Industry Response to Revolution Controller

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Industry Response: Revolution Controller
by Christian Svensson

Developers, the media and analysts tell Next Generation what they think
of Nintendo's vision for the future of game control. There's some
skepticism, but many are loving the idea.

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Michel Ancel
Game Designer, Ubisoft
Creator of Rayman, BG&E and King Kong

I feel just like a child with a new toy, opening millions of new doors
of possibilities. More than an improvement, this way of playing is
creating a new dimension. It's simple, when Nintendo unveils its
hardware, every member of the team starts imagining crazy ideas. It's
opening their minds. The fact of adding 3D gestures as the way of
communicating with the game is just the perfect kind of innovation that
can bring new games to new gamers. To me, it can bring the consoles
what the mouse brought to the PC at it time. It's a 3D pointer with
rotation information! Now, you're going to handle virtual objects, make
recognition signs. It's closer to the way we act in real world,
that's why it's going to be mass market. I'm sure that people
will go crazy given the ability to interact so easily with virtual
worlds. I'm just mad about it!


Lorne Lanning
President/Creative Director, Oddworld Inhabitants


An interesting innovation for the "small handed" segment of the
market. Hopefully a larger version will be available for the larger
hand endowed audience that is likely to be more carpal tunnel prone.






Chris Cross
Game Design Director, EA LA

Personally I'm excited about the new controller. It seems like it
will be intuitive for most and a very cool alternative to the
"standard" control paradigm. If we assume game design starts with
the interface, try to imagine what new genres might pop up. I can't
wait to get one in my hands and try it out. Realistically for the first
couple years most developers will be adapting their old games to fit
this interface with only a couple really taking advantage of it. Give
it a couple game cycles and we should see some interesting stuff at E3
'07. I haven't been this excited since Sony put a second stick on
their controller.

Cary Brisebois
Technical Director, Radical Entertainment

The Wavebird was second only to the Sony controller...

I think that it is going to start getting really hard to make games
that rely on the old standard configuration of face buttons fit with
this model. It was tricky enough with the one fewer button on the
Gamecube controller. Cross platform games may not be the model for
Revolution.

As Napoleon would say: "Yikes."


Chris Mitchell
Game Designer, Radical Entertainment

A lot of incredibly addictive arcade games can be moved into the living
room now. Go to any Japanese arcade and you'll see people playing
fishing games, dog walking games etc, and they're fun largely because
of the interface. Traditionally those sorts of games have not
translated well on consoles but now there's a whole body of existing
and proven casual genre games that can be done by us.




Des Hinkson
Senior Designer, Radical Entertainment

Revolution controller = casual gamer paradise.

A lot of people are really intimidated by buttons. Console controllers
are scary things that make you look dumb if you don't know which button
to press. I remember my frustration at switching from Nintendo to Sony
and having to look for the Triangle button, Circle button, etc in
Parappa the Rapper and it took time and dedication to feel comfortable
with the controller. My wife is not a gamer, heck she doesn't even use
the TV remote proficiently, preferring to use the numbers instead of
the channel up and down keys. I think Nintendo have been watching the
people who put down the controller too quickly and the people who play
with their tongues out and tilt their controllers to get that extra bit
of corning control. Revolution means people can have fun more
immediately and we can hook them on that fun without the time and
dedication needed to learn how to use a traditional controller.

Cliff Bleszinski
Lead Designer, Epic Games

It seems as if I Nintendo has found a modular way that they can take
the best of the location-based entertainment/arcade experience and
bring it home to the user. So all of those games you loved physically
interacting with in the arcade - the drum game, the fishing one the,
uh, poke your friend in the eye one....can really come to life in the
living room. I haven't been able to hold or use it yet so I'll
refrain from any further judgment until I get hands on as that's what
really, truly matters - feel!


David Perry
President, Shiny Entertainment

I've been fielding interview questions on this new Nintendo controller
for a while now, and besides the obvious stuff, I've been personally
hoping for Nintendo to offer custom game interfaces.

Meaning when a developer designs a game, they can very easily design
their own interface at the same time. Their interface component would
then (at a very low cost) be included in every game box. (Imagine a
small "interface' block that clips in the front of a normal
controller.)

The main controller (not looking like a remote control) would be
designed so you simply plug in the component that came with the game.

Nintendo talked about controllers having too many buttons and turning
off non-gamers.

Fair point, but if they honestly have a problem with too many buttons,
then this solves that too. For example, on the faceplate that comes
with a simple game, they could actually get rid of all unused buttons
by not replicating them. If however I want a more complicated game
with 10 buttons and a throttle slider on the faceplate for a Mech game,
no problem.

This solution covers many needs.

The faceplate can also contain artwork (for that game) and tips, like
"FIRE" written under the fire button. Trust me, that will help newbie
gamers!

Can you imagine how excited, and then let down I felt when I found out
Nintendo nearly delivered this!

I feel a lot of innovation in the original arcade games was increased
by the freedom of designers to create new interfaces for their game at
the same time. Think Pacman vs. Tempest vs. Missile Command vs. Star
Wars vs. Lunar Lander. All radically different but the interface
definitely added to the fun.

After toying around with this Revolution remote control, and after
fighting my grandparents off it, my prediction is that people will be
looking to buy a "normal" controller to plug in.

So thanks Nintendo for trying. I actually respect the effort a lot!

People that know me, know I love big thinking and I LOVE innovation,
but I still dream of the day when hardware manufactures stop trying to
surprise game developers and actually invite a group of them to
brainstorm on the hardware.

It would be a great marketing scoop for them (being designed by the top
ten game designers in the world), but it would also deliver a bloody
cool console / controller.

Oh well, just five more years and we can try again.

Tommy Tallarico
President, Tommy Tallarico Studios
Executive Producer/CEO, Video Games Live

Nintendo has always prided itself on innovation and this controller is
no exception. I think this move by Nintendo will secure them the
uniqueness they seek. The only way that a new console will succeed is
if they have third party publisher support. My only concern is that
developers and publishers may have a difficult time in developing
software for a single platform (which this controller ultimately forces
them to do). Many publishers rely on multiple platform products in
order to make the next gen console leap. It will be interesting to see
how much support the Revolution gets compared to the PS3, 360, PC and
let's not forget the current systems which will still have at least two
years of life left in them.

Chris Melissinos
Chief Gaming Officer, Sun Microsystems

This is why I love Nintendo. Just when people think that innovation is
dead and game design/implementation is becoming a barren wasteland, the
House of Mario does something so off the wall that people stand up and
take notice. What other game hardware company would have the guts to
release a controller that looks like a TV remote? No one but Nintendo.

Not only do I believe that the controller will help usher in a new
generation of game design, I think the Revolution has a better chance
of succeeding than most analysts and critics believe. The combination
of their "motion centric" controller, deep catalog of content spanning
20+ years and kick ass next generation games, puts Nintendo is in the
best position to broaden the market and bring those gamers, who stopped
playing, back to the television with their family in tow. I want to
thank Nintendo for not maintaining the status quo, for constantly
pushing the industry to rethink how games can be implemented and, most
importantly, for reminding us that how we play is just as important as
what we play.

The Media

Matt Casamassina
Editor, IGN Gamecube

I'm very pleasantly surprised -- thrilled, even -- with Nintendo's
Revolution controller. Like so many others, I was skeptical. I figured
the Big N would deliver gamers a modified Wave Bird with tilt-sensory
functionality and perhaps little more. But what we got instead is a
device that more or less abandons the traditional control fundamentals
that Nintendo itself helped pioneer. I mean, the Revolution's input
mechanism has the potential to reinvent the way we all play videogames
and if Nintendo executes on the unit's potential, it could bring about
the most intuitively manipulated videogames to date. These are the
types of innovations that in my mind are worthy of the console's
codename.

What also makes the Revolution controller unique is that it does not
come with limitations. Just because it enables a new type of 3D motion
interactivity does not mean that it sacrifices traditional controls.
Gamers looking for more conventional controls will be able to insert
the Revolution pointer into a Wave Bird-like shell, in which case a
more familiar layout becomes available. Better yet, the pointer's
motion sensory functionality remains active.

With the DS, I think Nintendo dipped its toe into the future of gaming.
With Revolution, it's finally plunged headfirst into the waters. If the
Revolution controller is ultimately as intuitively used as it looks to
be, Nintendo may finally prove to consumers that the definition of
next-generation games needn't be limited to prettier graphics alone.

Demian Linn
Reviews Editor, Electronic Gaming Monthly

It's a risk, but it's a smart risk. If Revolution launched with just a
conventional controller, it'd offer competitive graphics and Nintendo
first-party games-in other words, it'd be in about the same position
GameCube was in this generation. But now, Revolution may appeal to more
casual or even non-gamers, along with core gamers who are looking for a
genuinely new gameplay experience. If Nintendo can really bring a large
chunk of non-gamers into the fold, it would be huge-but that's a
big question mark.

Nintendo has always excelled at making its games just feel right from a
control perspective, and I'm sure its first-party games are going to
do some amazing things with the new controller. Not so sure about
third-party publishers. The DS has attracted some good third-party
exclusives, but Revolution titles will require a much bigger
investment. I hear Nintendo will also offer a "sleeve" that you can
slip the main controller into, which will allow for a more traditional
button layout; that is absolutely necessary, and it better come in the
box. I'm all for innovation, but there's no need to reinvent the
wheel, throw the baby out with the bathwater, or...well, I can't
think of another cliché that works here. Revolution owners are going
to love their gyroscopic rhythm-action-fishing games or whatever, but
that doesn't mean they won't want to play Splinter Cell again.

Dave Halverson
Editor-in-Chief, Play Magazine

This is the sort of window for innovation that could start a
micro-industry all its own. In a market place so dictated by big brands
and stodgy retailers that great games tank miserably on a regular
basis, a true alternative that focuses on great gameplay over great
hype is exactly what we need. That said let's hope 3rd parties
don't take the low road and squander the opportunity. In any case
this puts Nintendo in a class of its own operating outside the well
beaten path of Sony and Microsoft. This controller together with an
affordable price will surely start a revolution.

Tom Russo
Director of Games Editorial, G4 Media

If the motion-sensing functionality is as robust as Nintendo's
promotional video leads us to believe, this controller may become the
pivot-point that swings gaming back into the collective conscience of
the nation. Why is "Pac-Man" the first game that comes to mind to
so many casual gamers? It might have something to do with the fact that
in 1980, a simple, single stick was all that was needed to give a wide
audience of players a unique, cutting-edge, gameplay experience. Adding
more buttons, triggers, and analog sticks to our controllers over time
has created barriers of entry to the market, and has divided the casual
players from the enthusiasts. In making this motion-sensing
functionality a stock system feature, the company has challenged the
industry, perhaps for the first time since the rise of Street Fighter
II, to think outside a six-button configuration. Nintendo deserves
commendation for its bold "less is more" approach, and may
ultimately get the credit for righting the evolutionary path of
interface design in interactive entertainment. My personal
congratulations to Mr. Iwata and his team -- now please, show us the
damn games already.


David S J Hodgson
Freelancer (formerly of EMAP UK, Gamefan, Gamers Republic and incite)
Personally, I'm pleasantly surprised, and was enticed by the
promotional video. But I'm great at forming opinions based on news I
skim through and forum posts I chortle at. Later I find the information
out to be at the very least "quite inaccurate", and at the very
most "wildly inaccurate and possibly libelous". So I'll hold off
until I've juggled one of these in my own, slightly sweaty hands.

Until then, I shall plug in a Sega fishing controller into my
Dreamcast, and play Soul Calibur with it... this is the best way to
experience an approximate aspect of the Revolution controller's
functionality outside of Nintendo's inner sanctum.


Analyst

David Cole
President, DFC Intelligence

Despite its reputation for being old school, Nintendo has quietly been
one of the most innovative major game companies in recent years. The
new Revolution controller definitely fits the innovative bill. My
13-year old son really got his interest aroused, he said "this is
crazy, they are using a remote control to play games." We will have
to reserve full judgment until it is tested with actual games.
However, the concern with something new like this is that it will
appeal mainly to an enthusiast crowd and alienate the mass market who
can be very reluctant to change their comfortable game playing habits.