The last console generation has had mixed results for Nintendo and the GameCube. Many missteps were taken from game development to marketing to what many consider just plain flawed priorities. It was generally perceived as a lightweight competitor, with fewer games than the PS2 and Xbox, few games that appealed to mainstream gamers, and a lack of a true selling point to western audiences. Whether or not its games were strong (which they were), the GameCube did not have much success with the bulk of gamers.
There were a combination of factors that contributed to this; a lineup that was often and easily perceived as kiddy, or at least skewed toward a younger demographic than that the competition was trying to capture. Attempts at being innovative were unpractical (i.e. connectivity), and not that well implemented for the most part. They had a philosophy that focused on making games more accessible to non-gamers (which in some cases resulted in the alienation of its fanbase), they had average to terrible third-party support depending on the time period, few exclusives, there was the departure of Rare and Silicon Knights to Microsoft; the list goes on.
And now Nintendo can safely look back on the lifespan of a–for all intents and purposes–dying console to examine its mistakes. It can determine what went wrong, what factors were its fault, and what the hell to do about it. The next generation is coming up fast and Nintendo has a lot to do if it wants the Revolution to stand out in what promises to be a full-blown war between two experienced giants that know how to capture the attention of western gamers far better than does Nintendo.
We've already seen the console itself. It's small, it's sleek and it looks like a high tech entertainment device as opposed to a toy. We know that it will have wi-fi compatibility right out of the gate and Nintendo will have ready a free online service supposedly on the level of Xbox Live, with at least two online launch titles (one of which is rumored to be Super Smash Bros.). We know it will have classic Nintendo games available for download. We also know Nintendo is restating its goal of making games accessible to a broader audience.
And until this week, that was it. No information on what makes it revolutionary or how powerful it will be, or any specifics whatsoever.
But that all changed Thursday night with Satoru Iwata's keynote address to the Tokyo Game Show, where he revealed the controller Nintendo is relying on for success; it was the debut of their trump card that would supposedly change gaming, evolve it for the better and make more people want to play videogames.
It was a moment of fear and agony. That night, the internet almost spontaneously combusted from all the speculation, anticipation, anxiety, and frenzied panic. Would Nintendo really revolutionize gaming? Would they really have something that would create headway against Sony and Microsoft or would they go for a niche product? Had Nintendo finally gone nuts? Were they going to slip Nintendo fans poisoned Kool-Aid and go follow a comet? It certainly wasn't an unreasonable option given their choice to highlight a multiplayer version of Pac Man as their biggest draw at E3 2003 and constant talk about how today's games were too complex. Let's face it; Nintendo is, at times, completely freaking insane. But aren't most geniuses? And Miyamoto has crazy eyes, besides.
From touch screens to gyroscopes to cheap Photoshop mockups of potential controllers that were both a geometry teacher and graphic designer's worst nightmare, it was clear that whatever the hell Nintendo wanted to do with the Revolution's controller, people were paying attention.
And then we finally got to see it.
The Revolution controller is shaped like a remote, with an A button, a B trigger, select and start buttons, a D-pad, a "home" button likely used to take you to the Revolution's central hub for accessing the internet, system options, movies, games, etc., and an X and Y button. It also has rumble and it's wireless.
The twist is that the remote (Nintendo calls it a pointer) itself is a control mechanism. It can sense any movement of your hand: whether you tilt the pointer, rotate it, move it up or down, forward or backward, left or right, the controller can track that movement in a game. And while you hold the pointer in your right hand, you will also have another controller in the left hand–just an analog stick and two trigger buttons–to work with.
And for once, after all the vague talk about how Nintendo had something truly different and capable of doing things never before done in gaming, they came through on their promise. The Revolution's controller is, as cliché as this no doubt sounds, actually revolutionary.
What we have with the Revolution controller is the most original, innovative, functional gaming input device ever made. Nothing even comes close. It is a thing of beauty, of unrivaled brilliance.
For once, the doom-and-gloomers, and I was one of them, who doubted Nintendo's ability to compete in today's gaming market, attract third-party support and really create something that would advance how we played games, didn't have much of a defense.
This controller really does make interacting with games a more intuitive experience. It will simplify actions that previously had to be mapped to many different buttons to a flick of the wrist and better immerse the player in the game.
The examples of how this will work you are no doubt aware of already. For a first person shooter, you could move with the analog stick and use the pointer, literally, as a gun, using it to aim, look around, and fire with the back B trigger. You could snap it with your wrist to pistol-whip enemies. You could take human shields ala Splinter Cell, use it as a bat or a knife, and all sorts of things. The possibilities are huge.
For adventure games like Zelda there is a lot of promise as well. Gone are the days of using button combos to attack. The pointer could be used as the sword and moving it in various directions can do all attacks possible with today's controllers. Items could be picked up by moving the pointer forward. Projectile weapons like the bow and arrow could be used by pulling back on the pointer and pressing the B trigger.
And if you can't see how awesome Wario Ware would be with this controller you clearly haven't read this whole article.
There are tons of new things this controller could be used for that haven't been mentioned. Surely Nintendo is already cooking up better, and less obvious, applications. Either way, it's very exciting.
So we don't have any reason to worry about the controller providing new and expanded interactivity/functionality. If nothing else, the new controller has done this amazingly well. But Nintendo may have compensated for screwing up this generation in one fell swoop. It probably has already sealed its place in history as a company that breaks gaming conventions and moves the industry forward. But most importantly, it has created a device that will make games a more immersive, user-friendly form of entertainment. This technology can make games that required over a dozen buttons have all the same control options in far less than that and do things no amount of buttons can do.
And even with how different this is, third-parties will still be able to port over Xbox 360 and PS3 games without worry over the controller since Nintendo is working on a Wavebird-style controller with all of the normal buttons into which the pointer can be inserted, giving us the best of both worlds.
This is not a gimmick. This is not a flash in the pan. Nintendo clearly has a grip on this technology and its application to today's games is readily apparent. With the Revolution, we can safely say that Nintendo has improved how we play games. This is a huge, profound accomplishment for which neither Sony nor Microsoft can take credit.
Really, I can't think of a single reason not to be satisfied with the controller.
You could say it might not be sensitive enough to hand motions, but that's not true. Nintendo has the technology figured out and those who have used the controller say there are no technical issues whatsoever. It works perfectly and it is in no way an early jump on an unrefined technology.
You could say certain current games aren't playable because of the lack of traditional buttons. That's misinformed. The pointer can be inserted into a traditional Wavebird-style controller with all the current buttons. And even if it couldn't, a little creativity could do everything a current controller can and make complicated functions far more intuitive.
You could say it will drive away third-parties. They might not support Nintendo–this much is true just because they aren't too enthused with Nintendo right now anyway–but it won't be because of the controller. The controller can do everything current controllers can.
Really, there aren't any solid complaints to be made. This controller is a step forward for Nintendo and hopefully the whole industry. Sure, we do not know who will win come the next-generation. As absolutely amazing as this controller is, it's still all about the software. Nintendo has yet to come through on this aspect of its machine. There's also the question over whether mainstream gamers will be receptive of this device. And in that regard, only time will tell what happens.
But my confidence in Nintendo has been, however briefly, totally restored. I trust Nintendo to do the right thing with its console thanks to this controller. I trust them to breathe fresh air into an increasingly stagnant game industry.
Indeed, I no longer doubt the viability of the Revolution itself. My only concerns are those that I had of the GameCube: will third parties develop for the system, and will there be a selection of games that caters to a wide variety of people? I want to see mature games that respect my intelligence. And I hope Nintendo makes it happen because the entire industry, not just Nintendo, is completely lacking in this regard.
But we can drop our most major concern. This controller is a great idea and it's well implemented. I was blown away by it in every possible way. It gives me hope and has set fire to my imagination, as it should you.
Sure, the last generation had mixed results for Nintendo, but the past is no indication of the future. For once, Nintendo has thus far done everything right with its new console. I cannot find fault with any of Nintendo's announced decisions. And that says a lot. Friends, have faith: Nintendo has delivered in a big way. The Revolution has a chance of bringing Nintendo back. And ultimately there are no valid complaints one can have for this controller: if you don't like it, we're getting a traditional one too. We can have it both ways.
But there's still one question raised by Satoru Iwata at last year's E3 that has huge and very real significance. It's a question on which hangs Nintendo's fate:
Are you ready for a Revolution?
There were a combination of factors that contributed to this; a lineup that was often and easily perceived as kiddy, or at least skewed toward a younger demographic than that the competition was trying to capture. Attempts at being innovative were unpractical (i.e. connectivity), and not that well implemented for the most part. They had a philosophy that focused on making games more accessible to non-gamers (which in some cases resulted in the alienation of its fanbase), they had average to terrible third-party support depending on the time period, few exclusives, there was the departure of Rare and Silicon Knights to Microsoft; the list goes on.
And now Nintendo can safely look back on the lifespan of a–for all intents and purposes–dying console to examine its mistakes. It can determine what went wrong, what factors were its fault, and what the hell to do about it. The next generation is coming up fast and Nintendo has a lot to do if it wants the Revolution to stand out in what promises to be a full-blown war between two experienced giants that know how to capture the attention of western gamers far better than does Nintendo.
We've already seen the console itself. It's small, it's sleek and it looks like a high tech entertainment device as opposed to a toy. We know that it will have wi-fi compatibility right out of the gate and Nintendo will have ready a free online service supposedly on the level of Xbox Live, with at least two online launch titles (one of which is rumored to be Super Smash Bros.). We know it will have classic Nintendo games available for download. We also know Nintendo is restating its goal of making games accessible to a broader audience.
And until this week, that was it. No information on what makes it revolutionary or how powerful it will be, or any specifics whatsoever.
But that all changed Thursday night with Satoru Iwata's keynote address to the Tokyo Game Show, where he revealed the controller Nintendo is relying on for success; it was the debut of their trump card that would supposedly change gaming, evolve it for the better and make more people want to play videogames.
It was a moment of fear and agony. That night, the internet almost spontaneously combusted from all the speculation, anticipation, anxiety, and frenzied panic. Would Nintendo really revolutionize gaming? Would they really have something that would create headway against Sony and Microsoft or would they go for a niche product? Had Nintendo finally gone nuts? Were they going to slip Nintendo fans poisoned Kool-Aid and go follow a comet? It certainly wasn't an unreasonable option given their choice to highlight a multiplayer version of Pac Man as their biggest draw at E3 2003 and constant talk about how today's games were too complex. Let's face it; Nintendo is, at times, completely freaking insane. But aren't most geniuses? And Miyamoto has crazy eyes, besides.
From touch screens to gyroscopes to cheap Photoshop mockups of potential controllers that were both a geometry teacher and graphic designer's worst nightmare, it was clear that whatever the hell Nintendo wanted to do with the Revolution's controller, people were paying attention.
And then we finally got to see it.
The Revolution controller is shaped like a remote, with an A button, a B trigger, select and start buttons, a D-pad, a "home" button likely used to take you to the Revolution's central hub for accessing the internet, system options, movies, games, etc., and an X and Y button. It also has rumble and it's wireless.
The twist is that the remote (Nintendo calls it a pointer) itself is a control mechanism. It can sense any movement of your hand: whether you tilt the pointer, rotate it, move it up or down, forward or backward, left or right, the controller can track that movement in a game. And while you hold the pointer in your right hand, you will also have another controller in the left hand–just an analog stick and two trigger buttons–to work with.
And for once, after all the vague talk about how Nintendo had something truly different and capable of doing things never before done in gaming, they came through on their promise. The Revolution's controller is, as cliché as this no doubt sounds, actually revolutionary.
What we have with the Revolution controller is the most original, innovative, functional gaming input device ever made. Nothing even comes close. It is a thing of beauty, of unrivaled brilliance.
For once, the doom-and-gloomers, and I was one of them, who doubted Nintendo's ability to compete in today's gaming market, attract third-party support and really create something that would advance how we played games, didn't have much of a defense.
This controller really does make interacting with games a more intuitive experience. It will simplify actions that previously had to be mapped to many different buttons to a flick of the wrist and better immerse the player in the game.
The examples of how this will work you are no doubt aware of already. For a first person shooter, you could move with the analog stick and use the pointer, literally, as a gun, using it to aim, look around, and fire with the back B trigger. You could snap it with your wrist to pistol-whip enemies. You could take human shields ala Splinter Cell, use it as a bat or a knife, and all sorts of things. The possibilities are huge.
For adventure games like Zelda there is a lot of promise as well. Gone are the days of using button combos to attack. The pointer could be used as the sword and moving it in various directions can do all attacks possible with today's controllers. Items could be picked up by moving the pointer forward. Projectile weapons like the bow and arrow could be used by pulling back on the pointer and pressing the B trigger.
And if you can't see how awesome Wario Ware would be with this controller you clearly haven't read this whole article.
There are tons of new things this controller could be used for that haven't been mentioned. Surely Nintendo is already cooking up better, and less obvious, applications. Either way, it's very exciting.
So we don't have any reason to worry about the controller providing new and expanded interactivity/functionality. If nothing else, the new controller has done this amazingly well. But Nintendo may have compensated for screwing up this generation in one fell swoop. It probably has already sealed its place in history as a company that breaks gaming conventions and moves the industry forward. But most importantly, it has created a device that will make games a more immersive, user-friendly form of entertainment. This technology can make games that required over a dozen buttons have all the same control options in far less than that and do things no amount of buttons can do.
And even with how different this is, third-parties will still be able to port over Xbox 360 and PS3 games without worry over the controller since Nintendo is working on a Wavebird-style controller with all of the normal buttons into which the pointer can be inserted, giving us the best of both worlds.
This is not a gimmick. This is not a flash in the pan. Nintendo clearly has a grip on this technology and its application to today's games is readily apparent. With the Revolution, we can safely say that Nintendo has improved how we play games. This is a huge, profound accomplishment for which neither Sony nor Microsoft can take credit.
Really, I can't think of a single reason not to be satisfied with the controller.
You could say it might not be sensitive enough to hand motions, but that's not true. Nintendo has the technology figured out and those who have used the controller say there are no technical issues whatsoever. It works perfectly and it is in no way an early jump on an unrefined technology.
You could say certain current games aren't playable because of the lack of traditional buttons. That's misinformed. The pointer can be inserted into a traditional Wavebird-style controller with all the current buttons. And even if it couldn't, a little creativity could do everything a current controller can and make complicated functions far more intuitive.
You could say it will drive away third-parties. They might not support Nintendo–this much is true just because they aren't too enthused with Nintendo right now anyway–but it won't be because of the controller. The controller can do everything current controllers can.
Really, there aren't any solid complaints to be made. This controller is a step forward for Nintendo and hopefully the whole industry. Sure, we do not know who will win come the next-generation. As absolutely amazing as this controller is, it's still all about the software. Nintendo has yet to come through on this aspect of its machine. There's also the question over whether mainstream gamers will be receptive of this device. And in that regard, only time will tell what happens.
But my confidence in Nintendo has been, however briefly, totally restored. I trust Nintendo to do the right thing with its console thanks to this controller. I trust them to breathe fresh air into an increasingly stagnant game industry.
Indeed, I no longer doubt the viability of the Revolution itself. My only concerns are those that I had of the GameCube: will third parties develop for the system, and will there be a selection of games that caters to a wide variety of people? I want to see mature games that respect my intelligence. And I hope Nintendo makes it happen because the entire industry, not just Nintendo, is completely lacking in this regard.
But we can drop our most major concern. This controller is a great idea and it's well implemented. I was blown away by it in every possible way. It gives me hope and has set fire to my imagination, as it should you.
Sure, the last generation had mixed results for Nintendo, but the past is no indication of the future. For once, Nintendo has thus far done everything right with its new console. I cannot find fault with any of Nintendo's announced decisions. And that says a lot. Friends, have faith: Nintendo has delivered in a big way. The Revolution has a chance of bringing Nintendo back. And ultimately there are no valid complaints one can have for this controller: if you don't like it, we're getting a traditional one too. We can have it both ways.
But there's still one question raised by Satoru Iwata at last year's E3 that has huge and very real significance. It's a question on which hangs Nintendo's fate:
Are you ready for a Revolution?
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