Katamari Creator Critical of Revolution

Gamasutra has an article on Keita Takahashi's reaction to the Revolution controller. From the article: "Takahashi commented of the Revolution, which has drawn widespread praise for its underlying concepts from other Eastern and Western designers: 'I'm not really interested in it. I don't think a controller should have that much influence on the enjoyment of games.' He continued: 'I see what [Nintendo is] trying to do, but they're putting such emphasis on the controller; 'Woah, this controller lets you do this!' and I'm thinking - are you messing with us?'"

Comments

Does "it" mean the controller or the platform?

[antifoidulus]

The revolution will be able to support current gamecube controllers as well, so I'm wondering if he is dismissing the entire revolution platform, or just the controller? I think we will still see lots of interesting things come out of the revolution that don't particularly use its controller or use a gamecube one instead.

Hmm... good opinion

[Psykechan]

Remember that he also said that he wasn't going to do a sequel to Katamari Damashi and he eventually made two. He is free to change his opinion later if he wants. Who knows, the next game he makes could actually be a killer app for the Revolution. Nothing is set in stone at this point.

On another note, I am enthused about the Revolution's controller but even I still have a nagging feeling that this step won't stop cookie-cutter games that all play alike, it will just create new styles of cookie-cutter games. I have a DS and play it quite frequently but developers will eventually reach the limit of what a touch screen can do as far as game mechanics goes. Not to mention games like Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow which would've been better without touch screen support and I can see some Revolution games that would be better off with a "standard" controller.

Re:Not deep enough?

[spyrochaete]

Games will be made on the PS3, 360, and Revolution that are enjoyable. But games will only be made for the Revolution that are immersable, which just compounds the enjoyment.

Unless the game itself features a character reaching its arm out, I don't think the Rev controller will really be that much more immersive than a gamepad. If the controller moves a spaceship or Mario's body or even a mouse cursor, players will still have that extra degree of separation as they translate their physical moves to the onscreen action.

You're absolutely correct in a certain context, but by your argument the inverse works in favour of dual analog for flight sims, for example.

Also, the old VR\Virtual Boy\Powerglove argument comes into play here - you lose all immersiveness when you accidentally whack a lamp in your living room!

Re:I doubt it will ever materialize anyway

[porcupine8]

What happens if this thing comes out and it has massive lag, or a problem with the box "losing" the controller, or any number of other technical glitches (Power Glove anyone?).

Wow, what kind of morons do you think are running Nintendo? This company has been around for over a century, and is the only company currently managing to make an actual profit on video game consoles. You actually believe that they would risk the entire existence of their company by putting out a new console (in a very competitive marketplace) with a main controller that faulty? I mean, if they would, they don't deserve to keep existing anyhow, because that would be such a colossally stupid move. They're not Sony or Microsoft, they don't have a bazillion other products that can keep them afloat if their console bombs. They've got consoles and handhelds, and that's their business.

Yes, it could still be a flop just because of the whims of consumers. But I seriously, seriously doubt it will be because of actual flaws in the technical aspects. They'd push back the date or cancel the controller entirely rather than risk that. The fact that they've gotten this far strongly suggests that it won't be a problem.

Re:What Evokes These Comments?

[EggyToast]

Perhaps, except that his use of dual analog controls is really what makes the game fun. The limited movement on the PSP proves that in a large part, the controller's abilities made the game what it was.

The thing that I don't understand about criticisms of the controller is that they seem to ignore the fact that "attachments" seem to be the order of the day. I'll balk at the Big N as much as the next guy if each attachment runs $20 and you need 4 or 5 in order to play the best games, but ignoring that, there's no reason he couldn't create a very creative game, and then create an attachment that really works for the game -- instead of having to graft it on to a standard controller.

Do you remember

[GWBasic]

Do you remember when you played video games as a kid? When you'd twist the controller to the right and left? The revolution will actually respond to these movements.