Nintendo finally revealed their Revolution controller, the nature of which has created a great deal of speculation over the past months. Alice at Wonderland has notes from Iwata-san’s speech, as well as a blurry picture of the Revolution controller. A video was posted at IGN, but it doesn’t seem to be downloading [update: click here for the video, then select “watch it now” – the downloadable version (non-subscription) still seems broken, but streaming just worked for me].
update: image courtesy of 1up, who has an article on the controller.
The controller, according to descriptions, appears to be more along the lines of a remote control (one handed) that can be used in all sorts of ways – swung like a golf club or tennis racket, pointed like a flashlight, stabbed like a sword – all read in relation to your position from the screen. From Alice’s transcription notes:
This controller has a Direct Pointing Device. Revolution can detect precisely which location on the screen the controller is pointing at. With this technology, you can point at a location intuitively, but Revolution can detect your distance from the screen, and the angle of your controller.
In line with their attention to innovation, Nintendo seems to be encouraging movement beyond the safe bets of franchise game development with blockbuster costs and expectations. Again, Alice’s notes:
Brain Training DS had a small development team, and took advantage of the new design. 10 people, and total development, was less than 4 months! Many have been concerned that time and money and risk for next gen is too much. Nintendo wants to provide a stage on which to showcase your ideas. Nintendo is willing to help bring those ideas to life, if seeing the controller today sparks new ideas, Nintendo is ready for your proposals!
We’ll see how this all pans out in the marketplace, but the success of Nintendogs and the DS certainly creates a promising atmosphere for the Revolution.
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