My God. So this is the Nintendo Revolution's new controller.
I am not really sure what to expect but I am sure that there will be a market for more traditionally shaped controllers. There are four Gamecube controller ports on the top of the unit so you can use an traditional gamepad for older games.
It looks like a one handed remote control but you put two small sensors near your TV screen and it will actually detect the position of the controller in 3d space so you can swing, twist and rotate it. Imagine a first person shooter where you could use this like a hand held gun or a driving game where you could turn it like a virtual steering wheel. That is a cool idea and it will push the bounds of previous concepts of human video game interaction but it does seem really different from what we know. Nintendo is actually tracking the position, rotation and speed of movement of a controller in 3d space in order to play video games. That is a bit different than moving a joystick and pressing buttons. There also is a analog joystick that you plug into the bottom of the controller for games that require more than one joystick.
I remember in the mid 80s when the NES first came out and there were some kids that would take the gamepad and wave it in the air with out realizing it in order to make Mario jump higher. Well that is sort of how the Revolution controller actually works. I trust Nintendo to get it right and we still have a long way before the actual release of the Nintendo Revolution.
Damn I really want to try this out. It is obvious that Nintendo is not trying to remake the same game play experiences over and over again but wow is this different. Please please don't let this turn into another Power Glove
I totally agree about the Power Glove comment. I thought of that when I saw this. Call me an optimist, but I don't think this will be even remotely like the Power Glove. The Glove was gimmicky. This is more functional, I think. It's more familiar, even now. I wrote some quick impressions on my blog. I'm really excited about how new this is, and all the opportunities this will provide for new control mechanisms.
To me, the key is twofold. 1) Developers have to "get it" and know how to integrate it with their games. 2) Nintendo has to make sure that the response time between my twitches and the Revolution's response are as close to zero as possible. I think if they can do those two things, they'll sell these like crazy.
I was disgusted when I first saw this design. I still am. Your right about the motion sensor and FPS games, but one handed DVD remote to play games? I think this god awful cell phone movement has gotten in their heads. My chances of buying a Revolution dropped ten fold until I can try it first.
Holy remote control, Batman ... Nintendo has balls and I like that.
Now I only have to see/feel/touch that stuff and see some good games with that.
When I saw the photo unveiling the other day the first thought that popped in my head was "revamped power glove, with universal remote control capabilities?!".
Nintendo seems to be going with a completely different approach with their new releases. (i.e. touchscreen gimmick with the DS)
One of the promos I caught was a guy playing a fighting-esque game in which he would swing the controller around as if he were actually sword fighting. Seems interesting...
But, I can't say much about the new controller, since I've yet to test it. Which, I can say I am looking forward to testing.
Uh.. that isn't the controller.. that's the remote. Look at more pics.
No read the article I linked to. This IS the controller.
Actually, it's not one-handed... there's a more traditional analog stick for the left hand, connected nunchaku-like to the "DVD remote" in the right hand. Picture an FPS like Metroid where the left thumb controls the feet, and right hand motion controls the camera / gun.
And although it looks like some people are cringing about replacing fine-motor control of a thumb for large-motor arm-and-elbow, reviews are coming out that say the thing is sensitive enough to just be subtly tilted with the fingers and maybe wrist.
Well there is the analog stick attachment that plugs into the bottom of the controller but from what I read it can be used single handed for some games but most will require both hands.
I guess you can pretty much kiss third party support for the Revolution goodbye. I mean, most developers HATE making games for the GameCube simply because they have to totally rework the control system to fit the controller (for games that are cross platform ports especially) so just imagine how things are going to be now. It's almost as if Nintendo is once again flat out admitting and setting themselves up as being everyone's "second console" to own.
Also since the Revolution is going to play the entire Nintendo console back catalog I don't see how this controller would perform for that. For NES games you can rotate it 90 degrees counter-clockwise but what about SNES games (not enough buttons + no shoulder buttons) or N64 games?
Oh well, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I had visions of a controller with six or seven add-on configurations similar to the Sega Menacer lightgun that was for the Genesis. I guess at the very least this'll keep lightgun games alive.
Man this thing looks uncomfortable. The left stick part looks ergo, but the right hand part looks like a box.
I get fatigued with the minimal time with regular remote controls, let alone a game controller.
First no HD and now this. I guess I'll wait until I have one in my hand to pass judgement, but it ain't lookin' good.