only the intended target.
Line 46:
== Literature ==
* Subverted in ''[[Discworld
== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[
* In ''[[Firefly]]'' there are three switches that the pilot, Wash, always flips whenever he starts doing something. This is remarked on by the actor in one of the commentaries.
* In the ''[[
* ''[[Doctor Who]]''
** The sonic screwdriver seems able to perform any and all tasks required, just by pointing and buzzing. It has cut, welded, unlocked locks both electronic and mechanical, detonated marsh gas, disabled androids, changed channels on a military communications screen, manipulated multiple computer systems and, of course, unfastened screws. No explanation for its versatility-sans-external-controls has ever been advanced onscreen, but when Amy Pond had to use the screwdriver in "Let's Kill Hitler", Rory commented that it (at least that incarnation of it anyway) had a psychic interface.<br /><br />Specific settings have been referenced. in The Empty Child, he tells Rose which one reattaches barbed wire. We don't know how settings are selected. In ''The Keeper of Traken'', however, the Doctor explicitly states that it can't do anything against purely mechanical locks. Also, since it can only manipulate one device at a time, it can't open deadlocks.
Line 60:
** Jon Pertwee once said that, like the ''[[Star Trek]]'' example above, he'd assigned functions to every one of the panels on the console. Also, for a New Series example, the Series One Companion Guide states that "the Doctor's got it rigged so that when he pushes a button on one side, it unlocks a lever on the other side," and that's why he's madly dashing about.
* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' - Whenever Joel or Mike needed to see what was happening outside the Satellite Of Love, they'd ask Cambot to "Give me rocket number nine!" The camera would then cut to a view outside the satellite; it would be a completely different angle every time.
* On ''[[
== Newspaper Comics ==
Line 71:
== Videogames ==
* The former [[Trope Namer]], ''[[
* Many games have a context-sensitive button for the player to use in an effort to simplify the control scheme. With exceptions like Conker above, they don't actually appear in the game world.
** The "A" button in ''[[Gears of War]]'' is a catch-all button for the gameplay's duck and cover system. You slide into cover, switch pillars with a swat turn, jump over barriers, roadie run, anything you can think of. In fact, it's ''so'' frequently used that players and critics have complained about the button causing the wrong thing to happen because the context changed ever-so-slightly just before they pushed it.
** Similarly, in the 3-D ''Zelda'' games, the A button was context-sensitive and gave Link the ability to jump, roll, push, and pull, among other things, depending on the context. ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
** One specific action button in ''[[Beyond Good
** The all-purpose "action" button in ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' is used to shoot, grab hold of ledges, climb out of pools, or push boulders.
* ''[[Portal (
** Portal 2 uses the same all-purpose use/grab key, but the tutorial has a subversion: when asked to speak and prompted to try the Jump button, all Chell does in this context is jump.
* A [[Tamagotchi]] is a very sophisticated virtual pet that's controlled by only three context-sensitive buttons. In general, A is used to navigate menus or selections, B to make choices, and C to cancel. If none of the menu icons are highlighted, B brings up the current time, holding A and pressing B pauses, and pressing A and C together turns the sound on/off.<br /><br />Additionally, pressing C when no icons are highlighted will make the Tamagotchi do an animation (on the newer toys), for example, coming up close to the screen and waving.
* Both ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]'' and ''[[
* ''Every bloody thing'' in the ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' series. Though it gives you an unprecedented level of control.
* The entire point of [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/495903 Super Press Space to Win Action RPG.] Every action in the 5-minute game is performed by repeatedly pressing the space bar. [[Played for Laughs]].
* In ''[[
** Sometimes, you can try to pick up your Chao and end up attacking it.
** Sometimes, you try and put down an animal in the aforementioned Gardens and end up in a help menu because you were next to one of the TVs.
Line 104:
* Parodied in ''[[Megas XLR]]''
** Coop activated a weapon with one button labeled "That Cool Giant Energy Sword Thing". He later activates a different weapon with the same button, and when he does the button is labeled "[[media:Same_Button.jpg|Exactly the Same Button Coop Just Used Like Five Minutes Ago]]". This was a running gag in the show, where this same button would have different labels like "Do Something Stupid Coop", "Rip Arms Out of Sockets" and after Coop said, "Maybe you'd like ''this'' better, then!", it said "This Better Then". After announcing he was about to use Super Destructor Mode it said "You heard the man kids, Super Destructor Mode" <br /><br />Other labels were "Five Minutes left in the Episode" (because he'd always push it right then), "The Right Choice", and the one time the button was missing it was labeled "Save the World". Which was part of a selection which included "Smite the world", "Destroy the world", and "Destroy the world worse".
** In another episode, Megas is trapped in a giant cocoon by a moth-like alien, and his teammates argue which button he should press: "Destroy Giant Cocoon" or "Attack Moth-Like Bug". Unable to decide, he mashes both, encasing Megas in a [[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
** On at least one occasion he used the stick shift to go from 'drive' past 'neutral' and 'reverse' all the way to 'Save Jamie'. Coop's Speedometer usually reads as a normal speedometer, but once it measured from "Slow", "Fast", "Faster", and "GOOD CRIPES!".
** Coop's Oil Gauge reads from "Empty", "Needs a Little", "Almost There", "Good Enough", "No really, I'm fine", and "PLEASE STOP!"
Line 111:
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' - [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] with a [[Weather Control Machine]]: Dr. Drakken keeps hitting the same button because, as he says, "These controls are supposed to work intuitively!"
* In ''[[Re Boot]]'', the character Bob uses a keytool called Glitch which has all sorts of functions and transforms into different machines in response to voice commands such as "Glitch! Zipline!" or "Glitch! Scan!" However when Bob panics, he usually just cries "Glitch...ANYTHING!" And Glitch always seems to come up with something that works. Glitch is an intelligent being in its own right, though, so it's [[Justified Trope|justified]].
* The Rustbucket II in ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force
* The ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' episode "Robbin' Ed" featured "The Thingamajig", which provides exactly what the character needs when they push the button, [[Hyperspace Arsenal|even if the object is bigger than the Thingamajig]]. It's used at the end of the episode to resolve the plot.
* In ''[[The Magic School Bus]]'' there was a context-sensitive lever that Ms. Frizzle would pull to get the bus to turn into whatever the episode called for. Mind you, that may be justified by the fact that the bus was sentient.
* Bender's antenna in ''[[Futurama]]''. However, it might be more a case of the antenna being the start button for whatever program Bender loads for his needs. No telling for sure.
* In one episode of ''Challenge of the [[
* In ''[[Batman Beyond]]'', [[Mad Bomber|Mad Stan]] had a detonator with only one button on it, yet pressing it only set off the bombs he wanted it to.
* Rico in ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'' has an extreme [[Stomach of Holding]] and is capable of vomiting up whatever is most useful at the time.
* [[
* In [[The Simpsons]] episode ''I, D'oh-Bot'', Homer 'builds' a robot for Bart with one all-purpose button on the control, although the robot is actually Homer in disguise. As it turns out, the button gives him a mild electric shock when pushed.
Line 135:
[[Category:Plot Sensitive Button]]
[[Category:Broken image markup]]
[[Category:Category:Broken image markup]]
|