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Holographic Projected Rumour Control
Gamespot's always enlightening Rumour Control series tackles several weighty issues this week. Included in their analysis is the backwards compatibility of the Xbox 360, the possibility of 3D Projection from the Revolution, 360 controllers being PC compatible, and the imminent announcement of Diablo III. From the article: "RUMOR #5: Some postproduction work on Diablo III has been completed. Source: Blizzard fan site Diabloii.net. The official story: 'We'd definitely like to revisit the Diablo universe in the future, but we haven't announced any plans to do so at this time.'--Blizzard rep."
The original Xbox controllers were PC compatible, you just had to alter the cord. They were USB-based with a different plug on the end, which is easy to modify or you can buy a fairly-cheap adapter.
The Windows driver is a simple download, and it works really well. Apparently there's a Linux driver as well.
I went this route because I enjoyed the large, original Xbox controllers -- they were the first controllers that didn't feel puny in my large hands.
Crap - I bet it's gonna be fantastic - I can already feel my finger clicking away.
..........FULL STOP.
To add, everybody knows how to look at a TV, but not everybody knows how to play a video game. Iwata has stated time and time again that one of Revolution's goals is to expand the target market -- to get the casual- and non-players playing more. Some sort of 3D projection system/put these glasses on your face way of playing video games isn't going to fly with casual gamers. Nope, Nintendo's next system will be much simplier than everyone is predicting.
I'm saying that Revolution will be a sleek, non-Gamecube-looking box that hooks up to your TV. It will accept the same media as the Gamecube (to insure backwards compatibility). And what's the big "revolution"? A simple, ergonomic controller that's not controlled by sticks and buttons, but by a touch screen and a gyro. Instead of pushing "A", you push "Jump". What supports this claim? If you look at first party games like Wind Waker or Super Mario Sunshine, you'll notice that in a corner they always have the controller buttons attached to images, letting you know what to press to perform that image's action. But when Mom plays the game, she has to SEE that the X button changes the water cannon, and then she has to FIND X before she can press it. With that information on the touch-screen, alls Mom has to do is press the image of the cannon and see it turn into the water-backpack*.
And as for the gyro: Ever see Mom play a racing game? Yeah, this idea should have been implimented years ago!
* denotes that I don't know the official terminology of Super Mario Sunshine because that game was really bad.