Revolution Controller. Seriously.
Posted by inpheaux on September 15th, 2005 at 11:24 pm
I am at a loss for words. In a bad way. Moments ago, this . . thing . . was shown at the Tokyo Game Show. This is the Revolution controller. Apparently a tv remote made by Apple. Before I dive into my own thoughts about all this, have some links:
IGN's 'Live' Keynote Coverage
IGN's In-depth look at the Controller and it's possibilities
Gamespot's recap
1up's looks at the assorted demos (Includes a recap of the demo "Pilot Wangs")
Ok. That's a bunch of words. So here's my take: this is not what the world needs. Yes, I know it's expandable. Yes, I know it has a crazy nunchuk analog stick thing. It's still too weird. What's going to happen when some developer wants to release something multi-platform? They're going to look at the Xbox 360. you've got some face buttons, shoulder buttons, two analog sticks and a dpad. Then they're going to look at the PS3. Face Buttons, shoulder buttons, two analog sticks and a dpad. Then they're going to look at the Revolution. And their heads will explode.
This is not a good thing.
But it isn't how it has to be. Unless they changed it already, there's going to be a set of four Gamecube controller ports on the console itself. Plus, those crazy remotes are wireless, so who's saying every connected remote has to be an official Nintendo one shown today? Nothing is stopping Nintendo from saying "Oh, that's just our crazy controller. There's also going to be a sane conservative controller, which is like a Wavebird but with a 2x2 normal-sized face button layout, made just for all you sane people who like controllers to be, you know, normal."
Or they could just not care at all, and we'll get to sit back and watch the Revolution be nothing but a low-game-volume niche system based around crazy experimental games and first-party stuff (which is, by default, crazy and experimental). Luckily, there seems to be a bit of speculation/buzz that the "sane controller" deal might come about. But we'll probably have to wait till E3 for that.
In closing, Pilot Wangs.
Source: Everywhere. Shout-outs to #nintendo on ZiRC.
Discuss this article on the forums.