Revolution Based On Touch Screen Controllers?

[antisuperheroguy]

RUMOR #2: The Nintendo Revolution's controllers will be DS-style touch screens.

Source: This month's issue of Game Informer magazine.

The official story: "Nintendo does not comment on rumors or speculation"--Nintendo spokesperson.

What we heard: According to the latest Game Informer Nintendo is planning something very different for the controller for its next-generation console. "There is no analog stick or shoulder buttons. The touch screen on the face of the controller is designed to be fully customizable, so the developer can configure the buttons any way they see fit, or in other cases will not use buttons at all, instead opting for virtual levers and or other stylus-related inputs." The article goes on to cite sources that say that "Nintendo is actually requiring developers to take advantage of unique touch-screen aspects if it wants to get approval." It also says many publishers are "skeptical" of the concept. Sound insane? So did the DS--before it sold nearly 5 million units. Plus, the very name "Revolution" means Nintendo has something industry-shaking planned for the next generation. "It wouldn't surprise me if Nintendo was that crazy," said one source close to the company.

Bogus or not bogus?: We'll go out on a limb and say this could very well be not bogus, though we won't know for sure until E3.

Hmmm it doesnt look like something that could be completly impossible, infact it seems sorta fun; but will we be able to get used to it? Maybe the Revolution will really live up to its name.

[Linkachu]

Woah... Could that really be it? o.O

Trying to stare at a TV and use the stylus at the same time seems like it would be kind of hard, though. That's not really how the DS works... But Nintendo did say they were doing away with some of their major buttons (although, as I remember it they said "A and B"). Guess we'll just have to wait until E3 to find out for sure.

[Gary Oak]

No A and B buttons nor a D-pad anywhere near the Revolution's controller. Confirmed.

Here's a C&P of what i said on the topic at 'Charms:

Analogue on touch screen sucks. There's no easy way around that. It just plain sucks balls. Look at Mario 64 DS and Rayman DS, both use the same system for analogue control through the touch screen and it's a pain in the arse.

There is no feedback response, so you just don't get the same feel of control that you do with a proper analogue stick and your thumb just keeps sliding off the damn screen edges, not to mention it's a reeeally annoying way to stretch your thumb around the fat *** of the DS and then constantly move it around the touch screen.

I can't see that working for the Revolution at all. In fact, i'd put more money on the Gyroscopic technology coming into play than Nintendo actually expecting the touch screen analogue to be a standard for their systems. It's just far too messy, inefficient and does not prove to be a 100% perfect substitute for the real thing.

[Metal Mewtwo]

Personally I think the DS's touch screen works great for analog control. Not perfect, mind you, nor as good as an actual analog stick, but I'd say it's 95% as effective. It took some getting used to in SM64DS, but it's no problem at all after that.

But do I think they'll use it for the Revolution? No, I don't really see it. I think the new controller will be more similar to current ones that peoplem realize.

[baratron]

Actually... I'm vaguely concerned now. I have problems with games due to disability. My wrists and thumbs object to me playing anywhere near the amount of games I want to, and I've had to find ways to get round the problems. Like, playing with the controller held on my lap by a pillow (as holding my wrists up without support for hours on end makes them unusable), using the D-pad instead of the control stick as it can be used with fingers rather than thumb, using the control stick with the centre of my hand rather than thumb or fingers, or reprogramming the controller configuration so that I'm using completely different buttons than what they were expecting.

The more games companies move towards "ingenious custom controllers", the less customisable they become for the users. And thus, the less accessible they become to any disabled gamers.

The current GameCube controller is fairly close to perfect for me (most days, if I hold it on a pillow on my lap I can use it for a couple of hours without too much pain), although the unpredictable (to me) click on the trigger buttons is annoying (I don't really have enough control over my hands to be able to tell when i've used enough pressure to click it, so it's usually a surprise). And I had to get a friend to hack it to pieces to remove all the natural rubber that was covering parts of it. I'm quite surprised it's there without any warnings, because natural rubber/latex allergy is quite common, increasingly so, and can be fatal in some cases. The really annoying thing is I can't use the Donkey Konga bongo controller at all because the surfaces of the drum pads are covered in natural rubber, so touching it with bare hands for as long as one song makes my skin itch for hours... *mumble*

[ZAKtheGeek]

I think a customizable touch screen controller is a really cool idea. It's sort of a lazy way to avoid having to find the "perfect button placement" by instead letting the consumers do it. However, I don't like the lack of shoulder buttons... if all "buttons" are on the touch screen, then you'll be controlling it soley with your thumbs, possibly a bit with index fingers too, depending on how it's done. I like the fact that shoulder buttons have their own fingers that they are operated by instead of everything being thumb'd.

I like the dpad better than analog sticks anyway. Old school. REALLY old, i guess.

[Lyphen]

Hopefuly that isn't the only thing they had in mind when they called it "revolutionary".

[RLRL]

Hopefully this is just a rumour, I personally prefer to have a pad like the GCs where the buttons aren't hard to hit anyway, plus I personally would have problems with a touch screen controller just because it would bug me

[antisuperheroguy]

If you think that is insane.

The Revolution will be able to play Gamecube games, will be online out of the box, and will also, or might be able to to hook up to your computer monitor; they answered that it was true but you never know with crazy Nintendo.

[RLRL]

Yeah and the online is free... still i hope its not a touch screen controller... i would get frustrated and break the screen too quickly! imagine using a touch screen in a heated match of Super Smash Bros, its bad enough when people throw wavebirds at you because you win, jabbing the buttons converted to a touchscreen!!!!

[antisuperheroguy]

The touch-screen is almost unavoidable by now, but Nintendo is still experimenting with a lot of things. What i hope Nintendo does is, create both regular and touch-screen controllers. The only reason they want the touch-screen is so that more people can get used to games, saying that controllers nowwa days have increased in copmlexity. They want more non-gamers to jump into the gaming industry.

Also i guess its so you can do different things, but nothing can replace a good ole complex controller; especially for games like Super Smash Bros like RLRL stated, even though thats not what he meant.

[Gary Oak]

Yeah and the online is free...

I warn people not to jump to assumptions and conclusions on this... Nintendo have said that Animal Crossing DS will be online for free. They havn't, however, said that the online service in general will be free. It's quite likely that other games may require you to pay and they havn't stated anything on whether the Revolution will be online generally free either.

One bonus of Wi-fi connection to the net is that you don't need extra hardware and don't need an extra connection. However, the companies running the online games do still have to run big expensive servers - I can't really imagine companies like Square-Enix running these free of charge...

[Metal Mewtwo]

I warn people not to jump to assumptions and conclusions on this... Nintendo have said that Animal Crossing DS will be online for free. They havn't, however, said that the online service in general will be free. It's quite likely that other games may require you to pay and they havn't stated anything on whether the Revolution will be online generally free either.


Nintendo has said time and time again that they don't agree with the principle about charging people for online play, so I think it's pretty safe to assume their online network will be free for all games unless they say otherwise.

[antisuperheroguy]

Just like they did with PSO, which was their only online game for Gamecube, and was also a monthly fee of like 12 dollars or something. Either way, its possible.

[Gary Oak]

Sega is behind PSO and the servers running it.

I don't doubt Nintendo games will be free online (Metroid Hunters... Diamond/Pearl... Mario Kart... Animal Crossing....*drools*), but when it comes to companies like Sega, Square-Enix or any company really setting up an online server for a game, then I highly doubt they'll take the risk of losing money by not charging for use of that server.

The prices are generally pretty cheap though, the most difficult thing is actually having a method of payment.