Miyamoto Hints At Second Revolution Secret

Gamespot reports that despite new information on the Revolution, there is still much we don't know about the console. Shigeru Miyamoto hinted at the DIEC that there was yet more to reveal about the Revolution controller. From the article: "At the Digital Interactive Entertainment Conference held in Kyoto, Japan, Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo's chief game designer and creator of the Mario and Legend of Zelda franchises, gave the keynote speech. He talked about the history of controllers for Nintendo's various consoles, from the pre-NES systems to current consoles like the GameCube. He ended his lecture with words toward the future, specifically the Revolution, stating that there's more to its controller than what's already known. 'The [Revolution's] controller still has another secret,' stated Miyamoto. 'But it's something that we'll reveal next year.'"

Comments

Another Attachment?

[LuckyPossum]

Like the analog stick nunchuck thing or maybe something built into the controller. I'd bet on an attachment, because the controller looks to small and simple to hide much.

Re:Another Attachment?

[Pxtl]

Think bigger. VR Glasses? Plug 'em into the controller, give them the same position tracking as the controller has. Instant Augmented Reality gaming. Of course, you'd still have to be in front (or near) to the TV (or wherever you've got the pad locators) and it depends on having the locators be micro-acurate.

I'm betting the more likely case is the aforementioned storage. Considering that you could easily store NES games on a memory card, imagine holding a library of NES games in the Rev pad - the "turn sideways" functionality and the small size of NES games comes together really, really well there.

Perhaps even a "NES box" accessory that is a substitute for the Rev? Just a receiver for the gamepad and a NES emulator chip, plugged into the TV?

Or the damn thing vibrates. Yay.

A list of suspects

[Anonymous Coward]

• Shell for converting the remote-styled controller into a traditional controller
• Multiple game-specific shells into which the controller can be inserted (gun, steering wheel, chainsaw)
• Controller can carry games, like those 5-in-1 game kits that plug directly into the TV
• Controller can be linked to the DS
• Controller has some other sensor (microphone or something unlikely like a "squeeze" sensor or biometric sensor)
• Force feedback through a spinning disc (not likely - big battery drain)
• Heat/cooling feedback (not likely - big battery drain)
• Vibration pack (not sure if this has already been confirmed)

My money's on the microphone.

Re:A list of suspects

[MindStalker]

Controller can carry games, like those 5-in-1 game kits that plug directly into the TV.

This is the one I'm betting on, with all personal info included as well.
Remember you can download old games into the revolution. What if you can put them and your saved game status and other stuff with you. So you just take your controller with you to your friends house and you can share the game (obviously with some DRM on the non-free games so that game won't stay at your friends house). People will take these controller around with them instead of just leaving them at home, the controller itself will be a status symbol.

Re:A list of suspects

[Turken]

Controller can carry games, like those 5-in-1 game kits that plug directly into the TV

Actually, I think you're really on to something here. Not so much that it is a X-in-one game kit, but that the controller also comes with memory built in standard. Your controller is your memory card. It keeps track of all your controller preferences such as any motion calibrations, etc so that it will always be easy to play on any Revolution console with any game and doesn't need a new motion input each time.

Or, downloaded games can be saved to your controller. Carry the controller to a friends house, and they are available to play as soon as your friend's console finds your controller. Or treat memory the way that they did with the N64. One game that comes to mind was Tetris (forget which version) where they encouraged each player to have a memory pack in their controller so that they could "take home" the lines that they won when playing on someone else's console.

Really, including a memory function so that your controller becomes your controller wouldn't be too surprising.

Re:A list of suspects

[Turken]

People will take these controller around with them instead of just leaving them at home, the controller itself will be a status symbol.

I definitely wouldn't be surprised if this is both the feature and response to it that Nintendo is aiming for. What better way to market to the non-gmaing crowd than to make part of the console "cool" to carry around with you. Non gamers would see you carrying your controller around, become interested, and would not be scared away by its simple interface. Just like that Nintendo has made another sale.

Speaking of carrying your gaming gear around with you... it makes me wonder what the demo kiosks will be like. Will they encourage people to take their controllers to walmart to get new demos and downloads? Will the kiosks be running crippled software so that you can't pull out your own controller, jump in the game, and beat down some unsuspecting kid (and/or his mom)?

At any rate, I'm glad to know that there are more "secrets" to the revolution that haven't been revealed, because if we do have to wait almost another year for its release, the anticipation of the unknown will make that wait a little more bearable.

Re:gabbo Gabbo GABBO!

[manJerk]

boy all this cloak and dagger stuff comming from nintendo has got my interest peaked. It just maybe a marketing ploy to generate a buzz, and for some reason its working on me. [must buy nintendo, must drink blood of non-believers]

Personnally I am a PC gamer, and I have had time to play the 360 and such, and they are not too impressive. they have gfx that ive seen on PC for years(and at higher res), and FPS games should not be played with a stick, it just doesnt make any sence. Not to mention RTS!

revolution seems to be getting the idea as to what a console if for, why mimic a PC when you can have a PC(and without the hot Power Supply issues). The revolution looks like it will "define" a console. (nintnedo has done it yet again)

The console wars have changed

[pattokun]

When the DS was announced people thought Nintendo were insane. Two screens? What a stupid gimmick! I read an particularly scathing piece in Edge by Mr Biffo, who seemed to think the console would be a failure or Rise of the Robots proportions.

A lot of the argument was based on the fact that the DS had graphical muscle roughly equivalent to the N64, while the PSP was more like a PS1.75 or something. All this kerfuffle took place before the touch screen was revealed.

(On a side note, people who claim the DS is gimmicky with its touch and dual screens seem to be missing an obvious point: Nintendo must have originally decided to use touch-sensitive control on its new handheld. At some point in the development process it would have become clear that the hand being used to hold the stylus will cover up some part of the screen. A second, non-touch screen is the obvious solution.)

Look where we are now: killer titles released regularly on DS, with the system outselling PSP worldwide. Despite its relative lack of power and absolute lack of built-in media convergence features, the DS has, for now, won the next-gen handheld war.

And now we find ourselves in this situation: XBox 360 and PS3 have or will have graphical power far and above that of current generation consoles, the 360 can manage all your media, etc. And the Revolution will be "only" several times more powerful than the GameCube. Sound familiar? But, bearing in mind Nintendo's announcement that they will not be making public the exact specifications of the Revolution, remember what Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said:

"Tech specs don't matter. The time when horsepower alone made an important difference is over, and from this time forward we must create unprecedented experiences."

You know, I think he may just be on to something.

It's a pulse monitor...

[Nenorin]

I'll betcha it's some sort of biofeedback, so that games can monitor a player's levels of agitation and excitement. Imagine: you have a nice little 'Survival Horror' game where your own heartbeat thumps out of the speakers; if you get too excited, the hellhounds will be able to hear you. Or, you know, something like that.

OR...

Maybe it will recognise a given player by their pre-recorded bio-profile - skin conductivity, etc - and tailor the gaming experience for them.

How hard would it be to incorporate something along those likes? Not a vast technological hurdle, anyway. Folks are thinking feedback, feedback, feedback - but I'll bet my eye-teeth (they're fantastic for seeing what you're eating while otherwise blind!) that the big gimmick will be an additional dimension of control.

Handheld market is totally different

[SmallFurryCreature]

The PSP is a very different product from the DS. About the only thing they share is their insane size. For its tiny screen the DS sure is a big clunk compared to the gba.

However the PSP also can display movies(if you don't mind that the lcd is not exactly super responsive), and do such things as play music.

But more important the games are totally different. Lots of action racers for the PSP with exactly 1 puzzle game (in dutch stores) while the DS has mostly "cute" games with relative slow pace. Personally the moment Animal Crossing hits the stores here I will be a gadget whore with a PSP, video iPod and DS.

Don't discount nintendo, right ehm but don't discount sony either. Nintendo did on the console market and paid for it big time when sony came from nowhere with the PS1 and stole Nintendo's thunder and then repeated it with the PS2. So far it is 2 - 0 and an undecided (PSP vs DS) in the Sony vs Nintendo competion with the outsider MS lurking in the shadows.

As for the revolution. Well I am perhaps a bit too old but I realize that I am still using the same old interfaces for my gaming that I used 10+ yrs ago. Still find it sad that one of the best games I played, System Shock, had a whole bit in the readme.txt about virtual reality helmets being supported. Not that I ever actually ever seen one in real live.

I seen control gloves, I seen special keyboards, voice control all being touted as being the next big thing and it has come to naught. There was even a special joystick that could be wielded like a sword.

From Doom to Doom3 I still use the same exact key layout. Mouse+wasd+1-10 keys still hasn't been beat.

Consoles is about games. More importantly it is about getting those "must have" titles that sell your console. Once your console is bought selling b-class titles is easier but getting people to cough up the initial console cost + game title that is the big challenge. Why do you think consoles are so often bundled?

The 360 verdict so far is that sure it has the prettiest pictures of the consoles although compared to a PC (yeah a top of the line pc costing x times more but don't forget, the 360 will have to compete for a number of years unable to improve while pc's will be undergoing some mayor upgrades in the form of dual cores and 64 bit computing) but that the games are a severe case of meh.

Personally my money is on the PS3, why? Because Nintendo tried the casual gamer with the gamecube and bombed. Yeah it was cheap, yeah it was a lot more "friendly" looking, yeah it had the "inovative" capabitly to hook up your gba for extra gameplay and yeah it didn't sell. So why are they again going for the same strategy And why do you think this time it will work?

Re:Wouldn't it be a hoot...

[GuyWithAccount]

According to a recent IGN article where they talked to developers about the hardware specs, it looks like the price might actually be a lot less than $200:

"Every developer was in agreement that Revolution should launch with a price tag of $149 or lower. Some speculated that based on the tech, a $99 price point would not be out of the question."

This might be a little optimistic, but I don't think there's any way it will sell for more than $200. It looks like Nintendo has decided to put very little focus on the graphics in order to have an insanely low price comprared to Xbox 360 and PS3. I was at first disappointed when I heard that the Revolution wouldn't be much more powerful than this generation's consoles, but with such a low price, I could certainly see it becoming a huge success.