Nintendo Revolution Controller

[kumquatq3]

LINK TO STORY

 

Well, at least it's something new.

 

thanks to a small transmitter hidden inside the top of each controller. That's right, you can move around onscreen just by pointing the controller in a different direction.

 

The top half of the unit is devoted to the directional pad and an oversized A button. If you hold the controller like a remote, your thumb will have immediate access to the D pad and the A button. The underside of the controller has a B button that functions like a trigger button. The controller features select, home, and start buttons lined up horizontally halfway down the controller, and the bottom half of the controller has the X and Y buttons stacked vertically. If you turn the controller sideways, the X and Y buttons become B and A buttons for classic Nintendo gaming.

 

 

I like it

[Krookie]

Holy crap. How are you supposed to play with that thing? They should have just kept the Gamecube controllers. Microsoft was smart and stuck with the controller 'S'. I'm still shocked that that thing is a video game controller.

[Guest Fishboot]

Nintendo is clearly a company made entirely of balls.

 

We talk a good game about wanting innovation but Nintendo says, "You know what? We made the goddamn Virtual Boy, we'll put two damn LCDs on a handheld game if we feel like it. Controller wand? Sure, we'll do that, we're ****ing crazy!"

[kumquatq3]

Holy crap. How are you supposed to play with that thing? They should have just kept the Gamecube controllers. Microsoft was smart and stuck with the controller 'S'. I'm still shocked that that thing is a video game controller.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Well, like a mouse, apparently. This is Gamespot, not IGN, remember

 

Finally, the last demo of the day showed off the analog-stick attachment for the controller--which Nintendo reps likened to a nunchaku--and it was revealed how you could use it in conjunction with the main unit to play a game. In this case, the GameCube's Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was redone to include support for the Revolution controller and the analog attachment. The demo let you play through one of the early areas in the game, which felt considerably different from the original GameCube game. The attachment basically gave the game a much more PC-first-person-shooter feel thanks to the ability to free-look and aim with the main controller by moving it anywhere you wanted. The analog stick controlled your movement. The A button let you jump, while the B button fired your weapon. The shoulder buttons on the analog attachment let you switch visors, scan, and lock on to targets, although the lock-on feature was less necessary thanks to the precision firing available via just looking around with the controller. You could shift to the morph ball by pressing the select button on the main controller's face, which felt surprisingly comfortable to do in the middle of action.

 

 

It's wireless and has built in rumble pack, fyi

[Deraldin]

More links!

 

Link 1

Link 2

[Arkan]

 

Nintendo is clearly a company made entirely of balls.

 

We talk a good game about wanting innovation but Nintendo says, "You know what? We made the goddamn Virtual Boy, we'll put two damn LCDs on a handheld game if we feel like it. Controller wand? Sure, we'll do that, we're ****ing crazy!"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[kumquatq3]

IGN says:

 

Using Nintendo's controller to navigate first-person shooters is going to be an amazingly empowering, freeing experience. We know this because Nintendo demoed a modified version of Metroid Prime 2 Echoes using the new peripheral, and the potential is undeniably jaw-dropping. In the demo, players could move Samus through the environments with the attached analog trigger. The need to lock-on to enemies, however, was been eliminated, thanks to a new level of precision aiming made possible with the pointer. In a level of accuracy rivaled only by a PC mouse configuration, gamers could simply use the device to point and shoot.

[Arkan]

IGN says:

 

Using Nintendo's controller to navigate first-person shooters is going to be an amazingly empowering, freeing experience. We know this because Nintendo demoed a modified version of Metroid Prime 2 Echoes using the new peripheral, and the potential is undeniably jaw-dropping. In the demo, players could move Samus through the environments with the attached analog trigger. The need to lock-on to enemies, however, was been eliminated, thanks to a new level of precision aiming made possible with the pointer. In a level of accuracy rivaled only by a PC mouse configuration, gamers could simply use the device to point and shoot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I'll bet, though, that in order to get a good effect from it, you have to sit directly in fron't of your televition with your hands extended, pointing at the screen trying to aim, making it very tiring very fast...

[kumquatq3]

I'll bet, though, that in order to get a good effect from it, you have to sit directly in fron't of your televition with your hands extended, pointing at the screen trying to aim, making it very tiring very fast...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Maybe, weight will be a factor.

[Deraldin]

Everyone remember when either you were kids, or were watching kids play console games and they would twist and jump with the controller to help the character on the screen? This controller could make that futile gesture into life saving jumps! "

[Arkan]

Everyone remember when either you were kids, or were watching kids play console games and they would twist and jump with the controller to help the character on the screen? This controller could make that futile gesture into life saving jumps! "

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

No, it would just make you looking foolish while you plummet to your death...a lot like the old days, but with prettier graphics.

[Deraldin]

Everyone remember when either you were kids, or were watching kids play console games and they would twist and jump with the controller to help the character on the screen? This controller could make that futile gesture into life saving jumps! "

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

No, it would just make you looking foolish while you plummet to your death...a lot like the old days, but with prettier graphics.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

More than likely yeah.

[jaguars4ever]

Everyone remember when either you were kids, or were watching kids play console games and they would twist and jump with the controller to help the character on the screen?

No Deraldin - that was just you.

[Deraldin]

Everyone remember when either you were kids, or were watching kids play console games and they would twist and jump with the controller to help the character on the screen?

No Deraldin - that was just you.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

No, I've seen other people do the same thing. "

[Laozi]

My friend Sherman was saying awhile back how he wanted the new nintendo system and all of thought he had gone bonza, looks like he might be bonza like a fox.

 

 

 

 

 

And Deraldin I used to do that too

[kumquatq3]

Everyone remember when either you were kids, or were watching kids play console games and they would twist and jump with the controller to help the character on the screen?

No Deraldin - that was just you.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

We all did it the first few times you used a controller, admit it!

 

I'm really excited about this.

[Arkan]

Everyone remember when either you were kids, or were watching kids play console games and they would twist and jump with the controller to help the character on the screen?

No Deraldin - that was just you.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

We all did it the first few times you used a controller, admit it!

 

I'm really excited about this.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I really don't remember doing it.

[kumquatq3]

Ass for getting tired, seems to be very similar to how you would use a regular controller: (all from 1up)

 

A firing-range-like contest where two players compete to see who can shoot randomly appearing squares first. Aiming is done by pointing the controller itself at different points on screen, pulling the B trigger to fire.

 

IMPRESSIONS: A great demonstration of how intuitive the controller can be-pointing it to aim felt perfectly natural, right from the very first second, just like with a light gun. It always shot exactly where it felt like I was aiming, and was incredibly responsive to even slight wrist movements-I barely had to move my hand at all.

 

DEMO: METROID PRIME-TIME

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.

IMPRESSIONS: At first, I was standing up and swinging my hand all around to aim - and my arms got really tired really quick. But once I sat down and relaxed, resting my hands on my legs as I would with a normal controller, everything clicked.

 

 

about being like a mouse

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.

[kumquatq3]

Teaser for the controller

 

Weird, but brings up some interesting uses.

 

 

and playing old games:

 

Iwata addressed concerns people might have about playing retro games on the Revolution's new controller through its virtual console backwards compatibility, saying that classic-styled expansion controllers would be available so people could enjoy the games as they originally remembered them.

[Child of Flame]

That is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

 

Also, Nintendo = Ballsiest company ever.

 

Who wants to bet that all the other console companies steal this idea if it takes off?

[EnderAndrew]

I'll try it in a kiosk, but I really don't intend to pick up the Revolution.

[roshan]

This is incredible..... It soiuinds groiiuindbreaking and I wish Nintendoi the best oif luick in making it woirk.

[EnderAndrew]

But the way, I have a flight stick that already does this, that I bought in like '95?

 

I bought it for X-Wing vs Tie. If I move the flight stick around in the air, in senses the movement with internal ball bearings and moves my ship around. It also had throttle control, a POV hat, and 13 buttons.

 

It's pretty nice. I got it at a computer show and have never seen it in a retail store.

[Tigranes]

Well, even if it doesn't work out, you gotta hand it to Nintendo to try stuff like this, while still being a major console developer. XBox2 and PS3 are just "more silicon chips" in comparison.

 

Anyway, if the controls are sharp enough, I'll love it, it looks great.

[Lord Tingeling]

The interesting thing with Nintendo's insanities is that they usually work. Well, apart from the Virtual Boy, perhaps, but that's that.

 

As crazy as the idea sounds... I actually think they'll pull it off. Guess I'll see when I buy it.