Nintendo's Revolution Controller REVEALED!!!!(UPDATED)

[Scott84]

Hey Guys,

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

Im confuzed and excited at the same time!

UPDATE: here is a shot of the WHOLE controller!

[somunny]

 

If this is the real deal, Nintendo has proven that they can both blow and suck simultaneously (and in a multitude of colors).

[SirPoonga]

that's different...

It has cool ideas but I see alot of suckage.  Like button naming.

Looking at it again.  Nintendo has become the Apple of the console world.  They come out with cool hardware that is ahead of its time.

[pointdablame]

if that is the REAL controller, I guarantee I won't be getting the Revolution.

It looks like I should be changing a channel with that thing.... not tackling a next-gen game.  Terrible design.

[orntar]

did you guys read the article? sounds pretty revolutionary to me, and that controller in each hand thing is something i've wanted for years.

it doesnt matter what it looks like.

[pointdablame]

I just can't see it being comfortable.  The technology in it is great, the built in wireless/tilt and movement sensors, etc.....


but it's still a remote control pretending to be a game controller.  I certainly don't like the idea of holding that thing for hours at a time.

[JB]

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

According to people that have ACTUALLY USED IT, it works quite nicely.

See also: the complete standard controller.


And personally, I'mn glad to see someone doing something that ISN'T another alteration of a 20-year-old design that was intended to be compact more than it was functional.

[N-Ken]

WHAT.  THE. HELL!!??

[Scott84]

Download the video at IGN...

then you will see how this thing really is gonna work!

[shmokes]

It sounds fantastic to me.  Absolutely amazing.  Imagine how the D-pad (another nintendo innovation) sounded the first time it was described to someone who was used to holding a full-sized joystick in their hands.  Imagine how strange a three-pronged console controller introducing analog control to console games for the first time must have sounded.....hey....that was Nintendo too.  Next someone is going to tell me that they invented rumbling gamepads. 


Seriously, I think this sounds amazing.  I've said for years (even in a recent debate on this board) that the control schemes used in videogames were still primative.  This seems like an enormous leap in the right direction.  I sure hope it's successful.  At the very least, you gotta give 'em props for balls.  Simply amazing to see a company the size of Nintendo taking a risk like that.

As to it looking like a remote....gimme a break.  Look at the N64 controller.  It was a monstrosity.  Great controller, though.  The IGN people said that it was extremely comfortable to hold, which seems a lot more important.  I'm a little concerned about arm fatique.  I remember when I was a kid playing with the power glove that I got for christmas (and then started crying and asked my parents if we could take it back to the store and trade it for something else when I realized how much my only christmas present sucked ).  You couldn't play that thing very long at all before your arm felt like it was going to fall off.  So, I guess it's not all daisies when it comes to Nintendo's controller designs.

Anyway, I'm excited and afraid.  I'm excited at all the possibilities of new types of gameplay, as well as having a console controller that actually works for 1st person games (which make up a huge percentage of all available games).  I'm afraid of support.  3rd party contributions to Gamecube were bad enough.  Nintendo better have some truly revolutionary games ready for launch  --  I'm talking Super Mario 64 revolutionary, if they want to sell enough systems to attract a reasonable amount of 3rd party support. 

I hope they do.

[SirPoonga]

I see two major flaws with it.  That's why I said Nintendo is like Apple, great hardware but ahead of it's time.  The tilt sensing is goo, the idea is cool.  But the implemenation looks limiting.

Nintendo has always come out with weird controllers and devices so this doesn't suprise me.  See the NES and SNES for proof of that.

The two major flaws I see
A, B, a, b.  People are going to get confused when you tell them to push the "aye" button when you talk to them.
The second problem is location of buttons.  From what I can see you have access to only 4 buttons at any one time.

If you don't have the analog stick attched with two hands you can access A, B, a, b.  With the analog stick I am assuming the two button on that are a and b but then you have "extra" buttons in the form of a dpad.  All sport games are now shot for controlling, all FPS games are shot for controlling.  The only thing that will be worth while is nintendo games.  Mario, Metrio, Wave race, mario party, super smash bros, will all be fine.  How is the next zelda going to be controlled with that?

I think the idea is cool, but implementation is going to suck except for Nintendo brand games.

I'm thinking Nintendo no longer wants to compete with the same target as xbox and sony.  With the cube and this they clearly are going after the kids.  Simple controllers and limited features.

I do see one really cool feature, a power button on the controller

Anyway, I'm excited and afraid.  I'm excited at all the possibilities of new types of gameplay, as well as having a console controller that actually works for 1st person games[/uote]
how is that?
Have you ever used a Microsoft Sidewinder Dual Strike or one of those positional mice?  The whole twisting the joystick is uncomfortable to alot of people.

[shmokes]

I just read the 1up article and two things struck me, one good, one bad.  The good thing was this comment about 1st person shooters:

As odd as it may look holding the two separate controller pieces, one in each hand, looking around felt incredibly natural, even more than my preferred PC-style keyboard-and-mouse setup. I have to wonder about precision and speed in multiplayer games, but for a more deliberate single-player game like Metroid Prime - and the series is already confirmed for an appearance on the Revolution - this setup already has huge potential.


Both reviews sounded extremely pleased and optimistic about this style of game with the new controller.  The thing that has me a bit concerned, though, is the what he said about the sensor:

Another interesting tidbit-if your controller fell outside the detection "box," the demo had an arrow pointing off the edge of the screen in that direction so you could get it back in the correct space.

 Instead of using gyroscopes or something, there is a small antenna-like sensor that lays at the bottom of the TV.  If you move the controller out of the correct space it will lose contact and quit sensing.  What if you've got a bunch of people over playing mario party?  Does each controller use its own sensor?  If not, does everybody have to sit, smashed together bumping elbows so nobody's controller moves out of range horizontally?  Presumably if this guy was playing a single player game and he had arrows warning him that he was straying too far, this would be a huge problem for multiplayer.  I'm sure that Nintendo will work it out to make it reasonable, but it seems like a possible disadvantage.

[shmokes]

I think it's a plus for sports games, but it would require a completely different control scheme.  This is just off the top of my head, but imagine a helmet cam quarterback who can run in any direction with the analog stick in your left hand while looking wherever he wants with the motion sensor remote part.  You choose who to throw to by looking at at him.  This seems like a much more accurate, and fun, way of finding your open man on the field.

Imagine playing a zelda game in which the trigger lock would make the remote act like Link's sword.  You could block by moving the controller into place.  You could pull off various moves by actually swinging (probably more like flicking so your arm doesn't get tired) the sword in various ways.

These are just ideas that popped into my head within seconds of reading your post.  Imagine the possibilities for those people who are actually getting paid to sit around for weeks and months thinking up ways this can be used.  I think it has plenty of revolutionary potential.  I just hope that there are enough 3rd party developers willing to take the initial risk to create a domino effect of consumer and developer support or, like the Dreamcast, it will die an untimely death.

[JB]

I'm a little concerned about arm fatique.  I remember when I was a kid playing with the power glove that I got for christmas (and then started crying and asked my parents if we could take it back to the store and trade it for something else when I realized how much my only christmas present sucked ).  You couldn't play that thing very long at all before your arm felt like it was going to fall off.  So, I guess it's not all daisies when it comes to Nintendo's controller designs.

A few things:
1. Power Glove wasn't Nintendo's. Was Mattel's.
2. Nothing on the NES was really designed around a VR glove, which IS ill-suited towards emulating a d-pad+2 buttons.
3. We're some 20 years down the line tech-wise. I'm pretty sure this works just a tad better. It sounded like you could actually just make small wrist gestures instead of requiring large motions hanging in mid-air.

Anyway, I'm excited and afraid.  I'm excited at all the possibilities of new types of gameplay, as well as having a console controller that actually works for 1st person games (which make up a huge percentage of all available games).  I'm afraid of support.  3rd party contributions to Gamecube were bad enough.  Nintendo better have some truly revolutionary games ready for launch  --  I'm talking Super Mario 64 revolutionary, if they want to sell enough systems to attract a reasonable amount of 3rd party support. 

I hope they do.

Same thought here.

The way they've been pushing the "download NES games" angle so hard, combined with the final controller having an NES pad built-in, I think they're relying on that to push the system.
Of course, with the competition running 400, and I think Nintendo's stated target was 100, that's gonna move a lot of systems too.

[knuttz]

I see some possibilities.  Turn that SOB sideways and fire up a NES emulator.

[JB]

I see some possibilities.  Turn that SOB sideways and fire up a NES emulator.

Like I said, the NES downloads has been their primary marketing angle for some time here, and I don't see it lightening up any time soon.

But let's not forget, we can do SNES games too!

[MajorLag]

At first I was all like "What? A remote? Is it April? Has my current schedual so warped my time sense that I totally didn't notice the passing of half a year?". But then I read the review, and watched the video, and I think this thing has some serious potential. Of course, it'll be a hard sell in the markets where Nintendo has a reputation as a kidde game company (because they have the audacity to produce games that aren't filled with gore and sex) because few will have faith in them. I doubt they will lose many gamers, since most of the people who baught a gamecube have enough faith to trust Miamoto (he's never led us astray before when it came to controller design), and with any luck they'll gain a few in otherwise ignored markets (adult females, people who've never played a game before and are thus overwhelmed by masses of buttons), and the console will be significantly less expensive then the competetion. Not that Nintendo needs a larger market share to stay profitable, hell, as it is they are the only console manufacturer making money in the industry.

Anyway, one thing is certain: It can't possible be as poorly designed as a Dual Analog PS controller (WHY DO YOU PUT THE LEFT ANALOG STICK SO FAR DOWN! And for christ's sake, using both at once with the shoulder buttons is rediculously uncomfortable.)

[shmokes]

Don't be so sure about Nintendo brand loyalty.  I know A LOT  of people with Gamecubes that NEVER get played.  A lot of people felt ripped off by the Gamecube.

Also, I'm pretty sure that Sony is making money hand over fist on the PS2.  They've sold like 100 million worldwide.  Xbox and Gamecube have a tiny fraction of that.  I mean, this is a bad year for everyone in the industry because development is switching over to the new platforms, which costs the developers a huge chunk of money for development kits and learning how to program for the brand new architectures.  So they have to spend all this extra development money, and at the same time their developers are now not working as much on the current gen systems to generate income.  Even consumers stop buying as many videogames, and especially videogame systems, as they start gearing up for the new hardware to hit the market.

So I'm sure that all three manufacturers are hurting (especially MS, who has never made a profit of Xbox), but I doubt that Sony is actually losing money.

...and so on.

[JB]

I loved the video.
That spot at the middle with the girl staring in awe as she makes Mario jump over and over was priceless.

[shmokes]

3. We're some 20 years down the line tech-wise. I'm pretty sure this works just a tad better. It sounded like you could actually just make small wrist gestures instead of requiring large motions hanging in mid-air.

Trust me, I wouldn't have even considered it a possibility that there would be any problem with losing the connection with the sensor had it not been for the fact that the guy actually using it was getting warning arrows on the screen telling him that if he wasn't careful he would lose his connection.  I still doubt that it will be an issue, but that comment just raised a flag in my head.

And if the Powerglove wasn't Nintendo's they should at least have had the gumption not to pimp it on the Wizard movie 

[knuttz]

Like I said, the NES downloads has been their primary marketing angle for some time here, and I don't see it lightening up any time soon

Yeah I was typing as you were posting.

Also after watching that terrible IGN video I am no longer happy about this at all.

[JB]

That explains that.

3. We're some 20 years down the line tech-wise. I'm pretty sure this works just a tad better. It sounded like you could actually just make small wrist gestures instead of requiring large motions hanging in mid-air.

Trust me, I wouldn't have even considered it a possibility that there would be any problem with losing the connection with the sensor had it not been for the fact that the guy actually using it was getting warning arrows on the screen telling him that if he wasn't careful he would lose his connection.  I still doubt that it will be an issue, but that comment just raised a flag in my head.

I'd sorta thought he dropped it.
But your explanation makes more sense.

And if the Powerglove wasn't Nintendo's they should at least have had the gumption not to pimp it on the Wizard movie 

Touche.

Worthless trivia: a lot of the power gloves sold weren't ever used on the NES. They got hacked to PC interfaces and were used as cheap VR gloves, which they worked REALLY well at.

[dennis808]

Did any of yhe criticasters see this movie:


This is definitely going to revolutionise gaming...

[TOK]

I've only had experience with one motion sensing controller, that 3D gampad Microsoft made called the 3D Pro or something like that. It seemed like a great idea, but was actually very innaccurate and klunky to use. I ended up shutting off the 3D function and using it like a regular pad.

Unless Nintendo has really polished the motion sensing of this unit. I'm thinking it's going to just be another worthless gimmick.

dennis808: That video didn't do anything for me, since its all just actors pretending to have fun with it. I can swing my DVD player remote around like a tennis racquet or a sword too, but what does it tell you about how games play?
It sounded like the hands-on demo was mostly simplistic stuff. You want to buy the new Nintendo to play air hockey (better known as Pong)?

[elvis]

I see some possibilities.  Turn that SOB sideways and fire up a NES emulator.

I'm glad someone else said it.   That's the very first thing that popped into my head when I saw it.   They're going backwards, not forwards!

At any rate, if I can't play a decent 6-button fighter on it, I won't be buying it.  End of story.  Sorry, but fishing games just don't blow my skirt up.

[ChadTower]

Imagine how strange a three-pronged console controller introducing analog control to console games for the first time must have sounded.....hey....that was Nintendo too.

[RecycledPast]

I love that nintendo is drawing the line in the sand.

[ChadTower]

I think Nintendo COULD beat Sony and Microsoft at their own game, if they wanted to do so.  Nintendo doesn't want to create a system with 659 FPS clones, the same sports and driving games, and very little good and unique content.  They want to have the innovative stuff, not the same stuff.

It's not a question of being unable to beat Sony and Microsoft head on.  It's a matter of not wanting to provide a product that is already saturated.

[Stingray]

It's very hard for me to say if I'll like it or not without being able to use it. I'm sure I'll buy a revolution eventually, I've been a Nintendo fan since the first time I saw a NES in action.

-S

[Setabs]

I hope the revolution is cheap because the price just totally turns me off about the xbox360 and ps3.  If they can deliever a system $100 cheaper than them It will help nintendo alot. anyone heard about how much it will cost?

The controller is very unique. I am waiting gor the IGN video to load right know so I can't tell how useful it appears to be in action.  How are you supposed to play snes games on that by the way.  Is nintendo tapping into the "If you want this one feature by this adapter that only works for one thing"  but you need 3 or 4 to be able to play all available games.

[ChadTower]

I wouldn't count on it being inexpensive.

[Stingray]

It will be expensive, but hopefully it will be, like the Gamecube, less expensive than the Sony and MS offerings.

-S

[ChadTower]

By the time I get around to buying one, they'll all be the same price anyway.

[Stingray]

I seriously doubt I'll buy one until a big price drop either. I just got a Gamecube last week.

-S

[shmokes]

Nintendo's will always be lower.  It'll be released at $200, for example.  when Xbox360 is lowered to $250 the Revolution will be lowered to $150 and so on.

By the way, for anyone who is unaware, the Revolution will play Gamecube discs.  I don't know if it is using Gamecube hardware or an emulator, but if its an emulator that should give us an idea that it will be a fairly powerful machine, if not as powerful as the Xbox360 or PS3.

Anyway, my point about Gamecube is that there is a door on the top of the Revolution hiding four Gamecube controller ports.  Maybe that's what they figure most people will use to play SNES.  Even though it's not exactly the same button layout, the Gamecube controller does have four face buttons and two shoulder buttons.  Personally, I think that the button layout is far better on the Gamecube, but I digress...  It seems like the shoulder buttons could be a bit of a disadvantage, though, seeing as they are analog.

[Stingray]

By the way, for anyone who is unaware, the Revolution will play Gamecube discs.  ... Anyway, my point about Gamecube is that there is a door on the top of the Revolution hiding four Gamecube controller ports.

Interesting. I was unaware of either of those tidbits.

-S

[SirPoonga]

That makes a difference then.  Being able to support the cube controllers and games is better then.

The controller is already on wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Revolution

I see it has 2 USB 2.0 ports, anyone know if any keyboarda and mouse cna be plugged in?

[shmokes]

Yeah...it's one of my favorite things about the system, and makes me feel like a geek.  but I just think that it's so cool that it has a five-inch slot loading drive that will grab five-inch or 3-inch discs and it will pull the 3-inch one in and center it and everything.  You don't have to put the three inch disc in in any special place.  You can push it in from the left side or right side or center, the drive just pulls it in and puts it where it needs to be.  Kinda cool.   

edit: here's a pic

[Stingray]

Are those memory card slots under the door? If so, why did they place them where they will prevent the door from closing? I guess the thinking is that you would only need one when you're playing 'Cube games so the door would be open anyway. I'm assuming that the Revolution uses a different type of media for game saves. Does it have a hard drive?

-S

[ChadTower]

Well, since they talk about downloading the classics on a pay per game basis, I would assume so.