Simplicity and innovation.
A lot has been said and rumored about Revolutions control, but now things seem to be coming together. First of all the major leaks of information from 'The Diamond Weekly' a Japanese newspaper which reported that the control would NOT have a D-PAD or A or B buttons. Then months later 'Game Informer’ magazine reports of information gained from a developer of the controller having NO analogue or shoulder buttons but in their place a large touch panel that is customizable. So far we can picture a control with:
No, d-pad
No, Analogue sticks
No, A or B buttons
No, shoulder buttons
WITH touch panel that allows for customizable control schemes.
Proof Links:
http://cube.ign.com/articles/575/575714p1.html?fromint=1
[anyone with Gameinformer article, please scan and post]
Less is More
"There are too many buttons and sticks on controllers for novice players, which is likely to discourage them from ever playing games at all," he says. "We want the Revolution's controller to be relevant to everybody and we really want people to feel like they want to touch and play with it." - Iwata
This begs the question, how can you play the retro console games from system(s) that have more controller buttons than the Revolution controller?
---
The Benefits of Touch Panel.
Today’s controllers are static, developers need to figure out a way to make there game work well with the control. This is hard to do and even harder to implement. It is constricting for true innovation in gameplay. But with Revolution's controller it will be malleable (not literally). Developers will be able to design the control layout to best suit their game and thus they shall be able to innovate and design games with a controller perfectly suited to it. This means that each game will have a control scheme that feels natural and fun, unlike today’s controller where you have to figure out what each button does, and each button does a different thing in a different game which can be confusing.
A Virtual Control for a 'Virtual Console'
Whilst on G4 gaming show. Reggie gave a clue to Revolution stating that "If you put all those controls all lined up together, they're all very different. So think what kind of device will let you play all those different types of games?" This also fits perfectly with touch panel, customizable control. It would mean the control would be to emulate the layouts of NES, SNES, N64, Cube controllers.
www.optimalcamouflage.com/bigclue.wmv
---
Russian Revolution?
"It has no buttons at all. The controller and gamer both interact with each other through movement; not only is the game controlled by the movement of the player but the whole controller gives some sort of feedback. Built-in sensors can tell the difference between the controller and the console, as well as determining the controller’s position. An example of the control would be that turning the controller around and moving it in a direction would be one form of controlling."
This is most likely fake, but it is the concept and not its validity that I am highlighting. As you can see it goes along with what I’ve said previously in this article. No buttons and feedback. Let me reiterate I am not saying this is real, just a good example of what I’m thinking about the design.
This translation also seems to point at some gyroscope technology in the controller. Nintendo has a famous deal with gyroscope manufacturer and having invested an unknown amount in them.
---
In Conclusion.
It does seem plausible (but I doubt it) that the image could be real and even if it turns out not to be, it could still be a close interpretation to the final controller. By looking at the current information, the controller is revolutionary but not so much that it will alienate multi-platform titles, yet still innovative and new enough that it gains a wow response and not a 'is that it?'.
Special thanks to. Revogaming.net for supplying with the 'probably fake' control image.
A lot has been said and rumored about Revolutions control, but now things seem to be coming together. First of all the major leaks of information from 'The Diamond Weekly' a Japanese newspaper which reported that the control would NOT have a D-PAD or A or B buttons. Then months later 'Game Informer’ magazine reports of information gained from a developer of the controller having NO analogue or shoulder buttons but in their place a large touch panel that is customizable. So far we can picture a control with:
No, d-pad
No, Analogue sticks
No, A or B buttons
No, shoulder buttons
WITH touch panel that allows for customizable control schemes.
Proof Links:
http://cube.ign.com/articles/575/575714p1.html?fromint=1
[anyone with Gameinformer article, please scan and post]
Less is More
"There are too many buttons and sticks on controllers for novice players, which is likely to discourage them from ever playing games at all," he says. "We want the Revolution's controller to be relevant to everybody and we really want people to feel like they want to touch and play with it." - Iwata
This begs the question, how can you play the retro console games from system(s) that have more controller buttons than the Revolution controller?
---
The Benefits of Touch Panel.
Today’s controllers are static, developers need to figure out a way to make there game work well with the control. This is hard to do and even harder to implement. It is constricting for true innovation in gameplay. But with Revolution's controller it will be malleable (not literally). Developers will be able to design the control layout to best suit their game and thus they shall be able to innovate and design games with a controller perfectly suited to it. This means that each game will have a control scheme that feels natural and fun, unlike today’s controller where you have to figure out what each button does, and each button does a different thing in a different game which can be confusing.
A Virtual Control for a 'Virtual Console'
Whilst on G4 gaming show. Reggie gave a clue to Revolution stating that "If you put all those controls all lined up together, they're all very different. So think what kind of device will let you play all those different types of games?" This also fits perfectly with touch panel, customizable control. It would mean the control would be to emulate the layouts of NES, SNES, N64, Cube controllers.
www.optimalcamouflage.com/bigclue.wmv
---
Russian Revolution?
"It has no buttons at all. The controller and gamer both interact with each other through movement; not only is the game controlled by the movement of the player but the whole controller gives some sort of feedback. Built-in sensors can tell the difference between the controller and the console, as well as determining the controller’s position. An example of the control would be that turning the controller around and moving it in a direction would be one form of controlling."
This is most likely fake, but it is the concept and not its validity that I am highlighting. As you can see it goes along with what I’ve said previously in this article. No buttons and feedback. Let me reiterate I am not saying this is real, just a good example of what I’m thinking about the design.
This translation also seems to point at some gyroscope technology in the controller. Nintendo has a famous deal with gyroscope manufacturer and having invested an unknown amount in them.
---
In Conclusion.
It does seem plausible (but I doubt it) that the image could be real and even if it turns out not to be, it could still be a close interpretation to the final controller. By looking at the current information, the controller is revolutionary but not so much that it will alienate multi-platform titles, yet still innovative and new enough that it gains a wow response and not a 'is that it?'.
Special thanks to. Revogaming.net for supplying with the 'probably fake' control image.
