09/16/2005 Archived Entry: "Slow Work Day"
When the Dreamcast (*sniff*) lightgun came out in 1999, one immediate thought that came to me was: FPS. The addition of the d-pad to the gun made me think that there would soon be a game where you could walk around via d-pad while looking around and aiming with the lightgun. For those of us who are not uber-precision gods of gaming, this would have been a really good way to play FPSs - no precise targeting with the analog stick necessary. Unfortunately, that kind of game never came to pass. I think the limitation being that the game doesn’t know where you’re pointing the lightgun until you fire.
When the Revolution controller was unveiled last night, one immediate thought that came to me was: WTF?! No, seriously. What. The. Fuck. It has a distinct lack of buttons, for one thing, and looks nothing like what we’re used to. For well over 30 minutes, my reaction was total and utter flabbergast. How they came up with this, expect 3rd parties to innovate with it, how anyone is going to play a traditional Street Fighter or any of Nintendo’s SNES games was far beyond me.
Having calmed down a little and read more on the topic, I’ve decided that yes, this will be revolutionary. If it truly provides full control over all 3 axes then we’re going to be in for some very interesting game mechanics – the current dual-analog setup for 3-dimensional manoeuvring is still very flawed. What I would have liked to see is Nintendo showing a guy holding the controller with an image of the controller on screen duplicating exactly all the tri-planar movements of the person. This would have given a truly better idea of the technological achievement of the motion sensing technology.
While I’m convinced on the hardware, I’m wary on whether Nintendo can sustain development of unique uses for the controller and if there’ll be enough third party support that will use it as a legitimately new way of playing games instead of just a gimmick. Nevertheless, if successful this controller represents a paradigm shift beyond anything we’ve ever seen in gaming since the advent of polygons.
The next generation so far looks like either an XboX or PS3 (both very tempting right now), with a slight leaning towards PS3 and the Revolution as a secondary console. Unless, as stated above, massive 3rd party support for the Revolution comes around and it starts getting some of those AAA franchises…but this doesn’t seem likely.
Replies: 3 comments
Nintendo realised with the Gamecube that they couldn't do anything new with that hardware, despite their supposedly innovative controller.. their bread and butter franchises, Mario and Zelda were no longer far and away superior to the competition like they were on the n64.
With this 3D mouse-remote thing, they may be able to gain that edge.. My reaction to the n64 controller was similar to the one i had yesterday at 10:50.. wtf indeed.
I can't wait to see how the new Mario plays, it's sure to be a blast.. hopefully as revolutionary as Mario 64 was. or Pikmin (RTS!!) My only worry is that, as a lazy ass, my arm will get tired waving that thing around.
Posted by Zamir @ 09/16/2005 11:49 PM EST
Don't forget that Nintendo basically invented the controller as we know it now. The NES controller probably looked ridiculous to everyone who was used to joysticks, but it laid the foundation for everything that came after. Analog sticks, shoulder buttons, etc... it's all thanks to Nintendo. About the only thing Nintendo didn't invent that's part of the "standard" controller is the second analog stick.
Nintendo can make it work if anyone can. They realized they couldn't win the arms race with the Xbox and PS3, and since those two consoles are basically interchangeable (do you want to kill hookers? No problem!), without something radically different Nintendo would be left in the dust. This is definitely the best way to proceed, since they'll grab a bunch of new gamers that aren't interested in the "big 2", and they'll get the hardcore gamers (aka those who use the "big 2") who want a totally different experience, too. It's the best of both worlds!
Posted by Joe @ 09/17/2005 11:29 AM EST
I can't really imagine playing RTS in the starcraft/CnC type with the controller...
but as has been said, it's not about how to control existing genres, it's about what kind of cool new genres that will come around with these new possibilities.
Posted by Rayne @ 09/22/2005 07:03 PM EST