Nintendo Revolution controller - WTF?

[slycat]

I correctly predicted that Nintendo would be using their tilting technology in their new controller... what I hadn't bargained for is the fact that it looks like a remote control!  I mean what the...? However, as odd as it looks, it does look like it could be fun to use to play games judging by this video.

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[atpaw.livejournal.com]

And now, everyone gets to sit down and quietly ponder once more - Are Nintendo's designers and engineers utter geniuses, or utterly insane?

So far the DS seems to be holding its own in the 'genius' stake, especially now that a few developers have worked out just what you're meant to do with the thing. :)

[beaitchtwo.livejournal.com]

Finally! A controller that has been designed to be mistreated! If it can stand up to being battered on a table and flung around in the air, then it must be indestructible! No more frustrating joypad deaths after trying to get past that level!!

[sandroo.livejournal.com]

Let's face it, with the amount of speculation I think we have enough predict the next 50 years of controllers, Nostradamus style. =OP
Im just glad they finally announced the bugger, all this hardware speculation just distracts from the point, its the games that matter... Not that they really revealed any games...
Good on them for trying to stop titles being ported over, although the console has 4 gamecube ports, so people could just plug a pad into those.

[sandroo.livejournal.com]

Dangerous thing to love a games company, kitty. One day they'll break your heart...

[atpaw.livejournal.com]

Mmmh.. I'm not sure if I love Nintendo. There are many things that I dislike about Nintendo, in fact.

But we Australians do like to cheer for the 'underdog'. In this case Nintendo is arguably not a typical underdog, but they're at least trying to take the concept of "gaming" and have some fun with it. Different ways to interact with games - Sound and touch, on the DS.. and now Revolution's controller which could recreate all sorts of arcade games in your own home. Without needing to fork out for some $200 controller you'll never use for anything but a one-off game.

All those sporting games, the drumming/rhythm games, fishing, and all kinds of things we haven't seen yet.

These days nearly every single game on the PC now uses "WASD" for controls, often mindlessly. Even the spacecraft simulations and driving games, which for me is pure heresy.

This isn't about how crap Nintendo have always treated Australian gamers, (and still do). It's not about how Nintendo crushes creativity by focussing on their own franchises almost exclusively.

It's about the ideal they're trying to present with DS and Revolution. That gaming doesn't have to be just about WASD.. it can be touching and making noise and actually moving something other than your thumbs and fingertips.

And I admire that they have the balls to try to bring that to the world.

[atpaw.livejournal.com]

On the flipside, of course...

... They could just be trying to carve themselves a massive niche of "more interactive" games, and therefore maybe become a 'big name' once more.

[lazerus101.livejournal.com]

Well its interesting ill give it that. No doubt TK will be saying its shit and lauding the Dual Shock 2 as being gods gift to gaming before its even been released.
This, like a lot of the big N's developments, could either blow away the boundaries of gaming, or fall spectacularly flat on its arse.

[leoniveus.livejournal.com]

Well at least one company are taking a risk and trying to move gaming to another level...

and tbh I think that controller look alot nicer than the ps3 crap o_O

[xendragon.livejournal.com]

does it require even less effort than normal controllers to operate it? Great! We'll get fatter and lazier faster! :P
I like two-handed devices myself.

[paperkup.livejournal.com]

Looks like one more remote control to get lost among the DVD, VCR, TV and hi fi ones. :)

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of using motion sensing in a controller, and not merely to tell if it's being tilted in one direction or the other, but seemingly full accelerometry. It could, if it works, open up some real creativity in game design - and therein lies the nifty business sense, as it's something that genuinely distinguishes the Revolution from its competitors. While they're busily battling it out in a polygons/gigahertz dick size war, Nintendo will be able to show off something actually different.

Of course, the proof for all of them will come after their launches. Every console gets hyped up, incredible figures tossed around, and the early games seldom exploit their full potential, while the programmers work out ways of overcoming the inevitable compromises made in their design. (The Cell in particular is sure to need some creative coding to be fully utilised)