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Nintendo Working On Football Controller

Posted by Soulskill on from the super-madden-brothers-'11 dept.

Siliconera found patent filings from Nintendo for a football controller addon that will work with the Wii. After tucking the Wii Remote into a lateral slot on the football, you slip your hand through a strap so that your fingers touch the Remote's buttons. Then you mimic running and throwing, which is interpreted by the accelerometer. 'The pitch angle and force of the throw determines the trajectory arc of the throw. Side to side motion determines the yaw angle. Pressing buttons on the Wii remote can adjust other options.' The device is described as 'squishy,' so your TV is probably safe, but I'd try it at a friend's house first.

10 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. More money... by El+Lobo · · Score: 0, Insightful
    Well, as a geek, I would say: COOL... but as a player, I would rather like that they would concentrate into making good games (the Wii DESPERATELY need them, a lot more) than keeping putting out more and more expensive gadgets.

    But hey, that's me, that's why I now own a 360 after having sold my wii. I'm sure as hell not their target, so what do I know.

    --
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  2. As a european... by mikael_j · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As a european my first thought was "that sounds really dangerous", then I read the whole summary and realized that they were talking about what some people like to refer to as a "handegg" and not an actual football.

    /Mikael

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    Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
  3. What's the point by Swizec · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ok this is getting rather ridiculous. What's the point of having such a controller? If you're doing all that running around and stuff anyway, why not just go out and ... you know, do some actual sports?

    Why are they doing all of this and still leaving behind the single best application of the wiimote - swordfights. That's the only place where I can see a benefit from doing sports electronically since it's a lot friendlier to slash at your friends with an electronic sword rather than a real one.

    What's next? Everyone wears a Wiimote-shirt that can read smashing into other players so it can translate said readings into electronic caricatures of the game?

  4. What's funny here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is all the defensive Americans marking as Troll anything that highlights the ridiculousness of calling this particular game "Football". As a European, I had exactly the same reaction as another poster: that putting the Wiim-mote inside a football would be dangerous.

    As it transpires, it's not actually a football, but for some twisted reason, it's still called that.

    1. Re:What's funny here... by Swizec · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why's it even called American Football? Far as I can see from over the pond it's just a sissified version of rugby. (armour)

    2. Re:What's funny here... by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      All pro sports are like that. It is most disgusting in the case of the olympics, where if you want to drink a beverage not sold on the grounds (even as an athlete) you have to cover up the label, and there are sharp restrictions on media; you cannot share any photos or video clips. Your memories belong to the olympic committee! Every time someone brings up the olympics I go off on a rant like this, which may be why I have so few friends :) But then, I don't have to hear about how amazing the fucking olympics are, either. Greece should start a new-old olympic games, but it was associated with nudity and Greece is always trying to escape its association with buttfuckery.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:What's funny here... by LanMan04 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Good thing Slashdot is a European site...oh wait.

      --
      With the first link, the chain is forged.
    4. Re:What's funny here... by coolmoose25 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I have to say that as an American, I'm amused by the European bias with regard to the name "Football"... While I agree that the "world" plays soccer (American for "football"), the notion that it is the ONLY game that should be called football is ludicrous. The only reason the "world" plays "football" is because you busy Europeans seeded the "world" with colonies, so they call it the same thing you do. OTOH, Americans are not the only ones who have a different game called "football"... Canadians have a very similar version to American football, and while the differences are greater, Australian Rules Football is also another variant... I have not, as yet, read the disparaging remarks about either of those "football" sports. Perhaps the Wikipedia entry on the word football would be useful to you English speaking Europeans... And don't even get me started on the whole ZEE verses ZED controversy...

      "The word "football", when used in reference to a specific game can mean any one of those described above. Because of this, much friendly controversy has occurred over the term football, primarily because it is used in different ways in different parts of the English-speaking world. Most often, the word "football" is used to refer to the code of football that is considered dominant within a particular region. So, effectively, what the word "football" means usually depends on where one says it."

      --
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  5. As an American... by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I used to read European news sites and blogs, and wonder why they would write the word "football" when they meant "soccer." Then I reminded myself that I was reading a European news site or blog, and I would feel really, really foolish. But that was years ago, and I've become much more cosmopolitan now.

  6. WII Motion Plus by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I'm assuming this will require the Wii Motion Plus to work accurately. However, one of the biggest complaints I've seen with the Wii Motion Plus is that it makes the Wii remote too unwieldy, especially with the necessity of the "jacket" wrapped around it. It's beyond my understanding why along with the Wii remote add-on Nintendo didn't just release a new Wii remote with the Wii Motion Plus functionality built in (well, i suppose they wanted the money made from the peripheral). Not to mention, a new version of the Wii Remote will fit much more easily into a football controller.