Revolution controller revealed

[Anya 0]

and it's a TV remote.

 

http://www.1up.com/media?id=2308860&type=lg

 

I am shocked at how stupid it looks and I was expecting it to be bad.

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

They can't be serious.

[UZI Suicide 0]

This guy that works at the Gamestop near my house is always babbling about how this system is going to blow PS3 and 360 out of the water. I can't wait to show him this.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

This is HILARIOUS. Come on, it's like seeing a formerly great player getting pushed around in the minors. Fun times.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Well that is fucking stupid.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Loaded Glove's signature is the greatest thing ever.

 

Okay, back to shaking our heads at Nintendo...

[Anya 0]

Yeah, I'm almost happy it's so ridiculous because it's just so much fun making fun of Nintendo. What a fall from grace.

[AndrewTS 0]

Full article: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3143782

 

Excerpt:

The Revolution Controller Basics: What The Hell Is It?

The controller for Nintendo's upcoming Revolution home console system is a cordless remote-control-like device designed to be used with only one hand. Two small sensors placed near the TV and a chip inside the controller track its position and orientation, allowing the player to manipulate the action on screen by physically moving the controller itself. For example, you could slash an in-game sword by actually swinging the controller from side to side, turn a race car just by twisting your wrist, or aim your gun in a shooter by pointing the controller where you want to fire.

 

 

An expansion port on the bottom of the unit allows for add-on hardware to compliment this "remote controller" (our word for it, not Nintendo's), like a second controller piece Nintendo demonstrated that comes equipped with an analog stick and two trigger buttons (currently labeled Z1 and Z2, for those of you keeping track). 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. Nintendo also mentioned that the controller stick could be slipped inside other, more conventional controller shells, dance mats, bongos, or other peripherals.

 

....

 

Nintendo saved the best for last. This was the first section of the GameCube game Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, retrofitted to be compatible with the Revolution controller and its analog add-on piece (the "Nunchaku" set-up mentioned earlier). As on the Cube the analog stick controls movement, but instead of holding down a button to look around, you simply point the other controller in the direction you want to aim.

 

Okay, I'm still skeptical, but there's potential there.

[Anya 0]

It'll work for some specific gimmicky games but what about everything else? It's the same thing Nintendo has done since N64. Wow it's great for Miyamoto's latest Mario game....but what about when I want to play Street Fighter?

[Use Your Illusion 0]

This is going to completely severe any serious third party support. Imagine playing any fighting game using THAT abomination. I hope Nintendo are prepared to crash and burn with this one.

 

It's a huge disappointment, as I was quite looking forward to what Nintendo had up their sleeve. Even the though Mario 128 (or whatever it ends up being called) will be undoubtably customised to an interface such as this, nothing outside of Nintendo-specific games are going to want to even touch it.

 

Ugh.

 

UYI

[Use Your Illusion 0]

...and Anya beats me to the punch.

[Anya 0]

That is why Dual Shock is the best ever. You can play anything on it fairly well.

 

I could see having a slot for weird gimmick adaptors to attach to a regular controller but this remote? Dumb.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

AND IT COMES IN A RANGE OF COLOURS!!!

 

http://media.cube.ign.com/articles/651/651275/imgs_1.html

[Anya 0]

No pink = no sale.

[AndrewTS 0]

Yeah...man, fighters so sell a system these days...

 

It should be great for FPSers, and of course gimmicky Nintendo games.

 

At least the difference in design has an actual point to it, unlike the GC controller with its awful button layout, and fiddler-crabbish B and A buttons.

 

However, an alternate and more tradtional control for 3rd party games (perhaps a sturdier N64 pad designed to plug into the Rev's Cube ports?) is a must, IMO.

[Red Baron 0]

That is why Dual Shock is the best ever. You can play anything on it fairly well.

 

I could see having a slot for weird gimmick adaptors to attach to a regular controller but this remote? Dumb.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

The PS2 is too cramped and it feels like I can break the thing in half.

 

 

I mean it is the Nintendo Revolution, who knows, maybe it will take off.

[Golgo 13 0]

They really have lost their minds.

 

In all seriousness, I can see this being similar to a keyboard and mouse on the PC, but I don't consider that to be what the average console player wants.

 

Thankfully the Revolution will come with alternate ports, with any luck you can use regular controllers with their first party games.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Yeah...man, fighters so sell a system these days...

 

It should be great for FPSers, and of course gimmicky Nintendo games. 

 

At least the difference in design has an actual point to it, unlike the GC controller with its awful button layout, and fiddler-crabbish B and A buttons.

 

However, an alternate and more tradtional control for 3rd party games (perhaps a sturdier N64 pad designed to plug into the Rev's Cube ports?) is a must, IMO.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I understand why you said that.

 

I bought my PSX to play all those SF games because the N64 didn't have them.

 

I have a tendency to lose TV remotes. I am being honest here.

I don't think this a good idea because I don't think someone who is new to gaming will find a remote appealing. I'm just saying, anything is possible.

 

I'll buy an Xbox 360 at launch if my friend does. He'll probably tell me how great the controller is.

[Ced 0]

And that sound you hear is Nintendo's investors slapping their foreheads in unison.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

[The Metal Maniac 0]

Looking at these pics, it seems that it's designed to be held in one hand, like a remote.

 

So how do you use the buttons at the bottom of the thing?

[Golgo 13 0]

How long before we hear about a major shake up at Nintendo?

[LJSexay 0]

alright. So my first reaction was

 

''whoa, it looks like a mac mini on its side, with a remote''

 

once I found out that was the CONTROLLER, I had two simultaneous thoughts.

 

One was, what if the total insanity of this pulls off, and it's amazing? I mean, Nintendo has always taken the first step in control design, to be copied by everyone else.

 

The second one was... no, no no, this is too crazy to work. So now I'm conflicted.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

I don't think the average gamer wants to have to stand up and flay his/her arms wildly to 'swing a sword' in-game. People don't play games to enhance their cardio.

 

I'd love to, in five or so years, look back and eat my words, but I just cannot see it happening.

[KanadianKrusty 0]

They're out of their fucking minds, I like that.

[Golgo 13 0]

http://cube.ign.com/articles/651/651275p1.html

 

September 15, 2005 - It was a rare opportunity. Yesterday, just outside of Tokyo, Japan, Nintendo invited us to experience the Nintendo Revolution controller for ourselves. Joined only by Shigeru Miyamoto and a few executives, we attended a sort of schooling on the controller, the centerpiece of the Big N's next-generation platform. It has long been speculated on, but now it's actually something tangible that we can understand -- or, try to understand anyway.

 

For months, years even, we've been hearing Nintendo reiterate that it does not want to be part of the same battle that Sony and Microsoft are deeply entrenched in. However, with a system like GameCube, the comparisons are inevitable. With Revolution and its one-of-a-kind approach to the controller, drawing these parallels just became a lot more difficult. This was an important message from Nintendo in our meeting. It wants to explore uncharted waters, be a blue ocean company, and not find itself sailing the bloody waters where the competition resides.

 

Revolution guarantees this. The main source of input is nothing short of unexpected and untraditional. It is essentially a wireless, square remote that works something like a computer mouse would in 3D space. Imagine sticking your hand into a virtual box and having your TV understand how it's moving in there. Now you're getting the idea.

 

Main Controller Features

 

    * 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 as a standard in all the controllers.

 

To show off its features, Nintendo designed a series of crude gameplay demos. Since it did such a good job of helping us understand how the controller works, we'll describe them in detail in the following paragraphs. None of them ran on the Revolution graphics hardware. They were strictly to demonstrate certain features.

 

Demo #1: Point and Shoot

Like a laser pointer, the main controller was used to move a simple cursor on the TV screen and shoot square blocks for points. It was simple, merely colored lines in 2D, but effective. It was easy to get a feel for just how sensitive the device is -- it responded to all the movements quickly and smoothly. We did feel the need to use two hands, however, to steady it and improve accuracy, but that only lends to the idea of just how sensitive it is.

 

Demo #2: Fishing

Much more advanced than just a simple cursor, this revealed how the controller can navigate a 3D space, moving an object on the TV screen not only left, right, up, and down, but also forward and backwards with depth. Users simply use the hand cursor on the screen to pick up a fishing pole and dip its line into a pond full of fish. Like nearly all of the demos, this was very crude, so don't go imaging even fishing on the Ocarina of Time level -- this was like a coloring book with flat fish in the water. The visual medium wasn't the point, though. It was pretty intuitive to just reach forward with our virtual hand, pick up the rod, and then dip the hook into the pond and dangle it there. When a fish finally bit, the remote rumbled, which was the cue to tug back on the controller to catch it. As it was only a prototype controller, it was wired because rumble was not in the wireless versions yet.

 

Demo #3: Shock Stick

Like the first, this was to show how you can point and move something. It was a bit like the board game Operation, only instead of navigating tweezers you navigated a rotating stick through a two-dimensional cave. The skill was to keep a steady hand, collect coins, and don't hit the walls. Small springboards on the side would change the direction of the spin of the stick, which aided in creating a strategy for navigating around things.

 

Demo #4: Air Hockey

This blended basic pointing with something new: twisting. As you might imagine, players hit a puck back and forth by maneuvering their "hockey sticks" with the controller. The catch was that by twisting your wrist, left or right, you could angle the stick to send the puck in another direction. Twisting, in addition to hitting was actually pretty difficult in this demo. It worked to a point, but it also lacked the intuitiveness that a real table would have. It seemed mainly aimed at familiarizing us with the notion of twisting the remote to turn things.

 

Demo #5: Basketball

Again, this focused on laser pointer style controls. The game was to simply move a basketball around on the court, not by bouncing it, but instead dragging it by pressing the B-trigger in back of the remote to create an indent. The ball rolled into the crevice, and you could drag it towards the hoops. Then, with the A-button, you could reverse the indent, creating a hill and pop the ball upwards toward the hoop. It was a simple two-player game, but worked to show off the sensitivity of the cursor and how it was interacting with another player in the same space. Surprisingly, it was easy to keep track of where you were on the court, allowing for blocks and steals.

 

Demo #6: Toy Plane

Set in the watery hub of Mario Sunshine, this demonstrated that not all controls are created equal. The remote could be held like a toy airplane, fingertips support its base, which allowed the player to tilt it forwards to dip down, back to gain elevation, and twisted left or right turn. The objective was just to steer the plane through rings in the sky. Of course the first thing that came to mind was Pilotwings, so it's easy to see how these simple applications of the controller could be grown into something more complex. It was pretty intuitive to pull off dips and quick turns. Miyamoto joked that you could have a controller peripheral shaped like a toy plane to really make it interesting.

 

Demo #7: Where's Pikachu?

One of the crudest demos, the screen displayed a flat map with many Pokemon characters crowded together on it. It was a spoof on Where's Waldo, the famous find-the-needle-in-the-haystack illustrated book. The controller lent the ability to look left and right by just pointing the cursor across the map, but also zooming in by moving towards the screen (or zooming back out by moving away). One can imagine how a sniper rifle in a first-person shooter might take advantage of those kinds of controls.

 

Demo 8: First Person Shooting

So, we lied -- not all of the demonstrations were completely crude graphics. For the final demo, the one that most represented how a game might feel with the Revolution controller, Nintendo displayed what was apparently a test by the team at Retro Studios for what they could do with Metroid Prime 3. They stressed it was just a test, quickly thrown together in just a few weeks. For this, the analog control stick peripheral was used. We held it in our left hand to control the forwards, backwards, and side-strafing motions, as well as having access to triggers in back for scanning; meanwhile, the right hand used the main Revolution remote control to behave just like a mouse on a personal computer. It was a very natural application and felt pretty smooth, but since it wasn't a polished game it did feel a bit awkward at times, making us wonder what kind of things a developer could do to calibrate these kinds of controls for users. Nonetheless, the potential is huge for the FPS genre.

 

A Bold Move

This concluded the demonstrations. At which point a mix of excitement and confusion set in. This is a bold step for Nintendo. It will seemingly exclude the Revolution from a lot of third-party release. They'll all have to be tweaked if they hope to work well at all. So, this creates a rather large uphill battle for supporting the system with a consistent flow of content. However, the exciting part is that most games that are actually made for Revolution will be very unique and that's what Nintendo is aiming for. Unfortunately, as the DS has proven, unique doesn't always equal better gameplay. Nintendo will have a lot to prove when it finally chooses to reveal real, polished software that's supposed to represent how Revolution will play. That is going to be the crux of Revolution entirely, because without a consistently fluid experience, this could also easily be a flash in the pan or something altogether frustrating. We have to wonder how it might be holding your arm in the air for an hour or more, and if that will cause any frustration.

 

On the flipside, though, the demos set our minds abuzz. It's easy to imagine why Nintendo is so heavily invested in the idea. There is such great potential to do so many unique things. Playing a real-time strategy game like Starcraft would be extremely fluid and intuitive. Mario Party, we're sure you can guess, will finally be a completely new experience. What of Zelda or Mario? No word yet, but imagine swinging your sword in Zelda instead of pressing buttons. Or, in Mario, imagine having to grab blocks and build platforms. Also, since the controller flips on its side to work very much like a NES pad, it would be interesting to mix up gameplay and throw in an old-school challenge.

 

This doesn't even explore the possibility of accessories. Nintendo wasn't making any announcement, but as an example Miyamoto commented you could hook it up to bongo drums or something else. Everyone agreed a Samba de Amigo would be perfect as well, to which Miyamoto-san confirmed, "Mr. Naka [at Sega] really likes this controller." What if you could use two controllers at once for Fight Night or a new Punch Out? How about if Namco release a gun peripheral for a new Time Crisis, where you moved with the left analog and lifted, aimed, and reloaded your gun as if it was real? The list could go on and on, but we're sure you're already starting to gather your own ideas.

 

Finally, you'll want to take some time to examine the main remote. We got to handle this prototype, which Nintendo says is pretty close to the final design. It feels very comfortable and, as you can see, looks sleek too. Nintendo was unwilling to comment on what the "Home" button does, but it's likely a place to manage classic games you've downloaded, online games, and hopefully much more. Also, if you're wondering, there's no set limit on the distance one can use the remote yet, but Nintendo has tested it on up to 80"-100" screens and says it works fantastically. It can be used on tubes, LCDs, plasma, projection or any kind of screen because the sensor is connected like a flat antenna under the display. They are still working on the details of what kinds of options users will have for placement. So, there's also no reason HDTV wouldn't work with this technology -- here's hoping Nintendo decides to support it in the final system.

 

It's all about real games, though. Nintendo itself has always said that it's the software that's most important. We'll take the optimistic side and assume that Nintendo has really nailed the technology. If it has, playing Revolution should be unlike anything else out there. Mario will never be the same. But it's going to be up to these real games -- like Super Smash Bros. -- to prove why this is a revolutionary step and not just a way of being different. At the very least, starting right now, the development community is going to have a lot to think about. Whatever games are on Revolution, they are basically guaranteed to provide a totally different experience. And for that, we're beaming with anticipation.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I can't even sum this up in words. The one two punch of TNA's monumental stupidity, and Nintendo's insanity is like...too much for me.

 

I've always defended the N64 and the GC. I loved them...but this. This is too much for me. Someone, all of them, have lost their fucking minds, and I'm done going along for the ride. Time to finally bite the fucking bullet and buy a PS2, and hock off this GC.

[Guest Brian]

It depends how the gyroscope works out. For shooters and swordfights (I'm thinking Zelda) it could be the wildest, coolest thing ever.

[Eclipse 0]

I am really confused as to what to say...

 

I have been Nintendo only for years, and this is pushing the innovative limit, BUT....it seems gimmicky. I really hope that most games controls can adapt to this. Nintendo has basically alienated themselves from 3rd party support...

[edotherocket 0]

I am really confused as to what to say...

 

I have been Nintendo only for years, and this is pushing the innovative limit, BUT....it seems gimmicky. I really hope that most games controls can adapt to this. Nintendo has basically alienated themselves from 3rd party support...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

"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."

 

- IGN.com

 

Reactions have been interesting on the different boards I post at. Most American and Australian gamers seem to HATE IT. European gamers seem to be mostly positive about it.

 

It'll be interesting if we have a generation of gaming where there is a different leader in each market. Japanese gamers seem to be hugely indifferent to Xbox 360 if the recent surveys are to be believed and I can't see the Revolution being popular in the States at all.