Macworld: News: Nintendo rethinks the game controller — Perhaps the only game console company showing any real innovation today.
Nintendo Co. Ltd. will offer a game controller with its upcoming Revolution games console that is drastically different from those used in previous consoles.
The controller looks a little like a television remote control and will allow people to play games with just one hand, said Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo during a keynote speech at the Tokyo Game Show, which opened on Friday near Tokyo
I think this is just another example of how innovative Nintendo really is. Think of all the stuff that Nintendo pioneered on their consoles – directional pad, analog stick, shoulder buttons, expansion ports on controllers, etc. All modern control pads have these features.
While Sony and MS have been fighting over the number of processor cores and raw processing horsepower, Nintendo is breaking ground by experimenting with new interfaces.
And what a PR move! They’ve managed to get a lot of press from this development. I’m tentatively optimistic, and I’d love to get my hands o n it and try it out with a real game to see if it can deliver.
They dont boast about how much faster or how much more video RAM there console has. But they have most defiently pionered the game controller. Between Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube. GameCube has the best controller. Nintendo’s systems may be “slower”. But who cares. In my opion Nintendo makes better products. If you have carpel tunnel its not gonna matter wheter or not your game console has 3 dual core 10ghz processers casue your controller sucks ass. That thing looks sweet.
I think this is just another example of how -desperate- Nintendo really is. These days it’s Xbox Xbox Xbox, PS3 PS3 PS3, who’s Nintendo? The once mighty console giant is slowly loosing the gaming race, and they are trying to do something — anything — to get their lead back.
This controller just seems dumb. I don’t know how things are done in other countries, but in the U.S., gamers ferment on the couch and click on game pad buttons like drones. No one here is going to want to use a controller that requires moving around and actually lifting your arms.
I predict the more traditional game pad Nintendo is making for their next console is going to be a big seller.
P.S. That’s why I don’t play video games. 🙂
Sure it’s different, but is it any good? The actual controls on the controller doesn’t look any different than what we’ve got today. Splitting them into two parts connected with a wire hardly seems an innovation.
Any one handed playing? Big deal.
Rick Pali, the analog stick on the left is an optional attachement. The main controler is the TV remote looking thing. It reacts to being moved in real 3D space. That is, without a doubt, not the same old thing.
Eventually I think just about everyone will use this input method, but as for when, and who will really make is mainsreem…I’m not sure. I really like Nintendo, so I hope this goes well, but they are taking a pretty big risk.
Wow Sean, that’s some nice flaming.
I don’t understand why everyone is so convinced that Nintendo is dying somehow. Sony and MS have both posted losses in their gaming divisions, while Nintendo has consistently made net profits since the SNES days. That hardly sounds desperate to me. Nintendo isn’t going away anytime soon, particularly in the handheld gaming market.
Undoubtedly MS and Sony have the hype machines spooled up, but it’s costing them money. They have huge libraries, but how many of those games are actually any good? Nintendo has built its business on maintaining a quality library of games with good playability.
And if you’d have researched this controller a bit more, you’d find a number of sources saying that moving your body isn’t required, nor is it necessary to flail your arms about.. No heavy lifting required, so you lazy americans can maintain your catharsis if you like. 🙂
I don’t see why you’re complaining. As you said, this is strictly an optional device, with more traditional controllers for those that want them. This is just going to give consumers more variety and choice in a competitive market.
I’ve been participating in an ongoing discussion regarding this move, and here’s what its boiled down to:
This is a nice move. Everyone agrees with that. We’re all glad one of the big three is moving forward with something that relates to game play. However…
From a business prespective it will be very hard to get third party developers to take advantage of this feature. Multi-platform games will not take advantage of this feature because the extra cost to do so cannot be justified when the game is sold at the same price for all platforms, and when the platform in question will be the last one out (farthest behind).
From a technical perspective, this thing is going to take a hell of a lot more non-common code to work than the analog stick does. This is a lot more than “up, down, left, right”. In a world where more and more games are multi-platform, this could kill the feature before it even comes out.
From a historical perspective, for every analog stick, shoulder button and expansion port I can reference the Nintendo Robot, the Power Pad, the Game Glove, and the VR: All failed products with big hype that were of a large scale. On the same scale as this new controller.
In the end, like all technology, this is going to take a killer application to really make happen. The question is will it be on the level of a Golden Eye, which really took advantage of the analog stick but didn’t move many consoles, of a Halo, which has moved many X-Boxes, or of some of the titles that made the PS2 the platform to beat.
Should be interesting to watch, but don’t let the Nintendo love overrun your grasp on reality. This is is an uphill battle that probably won’t succeed.
Mario!Mario!Mario!
Will be interesting to see the type of games utilizes this … I can already imagine myself laying on the couch playing with one hand and shoving cookies into my mouth with the other.