Nintendo "Revolution" Controller

[edmundito]

Viva la Revolución:


To understand how this will work, you must watch this video.

Here's also some more information describing how it works, and how it could be used in some games, as well some game demos journalist played:

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3143782
http://cube.ign.com/articles/651/651224p1.html

Discuss.

[scotch]

Chatted about it on IRC a bit, I think it looks awesome, if it works at all well.  If I buy any next gen console it would be this one, but interesting design is probably not something that is going to sell with gamers now, more important to them seems to be how much horsepower the system has (or how much the marketers can make people believe it has). I think this will be too alien for many. Commercial success or not, with this and the DS I'm glad nintendo are trying new approaches to games, and being able to use the controller sideways to play NES/SNES games appeals to us old school gamers!
(Posting this here because the IT forums are down? )

[jetxl]

You have to pay to download those nes/snes games. Nintendo is squeezing the last drow out of their 20 year old games.

All the consoles i bought were nintendo, but seeing that the nex controler looks like a sextoy I now know that I'm never going to play another new nintendo game again. In other words ill buy a playstation. Something that I should have done a decade ago.

[Mr Flibble]

My first reaction was "Oh god, they buggered it up" but it has grown on me. Seems original and intuitive, which is more than Sony can say.

At any rate, it seems much more palatable than the meagre graphical updates of the 360 and PS3.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php?date=2005-09-12&res=l

QED.


..And yes, I reckon this is only here because the IT forums are down.

[Snarky]

Looks to be awesome. For the first time since the SNES, I might actually buy a console. I reckon this will attract a large market of people who view the more traditional videogame controllers with deep suspicion. (I showed the video to a colleague, a woman who's definitely a non-gamer, and she was sold on it instantly.) It's a console that looks like a DVD player with a remote! Even your grandparents can deal with that.

Just like the DS and games like Nintendogs, the Revolution will bring videogaming to the masses. Hooray for Nintendo and true innovation!

[Lucky]

You have to pay to download those nes/snes games. Nintendo is squeezing the last drow out of their 20 year old games.

Considering how great those games are, a little fee seems perfectly reasonable.

As for the controller. It seems interesting, weird but interesting.

[Domino]

I'm sorry but i think that controller looks terrible and i'd probably be so uncoordinated using it. I never actually liked the Gamecube controller either.

I will eventually buy all of the next gen systems, and even though i am a Playstation fan myself (and have all of the current consoles), i'll probably end up getting an Xbox360 at launch.

Looking forward to elder scrolls : Oblivion

Shawn

[Vince Twelve]

but interesting design is probably not something that is going to sell with gamers now, more important to them seems to be how much horsepower the system has

Which is exactly why they're doing this.  They can't compete with the forces of Sony or the money-full Microsoft in terms of hardware strength.  They've lost that war and they've lost many of those gamers that you speak of who only care about polygon numbers.  With this, they're trying to bring in new gamers as well as bring new game-types into consoles.

For me, with a wife and a daughter on the way, I don't have much time to play games anymore, but I used to be a big console gamer.  I miss games, but I pay attention to the games news now, and I don't feel like anything has come out in the last year that I hadn't already played.  Now, with this new controller (which admittedly I feared at first glance) I feel excited for the system.  Because it's so intuitive and fun (according to every internet journalist who tried it out at the Tokyo Games Show), it's something I can probably even get my wife to play (she's one of those new gamers Nintendo is targeting), plus it's got that huge back-catalog of old Nintendo games that I would gladly pay a few bucks to download and play again.

When Nintendo invented the D-pad everyone thought it was ridiculous compared to the tried-and-true Atari Joystick.  By changing the controller so radically, they changed the types of games we all play on consoles.  Then Nintendo invented shoulder buttons, the analog controller, and the rumble pack.  Modern console controllers look like they look today because Nintendo made them that way, but the controller constrains the types of games that are possible.  Look at how differently computer games and console games are designed.  Ports between the systems always seem awkward because of the vastly different interfaces.  Now, with a completely different controller design, Nintendo has made it possible to play most of the types of games that currently infest consoles (with the possibility of playing them in a completely new and fun way... read the IGN article Edmundo linked to) but also a number of new types of games.  I'm excited to see what comes out of this.

[Flippy_D]

All the consoles i bought were nintendo, but seeing that the nex controler looks like a sextoy... In other words ill buy a playstation.

Pardon?

[TheYak]

Oooooo...  PowerGlove II: No Glove Required

I'm skeptical, but it could go either way.  If the games are able to use the controller intuitively, then it could be a lot more immersive.  If the games have to bend themselves to the technology so that most games become demos for the tech, then we've got another Powerglove, Lightgun, Eye Toy sort of thing.

[Helm]

what vince said, more or less. New ways to interact with games is a big deal. Not only for immersion, but for different gameplay devices. A computer game is a simulation of a conflict of some kind. Besides that, the way the interaction with the game world and the goal tackling can be handled calls for innovation. Not just for fishing games and frying pan games.  Think a deep space 3d game where the manouvering of the ship is relative to the 3d pointer plus depth... quite an unreal experience I'd expect. think

Only problem, I think this is going to break a whole lot, and hands are going to get tired.

[Nikolas]

Oh NO!

Me with a wife and a son, not much time in my hands but if things are moving this way, when my son grows up a bit (he's 20 months now) I'll definately buy him one of those, or something even better. And then I'll sit down and play with it all the time.

Even better when I retire and my son is married and his own problems, I'll buy all this kind of stuff and sit and play all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Vince Twelve]

Just had to share these.  Not sure if it's genious or ... nah, it's genious.





Keep in mind though: I'm pretty sure these are not official Nintendo images, but with the dock on the base of the controller, you can bet you'll see some weird peripherals like these.

[Kweepa]

Only problem, I think this is going to break a whole lot, and hands are going to get tired.

Nintendo are well known for the durability of their products, unlike for example, Sony.
My Gamecube controller has been used a couple of hours a day for years, it's been thrown around and jumped on, and it still works fine.

Compared to using a keyboard and mouse, I imagine this is much more comfortable. Nintendo are very careful about ergonomics, etc. after the incident with the Pokemon tv show.

[auhsor]

I'm very excited about the posibilities for the Revolution now. It really is the console that sticks out. It's pretty much exactly what Nintendo need to do to stay around next gen. I think those who are dismissing it as 'just a TV Remote' are really only looking at it at face value and are not reading the specs of it or the impressions of those who have used it.

I found on another forum a post for someone (who took it from somewhere else - so I don't know the origins ot it) who is answering a few questions about the controller.

***
From The Chaosengine

Here's an initial FAQ. More tomorrow.


So what did you play?

I played the Retro-fitted version of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

And ...?

It played far better than the original controls. Turning and aiming were instantaneous. Control was absolutely precise.

At a certain point during the demo, one of our designers did a double-jump over a gap and spun a full 180 degrees in midair before landing on the opposite side. When I saw this my arm literally started shaking and had to grab and squeeze the cup holder on my theater seat like Doctor Strangelove to hold my arm steady.

Then he circle-strafed around a Space Pirate.

Yes, circle-strafed.

In Metroid Prime 2.

And that's without target-locking.

How were the controls set up?

It was set up in the "nunchaku" configuration described in the article. On the left controller, the thumbstick controlled player movement, the upper trigger button was assigned to visor-switching, and the lower trigger was assigned to the "scan" function and locking onto a target. On the right controller, the controller itself moved the player's gun independently of the player's view (yes, you could fire at any point on the screen without changing the player view -- the gun tilted to face toward the aim point), the trigger button fired the gun, and three of the buttons controlled jumping, firing missiles, and switching to morphball mode.

How does it compare to a mouse?

From what I experienced, it seemed to be more precise than a mouse, but it's also much faster because it requires only a much smaller movement of the hand to achieve the desired effect. You just instantly point the controller at any part of the screen and bam!, that's where you're looking.

There is no lag.

There is no error.

It took a while to get used to the idea of how little effort is required to play a game with this controller. I kept wanting to lean forward and move the controller closer to the screen, and it took some practice to just sit back and just calmly move my hand ever so slightly.

At one point, someone said, "If you were to play a game with this against someone using a mouse, they'd have no chance against you." I had to admit it was true.

I've been using a mouse and keyboard for gaming for almost as long as I've been a gamer. I've logged over 80 hours so far in Battlefield 2 and I have a level 60 World of WarCraft character. If somebody had tried to tell me before now that a better controller would come along, I would have laughed at them.

But it only took me 5 minutes with the Revolution controller to realize that I don't need to use a mouse ever again.

Let's take a first-person shooter as an example. With a flick of the wrist, you can completely change your aim point from one corner of the screen to the other. Changing your aim point that way would require you to move a mouse all the way across a gamepad and could potentially take up to several seconds of pushing on a thumbstick with a standard console game controller.

Add to that the fact that the controller can correctly interpret roll (rotation of the controller clockwise and counterclockwise) and movement toward the screen or away from it, and you start to get an idea of the universe of new gameplay possibilities that Revolution games will be able to explore.

Gizzard: I would worry that if its in any way sloppily implemented, it will suck bigtime.

No worries in that category. If there was any sloppiness whatsoever, I didn't see it.

I do not expect to be using any other controllers ever again once the Revolution comes out.

The Angriest Smurf: This is cool as a novelty, but how does this lend itself to extended play sessions?

Try it yourself. Then see if you can still call it a novelty.

Trust me, I was very skeptical going into this. That skepticism is gone.

The Angriest Smurf: Could you imagine playing an FPS for over an hour with this without your hands getting tired?

Hell yeah, brother.

I often play Battlefield 2 for up to 3-4 hours in an evening (yes, I'm an addict), and after 10 minutes with the Revolution I'm ready to throw my mouse out the window for good.

When you take into account that the Revolution controller is very light (it seemed to me a bit lighter than I'd expect a TV remote of the same size) and that it's basically effortless to play with it, extended play sessions are a non-issue.

EvaUnit02: My concern is with playing today's standard genres of games. How do I play a racing game? Do I spin the controller around like a steering wheel?

That would be one way to do it.

Given the number of buttons available in the "nunchaku" configuration, combined with the tilt/rotate/push/pull aspects of the controller, I can't think of a game you couldn't easily adapt to the Revolution controller.

EvaUnit02: It's just not going to work.

I have played it. It works brilliantly.

So now that you've played it, what kinds of things do you think are possible with it that weren't possible before?

Off the top of my head:

A tennis game where your motions control the racket directly, and you never have to press a button the entire game.

A Harry Potter game where you can control Harry Potter's magic wand with the Revolution controller, and cast "Expelliarmus" with a few flicks of the wand.

... and where you steer your Quidditch broom just by steering your controller.

A boat racing game that lets you steer entirely by rotating the controller clockwise and counterclockwise.

A fencing game where you can slash, parry, and stab with the controller.

A Nintendogs game that lets you pet your dogs, pull on a leash, or throw a frisbee with the Revolution controller.

A real-time strategy game ... yes, on a console.

Furthermore, I want this RTS game to have a special cargo helicopter unit. Move the controller forward, and the cargo chopper descends and grabs hold of a tank sitting underneath it. Pull the controller toward you, and the cargo chopper lifts the tank into the air. Then you tilt the controller wherever, and the chopper flies over there, and you move the controller forward a bit to lower the tank to the ground again.
***

[jetxl]

Some years ago I would never say something bad about Big-N, but I'm tired of always backing people up and getting nothing in return. It makes me feel cheated.

... (I showed the video to a colleague, a woman who's definitely a non-gamer, and she was sold on it instantly.) ...

My mom and dad hate games. They are the people that never played videogames before and it's most unlikely that they will buy a Revelution.

You have to pay to download those nes/snes games. Nintendo is squeezing the last dew out of their 20 year old games.

Considering how great those games are, a little fee seems perfectly reasonable.
As for the controller. It seems interesting, weird but interesting.

('< Ã, im still big, its the games that got small.

I'm also tired of Nintendo's recycled-game-buzines. They're rereleasing Mario World on the GBA, they're rereleasing Super Mario Bros. on the GBA. FUCK YOU, Nintendo! I finished those games before I had pubes. I don't feel like buying them again. Make me happy and make a NEW Mario game for the gba.

Nintendo could let people download their games for free. EVERYBODY would buy a Revelution if they get free games. But there are 3 reasons why they won't.
1: They want money
2: They want money
3: They don't want to overload the servers. (They could do it like HotU, one download at a time and an ultra slow downloadspeed, but they want money)

All the consoles i bought were nintendo, but seeing that the nex controler looks like a sextoy... In other words ill buy a playstation.

Pardon?

Something wrong?

... Think a deep space 3d game where the manouvering of the ship is relative to the 3d pointer plus depth... quite an unreal experience I'd expect. think

Only problem, I think this is going to break a whole lot, and hands are going to get tired.

Airplanes, helicopters, cranes and cars all still have wheel and joystick controll. You dont need 3d controllers to play a 3d game on a 2d tv. (Did Nintendo say that they were making 3D view games, were you have to wear 3D glasses? Or was that something else. Memory too vague.)

Those stearingwheels for computers look great, but nobody ever got a faster racing time by using a stearing wheel with rumblepack instead of using a d-pad.

[Al_Ninio]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/Al_Ninio/ninrev.jpg
I'm hoping for this sort of variation. (Image made by Prometheus)

[Snarky]

Some years ago I would never say something bad about Big-N, but I'm tired of always backing people up and getting nothing in return. It makes me feel cheated.

So maybe you're not being entirely objective? I haven't given Nintendo a single thought, almost, in ten years, so I have no particular emotional attachment to the company, for or against. (I do have to admit that input mechanisms are a particular interest of mine, and relate to my field of work.)

... (I showed the video to a colleague, a woman who's definitely a non-gamer, and she was sold on it instantly.) ...

My mom and dad hate games. They are the people that never played videogames before and it's most unlikely that they will buy a Revelution.

Do they hate all games, including playing all sports, party games, board games, quiz shows and gambling? If so, you're right, they're not gonna be interested in a Revolution. However, a lot of people who don't play computer games or video games do play other kinds of games. And this console has the potential to make video games palatable to that audience. It might very possibly completely change people's conception of what a video game is.

If you ask my mother if she plays computer games, she'll say no. But in fact, she's spent countless hours with the Windows Solitaire when she was bored at work. Casual computer games have broadened the market far beyond the traditional "gamer" segment. If Nintendo can pull off a similar trick with video games, their success will exceed anything we currently imagine.

All the consoles i bought were nintendo, but seeing that the nex controler looks like a sextoy... In other words ill buy a playstation.

Pardon?

Something wrong?

If any controller looks like a sex toy, it's the PS one. The Nintendo one just looks like a remote control. Which is the genius of it. You put a console in people's living room, and they may not even notice.

[TheYak]

The controller has a lot of potential, provided it's implemented well.  I fear more for the games.  Nintendo's line-up for the GameCube included (generous estimate) 4 games I wanted to play.  It also seems like it could turn into another DS stylus or other gimmicky controller, where it's more of a pain to use the specialized controller than a normal one so the only games that play well with it are tripe. 

I'm trying to have faith in the company that brought us the D-pad.  After all, the joystick people thought it was silly at the time as well.  I'm honestly more intrigued/tempted by the Revolution than the polygonal monsters by MS and Sony (their hype will probably die down a bit after people realize they're along the lines of a mid-to-high PC in real apps).

[jetxl]

Snarky, im not objective because nintendo let me down too manny times. What is wrong about that?

and
http://www.drogisterij.net/producten/afbeelding/pearl_head_pink_vibrator225x225.jpg CENCURED FOR YOUR CONCERN!