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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."
Luanch titles for the system will include Dragon's Lair 1,2 and 3, Space Ace and any other old laser disc game that can actually be played on a tv remote and DVD player. Wait a minute, that sounds pretty cool actually. I miss those games.
Great, now I am going to accidently waste 10 minutes every game trying to control Mario with my DVD remote.
Thanks for the new controller Nintendo!
... it's so bad.
;)
Seriously, this feels like a move in a similar direction - I hope they improved the technology at least a little since then
HELL. YES. I just watched the video off of IGN's website, in one part, there was a guy using it as a sword. You could hear them clang. This has to happen, George, I hope your up late like me watching this because this has to happen.
Is it just me, or do you hate it when people say "Is it just me..."?
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 remember when I was a kid we would make fun of whoever was the kid who would move the controller trying to turn a car faster in a game... now look what nintendo did.
[20:36] wwwdot/.dotorg
There is a video floating around that demonstrates how it works.
...after seeing all the fan communities' efforts, really disappointed with the actual real thing?
I'm a huge nintendo fanboy, but the design of that thing just turns me off. Here's hoping 3rd party publishers don't share my view and that of my employer, either.
Baka Drew
Remember your roots people
I first I was a bit skeptical, but the more I think about it, the new controller is freaking sweet. I can't wait to play a FPS on it, using the right hand as a gun/flashlight, and the left hand for movement. Or swordfighting with the right hand and moving with the left.
And if that's all too weird, developers can still use the GameCube controllers that plug into the top of the system.
Yet again, Nintendo is the driving force of innovation in the industry. Revolution's release can't come soon enough for me.
Finally there can be a good cricket game!
Maybe this is yet another one of those "looks awful but ends up being pretty good in practice" type things Nintendo has been known to create. Remember Wind Waker's graphics anyone?
isn't their a sidewinder gamepad that uses this tech?
I can see why they wanted to keep this thing under wraps for so long. This is going to either be the savior of Nintendo or a miserable failure. Though I think it will be the former.
The very act of being able to control things on screen with precision 'ala mouse will finally let First Person Shooters and Strategy games be played unencumbered.
Even if this controller for some reason doesn't pan out it's 100% wireless so theres no reason they couldn't always fall back on a more "traditional" controller if need be.
You are about to see what may be the fiercest wave of criticism toward a console we have ever seen.
Don't flame. Sit back, relax, and laugh.
Damn this machine is going to be fun.
When I saw it, my first reaction was "iRevolution!"
My first pertinent reaction was something to the effect of "how odd. It'll never work."
My next thought was that Nintendo has done some interesting things, and just maybe it'll be really cool. I'll reserve full judgement until I've gotten my hands on one.
What are you thinking? This controller will put Nintendo ahead of the competition.
Unless the other companies whip up some controller to imitate it as they invariably have in the past.
D-Pad, Analog Stick, Rumble - All Nintendo popularized.
Help a student gain some exp. http://www.halovariants.com/touchup/index.php
Isn't this going to really help people who are left handed when it comes to playing video games? I'm looking at the picture, and it's difficult to tell if it can work.
Some (*edit* Most!) people haven't spent years developing highly co-ordinated thumbs, but every person on the planet knows how to move their hands in free space.
Intuitive controls + fun gameplay = A sure bet.
This reminds me of the unwieldly Nintendo 64 controller. Nintendo ergonomics skips a generation.
Nunchuku configuration? Imagine using a traditional controller that's been broken in half and is now only held together by a dangling fragile wire.
In a game like tekken or halo, for example, I'm rough on the controller, and I like to grip onto something solid. This does not provide.
Revolution controller.
Hopefully this one won't be as uncomfortable and unintuitive as the old one.
My userid is prime!
If this weren't going to be marketed to children, I'm sure the one-handed controller could warrant at least one AO-rated joke. Ooh, built in rumble? Make that two - one for each gender. How fair.
I am intrigued by one of the demos mentioned in the article - "Pilot Wangs".
Anyone remember when the neighborhood spaz would get über-pissed because he sucked at videogames and so he'd make a run to turn off the console, and a fight would ensue?
There really needs to be a way to prevent the console from being turned off remotely, or else there's going to be lots of bruises and bloody noses in homes that house both children and Revolutions.
With all the movement involved with using it, I hope Nintendo plans on making it durable. I'm assuming that there are moving parts inside of it, and that means that they are capable of becoming broken. I'd hate to think of buying a new controller because it flew out of my hands when swinging it like a sword.
But anyways, I applaud Nintendo for trying something new. This is their first endeavor in a long-while that I actually think is cool.
IF they can get the action to work flawlessly in real living rooms. IF they can get game authors to actually exploit the advantages of a totally different controller action. IF it is reliable. If all those things are true they will redefine the console and crush their enemies.
Otherwise they are pooched. But leave it to Nintendo to pull a rabbit out of their hats instead of release a console to be doomed to #3 behind Sony & Microsoft. This way they don't just sit contentedly in last place and fade away, they either go splat or put someone else out, I'd bet Microsoft.
Democrat delenda est
To me, it looks like this might be a welcome change for controllers. It appears to be very adaptible to different people. The add on analog joystick makes it more ergonomic (no giant xbox controller). How Nintendo will use it seems to be the biggest question. If they start doing tacky little apps that require you to buy add ons to the remote, this will be the biggest rip off yet. Only time will tell.
RTFA. There is a button on the back that can be pushed with the index or middle finger.
E = m c^3 Don't drink and derive E = m c^3
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
Look, I love Nintendo (and I mean *love*) as much the next /.er, but did i miss the joke? Or is this TV remote thing actually intentional? In that case, I prefer Sony's version.
http://www.esato.com/board/img.php?id=35821
This looks pretty cool. As far as the ergonomic feasibility of it goes, I'm trying to think about how to hold this without fatiguing my arms. Elbow on stomach? Wrist on Mid-thigh? What does everyone think?
Nintendo likes doing things differently then other companies. I think the controller has the possibility to work really well, and even wondering if there will be a PC version of it eventually. I was skeptical at first about controlling FPS games without a stick, but the attachment looks cool and comfortable.
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.
After reading various articles (there are many up now) on the demo's that were used for this new controller, the possibilities for it's use seem limitless. The FPS demo caught my attention most of all. By moving around the controller you could actually move around the gun in the game, think a console FPS with better control than what you could get on a PC with a mouse.
It truly is "revolutionary," but many hardcore gamers don't usually welcome drastic changes so openly.
When I saw this, I thought it was a satire, and I'm still sort of hoping that it is.
I see a lot of positive reviews on Slashdot, but to be perfectly honest, it seems like a terrible design to me. I don't think I'll consider buying a Revolution if that's it.
*gasp* "He's a mad man... A maaaad maaaan!"
Share and Enjoy: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Here are some examples.
:)
Let's start off with the most obvious implementation: FPS. A genre that drives the PS2 and XBox (and dominates computers) will thrive on the Gamecube. Gone is the fiddling with the joystick. A quick flip of the controller, and you've completely turned around. Aiming is no longer tense; your hand eye coordination will allow you to better attack your enemies using a 3d mouse than with a regular controller (think about how many people are about FPS on the computer.)
Don't like FPS? Let's ignore that and move to a love of the Nintendo community: Zelda. Want to see Link do more than just two directions with his sword? No problem, since you will be controlling his sword. When you swing your arm, Link swings his. When you jab, so does he.
Want to control how tense your bow string is? Pull out the bow and arrow, go into first person mode, and extend your arm. Press a button to lock the start position, and pull back as far as you want.
Zelda isn't your thing? How about some fishing. A whip of the controller and you're casting off. You can bob the line back and forth, left and right.
And the accessories for the controller; you can be sure that these will be fairly inexpensive, meaning that companies can throw in their own little controller to add more depth to the game. How about hooking up the headphone set to talk to your buddies in online games to the controller instead of having to have an entire other attachment to the Revolution?
Now imagine that you hold the controller vertically. You're playing Star Fox. You move the controller, just like in a real jet fighter, and the plane moves with you.
Plus, you have a controller that is in one hand only. This means you can eat cheetos and play games at the same time.
The possibilities for this seem endless. Nintendo was not kidding when they named this the Revolution; we are on the edge of virtual reality, the thing that every geek has longed for since we saw the Holodeck in Star Trek: TNG. What Nintendo is doing is taking the big, hulking interactive setups of yesterday's arcades and turning them into the remote of tomorrow's homes.
You no longer control the machine; you control the character itself. Your arm swing is its arm swing. Your aim is its aim. As we've seen with DDR, gaming is turning into more of a physically interactive medium. With this controller, gone are the days of sitting around on the couch fumbling with the controller. Now, if not standing, you're leaning forward or sitting up straight, slashing with your might or blowing a hole in someone's stomach.
Just imagine if they put out pairs of goggles that really gave you the whole FPS feel.
I think Nintendo has a good chance of winning this round.
I've been seeing this kind of reaction to it all night. Oh Noes!!!! Nintendo changed the controller. They just dug their grave!!!11!1One!!
Stop and think for one minute. Why do we even have game pads today? Because Nintendo bucked the trend of everyone and their dog with joysticks and made a gamepad for the Famicom/NES. What about analog sticks? Nintendo again with the N64.
Nintendo has made dramatic changes to the way we play our games twice now, and both times the industry fell right in step behind them imitating at their first opportunity. Who's to say they aren't doing it a third time here?
I'd tend to give a game company who's been around longer than half the population of this website the benefit of a doubt.
it will prolly use the same RF frequency that the wavebird uses.
interesting tech, but what we don't know:
1). Wireless efficiency. The PC Jr. had a wireless keyboard. Is this thing going to work in a crowded house with lots of peanut butter flying around?
2) Durability. Speaking of which, how hard can you beat on these things? What's the MWBF (Mean Waves Between Failure) on this thing? Are people going to just wave them right into the rubbish bin?
3) Endurance. How long can a twelve-year-old boy wave his arms before fatigue sets in? Has anybody done any reasonable studies? What about 30-year-old overweight slashdot nerds longing for their misspent youth?
4) They are shipping at least two controllers per unit, right? 'cos if there's just one, then designers can't rely on the numchuck configuration.
It doesn't. Just watch the video.
* 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.
Wow, imagine what the possibilities of combining this with interactive porn!!
Y
DEMO: PILOT WANGS
Use your revolution controller as a dildo?
Life is offtopic.
At least the motion detection will allow you to simulate jerking off.
Maybe the Revolution might not be just for kids.
Of for an even gayer application. Think about what the next Harry Potter game will play like.
I suppose an new innovation is better than an old one, speaking tautologically and repetitively again.
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?
Wow. I mean, wow. You mean half the population of this website are over 116 years old?
The main thing I noticed right away about this is the small size. The big problem I have with controllers is all the cramping you get into in racing sims (my preference on consoles) after you play for awhile. If this is as light and usable as it seems, the ergonomics alone may make it a worthwhile purchase. Of course knock offs for Ps3 / 360 will probably be for sale before the revolution is now tho, so I'm not sure if the controller alone is enough to buy the console.
Make it easily programmable via standard interfaces, and don't charge car prices for devkits, and they certainly would have my interest tho.
Wonder how out of the box they're willing to be eh?
-- Chitlenz
Imagination is the silver lining of Intelligence.
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.
I remember laughing at people at uni who thought you could send a virus to somebody by email.
Nerd: Derogatory term typically directed at anybody with a lower Slashdot ID than you.
Use coral cache when submitting!
= 3143782
Even something like..
Nintendo Revolution controller ( Coralized Link )
would be just dandy.
Anyways here is the coralized link..use it!
http://www.1up.com.nyud.net:8090/do/newsStory?cId
It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
You mean we won't be able to play the same things we've been playing for 15+ years. They can't clone last year's big-hit? No big budgets? How will they make money if they're spending little and having to come up with new ideas. Creativity is, after all, something only hardcore gamers like.
Help a student gain some exp. http://www.halovariants.com/touchup/index.php
Here's a video clip: http://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/2005/09/16/443527.h tml
While it's impossible to tell whether this move will work for nintendo, it can definitely be said that it opens interaction possibilities that just aren't possible with either console or PC gaming (which is what Microsoft and Sony have been promising). What's more, it was accomplished without getting sucked into the graphics/cpu arms race.
It's certainly different. Whether it's "Virtual Boy" different or "Nintendo DS" different remains to be seen.
http://nintyrevcontroller.ytmnd.com/
;)
I felt like a fool when I first saw it I stopped eating and almost laughed. But then, 1up spoofing this time of year? ARE YOU SERIOUS?
No seriously, I was sure it was a joke.
This is a GREAT idea, but I have two worries.
One is that the main controller looks like carpal tunnel city. Admittedly, I haven't used it yet, but it looks awkward. The wrist will be under exactly opposing strains, from the thumb pushing down and the other fingers pushing up. My knowledge about wrists is mostly limited to just HAVING two of them, but when I'm holding a standard two-handed controller, it doesn't feel like the support strain is hitting my wrists too badly. It feels like it's radiated down my arm to my elbows. And the load is shared between both hands. With the new Revolution controller, the pressure is all on one hand and comes at the top of the controller. I can't help but think that the wrist will take the entire load... possibly like a lever using the wrist as a fulcrum... against itself.
It may be perfectly fine -- remember, I'm no expert here -- but I still wonder.
My other concern is how precise and repeatable the hand-gesture controls will be. It's a really superb idea, but it's going to require deployment of sensors on either side of the TV. I wonder how well Nintendo is going to handle the gamut of televisions, from 13" B&W up to 100" projection models. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea, but doing it right, and giving it the kind of sensitivity you have with mice and analog thumbsticks, will be very hard.
If they can get it working reliably, but it's a bit sloppy (which is my expectation), they'll need to adjust game designs quite a bit to accommodate it. But it'll give a degree of immersiveness that we will love. Practically everyone instinctively moves the controller around, trying to give their character or car an extra 'push' when they're in a tight spot... making that into an actual control mechanic is brilliant.
Upshot: I'm so there. I'll buy one when it ships. Even if it fails, at least they're really doing something NEW.
After trying for 4 hours, you FINALLY manage to get past the toughest part of your favorite game. You toss your controller on the rug as you leap up in the air... only to see (with horror) the TV screen wink out.
This can be solved by a delay-button -- i.e., you have to hold it down for a few seconds before it works.
But your spaz scenario is spot-on, and even worse with the power button on the controller, he can even pretend he did it *accidentally*.
Whoah. Yeah, no good.
There are more evil scenarios -- how about the 3-year old little sibling who likes to play with the spare controller while you play -- if that power button works you aren't going to be too happy, and that's a lot of shouting and crying coming right up.
Other than the power button, though, I have to say I'm really intrigued by it. I'm *definitely* keen on the more intuitive movement/angle interface. Doesn't everyone try to do this anyway? Come on, admit you lean into the turns.
Nintendo can still manage to kill the thing if it's buggy, breaks easily (or gets out of whack easily), or if the new games using it are weak... but I have a feeling this is really going to take off.
Well, at least it's still better than the PS3 controller. No, but seriously, think of what's been done with the DS. This will likely lead to similar things.
It's as if a million Sony fanboys attempted to cry out...but had already been silenced.
When you look at the state of the world, how can you not become a radical, liberal anarchist?
This new controler design will be TONS of fun. But I'm worried about 3rd parties porting games from the other systems, seems like it could be a major challenge. As long as developers really think outside the standard control setup this will be a great setup.
I'm glad to see a company actually taking the initiative to enhance the gaming experience by creating innovate new techniques to interact with games. In this day in age increasing the horsepower and resolution of a video game system is useless unless you can come up with new game types instead of just releasing six funded clones of a first perspective shooter. The controller itself can sense motion and supports plug ins which leads to infinite amount of possibilities that games can feature, but hopefully this new technology will be raped for everything it can offer instead of just be another addon used option in the random clone of another game.
[ brakken ]
Because it's going to be hard to find a place to rest them.
While the mouse + keyboard combination for PCs sucks, it's actually pretty confortable because your hands are still resting on the keyboard and the mouse.
For this thing, while it's cool you can aim with it, your hands / arms are really going to get tired quickly when aiming around.
- sigs are for wimps.
That's the sound of a millon retarded Nintendo-bashing-fanboys hushing at the same time :) Ahh so sweet..
You've got to handle it to Nintendo... this looks sweet. I don't even like consoles, and i'm dying to try it. The posibilities are endless, and this cemented my opinion of Nintendo being the only company doing something interesting this days in the console market (along with the DS).
but we are all going to get used to it pretty quick. - sleep
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.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Alice transcribed Iwata's keynote here where he talks about the vision of creating the controller and intended direction for it. If you prefer a bulleted version(aka they couldn't keep up ;)), IGN has that here
Gamespot's take on the demos
IGN's take on the demos with decent commentary about the controller as a whole
IGN has the teaser video that was shown here
After well over a decade of being stuck with the same controller setups, I think its great nintendo has gone and updated their designs. I think this will open a huge range of possiblities for games, and the ease of use will skyrocket. The backwards compatability of games, and the new controller have made a huge impact to me, for the first time since the mid-ninty's have I not only considered buying a console, but I know I'm going to pick up a Revolution. Awsome work, Nintendo.
... the original
Everyone who loves it is a fanboy, continually having faith in anything and everything done or said by their favorite corporation come hell or high water (or goofy designs). Criticism isn't just heresy, it's undisputably wrong.
Everyone who hates it is a troll, stoking their own agenda of loyalty to competing corporations. They obviously (that term is solid gold in a flamewar) only play "mainstream" titles like Madden Football or some kind of low-brow FPS, and don't know what real gaming is.
There is no middle room for opinions, and facts are neither relevent nor plentiful. Only hype, speculation, and brand loyalty matter.
Personally, I'm intrigued by the controller and would like to find a link to the movie that still has bandwidth. But half the fun of this weekend is going to be watching the flamewars between the fanboys and the infidels.
I was ready to hate this thing, but after the vid and article i gotta say it looks awesome. I poo-pooed the DS too when I got my PSP, and guess which one I play more? This thing may very well be the future of gaming, so I'm excited.
My good looks paid for that pool, and my talent filled it with water.
No, we don't want to keep playing Grand Theft Auto. We already beated that game.
-People
While I have never played a modern sports gae, the thing would only need a six button attachment and it'd work for fighters (just hold it like a NES controller). Of course the lack of a built-in analog stick will make fighting games less comfortable for me but I think I'm the only one who prefers an analog stick even for digital control.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
IMPRESSIONS: At first, I was standing up and swinging my hand all around to aim - and my arms got really tired really quick. But once I sat down and relaxed, resting my hands on my legs as I would with a normal controller, everything clicked.
Yes, leave it to geeks and gamers to quickly figure out how to get around Nintendo's quixotic attempt to force some exercise on our lazy, couch-potato, videogaming arses...
Flying is easy, just throw yourself at the ground and miss. -Douglas Adams
I am seeing a lot of people snickering, but I already want one. not the revolution, although that would be nice I want the controler. For my computer. For the type of design I do, the simplicity appeals to me imensily.
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?
This is going to either be the savior of Nintendo or a miserable failure.
I agree, and I think the thing that will make or break them is the question: Is it easy for 3rd parties to develop for? The article seems to say that, in practice, the idea doesn't inherently suck. Okay, so that's the first hurdle cleared. Now it's time to see if it's just as natural to develop for.
An believe you me, I sincerely hope it is.
This sig rocks the casbah.
Seriously though, this seems good for left-handers. Having the analog stick on a wire means it can be held in either hand.
Another neat thought while we're indulging ourselves. What if some games allowed you to use two controllers in conjunction with each other? Imagine dual wields pistols, or knives, or even, saw a bow an arrow: you'd aim with one controller and pull back on the string with the other. This could truly open up the video game industry to a whole host of intuitive controls.
Or it could not. Of coursem, how intuitive the controls are are due to the interface design of the game. So let's just hope that game developers are able to exloit this to its fullest potential.
In the beginning the universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and is widely considered as a bad move.
When I was a kid, I was a hardcore video game fanatic. In the last few years, though I have pretty much quit playing games entirely. When my friends ask why, I point out one major reason - there are no new games! In my opinion, there has been nothing almost new since Wolfenstein, Warcraft, 3D-platformers, and the old text-based MMORPGs. Everything since has just been prettier pictures plastered atop the same old crap.
Sony and Microsoft are banking on doing the boring - even prettier pictures, the same old games.
Nintendo is bringing us - NEW GAMES.
Sony and Microsoft are going to be scrambling to catch up. I wonder what sort of patents Nintendo is holding...
I strongly believe that Nintendo doesn't want to simply have ports, they want to reinvent gaming. And I won't hesitate to say that it is a huge risk, but it keeps with the company's vision, which is more than you can say for most these days.
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!
The article suggests that maybe the button is for menu navigation, but I figure if the controller is sensitive to where it is in space with relation to the TV/console/whatever, then the "home" button obviously tells the console what the controller's home position in that space is. Not some menu's home, the controller's.
If the controller vibrates, it can be used as a dildo.
As a Big Nintendo fan im sure im gonna buy the console. But geez.. after i saw the controller i was a bit too impressed (in the weird way). How in the world am i gonna play Pikmin on that thing? 2 sticks anyone? WHERE DAMMIT! I cant think of any NORMAL game coming out for the revo that a person with 2 next-gen consoles will buy over there version for the other (more normal, more familiar console controller) (read: ps3, xbox 360). Im scared of what will happen, and wth is gonna happen with all those little children eating the pieces of the controller. I can imagine Nintendo bein sued over that.
//WR
This is going to be huge in Japan, and in reality, thats all that matters to Nintendo, the Japanese market is what has single handedly kept Nintendo in business. Given the success of unique gaming experiences with DS, Revolution is almost guaranteed to be successful. Personally, I want one now, this kicks ASS!
its has to be .
I love two handed gameplay (the addon analog stick just feels real weird) and this looks really really cramped . Every unintentional nudge or move of my wrist now would cause me change my char position ?
during gameplay i frequently change my grip and holding positions intutively without having to stop/pause the game in any way..now how do i do that ?
this has to be some kind of joke
I agree. Nintendo has always had the best controller in the industry. Even now, IMO, the GameCube controller is one level above those of PS or XBox. The new controller actually makes sense. These types of "controllers" have been available at game arcades that are specific to a particular game - i.e. swinging, slashing, or otherwise moving it around to simulate specific actions tracked by the sensors. However, it seems like it will be the first for general gaming use. I could easily see players jumping around and swinging their swords, and throwing objects in Zelda, fighting against each other in many other games. At the very least, it may get people off the couches and involve some physical activity when playing most games - it's a step in the right direction.
Yes, developers are on board. On board to make games that take specific advantage of this controller (as you quoted), because that'll be the only practical reason to make games for the console at all. What does this mean? Puzzle and party games, as I've said. Things like MonkeyBall and stuff like that. AND, because making games specifically designed for this controller means that they'll ONLY work on this console, the game will be impossible (or at least VERY hard) to port to the other consoles, which means the developer will not give the game as big a budget since the profits are limited to one console only.
Likewise, games NOT designed specifically for this controller (most games on PlayStations and Xboxes) will likely not be ported to the Nintendo console. Why would they be? They need a completely different way for the gamer to interact with it now.
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The reason FPS games are so good with a mouse is that you are using very small precise movements with your wrist and fingers, with your palm and arm at rest.
Your fine motor skills can be trained to a much higher degree of acumen than your whole arm/shoulder/hand.
This controller may end up being worse for FPS games than even a traditional gamepad/thumbstick, but I guess we'll find out in a year or so.
... it's rotated 90 degrees from what we'd expect?
Well, that and it looks absolutely nothing like what Sony and Microsoft would have us play with.
and hold it with both hands and you have an original nintendo style controller with a/b and a d-pad. I am sure that is not an accident.
http://notanumber.net/
Dude sports games will be awesome on this. Can you picture hockey, golf or baseball? And the people at IGN are totally psyched, and theyre owned by EA. You can bet your ass sports games will be ported.
And the revolution still supports game cube controllers, not every game has to take advantage of this controller.
Very weird. Seems like they're taking the Apple route of trying to make things simpler. Not even enough buttons to even play Metroid Prime. I think I have a solution:
Controller Modification
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 a NOVELTY console.
You state that as if it's fact but without seeing the games you're just talking shit.
Don't worry Nostrodamus, nobody's forcing you to buy one. You'll still be able to get your xbox and play halo 12 with those funny little stumpy things.
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
Star Wars kid...
perhaps he meant when they first started making video and arcade games.
in that case, it would be around 1980 or so. you can check the exact date but you get my point.
Science : Proprietary , Knowledge : Open Source
After reading the commentary on 1UP, Gamespy, and elsewhere, it seems like the controller's orientation detection system is actually very robust, responsive, and accurate. The reaction to the tech demos seems to be generally positive, and the use of regular hand motions that translate directly into equivalent movements on the screen is probably the most intuitive game control scheme yet. Two actual action buttons (one for thumb and one for trigger finger) are a bit sparse by modern standards... but then again, the controller, right out of the box, can detect both translational & rotational movement in 3 dimensions, for a total of 6 degrees of freedom (compare to 2 degrees of freedom per analog stick on conventional controllers, which are considerably more clumsy than just picking up an object and moving it through space).
The addition of the plug-in thumbstick controller with 2 additional triggers increases the control possibilities, and with enough polish it seems like using the analog stick with one's left hand for movement while simply pointing with the controller in one's right hand (or vice-versa for the lefties) could be an even more accurate and satisfying control method for first-person shooters than the mouse and keyboard or DS touch screen (and certainly light-years ahead of two analog sticks).
The key with this radically different controller really is, you guessed it, control schemes. If we didn't have the position and orientation sensors, then 2 action buttons would be paltry and anemic for anything but a turn-based strategy or RPG game, or a simple puzzler or platformer. Certainly a modern fighting, action, or sports game would suffer. BUT, using the revolution controller, motion becomes much more important than button mashing. Swinging the controller through the air like the hilt of a sword would reproduce than sword stroke in the game. Or, imagine playing a basketball game where you use just one of the revolution's buttons to hold onto the ball. You lift the controller up, move your hand to make the shot, put a little spin on it and release at just the right moment... how much would that kick the ass of any other sports game?
One issue that arises, however, is that it becomes very non-trivial to port titles from other platforms. The Revolution's controller doesn't just enable radically different control schemes... it basically necessitates them, as there aren't enough analog sticks and buttons to map a conventional control scheme on to (unless a newer Revolution game were to make use of an older gamecube controller). Nintendo will probably have to lead the way on the system with strong first-party titles.
Actually, one can look at the history of the DS as a good reference point for this: in the very beginning, we had some games that were built like glorified tech-demos. They showed off the possibilities of the new interface, but they were little more than software novelties, and there wasn't a whole lot of game underneath. Over time, however, the system built up a library of first-rate ports (Super Mario 64 DS), innovative and fun re-inventions of classic genres like the platformer (Kirby: Canvas Curse), widely appealing non-games (Nintendogs), and extremely solid games for hardcore gamers where the touchscreen and dual screens are a natural and organic part of the gaming experience (Advance Wars: Dual Strike). Now, there are dozens of great-looking DS titles on the horizon, and Internet gaming is set to take off on the system.
I think we might be looking at something similar on the Revolution. We start off with very gimmicky titles designed to get people comfortable with the new controller and wow passers-by at the local electronics store. After a while, a next-gen Mario and Zelda will start to show how old-school genres can be transformed into a new, fun experience with the new controls. Meanwhile, something like Metroid Prime 3 will hit and add a new and brilliant control scheme to the mechanics of the shooter and possibly impress a lot of hard core gamers. Seeing
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This controller is beautiful, sleak and fits nicely with the look and feel of their console. Now the obvious...
It has hard edges. Sure it looks cool as some guy uses it as a sword, but hey real swords have cylindrical handles for a reason... BECAUSE you will end up doing more damage to your own hand with a cubic handle than you will do to your enemy. Thousands of years of development went into cylinrical things we have to grasp and hold for any period of time for a reason... example, swords, clubs, baseball bats, your dicks... Even the newest television remotes are ergonomic in this sence. Granted your standard dvd remote isn't as once you press play and hit enter a few times, you put it down for an extended period, but your tv remote is pretty much glued to your hand the whole time you are surfing so studdies showed that users wanted something that was more comfortable to hold for long periods of time.
Personally I don't think it has enough buttons... it needs more buttons to look really cool, because if it is too easy to learn to use, it just isn't a game controller.
The second handle is a cool idea and will, I assume, eventually be fully thought out over a number of years to be quite useful and full featured. As to Left handed players, I guess you will all have to wait till Ned opens his new store and starts to stock them...
From an ergonomic point of view, I think extended use will cause wrist problems as the position your hand is in when holding it facing the TV is not a natural one. I think they could have done a much better job on the ergonomics by moving away from the look and feel of the console. Granted they are part of a whole, but they both have very different uses. One is for looking good on the shelf the other is for feeling good in the hand.
flinging poop since 1969
It's hard to convince people that a new game is the new hotness. "Sniper Killer looks like fun, but I'm not really sure if I'll like it. The last GTA was great, I bet Grand Theft Auto: The Next One is great too."
And with games, sequels usually are better than the earlier games.
How many games released on any platform require you to purchase a secondary controller? Very few, and there's an obvious reason behind that.
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Satoru Iwata has said, again and again, that he wants to open gaming up. When Hiroshi Yamauchi stepped down, he left some words for Nintendo:
"As I retire from management, I have no words to share. Coincidental to my leaving the company, I would like to make one request: that Nintendo give birth to wholly new ideas and create hardware which reflects that ideal. And make software that adheres to that same standard. Furthermore, this software should attract consumers as new and interesting. Lastly, and of equal importance, is completing these products quickly and at a cost comparable to today's current market. I imagine most people question the feasibility of my request, but Nintendo has always pursued those objectives..."
I've watched the Microsoft and Sony and Nintendo E3 presentations. Sony and Microsoft both repeated the same thing -- we want to be the most powerful machines, and we have them here! Nintendo said, we want our machine to be easy to play and easy to develop for.
Sony said that they wanted to be a media hub. Microsoft said they wanted to break out of the male 18-34 demographic -- right before they stereo typed girls as casual gamers! Nintendo said they had something they felt would include more people in the games.
How about the games? I own Wario Ware: Twisted. It has some of the technology Nintendo has applied to the Revolution controller inside of it. It detects my hand motions, and uses those as means of control. I also have Wario Ware: touched! Between the two, you can quite clearly see that the folks at Nintendo are playing with various games and methods of controlling them (while also delivering interesting gameplay!).
While I am male and in the 18-34 demographic, I don't buy Madden every year. I don't want to buy another WW2 shooter. I don't feel like joining a 5-hour raid in WOW. I just want to have fun. I want to be able to have fun around my school, work, family, etc. I want to involve my friends and family in my fun when I can. The games Sony and Microsoft were showing weren't the games I can see doing that for me. Nintendo's games still do it for me 20 years later.
I don't think Nintendo is in trouble for this next generation.
--
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Wait a minute? Grand Theft Auto? That sounds awesome with this controller. Think. Point to aim. Pull the trigger to fire. Top button to jump. D-Pad to choose weapons. And plug in the analog stick to move. This controller was just *made* for GTA and FPS games.
Good night folks.
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There's a difference between then and now though.
;-)
When the NES came out, I thought "Cool!". The controller was GOOD for the time. I didn't need convincing that it was a good idea. You could SEE it.
When the N64 came out, I though "Cool!". The controller was GOOD for the time. (I still like it better than the Gamecube and Playstation controllers). I didn't need convincing that it was a good idea. You could SEE it.
But THIS? I don't think 'cool'. I need convincing. I just don't see it.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm not spending $200 or so on a new system where something as basic as the controller is questionable... I'll have to give it plenty of testing in the store
This is quite obviously the most adaptable input device ever created, and you think that makes it harder to port games to? If anything holds back portability on next-gen consoles it'll be the differences in programming for the different cpu/memory/graphics architectures of each.
And as far as game libraries go, I think having access to the entire back catolog of Nintendo games going back to the NES (quite possibly those from 3rd party developers as well) could just be considered an advantage.
No it doesn't. There is no reason why Madden can't be released, hell it can even be imporved. Want to pass to a player? Point and click. Personally I'm more psyched to see how the baseball games use it, baseball games may actually come back in style with this. You can use the controller as a sword, you can use it as a bat, and you since it is tracked in 3 dimensions, you can even technically throw the ball if you swing your arm while holding the controller. Nintendo is doing everything right this time and I think you'll shortly see one of the two other players gone despite stockloads of cash. They are both no longer focusing on gamers, they are becoming media centers, and Microsoft already screwed themselves by making multiple versions of the same console, going against the whole point of the damn console in the first place.
Regards,
Steve
I wonder if the controller can also be used as a regular gamepad by turning it sideways? There doesnt seem to be anything about that. Since every game wouldnt need to use the Revolutionary capabilities of the controller that would make sense wouldn't it?
Time is an illusion, lunch doubly so.
I think FPS games may get much popular in consoles with this... cool
This means that, at launch, I will be able to use my old wavebirds, which I consider to be the pinnacle of controller design, to have a full compliment of controllers without having to lay down an extra $150-200. It's always irked me that it costs so much extra to get the controllers needed for the best experience in multiplayer games like Smash Brothers, and I'm glad to see that Nintendo is making their system backwards compatable in this way.
What will be great is seeing Sony and Microsoft try to fit this into their "second round" next gen controller. Sony's dual shock is already overfull with buttons and sticks because they keep adding Nintendo's design ideas to their own. Next they'll try to work a gyro, touch pad, and mic in and we'll have a controller that no one under the age of 30 can remember how to operate. Not to mention that Sony will, by tradition, fail to enforce any purpose for any particular input device. Games with confusing, shifting, counterintuitive controls! All hail the Sony Revolution!
Well, the nunchuck-approach looks like it could work similarly to mouse and keyboard.
(You can see my detailed opinion here)
REVOLUTION CONTROLLER: LINKS OF INTEREST
I was making a joke, so clearly you missed mine.
I like the idea, except for one thing- It shows the add-on setup using this second controller with an analog joystick that plugs into the first controller via a short cord. I really think it would be a lot better if they didn't have the cord there.
You can see in the video that the guy pretending to be playing a FPS and wielding the first controller as a sword is having to hold that second one up to his chest. The experience would look so much more natural if he could move his arms independent of one another.
And I can't be certain from just these articles, but it doesn't look like it has gyroscopic feedback- like using gyroscopic inertia to make it feel like you're carrying something heavy, or that your sword has hit something, or that your tennis racket has hit a ball, etc. It would seem a must to me.
Actually, what I think would be ideal would be two identical wireless controllers, each with 1 analog stick, 2 trigger buttons, and 1 combination ABCD/D-pad (because we all know they're pretty much the same) as well as gyroscopic sensors and feedback. Basically break a PS controller in two.
If these things vibrate I can see the Revolution exclusive Playboy titles now....
Time is an illusion, lunch doubly so.
I definately agree with this, but I don't think you're giving people enough credit. This isn't just something that looks cool; it could mean an entirely new gaming experience. It may very well be that Nintendo's weapons based fighting game can't even be compared to the competition.
I think (and hope) people will recognize this as something new and grand rather than the usual variation on a theme.
What I mean to say is, that same person might think to themselves, "The last GTA was good, but that'll hold me while I get some extra cash. This Nintendo game, though, I can't really match that with anything already in my library." Maybe they won't put it as eloquently, but you get the idea.
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Your arm swing is its arm swing.
Does this mean that the next generation of game playing geeks will have well toned muscular arms?
No Madden for the Revolution?! Oh heartache and woe!
I mean, they boys in blue look like they're really trying hard with the XBox 360.
E3 - Microsoft preps a big display to unveil their console. Sony shows off a video of Killzone 2 and everyone forgets about our favourite OS designer. And now we have the Tokyo game show and Nintendo comes along and again steals the torch. You'll have your day yet Billy. We all liked the Sparkle video, right?
Wario Ware Twisted managed to pull off subtle tactile feedback by vibrating the cartridge slightly. It works very effectively. It really feels like resistance, even if it's not.
It's just like a brick, which I also fling at the screen if I don't like what's on!
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
It uses those censors only to know where your viewing area is, it uses gyros to determine how the device is tilted and so on...
Go here for teh [sic] funny.
For those of you who read the article...
DEMO: PILOT WANGS
Uhh.. I mean from context I can tell it should be "Pilot Wings"... but man, it's not like the I and the A are right next to each other on the keyboard or anything.
HJ
The stunning innovation of Nintendo reminds me Apple Computer's innovation in every hardware they make. The sleek clean white console and remote really makes it look like Apple product. Perhaps Nintendo is taking a page out of Apple's playbook and being creative and innovative with their console/controller. If this controller pans out, it will change the way people play console games. If it flops, well, Nintendo could lose market share if they don't back system up with a standard controller.
\
How the hell am I going to play the next smash brothers with that thing?... I just don't see it working at all. Dear God I hope I am wrong though.
Hmmm. Maybe you're just getting cynical in your advancing age. ;)
Seriously though I like it. If you've ever watched someone playing Mario Kart with "body english", you'd see why this is brilliant.
Shit, now I'm fearful of the number of people who will accidently chuck the thing at the screen (or another human) and cause damage. :D
BytesTemplar.com
They put more thought into their designs than their competitors. For example, Sony's buttons are neatly arranged, but it takes a while to memorize which one is square, or whether L2 is the top or bottom one. The Gamecube controller looks odd at first glance, but you never have to stop and think about which one is the little red "B" button, or which is the vertical bean-shaped "X" button. And that's exactly why Nintendo made it that way.
main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
And the reason we have the controllers we have today are because Nintendo basically invented them. The D-pad, the analog stick, the shoulder button, force feedback/rumble vibration, the analog button, these are all timely Nintendo innovations that were copied by the rest of the industry.
Whenever new funcitons are necessary for gaming, they can be easily adapted to the controler and be utilized.
Of course in a day down the road, the functions and actions in game will require for a complete and revolutionary controller.
On the contrary, I think that there comes a point where you have to make some fundamental changes to the controller setup before certain types of gameplay can be realized in a fun and worthwhile fashion. How many people would be playing Dance Dance Revolution if it had never been paired with a "dance mat" controller?
It seems to me we've reached a functional plateau with regards to the "output" we receive from video games, the video and the audio. Sure, the graphics continue to improve, but better graphics aren't really going to change the gameplay experience that much. Also, the addition of sheer processing power isn't going to add much to the equation either, aside from perhaps slightly better bot AI and more complex simulations.
No, right now it seems that technologically, the only thing you can feasibly change to produce a revolutionary leap forward in the gaming experience is to alter the way the player interfaces with the game.
Is it too soon for this kind of "paradigm shift"? Maybe, but I don't think so. Now's the time to start experimenting, when the current crop of controllers has grown stale and even the weakest of the CPU/GPU entrants are going to be capable of producing stunning visuals, and online play is reaching maturity as a standard feature.
I think this was the right time for Nintendo to make this move. Nintendo isn't shooting themselves in the foot "again". They're a profitable company that knows pretty well by now what they're doing. They've had a few missteps (all of the players have) but they are breaking new ground, and while they may not be dominating the market again (yet), they are doing something Sony and Microsoft really haven't been doing with as much success as far as I can tell, and that is that Nintendo is essentially creating new gamers by appealing people other than 19 year old males.
I sincerely doubt this will prove a "fatal" move for Nintendo even the console doesn't catch on like it has the potential to. Nintendo may regress further into providing a niche role in the market, where they can still be a "success" in terms of greatly satisfying their customers while turning a profit ... or they may prove a success on a "revolutionary" scale and be "The" company once again ... whereas Microsoft and Sony find them in a perhaps somewhat less enviable position, one where they vie for supremacy by means of a pissing contest that has both of them producing expensive juggernauts of consoles that will likely serve as "loss leaders" for the both of them for a good long while, in a battle that may leave many customers upset at their ultimate choice of a console ("damn, I'm not really enjoying this $400 toy as much as I thought I was going to!") and one company or the other ultimately losing money from the venture instead of earning it ... or not ... I'm not an expert on this stuff, but this is how it seems to based on various articles and such that I've read.
Most gamers will want to use both hands. Otherwise, you have to choose between movement OR actions.
The question, though, is whether it helps your precision. An analog pad or joystick helps your precision in two ways. First, pushing against a slight resistance allows for more precision through free space. Second, the predictably changing resistance of the stick as it moves gives you some feedback about where the stick is relative to its center detent and its limits. I don't know if vibrating the cartridge would accomplish the same thing. Indeed, I'd think that vibrating the cartridge would worsen your accuracy.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
Only thing I can think of is -- didn't they try this with the Power Glove?
Seriously, Nintendo-fencing is going to involve some serious skill and dexterity, expecially against online opponents. Bravo!
I was dismayed when I first saw it but as the shock wears off, after watching the promotional video and thinking it over, I'm totally psyched!
This is gonna bring us a lot of FUN games. Now if only Nintendo stopped smoking crack and decided to offer HD, I'll be set.
This 'device' within a few months will appear for the computer, probably made by Logitech or some company like that. There will be drivers that translate its movement into traditional WASD+mouse-look controls, and the big deal will be over. I am happy for Nintendo though; as a longtime fan of them and the industry in general I'd like to see them back in the game and take down the cocky newcomers Playstation and XBOX.
I think that LATFP (Look At the Fucking Pictures) would apply here as well.
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As for porting, you did catch the news that you could plug things into it to transform it into a more conventional controller?
But I do agree: This could be a move which puts Nintendo ahead again, or it could kill them. Let's see what happens.
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Gets to skip Nintendo thumb, and go straight to Nintendo wrist.
Orthopedic Surgeons everywhere, rejoice!
just the idea of having the controller split up into two, independent components (one for each hand) makes me wonder why it wasn't implemented so well before.
Yes it was. The NES port of Smash TV had a mode where each player held two controllers.
From the look of things here, we are also going to see the fiercest wave of fanyboyism we've ever seen. Already people of declaring this to be revolutionary. Please remember that none of said people have ever used this, nor even seen it or have an understanding of how the technology works. We've had devices like this for a long time, from the orignal powerglove, to professional 3d controls, to wirless gyro pen mice, and so on.
So who knows how this device is? Certianly seems like the technology is here to make it work well, I guess then it comes down to implementation, both in the hardware to make it work and the software to properly respond to what's done with it. Right now, I think all anyone who hasn't messed with it can accurately say is that it will be interesting and different.
Yet despite that we have people corwing about how revolutionary it is, and how MS and Sony are so fucked and so on. Standard console fanyboyism in other words. Thus it should be no supprise the haters will join the fray as well and declare it to be utter shit, a stupid idea, etc, also without ever trying it.
What it really comes down to is we won't honestly know how good it is until it's released and different people start trying it on different setups. To declare it great or crap at this point is silly.
One thing's for sure, though: Nintendo's controller can handle games from other consoles, but other consoles can't handle games that take advantage of this thing.
That could either mean lots of nice and exclusive titles for Nintendo, or it could mean nothing.
But it isn't necessarily a bad thing. Nintendo could end up getting loads of exclusive games because of this, especially if it sells well.
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Halo would play well. Dpad for movement, gyro for aiming, trigger for firing and maybe the analog stick for rough aiming (turning around) and its triggers for jumping and grenades.
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Yes, but the same thing can be said for games made on the PlayStation and xbox360. Because of the different processors used there is no simple way to port between the two systems and likewise between revolution. All three systems have made design decisions that really make it difficult to conveniently port games freely between the three systems.
AnandTech: comparing PS3 and 360's hardware
And in my opinion a different controller design does not seem as hard a hurdle to overcome as different design philosophies imposed by the hardware. But that last part is just IMHO.
I don't know how many 2600 controllers I went through. Of course, they were crappily made, and those damn plastic tabs that pushed the L, R, U and D controls would always break. I actually took one apart and used it like a gamepad once. It wasn't set up to be used like that though, so it was really tough.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Gamepads such compared to the good old joysticks, the reason for this Nintendo went with a left hand approach for the mor important fine grained stuff, and besides that it gives a huge pressure on the thumb. I hated them when I was young and I still hate them 25 years later.
It reminded me of the remote control that came with my old Philips Cd-I player..
I just hope some games have UI like in Minority Report. Hell, it could be an entire game.
-You start, just like in the movie, a red ball comes down and you look for clues, using motions just like Tom Cruise did in the movie.
-Next you yourself fly the helicopter to the location. The controller works just like a flight stick.
-Next you run into an unfamiliar house (randomly generated?) and need to find the exact location before time runs out. The first level would be simple, like in the movie. Later levels would be more complex and the bad guys would fight back.
You mean we won't be able to play the same things we've been playing for 15+ years. They can't clone last year's big-hit? No big budgets?
The irony being that one of the Revolution's major selling points is downloadable versions of classic Nintendo games. Turn the controller sideways and it's perfect for the classic games. The same games that get re-released with EVERY Nintendo system. Do we really need another release of Excitebike?
Congratulations, Nintendo, you have successfully created a new machine with absolutely NO third-party support. I'll be looking forward to seeing you implement the unique features of the controller on yet another version of Mario Party or Warioware.
I really hope they release some games using stereoscopic 3d Glasses (like at Disneyland). If they do it right, it could usher in a new era of virutal reality, the last one was a little too short lived for me!
Yay me! ^^
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.
In an ideal world I'd have the PS3 and/or Xbox 360 hooked up to a hi-def, big screen with 5.2 sound in my living room and the joyous Revolution all to myself in the den.
It just looks like beautifully childish fun.
Unfortunately, I am not Wil Wheaton
I didn't read all these, i'm on break at work so don't have time, but I see two essential problems with this controller, both of which are correctible, and hopefully will be before release. 1. It's too small. I don't have large hands or anything, but i can imagine holding that thing one handed, and not being able to maintain control of it. It needs to be a bit thicker to really be comfortable. 2. The button configuration is all wrong. I like how it's set up so you can play it sideways and all, but holding it in one hand, I just don't see how they expect you to be able to hit more than one face button at a time if you're holding it the way you'd hold a remote control, which is the way most people are going to naturally hold it. Otherwise, it is pure awesomeness, especially the idea of extensions and inserting it into other peripherals. Will we finally see a Nintendo licensed keyboard?
just some guy
Well, the Revolution's different processors are also a big change, as they don't compute as well as Sony or MS's. Thus they also provide a hard hurdle to overcome. So the Revolution gives you not just a different architecture to worry about, but a different controller. Most gameplay can be scripted easily, so all you need is a basic engine up to run the scripts.
-]Phreak Out[-
You have to have respect for a company that takes chances and really does love what they do. I get that vib from nintendo and will continue to support them.
I think it would take a little time to get to grips with this controller but it will make for games that have far more depth, the developer are only limited by their imagination. But it looks like there will be a learning curve for each game..
All the games might have to have video of someone using the controller, trying to describe it in a manual will be next to useless.
Pablo
Can't do that with anything but a gyro.
Rather than a gyro, how about a series of accelerometers (1 for every axis). If you know the acceleration in an access, derive it and you have speed. Derive it again and you have the distance moved.
This is much more likely than gryos.
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Google innovative? Phhfft! This is Zombo-com!
You mean I no longer have to pause the game to smoke a cigarette? Bitchin!!!
But you're right that the Revolution will most likely have to be specifically developed for. I understand, though, that porting between the PS3 and Xbox360 is supposed to be actually quite an endeavor, though, so it's not as distinctly a 2 vs 1 console decision. If that is in fact the case and porting to another system isn't an issue, then the decision by the developer may come down to which single console should I develop for? And if the Revolution has a sizeable marketshare then it may well still get developed for.
I understand that life's not fair, just why is it never unfair in my favor?
I'm sure someone else wrote it before, but I did not see it.
Since the site it's been slashdotted, check the article at ign
ArticleIt's one of those idiotic ideas which sound all great and revolutionary (again) until you actually try it. No, seriously.
RPGs? Try swinging your arm around like with a sword for hours, because that's what you'd have to do in an action-RPG. See how quickly it gets uncomfortable and then outright _painful_.
FPS? It's been done already, and done better with lightguns. And skipping over the lower accuracy that's already been mentioned, again, the problem is that you just can't keep your arm pointing at the screen for hours. Those are games played for half an hour, maybe an hour at a time, and by then you're already desperately trying to find ways to "cheat" by resting your arm on something. It really gets that uncomfortable.
And let me get back to the "again" part. It's not even a new idea. The PS2 at launch also demonstrated cool-sounding gizmos, like swords you can swing around and see your character do the same swing. Guess why it never actually took off? And it goes even farther back in time, with gizmos like the power glove that was already mentioned.
Idiotic ideas are like vampires in this industry. You just can't ever really kill them. Just when you think one failed spectacularly and miserably, that you've seen it crumble into a pile of ash once and for all... someone drops a drop of blood there and it springs right back to life.
Or more accurately, some ignorant designer comes along and thinks he's soo utterly original for repeating the same mistake again. "I know! It'll be soo original to have permanent death!" (Well, no, every third idiot MUD coder gets the _exact_ same idea. It's not original, it just keeps failing and getting off the radar.) Or in this case, "I know! It'll be soo original to make people swing the controller around!" Or whatever.
*sigh* I know by now I can't expect people to learn from history, as in what happened in the 1600's at the court of some obscure HRE "kingdom". But, eh, the launch of the PS2 isn't _that_ far back in time. You'd think someone at Nintendo would get their head out of their ass long enough to remember that the exact same thing was hyped back then.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
I see gamers just duct taping the controller to their hand/arm so they don't have to hold the thing. Just put your arm in a good button pushing position and tape away. That will elimate getting excited about a game and accidentally throwing the controller across the room and hitting your wife/mother in the face.
A lot of people seem to think this will be a great controller for FPS, but I disagree. The idea is that if you want to snap your aim in some direction quickly you can do so with a quick movement of the controller. I agree that this could work very well. But now I ask, how do you turn around and face the other way? Well, the obvious way is that you turn the controller just like you did for aiming. But now let's say you want to move in the new direction. You can recenter your arm or you'll turn back! This system leaves you facing one direction - the one facing the tv. Of course there are many ways around this like using the controller movement for fine-grained or snap movements and using the stick for gross motions, or maybe pressing a button in tells the game not to interpret moving the controller as game motion so you can ecenter. But while these solutions do solve that problem, they are much less intuitive that the simple control motion = character motion you may be hoping for. I can see how this controller will be a lot of fun and could be a step above the old style for console FPS, but I don't think it's the end all and be all that others see. Overall, I think this controller will make the Revolution an excellent secondary system. I think that Xbox 360 or PS3 will make a better main system for console gaming, but I also think that the Revolution with this control set up coult offer enough unique and fun games to make it a worthwhile edition to the stable. *sigh, looks like I'll have to buy both an Xbox 360 and a Nintendo Revolution - goodbye cash, I hardly knew ye.
http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/260 0/mindlink.html
In other news, Goodyear reinvents the wheel.
It's such a "radical" departure, that Sony tried it already, and it already failed. There were all sorts of cool-sounding gizmos being hyped when the PS2 launched, quite a few being, yes, motion controlled. E.g., a sword that you could swing around and see your character do the same move. Yet we're stuck using the same old DualShock controllers, because that's what actually works better.
It's not like it's a new idea by any means. It's just yet another incarnation of the same tired power-glove idea. It _has_ already been tried by Nintendo, Sega, Sony and on the PC.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
I find that it is indeed revolutionary, same as the DS is. In a way, they've taken the DS model (where we slash on the touch screen) into your living room by making it an actual slash. Kudos on that achievment. The technology itself is what I find very revolutionary. Now it's still going to be a while until we see the apps that are developed for this new technology however it does sound very promising. I mean to point and shoot in an FPS, say UT2104 and getting a headshot or shooting with a sniper rifle while actually doing it sounds ... awesome! I mean, in a way, instead of going for graphical realism, they went for ... actual realism! In your face Sony and Microsoft!
I am eager for the Revolution now more than before, but I wonder if this is the best implementation for this new controller. Will have to try it to know, though. Could it be possible to control a game using one remote in each hand? that may be very cool. Or linking one behind another to simulate a fishing rod or rifle for example? It seems to me it may have too few buttons. The d-pad plus the back button. Not sure what to think. How are super nintendo or even n64 games going to be played? it seems it's only fitting to play nes games, even with the add-ons. By the way, has anyone seen the anime Serial Experiments Lain? during the opening/intro there is a scene in which a kid is playing a videogame in a very similar manner (though it looks a lot cooler I think).
New Dilbert book: Still Pumped From Holding The Revolution Controller Out In Front Of Me For Hours On End.
... I dug out my old NES a few weeks ago, and one thing struck me, the old games were as good as we remember, except a few of them. SMB3 is still a fantastic game, but even better is Bionic Comando. That game excites me to this day, and boy does it need porting to Revolution...
The nunchuka in one hand controlling the weapons and movement, the wand thingy controlling the grapling hook, all in glorious 3D, with an emphasis on stealth and skill over brute force - magic. Hell, they could even include the ability to jump!
Scared of flying, pointy things snce 1979!
I don't know about you, but whenever I play games I avoid the analog stick(s) like the plague unless the game basically forces me to play. I would hardly call the changes that "Nintendo" (do recall that just because they were the first to do something doesn't mean it was all them) made dramatic. And, from the GameSpot pictures, developers will need to create some really, really convincing, unique games; and, in this cookie-cutter gaming market, why would they?
Almost better.
While I think the mouse will still be superior for looking around quickly, this definitely allows for aiming to be seperated from moving. The ability to shoot at anything currently in view without changing the direction you are facing would definitely make the idea of playing an FPS game on a console more appealing.
No France
did you catch the segment of the video where it looks like the middle aged Japanese man with glasses is, umm, inserting the controller into something? Then he leans back in his chair as if exhausted from his "exertions".
The first thing I thought of was: Interactive Hentai!
This looks to be a seriously good controller, assuming the motion sensors are as accurate as the article claims. Current game controllers really are not much good, but we put up with them because they are the best we have. What is needed is a complete change, an acceptance that just adding more buttons is not the best way to control more complex games. Why have a seperate button for picking up an item when you can just point at it and pull up?
I bet there will be a lot of resistance to the Revolution controller from hardcore gamers who have melded with their Dual Shocks, but I think it will be a really positive thing for the industry.
You people seem to be forgetting you can use the best controller ,gamecubecontroller,(except for fighting games (just buy an arcade stick)) of this generation as well. and you think that because its a different method of interaction that it wont be able to work with normal games but if that was true we wouldent have FPS on the consoles. IMO this controller will in general improve the gaming experiance
At last, after PCs went down the mouse-keyboard control path the console has finally gone down the controller-beer path!
This is truly a great day for mankind.
"The controller is far too exotic,"
Exotic for whom? It may be exotic by abandoning existing video game controller dogma, it certainly isn't exotic to most of the possible players out there. Everybody who looked at the picture, their first reaction was "What, a remote control?" Admit it, your first reaction wasn't "exotic," It was "mundane." And this thing has far, far fewer buttons than my parents' a/v remote that I've had to train my mother to use. And orienting objects on the screen by manually orienting the controller in the same manner can only be described as intuitive.
As the Nintendo execs pointed out in TFA, this is something peoples' mothers wouldn't be afraid to pick up, which cannot be said for any other video game controller to date.
And if potential customers don't see it as exotic, then montetary incentives will force developers to learn to love it.
"Do you really think you can play fighting games with this thing?
Move your arm in a punching motion. Rotation of your wrist dictates what manner of punch is portrayed on the screen.
"Sports games?"
Throw the ball by moving the controller over your head in a throwing motion. Swing the bat by swinging the controller.
"There will be few, if any, ports of popular games on the other platforms."
Double-edged sword. Popular Revolution games won't be able to be ported to the other consoles without great difficulty, making you buy the Revolution to play the game.
"People don't just want to play these "unique" types of games, they want to play games like Grand Theft Auto."
How's GTA:SA currently selling compared to Nintendogs right now?
"Along with this controller announcement, Nintendo shares fell by 2.5% today."
Nintendo's presentation was scheduled for 11:00 to 11:50. It took time for the information to trickle from the show floor to journalists to publishers to the investors (unlike, say, quarterly reports made to the exchange/investors directly). The market closes at 15:00. For a point of reference, this article hit Slashdot at 14:36, 24 minutes before close. So the market likely had little (if any) time to react.
The price you seem to be touting about was before close; most news services, right now, are reporting the 14:10 price, which was down 2.741% (even lower than the 2.25% you mention). However, information from the TSE itself says it closed at 15:00 down only 1.40%. Something happened in those last 50 minutes to cause a rally, and odds are it's news on the controller. So if the controller had an influence on trading today, it was positive.
But if you want to see the real market reaction to the controller, wait until tomorrow. I'd wager it goes up, though.
Recent advances in gestural technology have allowed programmers semi-Minority Report style interfacing with computers. But it's incomplete and inefficient at this point, and requires hardware (and software, for that matter) that the casual user is afraid of. But here Nintendo introduces the very first mainstream, real-time, 3-D, gesture-based interface for use every single day in the home.
The idea isn't necessarily new, nor is the technology, but until now, very few people use simple hand gestures to interface with machines they use every day. Some time next year, though, yes, we can have a near-actual swordfight, and yes, we can go fishing, but how will we navigate menus in the game? How will we navigate menus from within the Rev's own dashboard, for that matter?
This has the potential to revolutionize, not just gaming, but the way everyday people interact with their machines. Nintendo will be sure to keep the IP rights to their (wonderful--I'm drooling here) controller, to be sure, but the implications of this in technology in general are huge, and that cannot be overstated. Especially considering how much mainstream computing borrows from the gaming industry.
The Virtual Boy was too ambitious--ahead of its time for the technology available then--but I'd say the Rev is right on time, folks.
/first post :)
Concerning reported incidents of whiplash, rheumatism, RSI and other injuries (limbs hitting chairs, relatives etc.) that this system induces in children.
Don't expect to see Madden for the Revolution.
Next you'll tell me not to expect a heavy boot planted right into my balls.
you could set the sensitivity on these controllers very low and not to worry about knocking stuff off your desk. Unless you're playing in a really confined area you should be able to swing around enough for big movements and still have the precision for smaller ones when you need it.
And like the guy who wrote the article said, control was less jittery when he had his arms resting on his lap for support.
% mkdir
% ls -dF
Unless half of the Slashdot audience are aged 116+, the company is older than any of us. Nintendo has been around since 1889. Admittedly they sold playing cards, but the intent was similar.
Look at the video for more insight. This controller is meant to use large movements with the whole arm in addition to the wrist. The large amount of movement will compensate for precision. More importantly, there are two sensors that are placed on either side of the TV. Did the gyro mice have those too? The sensors help with spatial orientation. Finally, if you've ever played a gun game in an arcade, or raced or flown with a wheel or joystick, you know how much better that is. This is realizing those possibilities, not to mention letting us swing a bat or racquet.
making games specifically designed for this controller means that they'll ONLY work on this console, the game will be impossible (or at least VERY hard) to port to the other consoles,
I've seen FPS on consoles that were originally designed to work with mouse and keyboard.
You know what? You can also play them with a console's controller that's completely different (however, most gamers prefer the mouse/keyboard combo).
Same with this controller: Some games will run better than with standard controllers, some not so well.
But imagine playing Resident Evil and actually swing your chainsaw the way you want it! This might also bring games like Soul Calibur to a whole new level!
I don't need a signature.
This isn't based off the concept of the EyeToy, it's based off the concept of the Power Glove. Only there's no glove. And this thing'll work. (It has to, or the system's dead in the water.)
Remember the first time you picked up a Nintendo controller for the original Super Mario Brothers games? Remember swinging your arms in the air like a moron, as if the movement of the controller was actually going to do something? Now we've been trained ourselves to keep our arms and our wrists still, and move only our fingers. Now it looks like Nintendo is asking us to revert ourselves, not revolt.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this. Surely the Asian markets alone will create the sort of community needed to spur game development and innovation with the thing. And I do appreciate that Nintendo continues to surprise us, whereas Sony and M$ continue to offer the same old, same old. Lest we forget, however, not every suprise is a good thing (remember Virtual Boy?). I'm betting on Nintendo to deliver the same quality, innovative fun that they've been delivering for decades now.
They do all have their little flaws. The PS2 controller has too many confusingly similar buttons and no analog triggers ("analog buttons" don't count). The XBox S controller is better, but the triggers are too hard to press for extended periods of time, the four face buttons are still too similar, and the black and white buttons are inconvenient. The gamecube controller has good face buttons and sticks. However, all three shoulder buttons are terrible, and the controller is just a bit too small overall. The 360 controller is close to perfect except for the still-too-similar four face buttons, and I'm not quite sure about the action on the new "black" and "white" shoulder buttons, but that may have been changed from the E3 prototypes. I'm reserving judgement on the PS3 controller until it's actually finalized.
This Revolution controller looks awesome if the tracking accuracy is as good as implied; in that case I'm sold. But I am skeptical; I'm afraid it will turn out to be a much less awesome device than that video made it look, with unreliable tracking and restrictive range. I won't know until I can use it myself.
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With a six button attachment, I think this would make a fighting game easier than is currently allowed. Soul Calibur is fun, but the game doesn't always know when I push up whether I mean to move that direction or jump. This controller has 3D perception, meaning, I move it towards the screen to move that way, and I flick the controller up to jump. It provides a true 3D interface. I have no idea how well companies will pull it off, but it's entirely possible.
My first thoughts went something along the lines of. Dear lord Nintendo what have you done!?! but reading the demo reviews (Which may or may not be biased.) I began to open my mind a little.
/. and the geeks at large are often totally out of whack with the general populace. Otherwise I have to admit really wanting a go on this thing.
The initial image I get of the controller is a bit of a problem though people are already having to be persuaded around to the idea of the controller rather than simply be excited at the prospect of using it. Not the best of starts but then Id need to ask my mum if she thinks it looks reasonable to see if maybe theyll make this market share back up by bringing new gamers in.
Getting over the fact it looks like a not so brilliant remote control I began to wonder just how flexable this is. Mostly in regards to RTS's though if it can return FPS's to the speed and frag fest of Quake then thats awesome too.
RTS's are near impossible to accomplish on a console with current controllers the analog stick is not precise or fast enough to select units from around a screen and issue instructions. Goblin Commander had a good crack at things and was a good bit of fun but it was heavily simplified to make things work. If this new controller is precise enough to work as a pointer on your TV screen well heck it could be just as good as any mouse setup you could have.
Im worried for the image of this thing but thats mostly based in what ive read here and other forums and the views of
Truly innovative. I like how Nintendo held back on this amazing controller until after XBox and PS2 have commited to their "retro" designs (Sony have a good controller, they wouldn't change anyway).
Aww man. All the things you can do with that controller (the video explores some of the possibilities): "Luke, whose your daddy now?!"
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The Video (tm). Requires flash, and can be played back instantly.
mats
One man's ceiling is another man's floor.
I've just got out of the 18-34 demographic, I still play games lots, in fact more than ever, but Nintendo's games do nothing for _me_. (Well, actually I lie. Last time I tried one, it got me bored out of my skull.)
Simplifying it as, basically, "bah all Sony and MS games are yet another Madden or WW2 shooter each year" is so over-simplified, it's not even funny. I'm pretty sure I've played lots of games that weren't FPS, sports or MMO. In fact, on my PS2, I don't even own any games that fall into either of those three categories.
I'm also very sure most of them could be played with friends, co-workers, etc. E.g., virtually all PSP games can be played in multi-player over wireless. I've actually tried it. And it's portable too, so yes you _can_ take it around your school, work, family, etc.
So, basically, please... If you like Nintendo's games, good for you. But reading yet another variant of the same old "Nintendo is for people who want to have FUN, MS and Sony are for people who want to get bored in a 5 hour WoW raid" wisecrack is getting boring already.
We _all_ play games to have fun. Just for some of us that involves different games. That's all.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Based off the concept of the Power Glove? Sorry, it's quite obviously based off the concept of the Duck Hunt light gun -- in usage if not in technology.
Procrastination -- because good things come to those who wait.
I've been wondering what would happen if you had to pause the game and get up for one reason or another, and say, when you eventually returned you ended up sitting in a different spot, or simply sat differently (slouched or sat up more, or even leaned at an angle), or even decided to get closer to or further from the screen.
Personally, I'm not sure what the "Home" button is. As it is (according to IGN), Nintendo was apparently unwilling to comment on what the button's function is, so I have my doubts that it would be a simple recalibration button if no comment could be made at the time.
Of course, it could very well serve as one anyway if it didn't just automatically re-configure after unpausing your game... and perhaps if you held the button down for 2-3 seconds (so you don't just unknowingly press it on accident), the game you are playing would then ask if you wish to return to the main menu of the game or the system itself? Just guessing here though, of course.
"Let's develop stuff that looks absolutely ridiculous, so that the weakest will die laughing at it, but people who actually try it will love it!"
From the looks of it this looks like a typical Nintendo thing: Silly-looking widget that makes most of the people automatically say it's an awful, stupid idea. But people who actually care to read the specs will probably think it's not that stupid. (Compare to the DS, or Zelda: Wind Waker, perhaps.)
"Thus the Great Red revealed their secrets, and those with Weak Mind were again culled from the ranks. And all was good."
Yeah, I was zapped at first, but I don't really care, I have complete confidence in Nintendo's ability to make this thing work in a heavenly fashion =)
I have one of these - while the tilt sensors are really great (insert numerous expressions of over-excitement) in racing games, it's utterly useless in FPS or other games. I wonder if Nintendo will solve the accuracy problem usually associated with tilt sensors in gamepads...
I hope I didn't brain my damage.
No? Then look here:h tml
http://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/2005/09/16/443527.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
with full length 22minute streaming video of the unveiling.
Provided by Gamespot here.
^_^
linked the wrong (non-tilt) model, here's the right one: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000 04YMGT/102-2590626-3579305?v=glance
I hope I didn't brain my damage.
I remember owning a toy aircraft which could sense wether it was taking-off orlanding by the angle I was holding it in.
:p
Inside was a small copper ball in a little rail, constraining the ball's movements along it's nose-to-tail axis.
- When the plane was tilted forward, the ball would roll and touch 2 contacts on the front end.
- When the plane was tilted with tail down nose up, the same ball would roll down and close a different circuit, at the tail end.
- when the plane was held horizontally, it woudnt close any circuits.
This was how the aircraft "sensed" it's angle and thereby produced take-off and landing sounds.
I believe that using this idea it would be very easy to create hardware that can orient itself.
You make a "cage" like the toy aircraft used, but in a (roughly) spherical form. You put in a matrix of electrically conducting contact points on the inner surface of the sphere. You put in a copper ball, small but heavy enough.
As you now twist and roll the sphere, the little ball moves around.
This means: if you turn the controller upside down the metal ball will touch certain points inside the sphere, allowing electric currents from those points. you could quickly calculate through "reference points" what the position of the sphere is or look it up in a table.
USAGE:
------
-best results would come from ROLLING and TURNING:
The "PATH" which the ball follows while it closes contact points could graciously followed.
-SHAKING would yield really interesting ouput from the device I presume.
Some DETAILS:
-------------
-You need gravity for this to work in a way that nintendo uses it. (easiest part, we already have that) You see the idea is: if the ball touches a circuit, it means that it's forced to touch it, either by gravity or by shaking.
-FINDING the orientation:
ADRESS TABLE: each circuitpoint has a unique ID and a table containing these ID's and their pre-calculated position on the sphere.
e.g: - circuit XYZ is closed.
- Table returns XYZ's position on Sphere
- Software calculates.
RESOLUTION:how many little circuitpoints there are, would depend on how much we'd spend on the technology and what is considered a useful resolution to play a game.
okay it's maybe far fethced, butwho cares?
"The majority is always sane, Louis." -- Nessus
http://slashdot.jp
How 'bout we call it a combination of both? The gun feature is certainly an addition that wasn't in the Power Glove, but the glove was supposed to allow you to punch in fighting games, steer cars in racers, move around the screen in platformers, and it required sensors set up by the TV. I could never get mine to work, though, so I ended up chopping off the cord and using it as a costume piece.
Add to that, a lot of people that are going to buy a Revolution are going to have owned a Cube. I know Nintendo wants to attract new gamers, and, consequently, they may be stuck buying seperate controllers, but primarily, they're aiming to add casual gamers to their ranks as well as the hardcore. The hardcore either despise Nintendo, or already own a Cube, and there is no better casual console out there at the moment than a Cube, the games are just better suited to it. Add to that, GameCube controllers are less expensive than PS2 and Xbox controllers, and as time goes by, they'll get cheaper. PS1 controllers are $5 for third party, and $10 for first party. Not a huge investment, really.
Cue pages upon pages of posts by people who didn't even read the article but come up with all kinds of crazy reasons why this would suck. Take a look at it and think about how this would actually work, and it is interesting. This controller is flexible. With the attachments it can handle any game out there and many types of games that don't exist yet. You know how people always lean over and move the controller trying to make that desperate jump? That could actually work now.
It's impossible to tell how well they implemented the idea until you get to try it for yourself, but this has the potential to be a really good controller. At the very least, it's something fresh and interesting that'll be fun to explore. And if you don't like it? You can always plug in a traditional controller instead.
the game will be impossible (or at least VERY hard) to port to the other consoles, which means the developer will not give the game as big a budget
And that stops other "exclusives" why?
Though I guess shoestring budget due to the fact that Halo wasn't on PS2 may explain why you play through the same levels over and over....
This definitely brings to light the "anyone can use it" philosophy they've had. Anyone can figure out how a remote works.
The attachable devices might be how we'll see the previous generation controllers emulated, I dunno. Maybe they'll have an adapter or something so we can use our old controllers?
I think this is an interesting idea, and it's really going to take some demoing at the local best buy to see if its something I think will work when it hits the states.
Insert Sig Here
Nintendo is betting their entire next-gen hopes on this controller. This isn't a funky looking peripheral that'll make a brief movie appearance and then be ignored for the rest of time, this is a technology that will make or break Nintendo's console business. If the technology isn't damn tight, they're going to be joining Sega in the software only game. They've got to have devoted everything to making this as perfect an implementation as humanly and corporately possible.
It probably just turns off the controller to save battery. The Revolution will probably just be turned on/off by its button. I don't think an On/Off button would be useful since it doesn't play DVDs (or does it? I don't know if they gave it the capability after all).
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Anyone else notice that if you were to hold the controller horizontally, it would be very similiar to "standard" controllers. D-pad on your left and buttons on the right. Or I could see Nintendo releasing some sort of addon accessory to move your A, Z1 Z2, start, select, etc buttons to the right side of the remot....er controller.
Its only porting 'from' the Revolution that will be a problem - there is an anolog stick as an optional plugin if required.
Demonstrated by the fact the controller has to support Gamecube games.
Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
developers are ALWAYS on board if they can score free publicity.
*
- think, running down the field in a new EA game, juking left and right, flipping the remote up to do a quick jump.*
imagine doing that for few hours. now imagine your wrist. now imagine the sidewinders with tilt sensors that ms had ages ago and how much 'fun' they were.
though, they DO say that you'll be able to stick this into more traditional controllers(bongos and shit).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
This is a great idea --terribly implemented. I, and certainly many others, thought of the "wnad" idea years ago, but to put it into a TV remote control fromat? That takes some truly revolutionary backwateredness. I just pray they have no silly patents. Imitators can move in and correct. Expect Sony to get it right. And MS to copy with a minor swapping of two parts.
:T:R:A:N:S:
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...
...any prices out? i never considered buying a console - well now i do =)
"Nae Kin! Nae Quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna be fooled again!"
Wow, can you imagine the possibilities of some sports games for this thing? In the left hand you use the analog stick to guide a player, and in the right hand you use the 3D-space-sensitive controller to do things like navigate a hockey puck, kick a soccer ball, swing a tennis racket, or whatever.
That idea, to me, gives this system so many possibilities. I trust the big N to get it right.
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Think it will work with rear projection screens?
Overall I got a bad feeling about this...
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
The problem with the power glove wasn't that it was idiotic or without merit: playing punch-out with the power glove was an experience above and beyond any other on the NES. The problem was that almost no games were coded to take advantage of it. The same is true of all of the other perhipherals you mentioned. Everything from the SEGA Justifier to Konami's DDR mats can be considered failures because of the simple fact that none of them shipped with a console and none of them reached their full potential. The SNES and Genesis mice were complete failures in the market, as they only had one game that supported them, yet as we all know mice are not at all failures as interface devices. The only truly "successful" addition to a console can be considered the 4MB memory pack for the N64, primarily because that sucker shipped with a few massively popular games that used it. In other words, no attachment to a console has ever been successfully supported, because it didn't come standard with the console. That shouldn't be a failure here, as this is the controller, and as such will be supported extensively.
Think of it this way, it's a pointer. It's a 3D pointer with angle information. All of the games on the PC can now be done with an even more naturally 3D controller. RPG's menu systems should become a lot more intuitive with just point and click. Click on the ground and your characters will walk over to it. Click on a menu to attack. This seems somehow more civilized than trying to hotspot around with a d-pad. You can steer a plane by, well, steering a plane, or swing a bat by swinging a bat.
I suspect it will be a little uncomfortable at first, but I remember how much my thumbs used to cramp up when I first started pressing down on buttons. I also remember how uncomfortable using a mouse used to be. If you rest your elbows on a knee this should be fine.
Not to burst any bubbles, but the PS2 launch was 90% hype and conjecture that really had no intention of panning out, much the same way that ROB the robot was not intended to be used as anything other than a way to sneak into electronics stores. All system launches are like this. Remember how the Saturn was going to replace your home computer for all internet-related activities? The PS2 had nothing like this. Honestly, I've been waiting for wand input for consoles for some time now... the closest thing was the aforementioned Power Glove, but the Power Glove really was the wrong input for a batch of games that had no analog sensitivity, let along z-axis.
Nintendo knows what they are doing in general... Except for the second analog stick and L3/R3 buttons, every part of the modern controller design can be traced back to a Nintendo system... D-pad came from the NES (and the game-and-watch), the analog stick from the N64. Shoulder buttons and the diamond button layout were from the SNES. The rumble pack first appeared on the N64. So nintendo should be given some credit. Even the Virtual Boy controller was a great piece of work... the dual D-pads with triggers were perfect for TeleroBoxer.
Nintendo is positioning themselves interestingly in this next generation. With the radically visceral controller and a slightly lower system cost / power, they seem to be going for shorter, more intense experiences. This seems like a wise way to differentiate themselves from all of the other consoles and computers. For physical games, you can use the controller in a very natural fashion. Tennis on this system would be brilliant, Golf could be great. Pool. Baseball. Burnout: Revolution. I'm afraid to think of how many of these things are going to get accidentally thrown through windows, but it sounds like a fun process of discovery to me. For intellectual games like the Sims, you have a natural cursor-style input device. I'm not so sure how the z-axis would play into such an arrangement, but maybe it doesn't have to.
And then you have Tekken and a whole bunch of other games that probably can't physically be played o
The ______ Agenda
just clone the _controller_ and voila.. possible on other systems.
it's like saying ds is unique when you could have made(and some gamestyles were) similar games on pda's for ages already.
so far for nintendo, it has accomplished a new controller when it's trying to bring out a new _console_. I don't see why they couldn't have made this thing just as an extra to go with gamecube(and most game concepts seem like you could have made them with a zapper).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Most people are saying that it would be harder to play an FPS, as it's less precise. Guess what, everyone will be handicapped the same way, and it's actually more realistic. Since when do you aim a gun just by moving the mouse? Aiming at a person, literally, and shooting would be so much more intuitive.
Oh, and on another point. If the controller did have an IR port, and it could detect furniture, could you imagine your precious fps played in real life, ducking behind furniture and such? I sure can.
Well, not quite ever, but probably since Nintendo invented the D-Pad and controller layout that we've all grown to love.
It's beginning to look like the games industry is a ball of clay, and Nintendo has been scupting it to their every whim ever since they got their hands on it.
Shitty as a main one. I watched the video and thought, cool those games seem like fun. And then I thought about having to constantly move your arms for hours at a time. My guess your arms will get tired after 5 minutes and you'll wish you had a regular controller.
And finally they should just not even make than analog part. Having it seperated is just going to make your hands tired and be awkward for many games. Imagine trying to play an F1 game while having to keep both hands seperated? I don't know about you but when I use a controller, my arms form a bridge with the controller and allow me to better grip the controller and balance it. Seperate the controller in half and things just get awkward.
Again I don't think this is universally bad. In many ways it may very well be "revolutionary" and that video definitely made me want to try it out. But I still stand by my opinion that its a neat 2nd controller and a crappy main one.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
I wonder how this will turn out for FPS games. There are a lot of different functions, like move (forward/back/left/right) aim, jump, crouch, next/previous weapon, strafe, and others. There don't seem to be enough buttons on this controller, even with the expansion part (with the analog stick) to make that work.
Having a smoking section in a public restaurant is like having a peeing section in a public swimming pool.
I wonder if, for this reason, they'll need to make games harder. It (hopefully) will be so intuitive that the separation between the user and the game will be gone, meaning that the controller won't trip people up anymore. And that seems to be where half the challenge actually is.
HI, MY NAME IS ISAAC.
Remember in Part II when Marty showed a kid in the future how an old Arcade game was played, the kid replied "You mean you have to use your HANDS?". I think this new controller is pushing us closer toward that reality.
Step 1: Go to fry's or any other computer store
. htm8 ,00.asp
Step 2: Buy any "gyration" brand wireless mouse
That's it.
http://www.gamecubicle.com/news-nintendo_gyration
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,112854
Obviously the USAGE of this controller will be important, but the technology IS there, and it IS amazing. I own one of these mice, and it is EXCELLENT.
I use it for a media center computer, and using it is like magic. Playing an RTS using a gyration mouse is hard to even describe.
For under $100 TODAY you can play with this technology in an "unoptimized for gaming" way.
World of Warcraft. It was made with the casual gamer--a previously untapped market in the MMORPG business--in mind. They wanted to attract people who don't play that kind of game. Where did it get them? WoW is one of the best-selling games--that's right, not just MMORPGs, _games_--of all time. I play it. Half or more of the people I know play it. Why? Because they made it appeal to people one wouldn't think would want to play an MMORPG.
By reading this you acknowledge that you have read it.
If it's the original, can we PLEASE get the automatic scene-pass-after-three-deaths turned off, or at least have the option of turning it off ourselves? That's really annoying. I know the creators of those games put it in because they knew people would be crowding around the game, watching it, and they wanted spectators to see as much game content as possible. But they should have at least put the ability to turn it off in the game settings.
Technoli
NES Controller + Power Glove + Remote Control + iPod = Nintendo's Revolution Controller
I am sorry guys, but this thing looks too gimmicky to work out. I thought Nintendo claimed that the Revolution would support all of Nintendo's classic games from the NES, SNES, and N64? This controller can't even be used for playing SNES games as it lacks the number of buttons needed to do so.
Furthermore, this controller lacks the ability to play classic 2D fighting games such as Street Fighter II. Sure there will be new games that you can play, but what happened to appealing to a wide variety of tastes? What happened to supporting their classic SNES and N64 games?
Anyone a fan of Earthbound for SNES. It could be easily played one-handed, and I hoped more games would follow suit. Back in my wide-eyed young gamng days, I sent a letter to Nintendo asking for this, it finally came.
Are you sure Nintendo invented the analog stick? I remember playing NiGHTS on my Saturn with one, pre-N64.
Even with the Analog Stick you would still lack a hell of a lot of buttons compared to the other controllers, when my counting is correct there are only four buttons usefull for action on the controller, while PS3 and XBox360 have 8 or 10.
### Demonstrated by the fact the controller has to support Gamecube games.
Where is demonstrated that the controller supports Gamecube games? It might be possible to refit some games to it, but as far as I can see thats it, the Revolution has Gamecube controller ports for a reason I guess. SNES and N64 games don't seem to be playable with this controller either.
The problem is, you people seem to keep forgetting one very important fact. A few days ago Slashdot ran an article saying Twilight Princess would be the last Zelda game ever, unless I missed something and that was totally duped.
/ 1810215&tid=234&tid=10
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/05
"Potpourii doesn't taste as good as it smells." - Dark_Link2135
...which, strangely enough, means that they're also older than half of us. OP just gave a slight underestimate.
(x|x>1) -> x>.5
Windows isn't the answer... it's the question. NO is the answer!
The new controller looks nice and all for new games, but given that the Revolution is also meant for retro gaming I am quite a bit disapointed. The new controller seems only able to play NES games and even for those it looks rather arkward due to its different thickness on both ends. For SNES, N64 and Gamecube games it simply lacks the required buttons, even with the AnalogStick add-on, which would mean one would basically have to fall back to the Gamecube controller for those games.
I kind of think that having a Gamecube-like controller broken up into two pieces would have been the better idea.
The new controller makes porting XBOX 360/PS3 games extremely difficult. Don't expect to see Madden for the Revolution.
Yes, surely being able to hold the controller sideways like a normal gamepad, plugging in a Gamecube controller, or any number of other possible alternatives will sink their chances.
It really doesn't.
It means that developer's are going to have to find a way to leverage that interface for the games they are making. Simple as that. Do you think a company that spends many millions of dollars on a game will not find a way to open their game up to an entire other market?
When you shoot from the hip, it's kinda hard to aim isn't it?
"A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes." -Mahatma Gandhi
Plus we may finally see an affordable swing tutor for golf, baseball/softball, and tennis. I'm intrigued...
When I read that the controller will have built-in rumble, two things came to mind. 1. I thought they ditched the rumble functionality in the wavebird design because it consumed too much battery power. Hopefully they'll have that issue sorted out by then. 2. Is the rumble feature going to disrupt the tracking ability of the controller? Imagine you're playing an fps and you're getting rocked by some guy with a chaingun or similar rapid-fire gun, your controller rumbling all to hell as you try to draw a bead on them. First of all, is the rumble option going to be mandatory? Because if not, I don't see anyone having it on for that reason, which pretty much makes rumbling useless in FPS games. If not, it's either going to add a new, interesting mechanic to the aiming system, or be extremely annoying. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
They seem to have had similar success with the touchpad feature of the DS, so there's some logic in what you say. The other big factor behind the DS is that they've had a decent selection of good titles that actually make use of the new features. That's really going to be the factor that makes or breaks the Revolution: the presence or absence of "must have" games on it. Good ergonomics alone won't sell the thing -- they need a GTA3 or a Halo to drive purchases of it. (By which I mean a new title that becomes as wildly successful as those two, not just ports of them.)
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I always preferred Nintendo systems to others, but frankly unless they get games like GTA and Lord of War, I am not going to buy one.
That being said, Mario Tennis rocks.
I was thinking, for FPS you look by moving remote thingy. Well, how would you do a 360 degree look around. Wouldn't that require you physically turning around yourself.
Even if its scaled, how would you get the cursor back to a neutral position. Like say if you move to the right a little bit, you do a 360, but you are now virtually where you started but your arm/hand/etc is off to the right.
I haven't seen this mentioned yet, so maybe I'm the only one who sees it --
The controller looks like you can hold it sideways to play classic NES games (D-pad and the x and y buttons). Brilliant!
I'll be picking one up on release day for sure. This just plain looks _fun_, even more than the Nintendo DS.
-
``Of course it runs NetBSD!''
The N64 launched in Japan with the analog stick, at which point Sega copied it and actually managed to release it in the US before the N64 launched there.
That's why Nintendo didn't want to reveal their hand too early with the controller.
Actually I want one too.
OSGGFG - Open Source Gamers Guide to Free Games
Now imagine if a player has 2 of these controllers hooked up -- one for each hand.
Double lightsabers, here I come!
Seriously though -- our imaginations are running wild with the possibility of a single controller like this. Imagine if each hand had one? One controller can be used for moving the player, the other for actions (such as swinging a sword, aiming a gun, etc).
Well for example, I'm sure people have tried electric/hydrogen-cell/whatever cars in the past, but with the advances in technology, etc, then each new prototype will be more successful than the last. As for the getting kicked in the balls rather than the head.. uh huh.. I'd enjoy a sword fighting game a lot more if I could actually use the sword intuitively, rather than have to hit 'block' or remember key combos to do decent attacks, same with fighting games, etc, I'd much prefer to control my limbs directly. Some people may find using a controller easier, and I guess if you're lazy, or if you want to play a game non stop for 12 hours, then you can use a controller, but when I play games I like realism, eg I've just bought a force feedback steering wheel to play racing games, and while it requires me to use my arms and feet and use up more energy than a keyboard, I find it *far* more enjoyable. Also, force feedback is more tiring, but far better than an unresponsive wheel. Yes, the geeky limbs thing was a joke, I do weights occasionally, and pushups regularly etc, so my arms are thicker than most, yet I've been using computers since I was 4 and would consider myself a geek. Meh. I dont really see how you can complain about your arm getting tired using a lightgun, or complain about only using one hand - you'd have the same problem were you at a shooting gallery (and you can always use one hand to support/steady the other?). I myself have played games intensively (most notably when I first played Operation Flashpoint, I played it for 3 days till I'd completed it, in that time only having 8 hours sleep altogether).. if I had really had to jog around then of course I wouldnt have lasted as long, but that doesnt mean that it wouldnt be cool to be able to play the game in a full VR environment. I also agree that immersion is a lot to do with gameplay and storyline, but again I refer to the steering wheel example - more realistic controllers are fun. I have a £20 thingy with 100 built in games, you know the type, and it has a little light gun on it to play duck hunt with.. simple, but good fun (and I hold the controller up to my eye like a rifle with both hands) - much more fun than using a mouse to click on a screen. And dont get me wrong, I love the mouse/keyboard combo for FPSs (even after months of not playing CS I can go back and still easily be in the top 3 players on a random server), but I'd still love to try my hand at a realistic VR simulation where you have to aim naturally.
which is totally what she said
You should check out Daphne Dragon's Lair / laser disc emulator
The hard part is uh... ripping your original laser discs to mpeg, or ripping them from the re-release DVD video, or uh other *wink* aquisition methods.
Although after firing it back up, it was both cool and slightly dissapointing, but it didn't cost me a dollar to die 3 times in rapid succession... stupid rope swingin sequence! At least I can change the dip switch/settings and have more lives
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
"As for the FPS thing... it may be hard to keep pointing at the screen, but I can't see it being worse than trying to play an FPS with a thumb-stick."
The FPS-on-consoles world doesn't begin and end with thumbsticks, you know.
E.g., on the PS2 you can just take any existing USB keyboard and mouse and plug them into the console. There you go: you can play your FPS with keyboard and mouse, like on the PC.
E.g., I had a Sega keyboard and mouse for the Dreamcast, and while I got them mostly to chat online in PSO, I can assure you first-hand that they worked perfectly in FPS too.
So basically "it can't be worse than a thumb-stick" is good and fine, but I'm more interested in whether it works better than keyboard and mouse. That's where FPS gaming is at.
"Though, of course, if that's what floats your boat, you can still do it. And that is awesome."
Did they include USB ports for the keyboard and mouse? No? Well, then it's not so awesome, after all.
So they solved... umm... what? A problem that only Nintendo had to start with? Heh.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
I haven't tried it, have you? Regardless, you'll be okay . . . the system supports the good old Gamecube controllers and memory cards too.
Whether the new games will is another thing. I'm actually excited to try the new controller out, but I'll stand right next to you and throw mine in the fire if they suck.
A B A C A B B
On a side note, I think that if any console deserved a port of Irritating Stick [gamestats.com] it would be the Revolution. Yeah, laugh now but when it actually happens...
I bet it would be a port of Kuru Kuru Kururin instead. I do expect it to happen though.
My Xbox Live Gamer Card
uh oh does it sorta vaguely resemble a modern/ipod looking phillips CD-i controller?
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
According to TFA, they already made a simple demo that is a port of Irritating Stick. Just at least scroll through the paragraph titles in the article next time, ok ;)
molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
I think Nintendos recent investment in Gyration proves that this thing will have a motion sensing chip, which is obvious by this point. I doubt it will use any kind of infrared sensors like the powerglove. Its just that in 198x when the powerglove came out thats all there was, and even that was semi-new technology. Nintendo has ALWAYS pushed the envelope controller wise. The NES Max, powerglove, powerpad, heck, the N64 controller was pretty wierd.. err "revolutionary" at the time. Even if it was uncomfortable to use the analog stick (at least to me). I think it will work just fine. Wether people like it or not is another story. I will reserve judgment till I use one.
They've been tried. When I was working as a Nintendo demonstrator in college, I did a good enough job (actually, I was in a good enough location) to win a mouse for the Super Nintendo, which came with Mario Paint.
However, that was really a single-game mouse. While mice have come out for other systems, they had various degrees of utility (an example would be the Dreamcast mouse, which was mainly useful for using the Web browsing software in my experience). I think the reason why is up until now a mouse isn't good for living room play. Even with Mario Paint, a flat surface was needed to use the mouse. I had my Dreamcast set up as a quasi-PC (hooked to a VGA monitor, with mouse and keyboard as well as joystick), in order to make good use of the mouse and keyboard.
The Gyration technology they licensed is designed for a mouse that doesn't require a flat surface, which is a much better design for the living room.
Nintendo are basing their next generation console and handheld around the concept of the mouse. It will be fairly easy to translate DS concepts to use this controller on the big screen, which they are probably planning to use to leverage the popularity of the DS. We may see a big divergence between the consoles, Nintendo specializing in mouse base games with their competitors sticking to standard controllers.
It's a gamble, but if they can create a killer app, Microsoft and Sony may not be able to follow. Nintendo paid a lot for the patents on this technology, so any implementation from their competitors will have to follow different design routes. (I could see Sony trying to do something similar with an implementation of their Eyetoy controller, which I think is also a kind of mouse, however. I'm not sure if that will work as well for ports. Microsoft, however, seems to be left out in the cold here.)
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
I will assume this question is rhetorical.
-- I have fans? Wow.
And yet, none of your non-gamers people ever told you that it doesn't feel natural to hold a controler with both hands, and then press one of 10 buttons to swing a sword? While it may seem pretty natural for gamers to press buttons to have your characters perform actions, I would actually think that it is more "logical" to actually swing your arm if you want to swing a sword.
Try going to a medieval fair sometime, and in one of those fake duels, locate the appropriate buttons on your sword that will make you swing it...
After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
- The Tao of Programming
The first analog stick I remember was on the Apple II (although not, I believe, manufactured by Apple, although they brought out one eventually), but there might have been a couple of coin-op arcade games before that. I know that Tailgunner used an analog stick, but I'm not sure of the chronology.
The first analog controller on console that I remember was for the Atari 5200. It was not self-centering, and was not generally considered to be a success.
Now when you get pissed off at a game and throw your controller across the room you'll see you character zoom across the screen. They better make replacement controllers cheap.
I disagree. The sheer novelty of this idea has all but sold me on the Revolution. Plus, if you can turn it horizontal to play the older Nintendo games, I'd imagine that you can do the same for any ports or "big name games." The last Nintendo I owned was a second-hand SNES; everything I've read about the Revolution makes me want to buy one.
You know, when I was a kid, my parent's generation didn't get Nintendo. My father was the closest they came; he enjoyed Space Invaders et al at the arcade. But the stuff on Nintendo just didn't make sense to him. Where's the joystick? Why does it do that? It would work better that way. What kind of game is that?
And here we are again. Welcome to the dustbin of history.
How many times do they need to shoot themselves in the foot, leg, arm, groin, shoulder, and any other extremedy until they realize that they should stop trying to come up with new ideas, just because they look or sound good.
The controllers we have now are so widely used because they work.
Or at least, they work for the same old game designs that we are used to. This obviously is not the console for people whose major motivation for buying a new system is to play sequels with slightly better graphics.
Nintendo tends to build a console around a controller philosophy. You can be sure that Nintendo has some original game ideas in mind that could not be done any other way. It is nice that there is still one company remaining with the courage to innovate. I doubt if there will be as many generic 3rd party games available for the Revolution as for the XBox360 or the PS3, but it will offer a unique experience that will not be available anywhere else.
I can't wait to play Metroid on this thing!
Now you have a reason to:
http://www.qwantz.com/posterchild/
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.
Yep. I was playing Animal Crossing the other day (don't laugh - it's much better stress relief than Metroid) and had to leave the room for a minute. I left my WaveBird on the couch. I heard my three-year-old pick it up and start digging randomly, but then I heard him go in his bedroom and close the door...and the game sounds still continued. He was sitting on his bed (a good 20 feet away and through the wall with his closet) mashing on buttons, and my little character was still dutifully digging holes.
So maybe small teams or even individual developers can get into the "game" of Revolution? With the risk of all kinds of trashy games being made available, I'd rather have the market decide who's better not some game console maker. If you look at sourceforge, you can see all kinds of odd ball projects but only the very few gain steam to wide spread usage and that's the way it should be. Let the customers decide what's good, not some central "authority." Communism didn't work and trying to impose similar controls with (game) software won't work either. Great ideas will almost always come from those who think outside the box: big companies are too often stuck in the group-think mode. (Companies like Apple may be able to take the oddball and run with it and be successful but note that Apple didn't come up with the first ever mp3 player or even commercial GUI OS/computer -- the latter honor belongs to Xerox Star.)
Danny Kumamoto
It will be interesting to see how this goes from here. I have to say it's refreshing to see someone trying something new (since Sony and Microsoft so far seem that will only offer stronger versions of what they already have) and I can see how this can work very nicely, but the big factor there will be the games.
:)
One advantage Nintendo has is that they make lots of games themselves, and they're mostly good, but I don't think they could survive with only their own games for their console, and this controller is different enough from the standard (and from other consoles) that it might scare away other developers.
I'll hope for it to succeed, though... I'd personally love to play a first person star wars game where I swing the controller around like a lightsaber to control it on screen... I know I've done it already with the TV ones..
You haven't seen many product launches before, right? Everyone and their grandma shows up and shakes hands. This, however, doesn't mean jack squat about them actually shipping a product for it.
Reminds me of some of AMD's product launches, where CEOs and representatives from all sorts of companies went up on stage to pledge undying love... and then went back to promoting their Intel-based products instead.
They're just trying to squeeze in their own self-advertising, piggybacked on this. Whether they'll actually ship a game or not, they got a free chance to basically advertise "Buy our games! We're all innovative and original!" (THQ) or "Buy our sports games! And did you know we have a full portfolio of other games across all genres too?" (EA.)
Also rest assured that noone actually asked the _developpers_ for such an event. It's a bunch of C*Os reciting canned texts that came straight from the PR department, maybe with a short detour to the legal dept for a quick check.
Basically, oh, I'm sure they'll port some stuff, if it's easy to do. E.g., via some quick-hack abstraction layer that makes the motion sensor look like a mouse or like a thumbstick to the software.
But if you think they'll actually go make some exclusive titles just because the programmers jumped up and down with joy at the idea of a new controller... you don't know some of these companies. We're talking for example EA who occasionally openly admits its "meh, we're not into making art, we're into making money" attitude.
_If_ they'll make some exclusive title, it won't be because some programmer liked the controller, but because an accountant made a business plan that said "we estimate we'll make x million dollars out of it." This either means being just given the money (MS style) or having a _hell_ of a market to buy those games. Basically until the Revolution has already gained a bunch of market share, I wouldn't hold my breath.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
This "revolution" could really help the Revolution to browse the internet or use computer apps, as well... the controller is basically like a wireless mouse where you can "point" to things on the screen.
This could come in handy if the Revolution comes with an internet browser. (it will come with some type of browser, to download old games) With other systems it would be a chore since you can't exactly point to buttons on the screen.
Another option... bring adventure games to the home console. Imagine bringing the King's Quest series, or Day of the Tentacle, or Sam and Max, to the Revolution... these games were basically impossible on a console before since it would be difficult to, say, "point" to a particular thing on the screen.
I can't wait... it may take time to adapt, but I really think this will bring us some innovative games not possible on other systems.
My wife recently had an accident that resulted in the amputation of her right thumb. And she's right handed.
One of her biggest complaints thus far is her inability to play games on the console anymore. She loves the gamecube, and this is a real blow for her.
This controller looks great. I can't see it because the site is blocked where I work, but she says she's real excited.
Anyone that does anything to give my wife back some of the joy and happiness that she's lost is all right in my book!
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
The days of the digital watch are numbered.
I have seen the revolution, and it is unquestionably good.
If this controller delivers half of what the video promises, it actually will deliver a revolution in gaming. My only sadness comes from the fact that many, many people will be too frightened to accept such a massive change.
If you look at the feature list, it is everything the 'true' gamer could want.
1) Controller makes completely new types of *genres* possible.
2) Backwards compatibility with 'Cube games
3) Wifi Downloadable content for all the good games of yore.
4) The design is a beautiful example of form following function
5) DVD playback you don't pay for unless you want to.
6) Cost of the hardware is probably only minimally affected by the controller. This isn't like Sony's extra $100 (or whatever) cost to include the Blu-ray drive. This is taking simple pieces and making a much better whole.
It is *almost* perfect. However, the obstacles to overcome are not insignificant, and most are brought on by the fact that the 'true' gamer wants things that Joe Six-Pack does not. There is unfortunately room for quite a bit of doubt:
1) Studios will have to throw out almost everything regarding game design that they know. This will require an entire reworking of our fundamental concepts of gaming. Read this as "huge cost of time and money, with a significant risk of loss"
2) The hardware has to work right, and not be plagued by sensor issues and bad logic.
3) Pretty sure Nintendo said no 1080i support. This is not as huge as #1 & #2, but prices on Hi-Def displays continue to creep downward.
4) Graphics, although unimportant in my eye, must be taken into consideration. Sony and MS have sold billions of consoles on screenshots alone. The public still loves teh shiny, so we can't have any moments where people think "but the XBox makes it look *real*!"
5) Adults. Nintendo, I beg of you, do not forget us. We have loved your games for years, but we've grown together. I have happily followed you into dangerous waters before, and games like Nintendogs and Animal crossing have made the journey fun. For the love of god though, can we have some games that actually cater to adults with unique challenge *and* themes?
6) Net gaming is here to stay. Can you please join us at the table of the internets? We have saved you a seat, but you missed the hors doeuvres . It's ok though, make sure you're here when the main course arrives and we'll fill you in on what you missed.
-- I have fans? Wow.
Imagine Katamari Damacy with that controller. Whole new level of fun.
- In hell, treason is the work of angels.
I hope so. I don't care if any sequels make it over to this system (other than Zelda). It's time to wipe the slate clean. Everything that can be done with a 2D side scroller has been done, and the industry moved on. Just making 3D versions of games is tired. Graphics can take a break from getting better as long as control and AI start coming first. It's time for a new way to interact with games that doesn't involve buying an arcade version of something. Go Nintendo, I never lost faith, but I was worried.
No way. I don't want to actually have to work at controlling games I play. The whole sense your movement thing for controlling games may work out for really neat demos, but when it comes to actually using it it ends up being a pain in the ass. And whoever thought that attaching a 2nd device for the other hand was a good idea should be shot. The technology behind it might be impressive but useability is tossed out the window. There are some things you just don't radically change. This is one of them.
Doesn't matter if its revolutionary or not. People (aka parents and kids) are going to see this thing in stores and immediately say no without trying it and go to the next aisles with the xbox 360 and PS3 in them. They thought they didn't sell a lot of gamecubes? Well the numbers for this thing will be even lower. I want the nintendo of the old days back not this new crazy nintendo.
You probably don't have to keep it pointed at anything, just rest it in your lap. It's not a light-gun controller, it's a motion sensor.
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
Also, having a D-pad with your other fingers beneath it gives you something to push against, so you don't have to recover from a push in one direction before you can reverse to the other direction.
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
Partly because they've been going in odd directions recently for the sake of 'innovation'. The DS may be selling, but really did it bring any real innovation? No, just a handful of niche games. This is pretty bad for nintendo... they are currently last in the console wars, and while Sony and MS have released tons of info on their new systems, Revolution is mostly vaporware at this point.
I'm sure they'll also come up with some game where you have to shoot squares faster than your opponent, an air hockey game that doesn't work as well as the others and of course I'm sure they'll come up with a metroid prime version for this console.
Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
Pick up your mouse and "simulate" what it would be like to scroll or browse through webpages with it. It just feels clumsy. And Slashdot doesn't fight back.
Do that, and if your using a corded mouse add something in your hand to add the weight of batteries.
I also think this is going to be a blow to the many Star Wars fans egos when they find out that they suck with a Light Saber. Moving your fingers half an inch to command "Block High", "Block Low" or "Attack High" is one thing. Moving your arms to do the same will show you why being a Jedi Master takes years of training.
All things being equal I can't see a guy using this beating a guy with a normall controller in a swordfight. The response time of actions alone would be too long. By the time you have moved to "Block High" the opponent has already hit the buttons for the next three attack commands.
This is going to bring a whole new sort of Lag the the games. Not because the RF is too slow but because WE are too slow.
Lightsaber is one word.
some people have complained about it not having 10+ buttons for all the complicated controls, but this controller makes me excited about simple games. I'd buy this just for a pong or airhockey game. full tennis with nets, spin and boundaries would be amazing.
what I'd also love is a bike racing game. with bikes instead of cars your weight distribution matters so now you can lean the controller back, forward and to the sides as well as twisting to the left or right for the steering.
You do realize that Irritating Stick was one of the previews that Gamespot got to play with right...
Where's that cap to the Decanter of Endless water???
keep in mind that with the included attachments this controller essentially becomes a "standard" controller.
Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
Eh, the only button I know for sure where it is, is Z. And that's only because I hit the darned thing by accident half the time I use the system. I don't have that problem with the dual shock controller. It all depends on the person.
That was a movie of a bunch of actors swinging around the controllers in suggestive ways. There were no games running during the making of that video - there are no games for it yet, just tech demos, and even those don't match what the actors were implying - no "drumming" or "cooking" games yet.
What you're seeing is the director's impression of what games will be like. It's the Killzone video all over again.
Wait until you've tried it for yourself, with the games you want to play. It might be awesome, it might suck, and that will depend very much on both the type of game, and the player.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
In case you haven't read it in one of the other posts on this topic, the new controller works perfectly well from your lap, with only a small range of motion. You don't have to wave your arms around, just flick your wrist a little. PC gamers will tell you that there is no better way to get precise interaction at high speed.
Also, I don't see the D-pad as a problem. Because of the way you hold the controller, I think that the pad will probably feel a lot like the volume/channel rockers on your TV remote. I doubt that you'll have to push very hard, just roll your thumb around. But even if the D-pad is a little awkward, most games will be using direction sensors for the primary input. Game developers tend to avoid placing important moves on awkward buttons. (At least, the good ones do!)
As with all controllers, I must hold it before I can honestly judge it, but come on Nintendo, didn't we do away with square edges years ago, for good reason?
though it would be laggy if not dampened...
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
It's so that Nintendo fanboys will build muscles and be able to beat up all the Sony/MS fanboys! On a serious note though, I have to say this has an enormous amount of potential. I can't wait for the first good sword fighting game.
Ah, the same old, "it's not unique because it's been invented" argument. It does not have to be the "first" to be the one that makes an idea viable.
The iPod did not "invent" the mp3 player, is it not unique? Do not answer unless you have used one. You could do wireless networking with a ham radio if you had the right software, way back when. Since 802.11 wireless networking is essentially just a radio, I guess they are just "rip offs". I could get a GPS to tell me where I'm at for years. So selling one that is integrated into my car that allows me to figure out where I'm at and where I'm going is obviously more "me tooism."
So you could have made DS games on a pda eh? But they didn't did they? Because it's the combination of the touch screen, dual screen, microphone, and wifi in a portable gaming console that makes it work. Even if you technically *could* release nintendogs on a blackberry, you don't, because that is not what it is designed for, and people don't buy it.
You are correct that really the innovation is in the peripheral, but first off a little thing about patent law and copyrights will prohibit cloning it. Secondly the market for games using a peripheral that is not 'standard' means little software will be produced for it.
I have no idea what makes you think making a new 'console' has nothing to do with the controller. The inputs to any system designed for interaction are almost the definition of what it is. Did you mean they should put more stuff in the box itself? Like what? What if you could put the entire 'console' in the controller itself? Would it then qualify as a new console in your opinion?
-- I have fans? Wow.
The Revolution supposedly has 4 Gamecube controller ports built in it. Maybe Nintendo's whole idea is to have the CDi-alike controller as the main controller, but for games that would benefit from a standard setup (ie, driving games, fighting games etc) then maybe you'll be able to use the gamecube controller to play them. After all, the graphics on this baby are probably going to compare well with the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, so Nintendo would be fools not to want people to be able to play standard games on them that generally show off the graphical capability of the machine.
How many people want to bet that one of the new Nintendo DS plug-ins will be an orientation detector? This would make the DS essentially an additional controller for the Revolution. Wouldn't work too good for games like sword-fighting, but it would probably be very good for games like pac'n roll or a driving game.
I think some are genuinely interested in the concept, and others reject it because it is odd and definitely a new thing (in terms of the standard console controllers we are used to).
I want to address the people that reject it because it is not the most efficient method of controlling a game.
Sure a mouse is probably going to be significantly easier and more accurate to use in most applications. But when you go to an arcade half the fun of playing the shooting games for instance is that you get the feel that the thing you are pointing with is really doing the damage. A mouse (as I know since I have played FPS games on the PC for 9 years), while more accurate feels more like a remote tool and seperates you from the experience.
Same with a joystick for a flight simulator, which is the same idea as the real control method of planes. But even that kind of seperates you from it, what if the motion of your hand directly translated in the motion of the plane, no need to worry about seperate buttons or paddles for yaw and pitch. It would be really easy.
I think it will be very fun and if Nintendo manages to make a decent launch with good games I will definitely try it first at the store, and probably buy it 5 minutes later.
Plus even if you have to hold your arm(s) up in the air, it is very good for your cardiovascular health.
1). Wireless efficiency. The PC Jr. had a wireless keyboard. Is this thing going to work in a crowded house with lots of peanut butter flying around?
My son has a wavebird wirelass Nintendo controller for his gamecube and it works fine and has never had any problems.
2) Durability. Speaking of which, how hard can you beat on these things? What's the MWBF (Mean Waves Between Failure) on this thing? Are people going to just wave them right into the rubbish bin?
See above - it works fine, never any problems.
3) Endurance. How long can a twelve-year-old boy wave his arms before fatigue sets in? Has anybody done any reasonable studies? What about 30-year-old overweight slashdot nerds longing for their misspent youth?
That's when he should stop playing video games and get back to doing his schoolwork. Seriously, whenever my son says he's tired I have him stop playing, or at least put it on pause and take a break, go take a bath, have lunch, something like that.
4) They are shipping at least two controllers per unit, right? 'cos if there's just one, then designers can't rely on the numchuck configuration.
Nope. Nintendo makes money on their game consoles and their games, so I seriously doubt it will include two controllers.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
You have a glowtube that sparkles and shines more as you wave it with your arm(s), while you dance on the pad or wear the special dance shoes.
This would be oh so very awesome and fun. Especially when you turn the lights out and it glows in the dark too.
Party time!
I can guarantee they'll be offering a controller like that for DDR2/3 on the new Nintendo Revolution, as the fun level would be off the scale!
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
If you are attuned to the gaming-force, you can feel a wave of despair, as if thousands of Sony and MS developers cry out in horror, as they are fired for completely missing the point.
-- I have fans? Wow.
Actually it's more like the end of PlayStation. At $500 and no real innovation, no one is going to bother buying one.
For your information, XBox 360 and Rev use the same CPU/GPU as each other so porting will be rather easy. You obviously don't know anything about industry.
That controller will be so cool. Some dream about lightsabers. I dream hockey :P
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72194578@N00/
Right, because I can barely hit the Z button to save my life. I think for both of us it's basically useless, though. The Z button and the ludcrously huge A button (i don't mind it being bigger, but it makes it more work than it should to move your thumb to one of the other buttons) are the only things i don't like about the GC controller.
The enemies of Democracy are
So basically you will be able to play a 3rd person shooter by having two controllers, one that controls your movement and one that allows you to look/aim/shoot. I can see this giving a huge advantage over the standard controller and probably even a keyboard and mouse. So, when MS and Sony release Unreal 2007xv5-9 they will boast better graphics but you will still be kept down with the basic controller. However, Nintendo would release the same game with less graphics but the experience of playing it will be more immersive. I'm sold.
-Dipster
One of the tech demos the console was showcased with behind doors was Kuru Kuru Kururin.
Gamers Europe - Gaming News. Reviews.
Yes, the N64 controller sucked! It sucked so much that Sony and Sega rushed to copy the analogue stick and force-feedback ideas that the N64 controller introduced.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
I predict that we will see 3rd-party, wireless SNES controller clones for those interested in playing old ROMS on the Virtual Console.
I can also certainly see why they bothered to include ports for hooking up Gamecube controllers.
The Revolution controller is AMAZING but it's going to be awkward unless games are designed with it in mind.
The US Army: promoting democracy through unquestioned obedience
Wouldn't we all? But I thought you had to point it at the screen to be able to control it. Otherwise they couldn't detect the angle and distance from the screen, right? Maybe I'm wrong, because I saw some people in the Gamespot video using it like a baseball bat. Can anyone enlighten me?
While it's certainly possible on other systems, it won't play out that same way. It's not only about hardware, it's also about attitude. MS might release something similar for the Xbox360 in a couple years, but every system out there won't have shipped with one, so it won't see widespread developer adoption.
MS and Sony aren't trying to stake their future on expanding gaming, other than in the number of units sold. Other than one pushing slightly more pixels than the other, the Xbox360 and the PS3 are almost entirely the same, in terms of what they bring to the table. Their solution to making new games is to throw more processor power at it, and that's it. That's really all they have over their predecessors. In fact, the Xbox has taken a step backwards by not including a hard drive with every console. MS made two useful contributions with the Xbox(ethernet being the other), and now they're taking one away(with somewhat valid reason, but still).
I think it's just a different philosophy on gaming, the Revolution controller just being one very bold aspect of it. The gamecube, in terms of hardware is solid, but not entirely inspiring. It really isn't that much different that the PS2 or Xbox. Yet Nintendo's games are really unique in a lot of ways. They just have a different feel to them. Some prefer to write that off as childishness, but it's something that appeals to me, and to a lot of other people. And the Revolution controller is an attempt to bring that sense from the software to the hardware.
And yes, the DS is unique. Please, show me a PDA that has a similar collection of games. Preferably one that costs $120. And that can stand up to a week in a house with six kids fighting over it. My DS just survived that no worse for wear.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
It seems to me we've reached a functional plateau with regards to the "output" we receive from video games, the video and the audio. Sure, the graphics continue to improve, but better graphics aren't really going to change the gameplay experience that much. Also, the addition of sheer processing power isn't going to add much to the equation either, aside from perhaps slightly better bot AI and more complex simulations.
I think the experience will be totally different if the graphics are as real as we see in real world, and if the AI are as intelligent as human. We have tremedous progress but we're no where near it.
I agree that the interface is something that needs big change to improve the gaming experience. However, making a d-pad wireless and break em into two pieces doesn't sound like a 'shift' to me. What I really want is affordable panoramic 3D display where player can actually interact with the environment (similar to virtual golf). I was at an SGI facility watching a demo of stereoscopic projection display. The image is vivid and stunning yet coarse and simple (and cost SGI $$). I'll drooling if one day we'll have such capability on desktop at very high resolution...
I love how if you turn the controller horizontally, it looks like the original NES controller. That would come in handy for the old NES games in the Revolution's archive.
No pop-up orjavascript:
6 51334/revolutiontrailer_091605_qtlow.mov
http://cubemovies.ign.com/cube/video/article/651/
Man, I've wanted this controler for years!
activestudios web design
um...just to clear things up if no one has, there is no porting issue, if third parties don't wanna code for the new controller-type, then they'll map their button setup on the gamecube controllers for the slot the Revolution has for them...if they DO wanna dish out the work then thats fine too... but allow me to freak out for a second here...i've seen something similar to this back in 2003 in a video online of some kid playing a sword game in an arcade with a fake katana no bigger than this "remote" he blocked, attacked and moved flawlessy in the game, and there's no doubt in my mind its going to work.... dudes THINK...I SWEAR TO GOD....THINK!!! if IF IF some nut at LUCAS ARTS decides to say..."hey...lets make a Jedi game with Revolution...it would be interesting..." or any other Star Wars type game....all the Sony, Microsoft OR Nintendo-fanboy's wouldn't compare to the AWSOME ONSLAUGHT that STARWARS Freaks would dish-out in anticipation of such a game...their numbers are STAGGERING!!!!
You have 17 wavebirds in your house? They have 16 channels to switch between to prevent that, you know, so there shouldnt be any reason to have two on the same channel unless you have 17 of them.
The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
Please tell me English isn't your native language.
Well while everyone is either wet-your-pants excited or disgusted with this new design, people are forgetting the golden rule of consoles, and that is that a console is only as good as its games. Say what you want about any console from any company, the success of it will almost always entirely depend on the ability of its game titles to make innovative use of its innovative design. This could be the most incredible idea to hit gaming in years, but unless there are games that come out that make good use of this idea, there won't be much to show for it. With this completely revolutionary system, Nintendo will have basically 0 portability to and from competing consoles, which in turn might scare away most 3rd party developers. And the ones that do take a shot at it will invariably make a few misses before we really start getting games that tap into the full potential of this new system, and even start showing us stuff that even we haven't thought of yet. Just look at the DS and see how it didn't really start hitting its stride till the games came out that made you say "wow, that really is a good idea...and I must have one". A year or two after launch, once the novelty has worn off and all the initial concept proof games are boring (fishing may be fun, but is hardly a particularly deep and moving narrative experience like a more complete game), the Revolution will only succeeed if it has a good library of innovative, fun, and popular games to support its sales. I for one am both hopeful and skeptical, but I am willing to believe that Nintendo can provide us with something new that will invariably be adopted in some way or another by the other follow-the-leader competitors. It will be an interesting next few years of gaming, and I am rooting for the success of this idea. But it won't be this design or technology that takes this system to the promised land, it will always be the games.
The parent post is why the internet sucks. No matter what the discussion, someone inevitably comes in with a knee jerk reaction, doesn't think about the things he's saying, and acts like an ass-hat. Way to be that guy, buddy.
Yep, that's why you get owned in FPS by people using a presentation remote control instead of a mouse. Oh, wait, except you don't.
Presentation remote controls are designed to do one thing well: move through slideshow-style presentations. They aren't tracked in 3D. Orientation isn't considered. In fact, the mouse you linked to has two distinct modes: regular mouse (IOW, on a table top), and presentation mode. To actually point to something on the screen in presentation mode, you have to use the built in laser pointer. In other words, it works NOTHING like the Revolution's controller. Until you actually try the new device, you have no basis for your assertion that it would be less responsive or accurate than a mouse. You seem to be a tad afraid of change.
Actually, I don't. I just want to point and click, and have the arrow go that-a-way. If I want it to go farther or closer, I'll vary the angle I shoot it at, thank you very much. So that's one gimmick I can live without quite easily.
Cause that's the way archers in real life do it, right? I love the arrogance you display in this post. Not everyone is like you. Also, pretty much nobody has used this controller in a Zelda type game yet. All we know is that it is a new way to control a console and that the applications of this device could be interesting, to say the least. I think it would be fun to try this device and see what its capabilities are. I'll reserve judgement until then.
A lot of the rest of your post was just Nintendo bashing drivel. I'm continually amazed that people are so against innovation by gaming companies. People like you seem to be very comfortable in your fps world where the greater the number of frags apparently increases the size of your penis. Others, myself included, like to play games that have varied styles of interaction, immersive stories and environments, and are just plain fun to play. I've been playing games with the same basic controllers since the NES came out and with a keyboard and mouse since the first DOOM. It would be nice for something to come along and shake things up a bit, give us a new and unique way of interacting with virtual worlds. I'm not sure this is it, but at least they are trying.
And here are a few more interesting potential applications for this kooky device:
- Think of playing ping-pong or tennis with this thing. The controller becomes the handle of the racket/paddle. Spin, direction, and force could all be controlled with this and I would imagine the effect would be much more gratifying and *gasp* fun than pressing buttons on a controller. You could probably even outfit these things with an add-on paddle for even more realism.
-
Golf. Again, far more control (and more realistic control) could be had with this device than with a traditional setup.
- Arcade-style shooters would be super fun with this type of device. And if the accruacy is as good as the review implies, this would be an improvement over the systems available in most arcades.
Taftshake shake, twist shake punch...
what'd be cool is if you had 2 revolution controllers hooked up to each other, then for someting like a dual pistol FPS, you can control both pistols independently...
"Not only the D-pad and the analog stick, but the rumble pak, controller expansion slot, top trigger buttons, wireless controller, and of course the DS. Where would gaming be without Nintendo?"
Pokemon (Digimon, CardCaptors, Yu-gi-oh) free. Think how better the world (whether we are talking about children as well as gaming in general) would be without that nonsense.
That stuff makes G.I. Joe and the TransFormers from my youth look like high art.
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
It seems to me that Nintendo was the company that designed the two handed, thumb pad joystick that everyone is using now. Why shouldn't they be the ones to design the next gen controller.
Besides, tracking the movement of the players hand could seriously improve some peoples playing... You should have seen my mom trying to play Mario back in the day, she was all over the place with the controller!!!!
My software never has bugs.
It just develops random features.
Yes, your arm is less precise than your hand. But your hand has a much more limited range of motion. So your arm is more than likely capable of generating movements with a roughly equivalent equivalent resolution.
For example: if your hand motions have a resolution of 1 mm and your arm motions have a resolution of 1 cm, it's equivalent if your arm can move ten times as far. These numbers are grounded in anything scientific, but hopefully you can see my point.
Anyway, it seems likely that in practice for most games on the Revolution the actual difference will be between thumb and wrist, rather than hand and arm.
I was sort of wondering how Nintendo was going to pull this off until I read your article.
The wand would be great for swordfighting, and first person martial arts anything. But best of all would be sports games; the wand makes such a wide variety of sports games possible.
Suddenly, Nintendo's licensing of their characters to EA Sports games and steady popularization of their Mario Sports games seem less cheesy and more incredibly canny. The EA Sports licensing were to make sure relations with the biggest sports developer are sunny, the Mario Sports stuff are to build a core audience which will jump on new games when they are released using the wand.
Damn... if Nintendo releases a treadmill, even big, physical games like football and basketball could be covered.
Almost makes me interested in sports games for the first time in my life, really.
Probably because it's the shape that human hands are designed to hold.
It's the shape that's designed to be held by human hands.
My only concern is feedback. Sure it'll rumble, but it can't simulate effectively, for example, a fish pulling on the line, or your sword hitting your opponent. While it's going to be a huge step forward, it's also going to be very obvious how much more it could go. Bravo, though.
You can buy goggles to do this already, but they suck. Most modern video cards are capable of outputting stereo images.
It basically halves your refresh.
Here are some more pics of the controllers incase you are interested:l
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/tgs2005/gallery.htm
I can see it now: a Che Guevara-style silhouette of Mario, complete with "M" emblem beret.
Viva La (Nintendo) Revolución!
Can I play Smash Brothers with this?
From the first looks it seems like that's going to be difficult, but I guess I'll just have to try it first.
>>>I think the experience will be totally different if the graphics are as real as we see in real world, and if the AI are as intelligent as human. We have tremedous progress but we're no where near it.
The fact that we're nowhere near it is what's pretty much the reason for Nintendo being creative istead of just jumping on the graphics bandwagon. In order to really enjoy the new graphics of the 360 and PS3, you pretty much need HDTV, and then it's still not going to be much more realistic. Or you can keep your old TV and buy a Revolution for the rumored price of $200 and have a whole new experience from current games. I know which one I'm getting.
"What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
When I was young I had an Apple IIe but I drooled over a Nintendo which I never got. Now it's the reverse. Somehow I despise console and just do PC gaming.
Remember when Nintendo said they are planning to re-release their back catalogue of games on this system?
Can someone tell me how I'm supposed to play Street Fighter 2 with so few buttons?
Or any number of other games from SNES or N64 that make use of all the keys that were so generously provided on those controllers?
Will I have to buy another controller to play these old games...??
It's not what you know, or even who you know- It's how many people recognize your damn
Okay, I got a thumb cramp just looking at that thing.
I used to play Action Quake 2 a lot and I was pretty much a crack shot in that game. I had very little difficulty hitting characters in the head, while we were both moving, with only a couple shots, over 90% of the time. This was, of course, controlled with the mouse.
Alas the skill does not translate to a real pistol. With my actual gun the claim is more like I can put 90% or more of my shots somewhere on a man-sized paper target provided both it and I am stationary and it's not too far away from me, with both hands on the gun, in a stabalised stance.
Given the choice though, if the other guy has a gun, I'd be willing to forego the additional accuracy of a mouse.
Guns don't kill people. People kill people. But guns certainly help. Have you ever tried running up to someone with a mouse and just yelling "bang!"? It's pretty ineffective.
That's one thing that I think could make this controller a major nuisance. Changing batteries is a pain. Having a Li+ battery would help, but it would then have to be proprietary and would probably cost a bundle to replace.
The prototypes use standard batteries, but I could see selling Li+ batteries being a cash-cow into the future for nintendo as controller batteries age, should this become popular .
"The parent post is why the internet sucks. No matter what the discussion, someone inevitably comes in with a knee jerk reaction, doesn't think about the things he's saying, and acts like an ass-hat. Way to be that guy, buddy."
:P
You mean like this knee-jerk "must defend Nintendo against the infidels" post of yours? Heh.
"Cause that's the way archers in real life do it, right?"
Because real life has _any_ relevance on what is good gameplay, or what's good controls? Because what you liked in Nintendo games, like, say, Mario 64 or Mario Kart or the Zelda games, was the complete realism?
Oh, wait, you didn't. If you wanted to simulate Real Life, Mario or Link would be out of breath after 2-3 jumps. Jumping is a very unnatural thing for humans. It doesn't matter if you're a nerd or an athlete. Try bouncing around for hours like Mario and you may discover it's not that easy.
Basically usually RL is that-a-way, good gameplay is that other way. Virtually all the games today, be it CounterStrike or Zelda, are fun precisely _because_ they avoid being too realistic. Abstractions like hit points and whatnot are there precisely because the way it works IRL, e.g., that you'd likely just bleed and die after the first hit, just isn't fun.
So I'll wait and see if it's fun to _play_, realism be damned.
"A lot of the rest of your post was just Nintendo bashing drivel. I'm continually amazed that people are so against innovation by gaming companies. People like you seem to be very comfortable in your fps world where the greater the number of frags apparently increases the size of your penis"
You don't even know what games I play, fanboy. I've mentioned playing story-driven RPGs right in the post you're answering, for example. So try thinking instead of reaching out for the standard insults for a change, ok?
And, no, I'm not against innovation, I just don't like this gimmick controller. That's all. I know it's hard to comprehend, but the real world has more shades of grey between "OMG, it's Nintendo, so it must be automatically perfect" and "grr! must attack Nintendo and stiffle innovation at all cost." Some of us just judge a product as it is. And I just don't like this one. That's all.
"Think of playing ping-pong or tennis with this thing. The controller becomes the handle of the racket/paddle. Spin, direction, and force could all be controlled with this and I would imagine the effect would be much more gratifying and *gasp* fun than pressing buttons on a controller. You could probably even outfit these things with an add-on paddle for even more realism."
Well, _why_ is it more gratifying? Sorry, I don't do axioms. Explain.
Realism? Have you actually played either IRL? Because you're trying to tell me that it's realistic to swing your wrist somewhere else than the ball you're tracking with your eyes is. Nope, having played the real thing, I can tell you that it's not.
Plus, again, I'll take good gameplay over realism any day.
"Golf. Again, far more control (and more realistic control) could be had with this device than with a traditional setup."
Far less control, as you lack the actual feedback, both inertial and visual.
"Arcade-style shooters would be super fun with this type of device. And if the accruacy is as good as the review implies, this would be an improvement over the systems available in most arcades."
Again, I don't just swallow axioms pulled out of the hat. Exactly how would this more fun than existing lightguns? It's not more realistic (unless the shooter is themed around Blake's 7, with their curling-iron style weapons), it's _not_ more accurate, so exactly _what_ is the huge advantage and fun factor?
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Umm.. Dpad was on Intellivision before Nintendo. Analog sticks have been around since Atari. Please stop giving nintendo credit for these inventions.
Have you ever been to a turkish prison?
Analog stick invented by atari I'm too lazy to look up the rest but Nintendo didn't invent jack. They are ones who made it popular because there were the largest console maker for the last 15 years.
Have you ever been to a turkish prison?
And heaven forbid you should want to play multiplayer games with one. 800 dollar outlay for four headsets? I doubt nintendo is looking at VR headsets, given their priority on multiplayer.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
I think it's quite cool and innovative aswell, and you can stick it into a shell to get a more normal controller aswell (but with gyros...).
:)
Anyway, here we are, people just see a controller which looks like a remote, and start laughing without knowing what it is.
But imagine Apple showing that demo video, loads of people whould think that would be so cool and innovative. It's hard beeing "the Big N which just makes games for kids", heck, this console definitly does NOT look like a kids toy, it looks awesome. Best wishes Nintendo
I had a motorola cell phone in the late 80's and you know what? It SUCKED. Why? because it was big, bulky and heavy... the sound quality was terrible and you could rarely get service anywhere. Carrying it around was more tiring than lugging around a traditional phone.
Cell phones are a stupid idea and so is any thing that has ever been tried before with inferior technology.
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
The design is clearly not ergonomic for gaming. Nintendo are apprently sacrificing usability for marketing image.
They probably think they will attract more mature audiences by making it look like a tv remote, it won't look so childish.
1) Large movements of the whole arm are a horrible idea. It's hard to keep your arm rested on a stable surface if you have to move it around a lot. Not being able to rest your arm on a surface is going to kill your precision. Ever aim a rifle in real life? It's really hard --- after a just a little bit, your arm is moving all over the place because its gotten tired. Snipers are trained to compensate for this sort of thing --- your average gamer isn't. If large arm movements are required, its going to be killer on long gaming sessions. The reviewer referred to in TFA even said as much.
2) Gyro mice didn't have those sensors, but that's not the reason nobody uses them. Gyros are pretty damn accurate as they are. The problem is that gyro mice are phenomenally awkward and cumbersom to use.
3) Gun games are quite a niche. They're okay for arcades, but during extended gaming sessions, your arms want to fall off. And flying with a wheel or joystick is fine, but this thing isn't a wheel or joystick. One of the key aspects of a wheel or joystick is that its affixed to a firm, heavy base. On top of that, if you've ever read a wheel controller review, every single one goes on about the best such controllers having just the right amount of resistance to turning motion. This controller can't have that.
4) If I wanted to swing a bat or racquet, I'd go outside. Gaming is virtual reality. Making it more like actual reality isn't necessarily a good thing. Most people don't have the coordination to be a pro ball player or professional sniper. That's why they play games!
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
Makes it tough on left handed players. Even if they make one, you'd have to take it with you when visiting your less fortunate friends.
Zelda isn't your thing? How about some fishing. A whip of the controller and you're casting off. You can bob the line back and forth, left and right.
Indiana Jones Revolution? Sounds good to me.
According to TFA, they already made a simple demo that is a port of Irritating Stick. Just at least scroll through the paragraph titles in the article next time, ok ;)
;)
Actually, according to TFA: "These were not real Revolution games (all the names for the demos are ours)-they were super-simple, graphically crude offerings designed solely to show off different aspects of how the controller can work." Not a port at all... Just at least RTFA next time, ok
When I say the wrist moves the mouse, it's not so much the up/down hinge joint of the wrist as it is the lateral torsion created by pushing and alternately pulling the sides of the mouse with the thumb and pinky- using the fine motor skills/muscles of the hand and thumb rather than the arm muscles that control the wrist and elbow.
And yet, none of your non-gamers people ever told you that it doesn't feel natural to hold a controler with both hands, and then press one of 10 buttons to swing a sword? While it may seem pretty natural for gamers to press buttons to have your characters perform actions, I would actually think that it is more "logical" to actually swing your arm if you want to swing a sword.
What difference does it make which seems more logical and/or natural? What matters is what's fun to do while sitting in front of a TV. If I want to play a videogame, pressing buttons to control things in the game is a fairly fun way to do it. If I want natural swordplay, I'll take up fencing.
The road to hell is paved with Cat 5 cable.
Military personnel aren't aiming through a 30" glowing rectangle either.
More like must defend innovative design against stuck in PC gaming world asshats. [Insert cutesy sarcastic punctuation here]
You need to read more thoroughly, chump. I have no personal stake in Nintendo's success or failure. I play PS2, GC and PC games and have like many of them on each platform. What I have noticed is that Nintendo does like to shake things up a bit, and how can that be bad? And could you be any more sarcastic and patronizing? Do you speak to people in real life that way. There's a reason nobody like the comic book guy.
Because real life has _any_ relevance on what is good gameplay, or what's good controls? Because what you liked in Nintendo games, like, say, Mario 64 or Mario Kart or the Zelda games, was the complete realism? Oh, wait, you didn't. If you wanted to simulate Real Life, Mario or Link would be out of breath after 2-3 jumps. Jumping is a very unnatural thing for humans. It doesn't matter if you're a nerd or an athlete. Try bouncing around for hours like Mario and you may discover it's not that easy. Basically usually RL is that-a-way, good gameplay is that other way. Virtually all the games today, be it CounterStrike or Zelda, are fun precisely _because_ they avoid being too realistic. Abstractions like hit points and whatnot are there precisely because the way it works IRL, e.g., that you'd likely just bleed and die after the first hit, just isn't fun.
Man, do you miss the point. Of COURSE video games aren't completely realistic. If they were, they'd be less fun. As an example, when Pixar made their first run at rendering Finding Nemo, they made it ultra realistic. They found that some of the "magic" they had captured in their previous movies wasn't there. So they added bits of un-realism into the picture to make it more engaging and surreal.
But read that again. The key is that while the picture was based on realistic elements, they added unrealistic elements to make it more fun. This is also a key in many games you see on the market. While things like magic and "flying leaves" exist in the world of Zelda, constants like gravity, realistic textures and sounds, life-like motion, etc. remain. The key is fantasy grounded in realistic elements and achieving a good balance between the two.
Introduce a new controller with an entirely different paradigm of control and we have a new tool to use in achieving a real/fantasy balance.
You don't even know what games I play, fanboy. I've mentioned playing story-driven RPGs right in the post you're answering, for example. So try thinking instead of reaching out for the standard insults for a change, ok?
I did pull this from the "arguing against fps fanboys" website, so I guess you got me.
Well, _why_ is it more gratifying? Sorry, I don't do axioms. Explain.
Because it emulates the motions and behaviors of real tennis and table-tennis? (I play both, BTW, which is why I brought it up) Because it engages you physically in the game? Because using different motions and skills in different games rather than relying on the same button pressing paradigm offers more variety and each game becomes more novel and engaging? There are a lot of reasons why. I did not intend to present an axiom. I just (mistakenly) assumed you weren't too dim to get it.
Realism? Have you actually played either IRL? Because you're trying to tell me that it's realistic to swing your wrist somewhere else than the ball you're tracking with your eyes is. Nope, having played the real thing, I can tell you that it's not.
I think you enjoy being obtuse just for the fuck of it. Of course it isn't entirely realistic. But the motions used for controlling the velocity, english and direction of the ball would emulate real-life motions well. Again, the idea is to achieve a reasonable balance between reality and fantasy. And some of us actually
There is no Porting issue
Any third party that wants to port their games to Nintendo, need only map their controls on the gamecube controllers the Revolution has sockets for.
if anything, PS3 and XBox360 have porting issues
because whatever is initially made on the Revolution with the new standard will have difficulty being ported to the other consoles
and remember that since Gamecube, Nintendo has been trying to make game dev on their systems top priority, easy for the creators...how hard is it going to be to come up with something decent, fast?
there are too many people underestimating Nintendo at this point....
The whole point here being about usability, what is logical/natural does matter. Much easier to use something in a way that feels natural than having to remember a bunch of button combos, right?
After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
- The Tao of Programming
Ok, I imagine that a gyroscope is quite expensive. It will require either a high-speed wheel of some sort, bearings and detectors. It is also quite delicate, and to imagine a gyroscope that should survive a kid dropping it on a floor...? An optic gyscope perhaps, but then the price tag would be quite different...
Furthermore, a gyroscope (mechanical or optical) will only detect twists and turns. It will not detect movements along the three axes, which is something the controller can detect.
And then there is the two small devices that needs to be placed with some distance, one on each side of the TV/monitor....
But... What if these two small devices were IR diodes, and the controller contained a small camera for motion detection....?
It would then be able to calculate twists, turns and movements along the axes, by looking at the diodes, and calculate the movements! It woul certainly give the wanted precision in some of the directions (depending of the IR camera resolution, of course)
Another thing that could hint some IR detector on the controller, is the 'window' on the end that points in the direction of the TV/monitor. I do not see an IR receiver on the 'Revolution'...
Comments anyone...?
The whole point here being about usability, what is logical/natural does matter. Much easier to use something in a way that feels natural than having to remember a bunch of button combos, right?
After a (relatively) short time the button combos *become* natural gestures to perform. When my left hand rests on a keyboard, the middle finger just *knows* that W means "Go forward" and S means "Move backwards." Once trained, no thought is involved and the gesture is easy to perform; the requirements of usability are satisfied.
I'm concerned about two things (which others have pointed out):
1. Fingers provide a fine degree of control over gestures in a game, and substituting something more "natural" in place of button-controlled fingers and knobs -- requiring increased use of one's arms -- may well reduce that degree of control;
2. It may become tiring having to hold up a controller for any longish period of time. I can rest a "traditional" controller in my lap and still have complete freedom to move, precisely because I only use my fingers to control things.
I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad idea; in fact, I hope it succeeds. It's definitely innovative, and I look forward to giving it a try. But until then I remain pretty unconvinced that making the experience of controlling a game more "natural" necessarily means making it better.
The road to hell is paved with Cat 5 cable.
Also, for classic NES style gameplay, you can rotate the controller and hold it like an old NES controller using the d-pad for movement.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
I agree, and I hope that Nintendo's ready to accept the risk it's putting on itself. The controller is probably going to be very hard just to conceive for; the demos they showed to IGN and Gamespot gave us a good impression of what the controller's capable of, but it's up to the game designers to be creative enough to try and branch out, and take advantage of what this controller can really do, much like Advance Wars takes advantage of what the DS can do.
;)
I'm betting this'll ultimately hurt Nintendo, but I'm absolutely praying that this will help them. Because the X360 and PS3 feature more "conventional" controllers (or, what has become the typical setup: D-pad and analog stick on left, four buttons on the right in a diamond, etc.), developers from the current generation will only have to worry about a new development environment to learn. But, developers who want to create a game for the Revolution will have to learn not only a new development environment but the ins and outs of this newfangled controller. Plus with all the brand-new sensors...all I can say is it seems a bit daunting. Look at the dearth of quality DS games. Even Mario 64 DS seemed like an extended demo, showing what the DS was capable of. I wish there was something else that could lure game designers to the Revolution, like a cheap development license, and not just this extremely forward step in controller design. The Revolution seems like the console that could really benefit from the homebrew community.
On the note of controllers, I believe that what the next-next-(next?)-gen consoles should shoot for is true immersion, in the sense of touch: graphics are nearly there, sound is slowly working its way up, but the other three senses are pretty much ignored, mainly because it's very hard to accurately reproduce smells or tastes without resorting to scratch-n-sniff or food, respectively. Especially in racing games, when you see a car powerslide at 75 MPH, but feel nothing of g-forces. I envision a day when we no longer have controllers, but a Matrix-brain-instertion needle, for true immersion. Then even the crappiest games will be worth buying
the thing about FPS porting is that it is simple to port from keyboard and mouse to console controller and back. for the keyboard its a simple matter of button maping and for mouse, its just a pointing device, not very different from the analog controller. but, with this new design, how do you map 'swing to the upper left while holding in the center' to buttons? maybe with a a mouse, but it would be a diffucult thing to map a 3D mouse(which is what this is) to a 2d mouse.
:(
i have a feeling that what we will see with this is that some companies will make a few games for it, like youve seen with other non standard controllers like the light guns, the donky conga drums, the eye toy, and whatnot, but most games will avoid it because they want easy portability because it increases the money they can make. few games that use it cool functions wil be ported to the other consoles, and other games ported to it wont use it functions and will just have it be an odd shaped controller. but we'll see, i hope its used becsaue it does look promising, but i doubt it will be anything more than a novelty controller(like my sony eye toy).
ive seen a sword game that uses something like this, and i was seriously let down by it. it simply lacked the acuracy to make it usefull and it just didnt allow for a lot of what i wanted to do with it. ive taken fencing and kendo and many motions i tried to do with the sword just wernt recognized by the game. also i doubt this thing will be a fine, acurate, expensive piece of equipment, so i doubt it will be good for games like tekken(my favorite console game) or soul caliber. these games rely too much on precision timing and acuracy, something that i dont see this thing having. to use thins on one of those games would totaly ruin the current game, but maybe be a cute new version.
ok, i asked for it, so mod me to death
thats pretty much my best post ever. I spent like 3 hours typing it.
On the contrary, I think that there comes a point where you have to make some fundamental changes to the controller setup before certain types of gameplay can be realized in a fun and worthwhile fashion. How many people would be playing Dance Dance Revolution if it had never been paired with a "dance mat" controller?
Hell, I don't even play DDR (I'm terrible at it), but I've helped build 4 standalone arcade-style controllers for it for a friend. Its even better then on a little plastic mat. They would have "Drunken DDR" parties and such (I was just there for the "drunken" part) and piss off the neighbors. People who didn't even play video games normally would be there, having a great time.
There are only 10 kinds of people in this world... those who understand binary and those who don't
no i knew you were making a joke. i just didn't address that part of it.
;-)
so CLEARLY you missed mine
Science : Proprietary , Knowledge : Open Source
My first thought when I read about the wand controller was gestures! (I'm an Opera user =P)
Think about casting spells by drawing designs in the air, or stringing combos with gestures. That would be way cool.
And it'd bring some of the fun of competing on physical stamina too.
You might try starting on nvidia's page.
Link.
If you scroll down there's some links to supported hardware.
Hope that's of some help.
I strongly suspect this was designed by someone who habitually types one-handed.
What about those of us with girlfriends, will our grip be strong enough?
On the other hand, I can finally proceed in developing my masterpiece: "Sim Beat Your Wife"
1) Your analysis is based on bad assumptions so your result is way off. 2) You're a sick bastard for fucking a horse.
I think developers will figure it out pretty quickly. Most game developers tend to be pretty clever, and figuring out a new input device isn't a big deal. Learning how to make it shine sounds like a lot of fun; I would think developers would look forward to it more than they'd say "Man, I hope I don't have to figure out how to do gesture recognition with that." I mean, wouldn't you like to write a game using the Revolution controller as input? I certainly would.
I think the challenge will be getting publishers interested in Revolution games and what the system can do so that they'll pay developers to make the games.
Like the AC sibling said ... If you aren't Shooting, Driving, or Sportsing, what are you doing. What do you play on your Playstation that isn't sports, fps, or mmo. And while your at it -- which of those are your friends playing with you?
(I had written a very long post about what I play and why and on what platform -- but it's irrelevant. What are you playing in the 35+ demographic -- I'm not quite there -- that's not the genres above? And even more relevant to the NES/PS debate, do you have kids?)
Read Heinlein's 1953 Revolt in 2100, now more than ever.
...how do i play Street Fighter with it?
All I know is that I finally had something funny to say and you SCREWED ME! I will hunt you down and give you noogies until you cry "Bill Gates"! :D
As a matter of fact, Nintendo has a video of a guy using it in exactly that way.
It's really cool that it can work like a mouse in the air. Having played plenty of FPSs using exactly that setup, I can affirm that it works great. The only thing my air-mouse and keyboard lacked was an analog stick for my left hand to control movement, and they've provided exactly that.
Huh?
:-D
Are you talking about the "orientation sensor" or the contrller with built in display? I can't tell, because the GC/GBA hookup does not involve an orientation sensor in any way, and game controllers with built in screens hardly debuted on the GameCube (vis. Dreamcast vmu, probably the first widely availabe).
Final Fantasy: Chrystal Chronicles used the feature to great effect.
Nearly all Dreamcast games supported the vmu display in some aspect.
So I guess it was Sega who visitted Atari Idea Land. How much did a Lynx cost again, right it was something like $50 more than the GB.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Lynx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Game_Gear
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Dreamcast
(full disclosure: I loved the Dreamcast and own a few GBAs and a GC)
Sadly, none of these links include the initial shipping price. They only mention they cost 'more'. I bought by first Gameboy for $113 saved up over weeks of allowance.
Anyhow, I don't see how Atari thought the Lynx would be relevant 4 years later when the Jaguar came out (again at a price much higher than Nintendo's already shipping SNES). And even if a Lynx successor could have improved battery-life and and come out in a meaningful time frame after the Jag, could it have completed with the PS-one?
Also-rans are hardly ever considered revolutionary, so calling a Lynx-Jaguar link-up revolution is dishonest. You seem kinda bitter about it though.
Anyhow, nothing personal. Cheers.
Read Heinlein's 1953 Revolt in 2100, now more than ever.
While perhaps not of the magnitude of the D-pad, Sega was first with analog triggers (Saturn controller). They've since been copied by the xbox and the Gamecube. In some games shoulder buttons are just as good, but in other games nothing beats triggers.
I just stumbled upon this page which has a "family tree" of game controllers. Interesting to browse and somewhat nostalgic.
The Revolution controller intrigues me, but I'm undecided if it's going to be that great. I'll have to try it to see. I really hope it feels better than the Gamecube controller. Button-layout opinions aside, Nintendo's controllers have felt cheap to me ever since N64. Holding a PS or xbox controller, they feel more substantial... better made, to me. My Dreamcast controllers feel rather cheap as well.
Really? I could have sworn NiGHTS was pre-N64, on either coast. Barring looking up the dates(which I'm too lazy to do), I'll have to take your word for it. :)
Still, I loved that NiGHTS!
Back when I was in high school, my brother had a Nintendo 64 and Crusin' USA. We used to smoke pot and play one handed. One hand on the controller, driving the car, the other hand taking puffs off the pipe. I remember how great the design of that game was, because it was really easy to play. I have always had an informal rule of thumb that if something's easy enough for me to do while stoned, it is designed well. I'm definitely picking up one of these Revolutions. Now can anyone else recommend to me some video games that can be played one handed? Cue the masturbation jokes...
Hey,
Why don't you do everyone a favor and read the article? The writer explicitly states that you can rest your arm and only move the controller with your wrist with great accuracy.
If I want to shoot at the screen, I'll use a gun controller, which has a very comfortable grip and placement of controls for said purpose.
If I want to swing a sword or bat, I'll want a sword/bat-controller, which has a very comfortable grip and placement of controls for said purpose.
Incidentally, for driving games I want a steering wheel controller and some pedals because that has a good grip and control placement for those sorts of games as well.
For a general purpose controller, my personal favorite is the dual shock controller Sony came up with and has stuck with. My only fault with it is not enough feedback on the analog buttons for my taste. It's not perfect, but for a general purpose controller, it's perfectly fine.
IGN has created a mock up of what this might look like, which is basically a Wavebird with a hole cut out in the middle to put the wand into. Hopefully this will actually be similar to what Nintendo ends up releasing. And, again hopefully, they will have the s ense to at the least pack one of these "shells" in with the console if not inclu de one with each extra controller.
Assuming that a setup like this will be widely available, which something sim ilar is almost assuredly going to be available in some form, I can't see what th e problem would be.
Take Madden for instance, which is being widely cited as a game that somehow "won't work" on Revolution. You'd have most of the standard controls available on any console (though still probably not the analog stick buttons of PS2/3 and the XBoxes) but you'll also have full tilt and rotation control.
Just the first things to come to mind would be mapping the left/right juke mo ves to a tilt of the controller in the desired direction. If Nintendo's claims as to the precision of the 3D tracking are accurate we could even see the abilit y to do a quick tilt to one side and then back in the opposite direction to fake one way and then go the other. How about tilting the controller back to do the pull up juke move that was introduced this year? Or tilt it forward to do the truck move while running? Stiff arm could be controlled by a horizontal twist t oward the defender.
I don't see how a game like GTA wouldn't work just as well in this scenario a nd I'm sure there will be many opportunities to take advantage of the tilt contr ols if it ever comes to the platform.
That's not to claim that Nintendo is going to make the right decisions here, since recently they've missed some pretty obvious opportunities (like shedding t he "kiddie" image by putting out some hardcore first-party M-rated games to star t with). But it's definitely too early to write them off, especially without se eing what the final controller landscape is going to look like.
And of course, as we've seen with the DS, not all games will need or be best suited to using the unique features of the system. For these games the Wavebird -like shell will be more than adequate. So long as Nintendo makes the right cho ices regarding accessability to the multiple control setups and can keep up a st eady stream of first, second, and third party titles that take advantage of each they'll do very well in this next generation, even if they don't reclaim the to p spot. Unfortunately it's been the quantity of titles (regardless of quality) that has been their biggest stumbling block the last ten years, and that was wit h a single, standardized controller.
The Farewell Tour II
im sure there are game like this already but the new controler would be perfect for it. first person fighters, instead of platform fighter like soul caliber. you move around with the analog stick and use the wand to control your sword or other weapon. use a button to block and a button to jump and it would be pretty sweet. it would make for better control than button mashing, and every combo would be unique to an extent. the camera would be cooler as over the shoulder instead of actual first person. i herd people complain about how to control fighters with it but this would make perfect sense.
And we all know what that looks like, don't we? "You'll go blind if you keep doing that!"
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
I think ";)" was my first clue, and "jokes aside" was my second.
I agree, and I think the thing that will make or break them is the question: Is it easy for 3rd parties to develop for?
Ask any PS1 or PS2 developer: as long as there's a ton of money at stake, the publishers just don't care what an abominable nightmare job the thing is to work with.
StoneCypher is Full of BS
Intellivision invented the D-Pad and horizontal controller.
Colecovision introduced shoulder buttons.
Force Feedback is a Sega Arcade innovation (Afterburner,) though the term is actually a Microsoft marketing gimmick from their controllers which did it before the SNES existed. No Nintendo console has Force Feedback to date. (Force Feedback is very different than rumble - rumble is the shaking we think of in the Sony Dual Shock controller. Force Feedback is when a controller jerks the other direction, like Afterburner, Cool Drivin', Stunts and Outrun did.) Sony also had rumble before Nintendo did.
The analog button's first major deployment was the Sony Dual Shock 2, though its first primary deployment is in the old Logitech handheld racing controllers for the PC.
Nice try, though.
StoneCypher is Full of BS
Wikipedia is, as usual, full of crap. The analog stick predates Atari's very existence by almost five years, and can be seen as far back as the third generation MRC Spacewar hardware prototypes.
StoneCypher is Full of BS
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.
Yeah, except that the point feature is essentially a light gun, which doesn't need a sensor on a television at all. Current supposition suggests that, since the Revolution controller is known to be able to discern distance, the sensor most likely acts as a reference point for the depth axis.
StoneCypher is Full of BS
The new controller can be fitted into a Wavebird like shell, so you will be able to play more traditional style controller (eg Gamecube games) with the new controller in tis shell. So you won't have as many buttons as on other platform controllers still, but the porting process won't be as difficult as it would be without the shell.
Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
Hopefully your pets don't knock over the system and cause the sensors that are in the system to cause Mario to do some crazy breakdance moves when your system is flying across the floor relative to your controller.
They are the beginning. I've read a lot of people's comments about how Nintendo is screwing over game companies by making it impossible to port games across platforms. I think people are missing a key insight, which 1up briefly mentions in their article on the controller: "When the two controller pieces are attached, the so-called 'Nunchaku' configuration (the two bits are connected by a short cord) can work similarly to current controllers, just with the second analog stick replaced by actual movement of the Revolution controller." Think about it. In your left hand, you've got an analogue stick with two trigger buttons. In your right hand, you've got an analogue controller (more precise, and sensitive along an extra axis), 5-7 face buttons and a trigger button. How is that so impossibly different from the standard controllers of today? It certainly allows for software companies to do *more*, since the control will be much more precise if implemented properly and there's an extra axis to work with, but it won't prevent them from continuing to use today's 3D control paradigm. Think about TimeSplitters. On PS3 and XBox360, it will work exactly like it does today, but look prettier. On the Revolution, you'll be pointing your "gun" (controller) at characters on the screen, but from a software standpoint the control paradigm is the same. It's just another analogue stick. You control forwar/backward and strafing movement with your left thumbstick, and direction/firing with your right hand. This depends a lot on Nintendo implementing a good developer interface that allows for easy mapping of current analogue-stick functions onto the remote control wand. But assuming they do that (and I'm betting they do--I'm guessing that's how Metroid Prime 2 was updated for the demonstration) then TimeSplitters could easily work on all platforms will just a bit of tweaking. The only real difference would be that the Revolution version will kick ass and the others will be the same as every other console FPS we've played for the last nine years.
When someone comes up with a way for me to think my character into acting out my thoughts, then I will be impressed.
I'll concede that Nintendo has designed a lot of really good controllers that have been widely imitated. But until now, each new design has been a simple refinement of previous designs.