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Nintendo Revolution Controller Revealed
kakos writes "At the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed what the Nintendo Revolution controller looks like. The new controller is a radical departure from traditional controller types. Has Nintendo struck gold with their new controller design? The reviewers seem to think so. It should be interesting to see how gamers react to Nintendo's new innovation."
love it, just think about it for awhile, read some info don't just look at images. and check out IGN's movie of it in action here http://cube.ign.com/articles/651/651334p1.html the realization of how awesome it can be will flow over you.
I'm no Nintendo Fanboy, and was at first extremely skeptical, but take some time to read reviews, watch the video, and imagine the possibilities.
Engadget has some more information here and IGN has looked at some of the possibilities for each type of game here.. As some parent post said, a mass amount of instant unchecked emotion flaming is about to come, but before you post, take some time to think about the possibilities.
but you access a push button and a directional pad with the same finger? does not seem very functional.
RTFA. You don't use the d-pad for movement. You MOVE THE CONTROLLER.
"The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network
OK, so I was quite 'Eh' about it before... but man, that's really thinking outside of the box in regards to controllers... initially looking at it and thinking "Erm, that looks like a remote control, how uncomfortable", but then, reading that you move it around to control things... now THAT'S cool... and having plug in extras on flexible cords meaning it's perfect for righties and lefties... oh how very, very, very... wait... yep, very cool!
Bring it on please... come on, bring it on, over here.
* Remote control design: constructed to appeal to a wide variety of potential players
* 3D Pointing: Sensors understand up, down, left, right, forward and backward.
* Tilt Sensitive: Controller can be rotated or rolled from side-to-side.
* Buttons Included: Has a trigger on its backside, face buttons, and a D-Pad
* Multifunctional: Has an expansion port which can be used with different types of controller peripherals. Analog stick with two trigger buttons planned for left hand.
* Wireless: Totally wire-free. Currently there are no details on the max distance, source or power, or otherwise.
* Rumble Built-in. Included standard in all the controllers.
it did. why would you do this nintendo?
Now, before you get all up-in-arms about it, think of the possibilities! This article really makes you think of some of the extraordinary ways this device can be used! I know I'm looking forward to its release. Ah, finally some good RTSs on a console, or a shooter more akin to mouse+keyboard.
Also, the people who've had a chance to use it have generally come away pretty excited.
I understand that life's not fair, just why is it never unfair in my favor?
The biggest fear everyone seems to be buzzing about right now is that the Revolution Controller won't be capable of playing "normal" games. Well, do you really think Nintendo would actually exclude themselves from those types of games? I think they're more clever than that; read this excerpt from one of the reviews: But what about for SNES or N64 games where there are more buttons or a need for a second analog stick? The Revolution controller can rest in a sort of controller shaped cradle which could add different buttons or control sticks to mimic the controller's predecessors. For example the analog stick portion would work quite well in the center of a N64 shell. Whether or not these shell cradles will come in the box, or if third parties will make shell cradles is also not determined. Not only that, but the expansion slot will enable any controller type to be hooked up to it allowing for wireless gameplay including dance pads, konga drums, and the like. No specific peripherals have been announced, but the possibilities are virtually endless.
So, the system will be more than capable of playing games the "regular" way. Although I'd expect that most games for the system will end up supporting the gyro in some way. I for one, am excited!
Go here for teh [sic] funny.
Just to let everyone know, third-party games will not be hard to port. Revolution has built-in support for GameCube controllers, which can be used as a fall-back for third-parties.
Just thought I'd point this out.
I hate IR game controllers.
Then you'll have no objections to the Revolution's RF wireless controller.
"The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network
That sensor's not for primary communication. The Rev controller uses RF. My guess is that the it's there so it can 'see' the reciever you'll have to attach to your TV. In other words, that's for the 'point' feature of the controller. Judging from the hands-on report over at cube.ign.com, it's clear that the controller works very well.
On a side note, have a peek at this comment I wrote a while back. I regurgitated a few rumors going around about the Rev controller, and the "point" ability of the controller is one of the things that was mentioned. I'm relieved to say that the concern I had about the controller working with modern/future TVs has been addressed. (This isn't speculation, this was confirmed. It'll work with LCD and plasma TVs.)
I know it won't happen, but I'd love to play San Andreas with this controller. Oh well.
"Derp de derp."
"Nintendo has long been a trailblazer, and this controller design reinforces that reputation," said Brian Farrell, president and CEO of THQ. "We enthusiastically support Nintendo's next console because we believe their approach of continual innovation is very much in line with our own strategy of creating unique and innovative games for the next generation of hardware."
"What we're seeing from this controller is the same thing we saw with Nintendo DS," said Chuck Huebner, Head of Worldwide Studios, Activision.. "It's a system that's designed with an eye on enticing new players to the video game industry, and that's something we firmly support."
"Game control is essential - it's the area where perhaps the most game-play improvement can be made," said John Schappert, Sr. Vice President and General Manager of Electronic Arts Canada. "While our portfolio represents a full array of titles across all genres, I think our sports titles might be the first to immediately take advantage of what this novel 'freehand' type of control has to offer."
"We were among the first publishers to see the control design in action," said Serge Hascoet, Chief Creative Officer of Ubisoft. "We're excited about the new controller and are looking forward to taking advantage of its innovative aspects."
Now at this point it's just talk (I haven't heard of any Revolution Controller-specific games being announced by these folks), but if Nintendo does manage to get some key 3rd party developers on board, well, games will change dramatically! Some of the new ways of playing can be fantastically fun -- think, running down the field in a new EA game, juking left and right, flipping the remote up to do a quick jump. At least some big developers are keeping their options open.
I understand that life's not fair, just why is it never unfair in my favor?
http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0795/
:)
Scroll about halfway down the page to see the source of that quote
Video
s _1.html http://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/2005/09/16/443527.h tml
http://media.cube.ign.com/articles/651/651334/vid
I WANT ONE!
there are four ports on the top of the system for gamecube controllers. ps3 and xbox360 have the same controller design as their previous generation. nintendo will just continue to sell gamecube controllers. wavebirds will work too.
It's not IR. It's RF, same as the Gamecube's wireless controllers. (They work flawlessly and from a great distance, by the way.) Nintendo knows what they're doing.
"The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network
I don't understand - can't you hold a DVD remote in your left hand? The controller is actually perfect for either hand.
(You can see my detailed opinion here)
REVOLUTION CONTROLLER: LINKS OF INTEREST
The link for that ign video referenced by the parent:s _1.html
http://media.cube.ign.com/articles/651/651334/vid
For all of you too lazy to read the article, this is definitely worth the watch. For this, I think i'll finally have to break down and become an early adopter.
Actually, it would appear that it has both. An external sensor for detecting position and an internal one for determining orientation. (1UP.com referred to it as a "chip", but I can't imagine what it could be other than an gyroscope.) Also, IGN confirmed that you can turn the controller over along it's axis as an input method. Can't do that with anything but a gyro.
The video showed the use of 2 controllers for a drumming simulation...
---
I type this every time.
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No real text here. Just that there's a flip top cover on the top / right side that conceals 4 upside down Gamecube Ports. Don't like the modular supercontroller? Plug in a GCN controller and awaaaaay you go.
I believe you can control by tilting the controller in place, rather than lifting your whole arm up. They talk about it in the 1UP article.
You obviously have never shot skeet before. Your brain isn't wired just for small precise movements. It's also perfectly capable of coordinating broad yet precise movements.
Star Wars Racer on N64, had a code to enter to enable 2 controllers. One for each jostick on a podracer, as in the movie.
once you have these, accelerometers become redundant, so why include them at all ?
Because the accelerometers can detect quick, small movements with high accuracy. That way your external position reference can be updated inaccurately only once in a while but you can still have very smooth and accurate data about the millisecond-to-millisecond position of your accelerometers. That should work pretty well with the small quick movements that games are likely to require.
The author did say that control was a lot easier when he stopped flinging his arm around and made smaller movement with just his hand. Seems like the closest thing consoles are going to get to a mouse, and it provides more options than a mouse, as well.
I'm also not a big fan of most current PS2/XBOX games but there is one good disc that you must buy if you own a PS2: The Sega Classics collection. It has remakes of all the classic Genesis games, taking advantage of the PS2's hardware. Games on the disc include:
Basically it will ship with a DVD player but need a dongle like the Xbox so Nintendo doesn't have to pay royalties on every system sold.
On a side note, I think that if any console deserved a port of Irritating Stick it would be the Revolution. Yeah, laugh now but when it actually happens...
If I'm not mistaken many animals use the caged-ball method: take the human ear. It houses a small room which is filled with a liquid and nerves. The position of the fluid allows the brain to calculate the orientation. It's not a ball, but it's the same technique.
Even crazier, somebody who studies biology told me that lobsters have a small dent on their body and they put a grain of sand in it, succesfully applying the caged-ball method. When the grain falls out the animal loses orientation until it can put in a grain of sand again.
I should point this out, regarding your statement about not needing gravity
According to the Equivalence principle in general relativity, the effects of gravity and acceleration are the same, so an accelerometer can make no distinction between these effects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerometer
note: the caged-ball method probably has a real name.
"The majority is always sane, Louis." -- Nessus
http://slashdot.jp
Actually, the Revolution consoles itself does have USB ports. (Or at least it did at E3, according to all the usual gaming media.)
Which is why I think that this new design will work - and stay around for a long, long time. Simply put, Nintendo has never ever faltered in their controller design. Their consoles, perhaps - but not their controllers.
Simply put, this is wrong. Remember Virtual Boy, Power Glove, the giant bazooka thing, the stupid little robot, etc.? Some of those were successes (the light gun), some failures (Power Glove), and some the jury is still out (Gamecube controller, DS).
What Nintendo has show is a real willingness to experiment with new controller designs, and opposed to the relatively conservative approach of it's primary competitors. For example, the PS2 uses a controller identical to the PS1 Dual Shock, and the PSP has a layout identical to the original PS1 controller except the analog "nub". The PS3 controller is very likely to look a lot like the Dual Shock.
OTOH, I see this controller as a DIRECT snub to third-party developers, abandoning multiplatform releases almost entirely. Of course, the GameCube was already mostly there anyway.
The Z trigger on the back of the N64 controller was also copied.
You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer. - Winston Churchill
Goldeneye and Perfect Dark certainly had such a mode, four of them in fact.
I am trolling
I'm an avid shooter as well, and I agree that, for the majorly-most part, skills developed in an FPS don't carry over at all into actual firearms usage.
I do, however, think the revolution controller could prove to be an excellent choice for an FPS. Though the mechanism of aiming is similar to a pistol, the prescence of a targetting reticule will make a world of difference.
The reason why it's so hard to keep a real gun on target --- and let's ignore recoil, weapon heft, trigger pull, and flinching --- is the fact that sight alignment is a bitch. In a game, the bullets just goes whereever your crosshairs are. In real life, the bullet follows a trajectory determined by the lateral and longitudinal alignment of the front and rear sights --- quite a bit more complex.
To get an idea for what the Revolution experience would be like in a shooter, try shooting with a parallax-free reddot. It's friggin' cake then: put the red dot on the target, and pull the trigger. Done.
I don't know if this will be as precise as a mouse, but I expect it to be much more precise than thumbsticks, for the simple reason that you have so much more "room to breath." And that being said, thumbsticks be damned, Halo 2 is still a blast to play --- and there are plenty of people playing it. Even if the revolution isn't as precise as a mouse, I expect it will be well beyond good enough, and hella fun to boot.
Probably because people forget about it, because they never used it. Microsoft is including a camera as well, but I imagine the eyetoy tech is patented up the wazoo, so we'll probably not see games like that there.
Seriously, though, most of Nintendo's innovations that people refer to were included in thier base systems (with the exception of the Power Pad and Power Glove, which weren't terribly successful, and the Rumble pak which was successful despite that reason).
The construction of the new Xbox and PS2 controllers can basically be broken down into pieces that Nintendo either came up with (D-pad, shoulder buttons, layout of the 4 face buttons, analog sticks and rumble functionality) or first implemented in a useable manner (wireless).
Here are some more pics of the controllers incase you are interested:l
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/tgs2005/gallery.htm
I don't think Nintendo's particularly broken up about the failure of the Power Glove, seeing as how they didn't make it.
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