Friday, September 16, 2005

Say you want a Revolution?

I mentioned the Tokyo Game Show unveiling of the Nintendo Revolution and its super secret controller in my last post, so I figured I'd update all of you with some news and pictures straight from the desk of Nintendo. First, from the official press release:
Nintendo Reveals 'Revolution'-ary Controller In Keynote Speech

TOKYO, Sept. 16, 2005 – Every gamer who plays. Every one who used to play. Even those who have yet to play, Nintendo is your bet.

As the cornerstone of his speech today at the Tokyo Game Show's annual event, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata elaborated on the theme of the company's aim and proven ability to broaden the population of video game players. Two shining examples highlighted in his keynote include the smash-hit sales of the highly innovative Nintendogs game for the portable Nintendo DS system, and the new controller that will be central to the company's upcoming console system, code-named Revolution.

Nintendo breaks with more than 20 years of video game history by abandoning the traditional controller held with two hands and introducing an all-new freehand-style unit held with one hand.

The intuitive, pioneering interface allows players to run, jump, spin, slide, shoot, steer, accelerate, bank, dive, kick, throw and score in a way never experienced in the history of gaming.

"The feeling is so natural and real, as soon as players use the controller, their minds will spin with the possibilities of how this will change gaming as we know it today," explains Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president. "This is an extremely exciting innovation – one that will thrill current players and entice new ones."

When picked up and pointed at the screen, the controller gives a lightning-quick element of interaction, sensing motion, depth, positioning and targeting dictated by movement of the controller itself.

The controller also allows for a variety of expansions, including a "nunchuk" style analog unit offering the enhanced game-play control hard-core gamers demand.

The response from all major publishers worldwide has been extremely positive. Beyond its other innovations, the new controller gives third parties flexibility, allowing them the option to use as many or as few of the controller features as they desire. In addition, incorporated technology will easily allow games from the NES, SNES, N64, and Nintendo GameCube generations to be controlled in familiar fashion.
And now, for all of you wondering just what in the hell this little piece of gaming technology will look like, it's time to toss out all those oddball Photoshop fakes and take a gander at the real deal. Here it is ... the "Revolution" in video game control:






So ... what are your thoughts on all of this?

3 comments:

Lefty said...

LOL, you hear that noise? That's Ninetendo death-knell ringing. No ones going to want to use that thing, because having two hands to work a joystick is faster than one, and you won't drop it as often.

Unknown said...

A few things ... first, you can attatch the extra analog joystick to the controller (the nunchuck look), but more importantly ... turn the controller sideways and what do you see? It's an NES controller. Also, according to Nintendo, the controller can be plugged into different, more standard cotrol housings.

Anonymous said...

"plugged into different, more standard housings"

I don't know about you, but I remember those add on joysticks and shells you could get for NES controllers, and those things were total ass. I can't imagine this idea being any better.

Also, while I don't agree that it's a death-knell...it's certainly not good news as far as third party cross-platform development goes.

First, the Revolution supposedly isn't as great a leap in processing power as the PS3 and 360, and now it has a completely non-standard controller...seems like Nintendo is saying they don't want third party support at all. It's not like they've been all that strong in that department since the N64 days. Are they just trying to shed it altogether? Perhaps like the DS, Nintendo is trying to go off in the corner and do their own thing and pull a separatist share of the market.

I'll reserve further judgement once games come out and I have a chance to play one. Hopefully it'll turn out better than Virtual On twin sticks and Cha Cha Maracas. Cest la vie, Sega.